Hello everyone!
This Thursday's blog post will be a little bit different in the sense that I'm not going to be talking about one book only. The thing is, I could easily stretch this into two blog posts - and then two weeks of course - but there isn't that much to discuss in terms of both plotline and the wow factor (though there IS plenty of both, still) for that.
In any event, I decided to just throw both books of the double in here and see where the chips fall.
I had encountered Katy Evans before, way before, when her book Real somehow landed in my hands, and I sort of liked her writing style back then. I went ahead afterwards and continued with Mine and Remy, although later, while waiting for the fourth in this series, it sort of fell off my radar and I kind of forgot about it.
Until a very random day a week (or two, no more than that) ago when her name popped up again, this time in connection with a different book altogether.
So, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief, of the White House series.
From what I gathered at the back of the second book, there IS a third one in the works, a standalone in a sense but still in this particular world set by the previous two, and I'm kind of excited for that. It was an interesting read and different to the Real series I had read previously.
What's it all about?
Well, if you've ever watched Scandal or West Wing or anything of the sort, it's pretty much along those lines.
Mr. President first introduces us to Charlotte, daughter of a senator, who encounters President Hamilton (fictional, obviously) and his son Matthew when she's just eleven years old. The meeting impresses her so much (and also, she crushes on Matt so badly) that she sends the president's son a note saying she'd love to work on his campaign if he ever ran for president himself.
As Matt doesn't seem to have that intention initially, she's pretty safe, working for an organisation called Women of the World, until the day Matt Hamilton DOES in fact reemerge from self-imposed privacy exile, and announces he'll run as an independent candidate.
See, his father had been assassinated only a little before the end of his second term, and while Matt's mother never wants her son in the Oval office, for pressure and danger's sake, Matt has other ideas.
He also remembers the girl who wrote him that letter, and sends his campaign manager to recruit her.
Which is how Charlotte finds herself on the inside of an exciting campaign filled with fresh, new, young faces, who all want to make some sort of change in the world and don't want to keep going on as they have so far.
She also finds herself directly in Matt's line of sight, and because she's now twenty-two, basically legal, things between them can turn steamy before you snap your fingers.
But there's a snatch - one I didn't quite understand at the time, and still don't fully, but oh well.
Matt is single, and has announced, loudly, that he has no intention of marrying because his wife will be the USA - so by that logic, I suppose, his relationship with Charlotte, the affair of some sort, could be considered scandalous and detrimental to his campaign (though how, with both of them single and consentual adults, this could be considered wrong in any event, I've no clue). This just means the forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest, but hey, it gives us a lot of sneaking around!
Charlotte does try to walk away - unsuccessfully. But what she does succeed at is helping, like everyone else, to put another Hamilton into the Oval office.
After which she takes off for Europe for a couple of months.
This is where we step into the second book, Commander-in-Chief.
In which Matt is sworn in as President as opposed to President-Elect, and takes up residence in the White House. His mother tells him another truth: he won't be able to let "that" girl go, so she knows he's going to go after Charlotte sooner rather than later.
And since Charlotte can't stay away from him, or the inaugural ball she's invited to, Matt quickly comes to the point:
come with him to the White House as his acting First Lady.
Which, you know, at twenty-three is MORE than a daunting prospect, but she accepts.
And ends up living the dream, basically.
Charlotte starts making her own changes right alongside Matt, and there are a few red lines throughout the book to follow: one is obviously their relationship, the second is Matt's hunt for his father's killer (now that he has presidential resources available) and third is the politician's life.
Initially struggling, because he doesn't want to do anything halfway, Matt eventually capitulates and admits that, not only does he love Charlotte, but he's going to marry her.
You know, nothing says that more than telling the entire White House Press Corps before the bride-to-be. I kind of found that funny beyond belief, but also endearing.
Charlotte, initially wanting to wait even coming out as a couple to allow America to get used to her (she's their sweetheart anyway), obviously says yes, and they get married in a highly anticipated wedding.
Not only that, but they first welcome a son, Matt Jr., and learn that Charlotte is expecting again by the end of the book.
Meanwhile, Matt also finds his father's killer, bringing himself (and his family) some much-needed peace.
On the political side, they both deal with becoming public figures no. 1 and try to come to terms with different aspects that entails, which does include difficult, military-oriented calls for Matt, and equally some schedule-rearranging for Charlotte when she becomes a mother.
Also, they need to address whether or not Matt will run for a second time - something which he's leaning towards declining, but Charlotte tells him she's all in.
Which means another year of campaigning - and another Hamilton win.
At which point we leave the happy couple, with their second child on the way, and see their Camelot come to life.
I realise my review of both these books is a very simplified version and doesn't really hold one tenth of what the actual books do in terms of interest, but really, I can't write the way Evans writes - and you need to read the books to understand just what makes them tick. For me, personally, I preferred the second one to the first (once the whole WE CAN'T DO THIS thing was swept under a rug somewhere), but equally I enjoyed getting to know Matt more. Charlotte was ok, but for me, the driving force was always Matt Hamilton, his personality, wants and needs, because so help me but I'm a glutton for characters like him.
And yeah, I'll be reading the third book when it comes out. Now excuse me as I hunt down my copy of Real again to re-read it!
xx
*images not mine
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