Red, White & Royal Blue

Wildly romantic story which quotes some fabulous love letters and has the benefit of having some real issues separate those whom true love has joined. For me it dragged a bit in the final third, but the rest of the flow was sprightly and the characters were fun to spend time with. ( )

Oh my gosh, how I loved this book! When I saw this book offered as one of the selections for Book of the Month, I immediately knew that I had to have it. I have heard great things about the book from a lot of different reviewers so I wanted to see what all of the fuss was about for myself. Well, I quickly figured out that this book was worthy of all the hype it has received. I had a great time with this book from start to finish and am so happy that I had the chance to give it a read.

Alex is the son of the President of the United States. His mom is the first woman elected into that office and his father holds a seat in Congress. He plans to run for public office himself someday and enjoys getting involved in politics. He does have a bit of a problem with one of the English princes and he has a royal wedding to attend where he is sure to run into the prince in question and maybe even share a bit of cake. When things go wrong at the wedding, those in charge decided that Alex and Henry need to spend some time together and show the press that they are actually friends.

I loved Alex and Henry. The story is told from Alex's point of view so we do see more of what is going on in his world but I have to admit that Henry stole my heart. Henry had so many things to deal with and his life was under the control of others. He was such a caring character and I just wanted to see things work out for him. Alex was also amazing. He had a lot to figure out in this story but he wasn't afraid to take risks when necessary. I thought that the supporting cast of characters was also very well done.

I thought that the romance was very well done. I really liked how their relationship developed and enjoyed seeing them turn to each other more and more as the story progressed. Most of the time, these two had an ocean between them but I really enjoyed all of the texts, emails, and phone calls they shared. When they were together, it was special. These two had fantastic chemistry that only grew stronger throughout the book.

I would highly recommend this book to others. I was swept away by this story and felt like I was right there with Alex and Henry cheering them towards their happily ever after. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. ( )

It's a well-written narrative. However, it is far too lengthy for my taste. The characters are complex. It's almost mythical structurally. It re-purposed the 2016 Presidential email scandal between Clinton and the current POTUS.

In a strange way, it romanticizes the international relations between the U.S. and the U.K.

It's not light reading. At times, it's funny. But there are also moments when it can be crass.

Readers must focus intently on the positive pieces of the relationship circle between Alex, Henry, and the woman president.

This is a novel made for people who needed to reconcile the loss of the first female United States' president. ( )

Let me be clear, before I'm absolutely eviscerated by my loved ones for not giving this 5 stars: I really, really loved this story. The last chapter made me cry. I rooted for Alex and for Henry the whole time. I loved the cast of characters. I loved the ending.

I just didn't love the writing. It's a good book, don't get me wrong, and I really did enjoy reading it. But the writing just didn't work for me, particularly in the first half of the book. Some of the exposition felt clumsy and Disney-like, and there were scenes that felt like they were trying too hard to connect to today's youth that they made me cringe. However, I'm also not used to reading YA or NA, so it's possible that's just a genre feature that will take me some getting used to.

However, Casey certainly has a knack for the comical, and the book had me literally laughing out loud at times (THE POWERPOINT OH MY GOD). They also mastered the characters, who felt simultaneously like caricatures and real people. I don't know how else to describe them.

And also, this book is IMPORTANT. It's so important to have queer romances like this represented in major print, and I'm really glad I read the book!!! All in all, would recommend, and I'm excited to see how Casey grows from here!

EDIT: ALSO REALLY EXCITED TO SEE THIS ON THE BIG SCREEN BECAUSE I PERSONALLY FEEL IT MAY WORK BETTER AS A SCREENPLAY ( )

Yaaaas! ( )