Audiobook Review: Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: May 14, 2019

Publisher: St. Martin’s/Macmillan Audio

Genre: YA, Contemporary Romance

Narrator: Ramon de Ocampo

Blurb:

A big-hearted romantic comedy in which First Son Alex falls in love with Prince Henry of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends…

First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.

The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him. 

As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you? 

Review:

Could this book BE anymore adorable?! Spoiler alert: NO! It was such a fun read, the perfect blend of snark, wit, romance and charm, everything that I look for in a romance novel (and more). Did I mention that this is a debut? I’m even more impressed by that fact and so excited to see what the author does next because this was seriously cute.

Enemies to lovers tropes are always so fun to me and I’ve never read one with the first son of the United States and the Prince of Wales. It’s pretty genius timing actually, US politics have never been more of a hot button topic and the entire world is currently obsessed with baby Archie so this one couldn’t really be anymore relevant and fresh feeling. Henry and Alex are individually interesting characters but when you put them together it’s a little bit magical. They have great chemistry and a fantastic, sharp banter, I kept doing that snort laugh thing while I was listening. The secondary characters are just as engaging and hilarious, from Madam President herself (Alex’s Mom) to Henry’s quirky best friend they all added some extra flavor and spunk to the story.

The narrator was great, he delivered the dry and sarcastic lines like a pro, it was seriously perfect and I think he was a great choice. Since I listened to this one versus read it I did feel like it dragged a bit at times but maybe if I was reading the actual book it would’ve been quicker, just wanted to throw that out there because it did feel a teesny but long for awhile. But overall this was a really fun read and one that I can definitely recommend, if you’ve had your eye on it go ahead and give it a shot, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

Red, White and Royal Blue in three words: Smart, Hip and Hilarious

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

11 thoughts on “Audiobook Review: Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

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