I love TJ Alexander, and I was so excited to see they were coming out with a historical romance. The book is a total delight--I loved the characters, and the plot is fun and moves along at a good clip. Romance lovers should be aware that it's *extremely* slow burn, but I thought that made sense for the characters, and it never dragged.

I do wish the publisher had gone with a different cover image--a rounder trans model rather than a thin, cis man--but I guess you can't win them all. It's definitely a very pretty cover!

Every time I read a new book by TJ Alexander, they move higher and higher up my favorite authors list. I’m not a huge regency romance reader, but I will read anything Alexander writes, and I absolutely adored this book. Christopher was a fantastic character, I was rooting for him from page one. I loved the interactions between Christopher & James, and the level of pining through the book was perfect.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of A Gentleman’s Gentleman in exchange for my honest review.

4 stars

Okay, I'll be honest with you, this was a rather slow start, but I am so glad I stayed with it. This was just a fun and heartfelt story. I was quickly drawn to this being a queer historical romance with trans rep. We don't see much of that. T.J. Alexander did that wonderfully. This is their first foray into historical romance, and you can kind of tell, but there's so much potential for even more of this from them. I really loved Christopher's character. I really related to how he describes his feelings towards his identity and the way he internalized everything. The latter is so relatable. James remained a mystery for much of the book, and even after his little reveal, he still felt like a bit of an enigma. Overall, I really enjoyed this slow burn romance and the trans rep in a historical romance. There are some little things that I didn't fully vibe with, but as a whole, I had a lot of fun with this story. I really love T.J. Alexander and their work. I look forward to more from them, and hopefully, more queer historical romance.

This book was so cute, but the plot felt rushed towards the end. Still a super fun read, and I would recommend!

Regency romance isn’t normally my thing, but I am interested in ones that have queer and trans representation in them. I gave T.J. Alexander’s last 3 books 5 stars, so I went into this one with an optimistic mindset. The story follows Lord Christopher Eden, a trans man who is content just living out in his country estate with his small number of staff. But he’s forced to bring on a new valet and spend a season in London so that he can get married to keep his family’s fortune. Enter James Harding, an experienced valet with some secrets of his own.

I flew through this book, I read it in one sitting. Christopher was an interesting character to follow. He’s dealing with grief after losing his family and loneliness due to the way he lives his life in order to protect his secrets. It was fun watching Harding come in and shake things up by preparing Christopher to enter London society. I liked seeing the back and forth of Harding trying to get Christopher to do things in a more traditional way and Christopher trying to get Harding to be less formal.

It takes a really long time in the book before the characters are fully honest with one another and actually get together. I was hoping it would happen a bit earlier in the book. The formal nature of Harding being Christopher’s valet and not wanting to overstep the typical boundaries of that relationship held them back from having intimate moments and conversations more fully throughout the story. It felt like they got together and then the book was basically over.

While this didn’t become a new all-time favorite for me, I think it’s definitely worth picking up if you’re into queer/trans regency romances. There’s a fun cast of side characters, copious descriptions of elaborate outfits, and queer love prevailing against all odds.

Great book! I enjoyed reading it and discovering the main characters' quiet love. This book leaned heavily into slow burn and TJ Alexander really makes you wait for the spice 😆

Lord Eden is reclusive and keeps to himself, while James Harding, his hot valet, is super starchy and traditional. The men fight a bit because each are stubborn for their own reasons and Christopher jumps to conclusions really easily. There are several miscommunications if I recall correctly. There are also some comical moments and the side-romance and its accompanying hijinks were super cute.

3.5 *'s
Christopher spends a long time isolating himself from Society and other people, for lots of reasons, but when he slips back into the world it is with a bang...very sweet and a little steamy...

I hesitated to start reading A Gentleman’s Gentleman because I’d seen a few low ratings and even people DNF’ing it. But when I finally dared to pick it up, I actually liked the stilted and, at the same time, witty story. I flew through the pages (it’s a pretty short one) and amused myself.

But …

Yep, there is a but. Even though I liked it, I also believe that this story is underdeveloped. Christopher’s grief never came fully to the surface, and Harding (for a long time, I forgot his first name!) was pretty one-dimensional. Therefore, the chemistry was zero and I couldn’t really connect to Harding/James. So, I wanted more, much more. More witty dialogues, more depth in Harding’s character, more inside in Christopher’s grief. I wanted to see Christopher’s past as flashbacks, not as a rushed story being told in one chapter. This could have been a gem, but now it felt like a nice in-between to read snuggled up on the couch or lying on the beach. But that’s all.

i was soooo excited about this premise - a regency romance with queer (and not just queer, trans) rep??? sounds like a dream.

unfortunately, the writing seemed too clunky for my taste. i couldn't vibe with either of the characters, and the romance just seemed out of place at points.

