Books Like Red, White & Royal Blue

Why Each Pick

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

For readers who loved Alex and Henry's fight to keep a public life and a private love apart. An aging Hollywood star tells a young reporter the truth about her life, including the woman she loved in secret for decades while the press followed her marriages. It shares the theme of fame versus honesty, but it is a dramatic historical novel, not a rom-com, and far more bittersweet.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

A queer romance with the same warmth and humor, minus the politics. Linus, a buttoned-up government caseworker, is sent to inspect an island orphanage for magical children and slowly falls for its caretaker. It is gentler and slower than McQuiston, with a fantasy setting, a found family and no explicit scenes. It suits readers who loved the kindness at the heart of Red, White & Royal Blue.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

A love story between a prince and his companion, told with real longing. Patroclus narrates his bond with Achilles from boyhood to the Trojan War. Like Alex and Henry, they must weigh love against duty and other people's expectations. It is literary and mythic rather than funny, and it follows the Iliad, so its ending is tragic rather than happy.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

For readers who loved the rivalry before the romance. Lucy and Joshua share an office and can't stand each other, and their games of one-upmanship turn into something else. It has the same sharp banter and push and pull between two people who can't stop needling each other. It is an office romance between a man and a woman, with explicit scenes and no politics.

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

A fake relationship that turns real, like the staged friendship in Red, White & Royal Blue. Catalina needs a date for her sister's wedding in Spain, and her infuriating coworker Aaron volunteers. It is a slow-burn rom-com with family drama, a big wedding and Spanish settings. It is longer, at 448 pages, and stays focused on one couple, without the ensemble cast or the politics.

Beach Read by Emily Henry

For readers who loved the wit. A romance writer who has stopped believing in love and a literary novelist who is stuck spend a summer as neighbors and swap genres. Emily Henry's banter is as quick as McQuiston's, and the romance has real heat. It is also about grief and family secrets, so there is more sadness under the jokes, and it runs 384 pages.

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

Another fake arrangement that becomes a long-distance romance. Alexa and Drew meet when they get stuck in an elevator on the way to a wedding, and a spur-of-the-moment fake date turns into something real between Berkeley and Los Angeles. Like Alex and Henry's transatlantic romance, it runs on texts, visits and stolen weekends. It is a lighter, shorter rom-com with explicit scenes.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Rivals-to-lovers with a prince, in a court full of politics and secrets. Jude, a mortal girl raised in the High Court of Faerie, clashes with the cruel Prince Cardan and gets pulled into a fight for the throne. It shares the royal intrigue and the sparring, but it is young adult fantasy, much darker and more violent, and the first of a trilogy.