Who would have guessed that when rivals First Son of the United States Alex Claremont-Diaz and British Prince Henry have to pretend to be friends for the sake of international relations after a wedding cake mishap, love was under the surface and ready to blossom. Yet despite the growing feelings, the two must keep their relationship a secret as not to disrupt Alex’s mother’s campaign nor paint the image of the Crown in the “wrong light.” Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston sweetly takes you through their hidden romance as they take on life in the global spotlight.

This book was one of the first romance novels I’ve read where it genuinely felt like it was the main characters against the world, rather than against themselves. They fell in love, they do all the dorky things we do in those situations, yet they never lack reasons to be a couple. The most tumultuous periods truly within the relationship itself were feeling scared to share their feelings for each other, never that there were these unsolvable problems or lack of genuine communication. And given how it feels to exist as a queer person in today’s society, there are definitely reasons why sharing these feelings is a bit more complicated than if they were a straight couple. Honestly, it was refreshing (and quite dismal for me, because rather than mentally critiquing how ridiculous the characters are acting, I had to face a pretty, unadulterated relationship my quite single self wishes for).

I was also surprised by how funny the book was. By no means was it a comedy, but it definitely extracted some audible chuckles from me. McQuinston did a good job balancing the romance, funnies, plot, and honestly the sex scenes, too. One thing that sometimes gets too much in romance novels is how graphic those scenes can be, which is fine, but I stop seeing the book as “romance” by that point. This book definitely had them, but they used such language that you got the gist of what was happening without excruciating clarity. We have imagination, we can figure it out.

Lastly, I want to address the queerness of the book. I felt like the representation was pretty legitimate, and overall the gay relationship part only affected the characters in how others saw them, but didn’t really affect the way they felt about each other. Watching Alex as he mentally came to terms with his own sexuality was done in a very calm, and to-be-desired way. For many, such realizations are pretty earth-shattering, ground-breaking, the-end-is-neigh type things, especially if you grew up with or around homophobic people or religions. It was almost like reading how a healthy, or at least healthier, sexual realization should take place.

I personally can’t find any huge plot details or other issues with the book to mention, and given how happy/sad/lonely this book made me feel as I am dealing with a recurring long-term crush, in addition with the LGBTQ+ representation, it easily deserves 5/5 stars. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a cute romance novel or a dose of pretty decent representation.

Happy reading,
-Beppa