{Release Day Review} Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (@Casey_McQuiston @StMartinsPress)

A big-hearted romantic comedy in which the First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends...

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. 
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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?

​Alex Claremont-Diaz is the future of America.  Along with his sister, the First Siblings are known in all of the tabloids for being intelligent, driven and incredibly easy on the eyes.
 
He’s the perfect picture of diplomacy.  Unless, of course, Prince Henry of England is involved.

“June, I’m the son of the President of the United States. Prince Henry is a figurehead of the British Empire. You can’t just call him my ‘archnemesis,’” Alex says. He returns to his donut, chewing thoughtfully, and adds, “‘Archnemesis’ implies he’s actually a rival to me on any level and not, you know, a stuck-up product of inbreeding who probably jerks off to photos of himself.” 

“Woof.” 
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“I’m just saying.”

​Prince Henry lives a life of responsibility.  He’s the face of the Royal Family to the entire world.  But what they don’t see is that he leaves a little piece of himself in every hospital and with every child that he visits. 
 
He can remember the very first time he encountered Alex all those years ago and it was then that he knew that he should stay far away.
 
But now he has no choice after they make a spectacle of epic proportions at a royal wedding.  It’s a punishment of the deepest kind.
With each visit and with every late-night text, Alex makes him believe that love can always overcome hate.  With him by his side, he’s finally going to find the strength to prove it.  

​“Here we are,” Bea says when they’ve reached the front row. “These are ours.” Henry looks at the lush green cushions of the seats topped with thick and shiny WIMBLEDON 2020 programs, right at the front edge of the box.

 “Front and center?” he says with a note of nervousness. “Really?” 
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“Yes, Henry, in case you have forgotten, you are a royal and this is the Royal Box.” She waves down to the photographers below, who are already snapping photos of them, before leaning into them and whispering, “Don’t worry, I don’t think they can detect the thick air of horn-town betwixt you two from the lawn.”

Red, White & Royal Blue is so much more than just another Rom Com! Casey McQuiston’s smart and hopeful prose elevates this story to a completely new level of excellence.  Her characters shine bright with their witty banter and are not only relatable, but they are also heartbreakingly beautiful in their truth.  
 
This is a world that I would love to live in.  I want to know the Claremont-Diaz family and vote for them at the polls.  And that is a sure sign of a winner…

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