Red, White & Royal Blue
2019
- fiction, gay
- fiction, romance, contemporary
- fiction, humorous
- gay men, fiction
- presidents, united states, fiction
- nyt:trade-fiction-paperback=2019-06-02
- fiction
- humor
- romance
- lgbtq romance
The story
**What happens when America's First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?** When his mother became President of the United States, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius--his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with an actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex/Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse. Heads of family and state and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: Stage a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instagrammable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the presidential campaign and upend two nations. It raises the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through? This description comes from the publisher.
What it’s like
Bright, buoyant and sun-warmed, with the glossy pastel polish of a summer campaign trail and the lush pageantry of London palaces: that is the register of this romance, which moves through rapid-fire banter, group chats, and the carefully lit sheen of public life. The prose is quick and conversational, full of jokes and asides, so the pages turn like a fizzy, late-night phone scroll, while the quieter passages slow to dim studies and private rooms where the characters drop their masks. The mood is witty, tender and buoyant, with a sweetness that stays on the right side of cloying, and the stakes feel high but never truly frightening. Its two leads are a sharp, self-aware American and a reserved, dryly funny prince, and their arc is a steady thaw from rivalry into openness and honesty. Sexual content is present but not graphic, and there is no real violence or cruelty; the tension comes from secrecy and public scrutiny rather than danger. Good for a lazy weekend, a long flight, or a comfort read when you want warmth, laughter and a hopeful, feel-good ending, for readers who enjoy queer romance with a playful political edge.
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