Red, White & Royal Blue is a sheer delight. You will find yourself laughing aloud, like I did many times, tearing up with their quests to find themselves, and fanning yourself during the sultry scenes.
Summary
First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.
The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him.
As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?
Review
Red, White & Royal Blue is a book that truly takes you a roller coaster of emotions. I went from laughing uncontrollably, to tears welling up behind my eyes, all the way to swooning from the intensity of the romance story. It’s a story that’s about romance, about family expectations, and being brave enough to live authentically to ourselves – whatever that means with no holds barred.
A Story that Will Charm the Pants Off You
What Red, White & Royal Blue excels at is delivering a delicious, delightful, and decadent story like a multi-tiered confection masterpiece. It unpacks issues of speaking out against our legacy, complicated family dynamics, and our journey coming to terms with attraction and our sexual identity. Whether it be Alex’s mother’s balance between her job as president and her responsibility as a mother, or Alex’s fierce sense of dedication, or the fantastic banter between Alex, June, and Nora, there’s no shortage of things to love in Red, White & Royal Blue.
Alex & Sizzling Romance
Red, White & Royal Blue‘s main character, Alex, is a cinnamon roll of preciousness. He’s fiercely organized, determined, and ambitious – remind you of anyone here? That’s your cue to look at me. I found that the moment when Alex wonders if he’s been too busy racing towards his future that he let go of the present, extremely relatable and relevant to me. Only within the last year have I begun to take a look at how I grew up and what I was driven towards – a future happiness or the moments around me.
Don’t even get me started on Alex and Henry’s relationship. Seriously. It’s my favorite trope ever – enemies to lovers – and this is one of the most perfect executions. Talk about phenomenal banter that will make you feel vulnerable, laugh out loud, and make your heart ache. It’s about hope that lives inside your heart, possibilities that quiver under your fingertips and a person who can open a window for you to set them all free.
Hidden Selves & Expectations
Throughout Red, White & Royal Blue we get to see their hidden selves, their faces they wear behind closed doors when we think no one is watching. It’s a book that allows us to see their development in an unhurried, languid way, that will quickly rise until you cannot put the book down.
And amidst it all, we are faced with our expectations of what people expect of us – our legacy, our reputation, our image, our identity. Do we begin to live in the shadow of what we should want, what other’s want, ignoring what our heart tells us in the darkest corners of the night?
Find Red, White & Royal Blue on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound & The Book Depository.
I fell hook, line and sinker for Red, White and Royal Blue because this book is perfection. Lili, after finishing it back in February, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. And you are absolutely right about our favourite trope being executed perfectly in this one!
It’s such a beautiful trope done right here! And YES SO SO GOOD!