Red, White & Royal Blue

A Novel

By: Casey McQuiston

Narrated by: Ramon de Ocampo

Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

* GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD WINNER for BEST DEBUT and BEST ROMANCE of 2019 *

One of AudioFile Magazine's Best Audiobooks of 2019; an Instant New York Times bestseller; a *Must-Read Book* for Us Weekly, Vogue, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, Oprahmag.com, and more!

"Narrator Ramón de Ocampo brings out all the emotion in this tender, serious, funny, and warmly hopeful love story...Listeners will be swept up as Alex and Henry face questions of identity and coming out amid familial duties and political machinations." — AudioFile Magazine

What happens when America's First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?

When his mother became President, 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 the 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, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable 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 campaign and upend two nations and begs 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? Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn't always diplomatic.

Praise for Red, White & Royal Blue:

“Effervescent and empowering on all levels, Red, White & Royal Blue is both a well-written love story and a celebration of identity.” — NPR

"I took this with me wherever I went and stole every second I had to read! Absorbing, hilarious, tender, sexy—this book had everything I crave. I’m jealous of all the readers out there who still get to experience Red, White & Royal Blue for the first time!" - Christina Lauren, New York Times bestselling author of Love and Other Words and Roomies

"Red, White & Royal Blue is outrageously fun. It is romantic, sexy, witty, and thrilling. I loved every second." - Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Maybe in Another Life

©2019 Casey McQuiston (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

AudioFile Magazine Editors' Pick

"Narrator Ramón de Ocampo brings out all the emotion in this tender, serious, funny, and warmly hopeful love story." -AudioFile Magazine

"I tore through Red, White & Royal Blue as if it were a pint of Ben & Jerry's. By turns hilarious and angst-ridden, buoyant and strikingly real, this novel is a surefire bull’s-eye for any devotee of classic romance, slow burn fanfiction, or heartfelt storytelling. A political love story too timely and too genuine to miss." - Lyndsay Faye, internationally bestselling author of Jane Steele and The Gods of Gotham

Almost shockingly wonderful.

Despite its critical acclaim, instant bestseller status, innumerable awards, and snapped-up movie rights, I hesitated to read "Red, White, and Royal Blue." The title seemed too … cute. The book cover seemed too … cute. The theme seemed too … cute. Wow, am I sorry I waited. "Red, White, and Royal Blue" meets and exceeds the attention it has earned. It has everything: warmly drawn and winning characters, a wonderful story, fascinating settings, romance, cut-throat politics, hilarious humor, palace intrigue, current events, love of family, thrills, pop culture, history, sex (very, very hot sex), excitement, love, courage, betrayal, hope for the future, fireworks, and a cliffhanger or two. Reading this book, you will be utterly charmed. You will also fall in love, you will often laugh out loud, and sometimes, you will cry. Oh, will you cry.

I "read" this by following the Kindle e-book text while listening to the brilliant voice acting of award-winning actor Ramon De Ocampo. He was a revelation. He nimbly navigated different characters, different accents, even different languages in a way that gave great life to the story and depth to his characters, and he did it all with a seeming ease and total naturalness. I've rarely heard a more assured and enjoyable performance. If you're thinking about buying the Kindle version, buy the Audible version to go with it. You won't regret it.

Lastly, "Red, White, and Royal Blue" benefits from a second reading. The author's subtle foreshadowing, her placement of little clues of what's to come, is even more enjoyable the second time around and gives a second reading depth and nuance. You'll enjoy it even more the second time.

Especially in these times, we need things that bring us a little escape, a little brightness, and sheer joy. "Red, White, and Royal Blue" does exactly that. Highly, highly recommended.

History, huh?

I LOVE THIS BOOK. There, that sums everything up.

Alex Claremont-Diaz, America's bi-racial First Son and Prince Henry of England are both their respective countries' young sweetheart. Not-quite enemies, turned to text buddies, turned lovers. I love the supporting characters in this book too. It's quite a ride. Not so much angst, but the scenes and happenings are relatable and realistic enough.

The exchange of text messages and the emails are something to behold in this book, especially the emails!

It's wonderful to see how their relationship gradually developed and once fully established, it's more wonderful to see them fight for it, in their own way. If only America was already like this... I think it's what drew me into this book.. that hopeful wistful dream of America being this accepting and open.

It's my first listen to Ramon de Ocampo narrate and he did a great job!

Hands down one of my favorite books! All the stars (and stripes) for this book!

Adventures of 2 boys in love

I love a good story, but I love a good storyteller even more. Casey McQuiston and Ramon de Ocampo made me a fan of both of their efforts with this novel. I must admit that I am a sucker for a good rom-com, but I melt when it comes to quick witted dialogue. The rapport between the characters thoroughly enchanted me which was only accented by the incredible narration. In a world where current events are so similar to the book - it was relaxing to have a bit of escapism and a happy ending.

A happy, sweet, funny, charming, joyful story

To keep it simple,,, this is a totally adorable, fun, and lovely story that made me really happy. It's a funny, feel-good novel with great banter and solid family/friend relationships. For me, it was all the best parts of a romantic-comedy, with enough of a story that it doesn't need the usual contrived misunderstanding that most romances seem to rely on.

My only criticism of the audiobook is that Ramón de Ocampo (who is an excellent narrator and does a great job here) has a voice that is older and more mature than fits Alex as the protagonist. But, of course, that's just my personal reaction.

I loved it

I loved it so much, I read it over and over again. would recommend to everyone

A queer love story about self actualization

Honestly, I went into this with slightly wrong expectation. If this book had *just* been a queer YA romance, I would have gotten what I was expecting, but the book explores themes of self-love, self acceptance, opening yourself up to see past first impressions of others, and , and self-actualization set in a milieu of both national and international politics. The story's use of a president's son and a British prince and the secrecy and PR nightmare that such a pairing instigates feels like a very hyperbolic but emotionally resonant of what first love feels like for a young gay couple. And the identity issues don't merely stop at sexuality. Alex deals with issues of being bi-racial, bi, a liberal from a generally conservative state, while Henry deals with having a very long lineage and history that clashes with his world view and a family who glosses over personal crises for the sake of maintaining a royal image. This story manages to run the gamut of romantic tones from playful to heartfelt and even heartrending without ever feeling saccharine. And McQuiston does an amazing job with all her characters. As much as I love the way Alex and Henry develop of being both rib one another while still being very sincerely affectionate, she does an equal job of making Alex's entire family and Henry's sister feel like people you would want to know in real life... even if it means having to sit through awkward power point presentations. It also balances out the romance with political intrigue and family drama on both sides of the Atlantic.

Loved it!

This was such a cute, fluffy book! I adored it, and it's my new comfort read!

Perfection in a book.

This book is comfortably my favorite book I’ve read this year if not this decade. The story, the characters, the romance and the comedy are about as close to perfect as it gets and Ramón de Ocampo does an outstanding job narrating it. If you’re someone who always wanted the boy to get the prince then this story is for you!

Smoking hot Romance and Humor!

Can’t get enough of this book. It’s full of hope and exactly what I needed.

Great Book

The story was great and the narrator was very good at differentiating the characters. Great listen, very entertaining.