Love Wins in Red White & Royal Blue

Politics isn’t easy to stomach these days. Increasingly, a simple discussion about the state of America can send citizens into a tailspin of worry about who we are and what we stand for. But shining like a rom-com beacon in the darkness, Casey McQuinston’s Red White & Royal Blue creates joy and hope in the otherwise bleak world of international politics.

Alex Claremont-Diaz is the First Son of the United States, a proud Texan and a hardworking hopeful, dreaming of making a change in Congress one day. When his rivalry with the Prince of England, Henry, causes Alex to publicly ruin a royal wedding and drag Henry stumbling into a cake with him, the pair find themselves needing set their conflicts aside for the sake of US-UK relations. Over time, the two men set their conflicts and misunderstandings aside and a friendship between them blossoms over cultural comparisons and witty banter. They realize that they have more in common than they’d first imagined – they’re both held up as representatives of their countries and both struggling with the pressures of life in the public eye in their own ways. As the presidential re-election campaign for Alex’s mother heats up and Alex and Henry grow closer and closer, Alex begins to question what he thought he knew about himself and what is most important to him in life. And that Henry may just mean more to him than he realized.

This book was a roller coaster that my heart loved to ride. A needed escape from the reality of politics, a wonderful and diverse cast of endearing characters completed the world of Red White & Royal Blue. McQuinston balances sweet bonding moments, steamy exchanges, and gutting emotional beats to create a beautiful, hopeful novel. Full of queer joy and relatable coming-of-age struggles, this novel was what every contemporary romance hopes to be. McQuinston doesn’t shy away from discussing topics of colonialism, race, and the struggles of being gay. But hope, goodness, and love triumph in the face of adversity and leave readers with a deep feeling of warmth and optimism.