This book made my heart so happy. I was trying to read in the car and got so motion sick but it was totally worth it! The story was so heartwarming and real and hopeful. I could've done a little bit without the whole minor "but her emails" storyline, but otherwise it was perfect. I love this hopeful West Wing version of the world. The characters were all so developed and I cared about the supporting characters as much as Alex and Henry. I'm still clutching my heart and swooning. I really like how the author didn't shy away from the intimate moments between the couple and how much representation was peppered into the story in a way that felt organic. Netflix needs to adapt this story immediately.

This was a fun read. I particularly enjoyed the first half in which the character development, banter, and plotting were strong. It slowed down for me in the second half. While I appreciated reading a romance where the relationship and it's dynamics are explored, I thought the characters lost their individuality. It was nice to escape to a alternate political reality for a few hours.

Red, White, and Royal Blue is the exact book I needed in my life. A contemporary romance that made me fall in love AND care about a greater worldly cause! All the great tropes are in this book. Hate to love romance? yes. Friends to lovers? yes. steamy secret relationship? yes! if that wasn't enough, Casey McQuiston's writing is so incredibly believable. While I am not the one to know if international politics are explained realistically, I never doubted for a second that this book could be plausible. When I found out that this is a book about the prince of Wales and the first son of the US forming a relationship, I thought the concept sounded near impossible too pull off. But wow, she did it! I never doubted for a second that this book could be 100% real. I want to live in the world where it could be real. I am instilled with hope. Alex and Henry's relationship broke my heart. I read books and listen to songs and I think yes this is what love it because I can almost see it happening, like, It appears so realistic to me. But Alex and Henry's love story is so raw and so powerful, that I am rethinking everything I've ever thought about romance stories. This is the romance story. Every single person should read this book.

I truly could not put this book down. I finished it a few weeks ago, and I already want to read it again. And, let me say, I am *not* a re-reader.
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Red, White & Royal Blue was bursting at the seams with love, lust, political intricacies, self-exploration, and a vision of what our country could look like. I applaud McQuiston because she filled me with hope. Hope for Alex and Henry, and hope for America. I realize it sounds like I'm suggesting she run for President. I'm not NOT suggesting that she run for President. What I am saying is that she's brilliant, this book is brilliant.

While I continue to recommend this one left and right, I'm still working on filling that giant Alex/Henry sized hole in my heart.

People who will probably not like this book (not an exhaustive list):

• Literary snobs who don’t like “romance,”
• Pearl-clutching moralizers,
• Fans of red elephants, and
• Individuals who are cold and dead inside.

If I did a Venn diagram, I suspect there would be overlap between some of these groups.

For the rest of us, this novel is fairy tale crack. An English prince falling in love with an uncommon commoner, the son of the president of the United States. It’s adorable and made of swoon.

I’m just going to join the overwhelming chorus and recommend it. Read it!!!!!

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

What an absolute delight to read over 4th of July weekend! This story touched me and will stay with me, it's hopeful and heart-wrenching in places, it has steamy romance scenes and pages that you'll read through tears.

This book was a wonderful summer read! I hate politics but ILove the gay romance! This story was so fun! It’s nothing raunchy but has just enough of that tea sipping material that will
Make you want to keep on chugging along! Best contemporary of the year

I heard so much conversation and excitement surrounding this book's release that I had to check it out for myself, and it didn't disappoint. A delightful summer read for young adults!

I read a LOT of romance, but this was my first M/M romance! I know, I know, I definitely should have tried LGBTQ romance sooner! But I’m so happy this was my first dive into it. I have mixed feelings about new adult romance, I’ve loved some and some fell totally flat, but Red, White, and Royal Blue was everything. This is so much more than a cute rom-com, the story is part coming of age, part enemies to lovers romance, and 100% heartfelt delightful story with some fairytale vibes.

Alex, Mexican-American First Son of the US, is pretty sure he hates Henry, the Prince of England. Yet when Alex is forced to stage a fake friendship with him following a royal wedding disaster, he slowly starts to realize Henry might not be as bad as he originally thought. Their sort of friendship turns into forbidden secret romance, all while President Claremont is about to start her re-election bid.

Ugh, these characters! Every single character felt so real, it’s really hard to believe this is McQuiston’s debut. The banter between Alex and Henry was so damn enjoyable, and the tension when they started to fall for each other had me grinning like an idiot the whole time. I loved that we got to see Alex work through his bisexuality (I was dying during the scene between him and Nora discussing it) There is steam (yay!) and it’s very well written and seems to fit their characters perfectly.

I just wanted to live in this world with Ellen Claremont as President! I think the only way this could have been better would be to have more interactions between Alex and his mom, she’s the sassy female President of my dreams. And I LOVED the White House Trio! Can June and Nora each get their own books?! Because I need stories from their points of view ASAP!

This story was complete catnip for my little feminist heart! Everything about Red, White, and Royal Blue was absolute perfection, in my opinion. This was a 5 star read for me! If you are looking for a delightful, heartwarming, and hilarious romance I highly suggest grabbing a copy of Red, White, and Royal Blue immediately!

This book was a great mix of romance, fun, secrets, sex and politics. I loved Henry and Alex and though it was bit predictable it was still enjoyable so much! I couldn't wait to get back to it when I had to put it down.

