A clever, romantic, sexy love story.
The much-loved royal romance genre gets a fun and refreshing update in McQuiston’s debut.
Alex Claremont-Diaz, son of the American President Ellen Claremont, knows one thing for sure: He hates Henry, the British prince to whom he is always compared. He lives for their verbal sparring matches, but when one of their fights at a royal wedding goes a bit too far, they end up falling into a wedding cake and making tabloid headlines. An international scandal could ruin Alex’s mother’s chances for re-election, so it’s time for damage control. The plan? Alex and Henry must pretend to be best friends, giving the tabloids pictures of their bromance and neutralizing the threat to Ellen's presidency. But after a few photo ops with Henry, Alex starts to realize that the passionate anger he feels toward him might be a cover for regular old passion. There are, naturally, a million roadblocks between their first kiss and their happily-ever-after—how can American political royalty and actual British royalty ever be together? How can they navigate being open about their sexualities (Alex is bisexual; Henry is gay) in their very public and very scrutinized roles? Alex and Henry must decide if they’ll risk their futures, their families, and their careers to take a chance on happiness. Although the story’s premise might be a fantasy—it takes place in a world in which a divorced-mom Texan Democrat won the 2016 election—the emotions are all real. The love affair between Alex and Henry is intense and romantic, made all the more so by the inclusion of their poetic emails that manage to be both funny and steamy. McQuiston’s strength is in dialogue; her characters speak in hilarious rapid-fire bursts with plenty of “likes,” “ums,” creative punctuation, and pop-culture references, sounding like smarter, funnier versions of real people. Although Alex and Henry’s relationship is the heart of the story, their friends and family members are all rich, well-drawn characters, and their respective worlds feel both realistic and larger-than-life.
A clever, romantic, sexy love story.Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-31677-6
Page Count: 432
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
BOOK TO SCREEN
A smart, sexy romance for readers who thrive on girl power.
In star-studded Hollywood, a blossoming romance between two talent agents grinds to a halt when their agencies merge and there’s only enough room for one of them.
Evie Abbey and Carter Aaron have the ultimate meet-cute when they both show up solo to a couples' Halloween party thrown by mutual friends. As the only single people in attendance, they bond over the awkwardness of their situation and the coincidence that they’re both dressed as characters from Harry Potter. Since they both know how demanding an agent’s schedule can be, they try to keep things platonic, until they experience one mind-blowing date. But there’s no morning-after glow once they arrive at their offices Monday morning to learn that their agencies have merged and the two of them will be working together until their contracts are up and a decision can be made on who stays and who goes. Though Evie and Carter do their best to act as a team, Evie’s frustration at the boys’ club atmosphere that emerges turns their workplace competition into a full-blown battle of the sexes. Carter is the boy next door, with an infectious sense of humor, while Evie is a fearless, feminist powerhouse. Her struggles as a modern woman, having to work twice as hard as a man for the same job, endure being called “girl” and “kiddo,” and exhaust herself over remaining assertive yet still approachable, elevate the book from a romantic comedy to a deeper tale about trying to have it all in a world that can be unforgiving to what’s often seen as the fairer sex. The romance is deliciously tense, as readers will be begging for Carter and Evie to just kiss already. Filled with high jinks, pop-culture references, and grin-inducing flirtation, it's truly a romance for the 21st century.
A smart, sexy romance for readers who thrive on girl power.Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6581-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
A romance attempting to tackle #MeToo misses the mark.
A local club owner helps a recently fired sous-chef get revenge on her boss.
Liv Papandreas puts up with a lot from her boss at Nashville’s hottest restaurant—Royce is verbally abusive and takes credit for his staff’s recipes—but the final straw is when she witnesses him sexually harassing and groping a hostess in his office. After Liv is fired, she vows to bring his abuse to light. Her unlikely ally is Braden Mack, her brother-in-law’s charmingly smarmy friend. Mack is outraged when he hears about Royce’s actions; he wonders why he never noticed the man’s predatory behavior, and he enlists the other men in his romance-reading book club to help Liv bring Royce to justice. Their shock at Royce's actions might strike readers as naïve; on the other hand, Liv and Mack’s decision to go after Royce without consulting lawyers or the police is both inexplicable and reckless. After an overly long setup, the revenge plot is put on hold to develop the wan romance between Liv and Mack. Neither of them trust emotional entanglements, so they agree to a no-strings affair while they use Mack’s superficial knowledge of romantic suspense to figure out how to bring Royce’s misdeeds to light. Adams (The Bromance Book Club, 2019, etc.) clearly intends for Royce to be a Harvey Weinstein–like figure: He threatens to end Liv’s career, orders his thugs to follow Liv and Mack, and pays off the many women he has harassed. Unfortunately, the tone of the novel reduces #MeToo to a madcap caper, including fart jokes, traffic jams, and macho posturing. The victims of Royce’s sexual harassment are used as a plot device, allowing Liv, Mack, and the other book club members to swoop in and save the day.
A romance attempting to tackle #MeToo misses the mark.Pub Date: March 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0611-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Jove/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
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