Red, White and Royal Blue: Casey McQuiston

“…he dreamed of love like it was a fairytale, as if it would come sweeping into his life on the back of a dragon one day. When he got older he learned about love as a strange thing that could fall apart no matter how badly you wanted it, a choice you make anyway. He never imagined it’d turn out he was right both times.”

Brief Synopsis:

Alex is the son of the first female President of the US of A. Though he’s 21 and adult children generally don’t live in the White House, he’s staying with his mom while he goes to school, also wishing to enter into the convoluted world of politics one day. When his sister June informs him that they’re attending the royal wedding overseas, he’s less than overjoyed, because this only means one thing: coming face to face once again with Henry, his nemesis. Ever since Alex became the First Son, he hasn’t been able to resist comparing himself to the seemingly perfect (but bland) Henry, who is an actual prince and plays the part well.

The royal wedding is for Henry’s older brother, and during the reception Alex gets pretty drunk. He can’t help but goad Henry, and is a little frustrated when he doesn’t take the bait more. The two end up accidentally trashing the wedding cake and end up in the tabloids. Alex’s mom is furious and tells him that he’s doing damage control by pretending that him and Henry are just absolute bff’s.

At first, obviously, Alex is more than pissed. However (we all knew it was coming, guys) the more than he gets to know Henry, the more that he realizes that he probably painted the guy in a pretty bad light without much reason. He’s still pretty hesitant to actually call the guy his friend, even though the texts become more and more frequent and he even ends up calling Henry on more than one occasion (one being after a family fight on Christmas).

When the annual New Year’s party comes around that Alex, June and their bestie Nora host, June and Nora pull a little sneaky-sneak and invite Henry. Alex finds himself more delighted than he expected when Henry shows up, looking quite dapper, with his best friend Fez in tow. They begin the night well, drinking and dancing and all sort of fun, but when the clock strikes midnight and Alex shares a friendly kiss with Nora, Henry is nowhere to be found.

Alex finds him standing outside in the cold and after a short, confusing conversation, Henry kisses Alex, passionately. But he panics and takes off. Alex is insanely confused, because he’s straight, isn’t he? But he can’t get Henry or that kiss out of his head, and when he talks to Nora about it, she tells him he’s definitely bisexual. When Henry ends up at the white house once again, Alex confronts him in a very… physical way. Thus begins their trysts, finding reasons to visit one another and spend personal, steamy moments together.

It's supposed to just be fun, but before he knows it, Alex is falling in deep with him, even though he knows that it would be detrimental and impossible for both of their lives: Henry is royal and expected to produce heirs, and Alex knows what something like this would do for his mom’s race to be re-elected. Still, they can’t quite stay away from each other, and Alex confesses all to his mom. She’s surprisingly super supportive of it but does tell him how important treading lightly is.

Alex then takes Henry to meet his dad and can’t deny it anymore: he’s in love. But when he’s about to confess it to Henry, Henry doesn’t take it well and leaves before Alex can wake up the next morning. After a week of nothing from Henry, Alex can’t take it anymore and makes a mad dash to London to force Henry to talk to him. What seems like a breakup ends up being so much more for both of them, and they admit that they’re all in for each other.

Of course, as soon as this decision is made, shit hits the fan and speculation comes out that they’re way more than just best friends. June, bless her beautiful heart, is willing to step in and say that she’s the one that’s been dating Henry to save face. However, while this face-saving is taking place (Alex and Nora also pretend to date), the two of them are photographed kissing in the back of an SUV, and shit just really blows up from there.

Alex and Henry don’t care anymore, though. They’re ready to be together and not hide it from the world. They surprisingly have unflinching support from both of their mothers, who really go to bat for them. Though it seems like all is lost for this election, maybe their families and their own willingness to be unapologetically in love with each other can really go to show that the world can surprise you.

Favorite Quote(s):

“…until they’re only two people tangled up in a dark room making a brilliant, epic, unstoppable mistake.”

“I’ve always thought of myself as a problem that deserves to stay hidden.”

“He wants to set himself on fire, but he can’t afford for anyone to see him burn.”

My Rating:

Easy 8/10. I feel like some parts of the story were kind of quick and a lot of it happened to be really predictable, but I mean, it’s a rom com right? I really loved so many of the messages that it sent out and the characters were addicting.

Spice Rating:

I’m giving this a 9/10 spice rating and I sooo wasn’t expecting it.

Check out my Goodreads (Traci Bishop) and/or my Storygraph (bookishmamabish) to see what I’m currently reading and to see a good chunk of the books I have already read. My Instagram can be found on the home page and I will share whenever a new post is up as well!

Until next time <3