This book was the first I read with a male/male romance. I loved that the book integrated commonly talked about subjects in society ranging from social issues to politics to LBGTQ+ and even the pop-culture surrounding the royal family, but also allowed the reader to journey through the romance between First Son Alex and Prince Henry.

When an incident at a royal wedding forces the son of the United States president, Alex Claremont-Diaz to fake a friendship with the prince of England, Henry- his sworn enemy. As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself in a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and the Unites States' relationship with England.

Red, White, and Royal Blue is a delightful and heartwarming story about a cute relationship between two political opponents and about how we want to be remembered. Though it involved a commonly used trope- enemies to lovers- this book was unique, fun, and hopeful. This joyful debut includes realistic and motivating characters- problematic but amazing main characters, a female president, and interesting dynamics between the two boys and their families. The dialogue and humor were perfect- the author really captured how people text and talk these days. I liked the discussion of US politics and the character development of Alex and Henry as they decide what they want out of their lives, and it was overall such a great, fun read!

Such a sweet, funny heartwarming story! The perfect beach read for rom-com lovers. A great read for fans of "The Royal We".

This book is 100 percent adorable. It's well written and the story flows well. I loved all of the characters, even the peripheral ones! I highly recommend this book to anyone who was unhappy with this last election and who have kind of experienced the horror of living as a post Trump American! I look forward to reading more by this author and would welcome a sequel to this book!

The present tense didnt work for me and neither did forced outing as a plot point. I hate that because it removes a characters agency and it overally just did not work for me

Love love loved this book! The writing was great, the romance was fantastic, the hate-to-love plot gets me every time.

Thank you for allowing me to read this even though I am a german bookseller.
It was really good book. I had fun reading it, I loved the quaracters and I was really pleasantly surprised that there weren't many cliches in it. The characters were well thought out and acted comprehensibly.
I have already ordered it for our store and I look forward to recommending it to our english speaking customers.

Thanks Net Galley for the preview!

I loved this book! I could not put it down-and cannot stop telling people about it! I was hooked by the premise and the intrigue of the plot. I found my self laughing out loud at the dialogue and twists. I could not stop smiling at this story. I will be reading it again and again. Somebody tell Casey McQuiston we need a sequel asap!!

Stevie‘s review of Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Contemporary Gay and Bisexual Romance published by St. Martin’s Griffin 14 May 19

One of the tropes I only read when there’s some kind of new twist on it is that of the royal meets commoner romance. Even then, I can be very fussy when an author messes up on research or chooses to ignore how things work in the real world without giving a good explanation. Having read the blurb, I was expecting to get the story of a romance between the heir to the British crown and the son of the President of the USA. In actuality what I got was something subtly different. Although Henry is referred to throughout the book as the Prince of Wales, he is the second son – youngest of three children – of the (female) heir to the throne. It took me a while to figure that one out, since we don’t pick up all the details of Henry’s family life straight away, but once I understood the wrongness, it bugged me throughout what might otherwise have been a fun story.


For those who need the full explanation, the title Prince of Wales is granted by the reigning monarch to their eldest living son and heir apparent. The latter part is the most important. Since Henry in this story is both a second son and third or fourth in line to the throne (after his mother, his brother and – if the laws of succession of the story have been modernised in line with our recent update – his sister). So Henry can’t be Prince of Wales, and is unlikely to have taken Wales as his surname, as that’s a recent styling used by the descendants of our current Prince, and the late Princess, of Wales. He may or may not have a courtesy title – Prince or Duke of wherever – not all our current Queen’s grandchildren do for a start. But I just wish authors would pay more attention to the titles they confer on their characters. Rant over, let’s get back to the review…

Alex Claremont-Diaz is the son of the first female President of the US, whose parents both rose from working class and – in his father’s case – immigrant families to carve successful political careers. Although Alex’s parents are divorced, they have remained good friends, and Alex shares a close relationship with both of them and with his older sister – as well as with the granddaughter of the Vice-President. All three youngsters are closely followed by the media, and Alex especially has a habit of getting into awkward situations. He also has a bit of a love-hate obsession with Prince Henry, dating back to before his mother’s election to the Oval Office. When the Presidential party attends the wedding of Henry’s older brother, Alex manages to create a highly newsworthy diplomatic incident by scrapping publicly with Henry and destroying the wedding cake. Something has to be done to smooth things over…

… and that something is to create a fictional friendship between the two lads, making the whole incident appear to be a student jape and offering the press lots of chances to follow the pair as they make repeat visits to each other’s countries and attend important functions. The two become friends for real and then begin to fall for each other. Henry is gay and closeted on the orders of his grandmother, while Alex has never really considered that he might be bisexual, but once he starts thinking about it, it all becomes obvious.

I liked the way the story developed, although I’m a little unsure whether it would really be that shocking for a royal – and a relatively minor one at that – to be out as gay in this day and age, and I loved that there were interesting explanations for some of the facts about Henry that Alex finds boring when he first reads them in preparation for their publicity opportunities. This was a really tricky book to give a grade to. On the one hand, I loved the basic idea of the story, and a lot of the ways in which it developed. On the other hand, I hated the sloppy research that book’s editors, if not its author, should have picked up on. I may give her another chance: this was a debut novel after all.

Grade: C

Really enjoyed this thoroughly engaging and humorous book. Perfect for a rainy afternoon, tore through this read in no time at all. Very enjoyable, would highly recommend.