This is a very slow book. We’re introduced to the main character and their wardrobe early on, as well as an elderly butler and a horse. Then the valet comes, and nothing much happens for quite a length of time. then London, the ball, some drama that feels overly plotted and manufactured, then back home again where secrets are revealed, marriage plans are made, and then it’s over.

During this whole book I never felt an interest in either Christopher or Harding, nor did I feel any chemistry between them. Their conversations were stilted and so labored that I found it … well, I found the whole book a bit tedious. Things that happened never felt genuine — like Christopher revealing his secret to a tailor he’d just met, and then the two of them having such a rapport that they’re sharing jokes like two very modern gay men. Very … Queer Eye for the Regency Guy.

I do like historicals, especially ones that really pay attention to the contrivances of the time; the manners, the cruel public opinion, the formality and pining and long looks and angst. This book tried, but to me, it felt flat and never gave me the emotion or banter or complicated manners between a lord and his valet, between the restrictions of gender, or even a real sense of London or the era the book takes place in.

The writing is stiff, the pace is slow, but I love the ideas of this book. Of two men choosing to live freely as themselves, regardless of how they were born. Transgender characters in historical fiction are something I’d like to see more of. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.

(3.5 stars) I enjoyed this book quite a bit! I originally read it because I'd been craving more trans male representation in queer historical romance, and the story delivered on that aspect in spades. I loved the Jeeves-and-Wooster-esque dynamic between Christopher and his valet, Harding. Their relationship was very well-developed throughout the story, and included some lovely hurt/comfort moments. The romantic tension and secrets building between them made it a page-turner for me, and I found the eventual reveal and get-together very satisfying!

On a critical note, I was less satisfied by the non-romance plot of the book (i.e. the requirement for Christopher to marry in order to remain Earl). This conflict seemed to fall by the wayside as the story progressed, and its eventual "resolution" felt both overly obvious t0 me, and liable to create more problems than it solved. Related to this, some historical inaccuracies and lack of realism took me out of the story at times.

But for the most part, I was able to suspend my disbelief and just savor the lovely romance between Christopher and Harding! I'll be on the lookout for more historical trans romances from this author in the future.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very sweet romance that was both entertaining and a quick read.

I do wish that we had learned more about Harding and seen more interactions between the two LIs. There were some occasions when the two of them worked together to help friends, but the scenes faded to black instead of showing the characters working together which led to weird pacing issues.

I also wish the characters were more fleshed out, we had no real character development until the last few chapters.

Overall my main issue with this book was that it did a lot of telling but no showing.

Despite my complaints, I did enjoy this book and would recommend it.

Adored this book, I’ve been waiting for another historical Trans romance since I read Self Made Boys and Most Ardently. This book definitely scratched that itch. I read before bed everyday, and this was a book that had me so excited every night to dive back into this world. This book is full of charm, romance and queer joy. I could easily read more about these characters.

A GENTLEMAN'S GENTLEMAN by TJ Alexander was not next on my ARC TBR pile up, but I have really been looking forward to reading it and it's trans awareness week, so it gets a fastpass to the front of the line. 😎

Apparently I am blessed to every fall read an ARC of a lovely trans romance that comes out the following spring. Love that for me!

Sometimes it's hard for me to talk specifically about books, because I want to hype them but I also don't want to ruin the joy of discovering the story as it unfolds. I guess that's where blurbs come in, so I can describe it as a heartfelt testament to living authentically and finding the people who love you for who you are. The premise, briefly, is that a reclusive earl has to get married in order to keep his inheritance. He has to hire a valet to keep up appearances, who decides to help him find a wife for a marriage of convenience.

It's a Regency romance, which I read a lot of before I ever dipped a toe in the sea of contemporary romance, so this was a lot of fun. It was poignant, thinking about ways being trans in the past might have been easier (no photo ID! Just disappear and show up somewhere else as a new person!) and harder (no surgeries or hormones!). But regardless, trans people have always existed, will always exist, and deserve to feel love and joy and see that in the books they read, too.

