Red, White & Royal Blue: A Royally Romantic Enemies to Lovers Bestseller Paperback – 14 April 2022

“Sometimes you just jump and hope it’s not a cliff...”*Alex Claremont-Diaz is America's beloved First Son and treated like royalty by the media. But being an international socialite does have its downfalls. Namely when the tabloids get hold of photos from a royal wedding that bring to the fore a confrontation with his arch nemesis, Prince Henry. With American/British relations threatened, and his mother's reelection campaign kicking off, there's only one thing for it - staging a fake friendship between the Prince of England and the First Son of America. Alex soon finds himself diving head first in to a secret relationship with Henry that, if discovered, could change the course of history for both nations. Is it a risk worth taking?*"History, huh? Bet we could make some..."*OH MY GOSH!! What a story, what a romance, what a book! I had heard the hype and I'd seen this book everywhere so I went in to it a bit cautious. But it delivered! In fact, I think it deserves MORE hype especially when you realise this is a debut novel! I loved the humour, I loved the politics and I loved the dynamic between Alex and Henry. The sexual tension between these two and the delivery of it was so satisfying. From socialite foes to can't keep their hands off eachother lovers - it was perfect!As a History teacher I have a big interest in international politics and while reading this I felt hope for the future. That some day we will have badass representation of all genders, ethnicities and sexualities in positions of power across the world and that sexuality should be embraced and not something that needs to be hidden within any institution. Because let me tell you, there have most definitely been queer royals throughout the ages, despite what white-washed conservative history may claim and one of my favourite parts of this book, like I laughed out loud, was when Henry addressed his brother and the history of the British monarchy “What are we even defending here, Philip? What kind of legacy? What kind of family, that says, we’ll take the murder, we’ll take the raping and pillaging and the colonizing, we’ll scrub it up nice and neat in a museum, but oh no, you’re a bloody poof? That’s beyond our sense of decorum!"*"The phrase 'see attached bibliography' is the single sexiest thing you have ever written to me..."

How am I even meant to begin to document my love for this book? 5 starts doesn't seem like enough. If I could give it 10, I would.The book follows the story of Alex, First Son of The United States, and his relationship with Henry, Prince of Wales. It got moments that'll make you laugh, like properly belly laugh, and others that will bring a tear to your eyes. Others that will make your heart feel warm and fuzzy and loved.This book is filled with romance and some pop-culture references and is just all around great fun. But above all that, the story and the way it's written really touched me.Alex's journey of figuring out he's bisexual and coming to terms with that and finding an outpouring of love and support from his his family and carving out his shipper group of friends really resonated with me - it was beautiful some. And the romantic relationship between him and Henry? It killed me how cute it was. You really, truly felt like you were witnessing 2 people in soil crushing, all consuming love with each other and it just got me!And can we just take a moment to talk about the representation? We've got bipoc characters, bisexual characters, gay characters, a pansexual character and a transgender character! We love to see it.100/10, 5-star read. Honestly, my favourite read so far of this year. I loved the way book ended, so warm and full of hope. But, I could also happily read more from this universe! If you're love queer romances, this book is a must read!

I started reading this in July and was set to finish it before the end of the month but then my fur baby passed away and I’ll hold my hands up and say reading was not my top priority for a good week. So, I put RW&RB down at around the 40% mark to focus on my well-being and processing what had happened. Now up until that point I was absolutely loving this read and powering through it. I started the read on the evening July 27th and by bedtime on the 28th I was already at page 174 which is super quick for me to be getting through a book, especially around work.Red, White and Royal Blue is essentially what it says on the tin, like with most romance books you always know what you’re getting from the cover and the synopsis. In relation to the plot as a whole I wasn’t super surprised by the way things go down. Books like this are all about the feel good factor, the humour, the love overcoming obstacles and a good dollop of drama. And RW&RB does not disappoint on those factors!The writing style is super easy to read and very difficult not to enjoy. The humour is well presented, and I found myself chuckling/laughing throughout the read. I found when I picked this book back up August 3rd that the writing style really helped me during those sad moments in my real life, it eased some of the pain and put a little smile back on my face. If you’re going through a tough time and need a light easy read with some humour in it then this is a book to consider.What I will say about the writing is that Casey is not afraid of some naughty language, if you aren’t a fan of swearing and some sexual references maybe look to avoid this book cause our Texas MC Alex, has a bit of dirty mouth of him.Like I’ve said the plot is as you’d expect from a typical romance, the only difference is that the lover are two young men which I adored. I really love seeing LGBTQ+ representation in books because they should have the same stories and adventures written about them as straight people too. And because the book uses the frequently seen Prince Charming, like an actual Prince, it is refreshing to see this sort of plot with two male characters.I did find it quite odd that the entire British Royal family is completely fictional, apart from Henry who is quite obviously based on Prince Harry. Prince Harry if he had been gay. And that the references to previous US Presidents were actually historically correct. Like it really bugged me out for a bit. Why not either fictionalise both the Royal Family and the previous President? Or use the real Royal Family with reference to real previous presidents? I understood from references to previous Presidents and their family held a significant value in relation to the context they were spoken about and as the overall vibe of the book is that it’s written more for an American audience I could see why the author may have kept the US History aspect.The characters are fun and quirky. Alex the MC I can see some readers struggling to build a connection with him as he is quite obnoxious, but his journey of self-discovery does feel genuine and realistic for his character. Casey also wrote him so that you can see his underlying insecurities which is what makes the more obnoxious behaviour makes sense and makes Alex feel more real, but you need to read a chunk of the book to get there. Prince Henry is what everyone would expect of a Royal Prince in his behaviour and mannerism. As we get to know more of him I really like the way he was developed as a character throughout. I also really enjoyed all the side characters and how they added to the story, they all had a purpose and weren’t just in the story for convenience.Overall, I super enjoyed reading this book considering the circumstance I read the last 60% through. It proved to be a really good distraction from my own sadness. It’s a funny entertaining read. If you want a really easy read, where you kind of know what to expect that you’ll find enjoyable and make you laugh here it is. If you’re having a tough time and want a distraction this book is a go too.