Red Girl, Blue Boy by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Title: Red Girl, Blue Boy (If Only... #5)

Author: Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's

Release Date: October 20, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Enjoy Red Girl, Blue Boy and the other standalone titles in Bloomsbury’s contemporary If Only romance line entered around an impossible problem: you always want what you can’t have!

Sixteen-year-old Katie and Drew really shouldn’t get along. After all, her father is the Republican nominee for President of the United States while his mother is at the top of the Democratic ticket. But when Katie and Drew are thrown together in a joint interview on a morning talk show, they can’t ignore the chemistry between them. With an entire nation tuned into and taking sides in your parents’ fight, and the knowledge that—ultimately—someone has to lose, how can you fall in love with the one person you’re supposed to hate?

This title in the If Only line is a frank and funny romance that shows how sparks fly when opposites attract.

I don’t really think I have to explain why Lauren Baratz-Logsted’s Red Girl, Blue Boy would be the kind of book I would enjoy? If you know me, it really should be a no-brainer. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise when I say that Red Girl, Blue Boy was a fun and totally adorable story.

Katie has spent her whole life in politics. After all, she was only four years old the first time she helped her father campaign. Now sixteen, Katie is ready to go back on the road with her father as he embarks on his biggest campaign yet: the one for president of the United States. Katie is ready for it, she knows exactly what she has to do in order to help her father win. The one thing she doesn’t count on, though, is Drew. Drew who just so happens to be the sixteen-year-old son of her father’s competition. Drew never wanted to be in the spotlight. He’ll support his mother’s bid for president, but that doesn’t mean he wants to be out campaigning with her. But when circumstances make it so him and Katie are forced together, Drew becomes intrigued by her. Katie and Drew know nothing can happen between them, but they are the only ones that understand exactly what the other is going through. And there’s something powerful in that. But being together could screw everything up for both their parents. 

I’ve loved every single book I’ve read from Bloomsbury’s If Only line. I mean, this is a line of cute contemporary romances so how could I possibly not love them? They pretty much have my name written all over them. And so I love it when I find out that there’s going to be a new book coming out in the series. So I was really excited about reading Lauren Baratz-Logsted’s Red Girl, Blue Boy. Plus with the upcoming election in Canada next week and the one in the US next year, it felt oddly timely. But that’s not really the point. Red Girl, Blue Boy was a fast, fun and highly enjoyable story to read. I loved getting this sort of behind the scenes look at presidential elections, at the way the candidates’ families are affected by it all, even if it was a fictionalized account of it all. I liked seeing the relationship develop between Drew and Katie. How even though it started out being about their parents running against each other in the election, it soon became about a whole lot more than that. It was just the kind of story that puts a smile on your face and keeps you turning the pages because it’s fun to read. And there were totally times when I was chuckling at bit at what was happening or at what some of the characters (*cough*Katie*cough*) were doing. Red Girl, Blue Boy was just plain old fun. And that’s how I like a lot of my YA romance.

If I’m being completely honest, it took me a while to like Katie. She was just so into her father’s campaign that it got to the point where she came across as almost robotic. There’s nothing wrong with being into politics and campaigning. Heck, I have a degree in political science so I would fall into that category. But with Katie, I had to wonder if she actually enjoyed it and loved it as much as she did because that’s truly how she felt or because she hasn’t really known anything else. But as I got to know her more and as she started doing more than just politics-related stuff, I warmed up to her pretty quickly. She was an amusing character to read about because everything that would be normal to any other teenager was so new to her. One of my favourite moments in the story is when she goes shopping for “regular clothes” with her secret service agent. And Drew was pretty much her complete opposite. He didn’t care much for politics and wasn’t exactly excited about his mom running for the highest office there is. But he was the perfect balance to Katie’s character. And they were kind of adorable together. And I loved them together.

Lauren Baratz-Logsted’s Red Girl, Blue Boy was a whole lot of fun. This story was a quick read that put a smile on my face. It was exactly the cute contemporary romance story I wanted and I enjoyed every moment spent reading it.