I loved this book! Holy shit, it was everything I wanted and more. First of all, it's set in a brighter timeline of American history- instead of the current administration, the President elected after Obama in this book was a Democratic Senator from Texas named Ellen Claremont. Her son, Alex Claremont-Diaz, a senior in college focused on his own future political career, is the lead character. Alex is very close with his older sister June, who wants to be a journalist, and Nora, the VP's math-quiz granddaughter. These three have been given the nickname the White House Trio and do a lot of press and campaigning with their families. So it isn't a surprise that they are invited to the Royal Wedding of Philip, the oldest of the three children in this book's alternate English Royal Family. Alex is not excited to go, because he feels like he has a rivalry with the younger son, Henry. His Royal Highness said something rude to Alex at the 2016 Rio Olympics and that, in addition to his extremely good looks, makes Alex dislike him. A belligerent conversation at the reception ends with both of them tripping into the $75,000 wedding cake. They are then required to do a "pretend to be best friends" press tour weekend together to smooth things over. The weekend ends with Alex giving Henry his number. A friendship develops between them long distance as Alex grinds through finals and starts a job as a White House intern and pressure ramps up towards the 2020 election. The author is clearly a big fan of The West Wing, which is explicitly referenced more than once, and I would make an educated guess that she is also a fan of royalty AU fanfiction. The surety with which this book hit every emotional fic beat filled me with warm fuzzy feelings. But it is also quite political, and the climax of the story is a series of scandals that threaten the outcome of the election. The ending left me wistful for a more progressive America.

I listened to the audio book version read by Ramón de Ocampo, which I highly recommend.