Fight the Dragons – Norbert Leo Butz (Big Fish cast recording)
This song has always made me very emotional, whenever I hear it come onto my playlist I just stop and listen to it; the relationship between a father and his son is so beautifully portrayed throughout. I think it fits so perfectly for Jonah and his dad and the memories that Jonah is trying so hard to keep hold of, I think Jonah would really find comfort in this song.
What is this feeling? – Wicked
I don’t think there is a better song to sum up Jonah and Dexter’s relationship in the start of the book! The sniping, the comments, the loathing. I could see them singing this and meaning every single word.
30/90 – Tick, Tick, Boom!
This song resonates so well with some of the themes in the book – turning 30 and not knowing if you have your life together is a real fear Jonah has. The line “Hey, can you be optimistic? You’re no longer the ingenue” is particularly poignant for Jonah I think; he has a fear of being forgotten, of the things he’s achieved vanishing before he can really grasp them. So, although this song sounds happy enough, the lyrics tell a slightly more cynical story, something that really does encapsulate Jonah perfectly.
Love him I don’t – Maisie Peters
Maisie Peters is often in rotation when I’m writing, and I remember listening to his one when writing Jonah’s break-up in the first chapter. I love this song because it explores things that were and things that are now and looking back with hindsight. When it comes to Jonah’s love life this song represents where he is in the beginning of the book.
Soundtrack – The Strike
If What is this feeling? is Jonah and Dexter at the beginning of the book, Soundtrack is how they develop throughout the narrative. “And even when the credits fade, I’ll always see your name” is such a gorgeous line for them; they go through a lot together and somehow find their way back to each other in the end because they work better together than apart.
Narrator: James Phoon
A Novel
Red, White & Royal Blue meets the theater world of London’s dazzling West End in this nuanced, queer debut romance in which a fake dating publicity stunt between rival co-stars results in romantic sparks neither of them expected.
After winning his first Olivier Award for his performance in the West End’s top musical, The Wooden Horse, fabulously talented Jonah Penrose is the new shining star of London’s theatre scene. But Jonah’s success can’t erase the pain of a recent breakup, fix his self-doubt, or remedy his father’s ailing mind.
Enter stage right, Dexter Ellis: the West End’s golden boy, the newest cast member of The Wooden Horse, and someone Jonah finds to be intolerable and arrogant.
Everything about Dexter is infuriatingly perfect, from his dashing looks and casual but cutting notes on Jonah’s performances to his obnoxious sweaters that cost more than Jonah’s rent. Worse yet, while Dexter was supposed to play Jonah’s enemy in the show, his role switches to his love interest after a bout of illness temporarily sidelines half of the cast.
Jonah’s plan to stay as far away from Dexter as possible is thwarted when fans mistake their on-stage tension for romantic chemistry and tickets start selling like hotcakes. With fans desperate to catch a glimpse of the West End’s ‘hottest couple,’ the show’s producer pushes the co-stars to put on a show of their own and convince the world that they are in love.
While pretending to be head over heels for his co-star is the last thing Jonah wants, he reluctantly agrees. Yet as he gets to know Dexter better, he learns there’s more to him than meets the eye. As the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur and Jonah’s feelings become less of an act, he must decide if he’s willing to entrust his heart to someone again.
At turns both passionate and poignant, heartfelt and intimate, The Dramatic Life of Jonah Penrose is a love letter to the theater, to life in your thirties, and to what happens when you throw out the script and improvise the life you want.
LGBTQ | Romance Comedy [ Harper Perennial, On Sale: November 11, 2025, Paperback / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9780063453678 / eISBN: 9780063453661 ]
Robyn Green was born and raised in Suffolk, England. After falling in love with the theatre at a young age, she spent time performing on stage before moving her focus behind the scenes where she now specializes in costume design and curation. Robyn’s passion for the arts is the main source of inspiration for her writing. The Dramatic Life of Jonah Penrose is her debut novel and her love letter to the theatre.
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