Every time I read a new book from TJ Alexander, I always finish thinking "No, this is their best book ever." A Gentleman's Gentleman is no exception. This book is beautiful. I was drawn into Christopher's story immediately and swept along with the glimpses into his clearly painful and somewhat mysterious history. With the arrival of his unwanted but necessary (and distressingly handsome) valet and a mandate to marry before his 25th birthday, Christopher was pushed into an outside world he had wished to avoid at all costs. At every step I just wanted to wrap him up and protect him from all harm. Christopher and James's connection is the slowest of slow burns, and they earn every bit of their beautiful ending. I already want to read it again.

“You cannot keep the whole world at arm’s length... Not forever.”

"The world is wide and full of grace, I promise you.”


(This was a review of a free advanced review copy. Thanks to Vintage, TJ Alexander, and NetGalley for that privilege!)

4.5 Stars

I loved it! I loved it! I loved it! While the historical romance genre & slow burn trope aren't usually my go-to in choosing a book, I've been excited to read this author for some time. So when invited to read an ARC of A Gentleman's Gentleman, I jumped at the opportunity.

This book is so delightfully charming. I found myself cozied up for hours devouring each chapter. Lord Christopher Eden and valet James Harding had me all up in my feels. The emotional walls that Christopher erected & loneliness he felt he had to endure to keep others from finding out his secret tugged so hard on my heart. I waited with bated breath for him & James to connect & trust each other in order to finally revel their respective secrets. It was such a beautifully crafted romance & storyline. I couldn't help but feel warm & fuzzy at the conclusion as I hugged my kindle tight. This was exactly the story I needed in this moment.

Trans regency romance!
That, in addition to the author, piqued my interest.

This is a beautifully written story that considers the time period in which it’s set, and it leans on our more modern knowledge of the transgender and queer community to tell this story. (Example: As a reader I can perfectly imagine the binder Étienne invents for Christopher.)

The summary isn’t kidding about this novel being a slow burn. Nothing happens between our romantic leads until about chapter 22. The pining is clearly there on Christopher’s side. And I think reviews saying it’s not there for James are wrong. He just has a dry wit, but the signs are there. At least to me. James shows his affection similarly to Captain Wentworth in Jane Austen’s Persuasion.

I did guess the book’s biggest reveal fairly early, but I really enjoyed the journey to get to it.

If you love Bridgerton and Jane Austen, but want a story that shows trans and queer people have always been around, this is for you.

I was lucky to get this book from Netgalley as an ARC and it was such a delightful read! This regency romance has wonderful trans representation, handled with so much care. The story follows a trans man who is looking for a wife for inheritance purposes and hires a valet to keep up appearances. It is the slowest of burns, but the dynamic between Christopher and James was charming. The plot twists were predictable but still enjoyable, and the story overall had similar vibes to A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall.


It was sweet, satisfying, and left me smiling. Definitely worth a read if you are looking for a cozy, low stakes romance.

It is a truth that should be universally acknowledged that no one does trans/nb romances like TJ Alexander does. Granted their previous works that I've enjoyed were all contemporary romances, so I was a little nervous about the Regency premise. Perhaps because the author is NOT usually a Regency romance author, I am so happy they don't rely on the tropes that other Regency authors just project on trans stories. I am so relieved by how the author does what they do best, by busting all the tropes to do justice to the trans characters over servicing the period genre. Sure, some of the "big reveals" are not really surprising to anyone but sweet little MC Christopher. However, it's refreshing to see a POV where someone acknowledges and divests from their inherited wealth derived from colonial slavery, respects the power imbalance and not act on their desires towards an employee, and sacrifice the trappings of nobility instead of taking on "convenient" fake marriage options that would be forcing another person to make unthinkable sacrifices to their mental health. I'm so moved by the slow burn unfolding of this that really highlights the gentle care that these characters deserve in their journey towards each other. It's so precious, I could cry.

I absolutely adored this book. I devoured it in a matter of hours, and my only regret is that I will never again have the privilege of reading it for the first time.

I love gay historical romance, which, it turns out, is made all the more compelling when it's about trans characters. The repression, the yearning, the angst - this book has it all, and does it fantastically. I felt like it balanced tension and release very well - while there definitely were dramatic moments, they were not stressful to read, and overall I would say that it read as comfortably low-stakes, which was really exactly what I was looking for. It was wonderful in ways I am struggling to express, but really it comes down to this: if you are even the slightest bit interested, you should read this book. It will not disappoint you.