The State of Us

Red, White, and Royal Blue meets What If It’s Us? in The State of Us, the story of Dean and Dre, the seventeen-year-old sons of the Republican and Democratic candidates for president of the United States, who fall in love on the sidelines of their parents’ presidential campaigns.



When Dean Arnault’s mother decided to run for president, it wasn’t a surprise to anyone, least of all her son. But that doesn’t mean Dean was ready for the public scrutiny or the 24-hour news cycle that comes along with it. As far as everyone knows, Dean is button-down shirt wearing, church-going, straight A-high school student. Yet no one knows who Dean really is, not even himself—at least not until Dean meets Dre Rosario. Finally, there’s someone in Dean’s life who actually understands him. The only problem: Dre’s the son of the Democratic opposition.



But when Dean and Dre find themselves locked together in the green room before the start of that first debate, they’re surprised at their instant connection. And as their meet-ups on the campaign trail become less left to chance, their friendship quickly becomes the deepest connection either of the boys have ever known. But if it wasn’t hard enough being on opposite sides of the aisle, a shady third-party candidate suddenly claims to have “pictures that will change everything,” pictures that could cause Dean and Dre’s world to explode around them.



It’s a new modern-day, star-crossed romance about what it really means to love your country—and yourself—from acclaimed author Shaun David Hutchinson.