I received an e-ARC and am giving my honest review!

“Gentleman’s Gentleman” by TJ Alexander exceeded any and all expectations I went into this with. Dysphoria has been something I have struggled with excessively recently. The way the world is has only continued to make it worse and worse. Life isn’t kind enough to allow me to forget about my dysphoria, but this novel allowed me a reprieve.

Christopher was a very intriguing character. A somewhat unknown background with lots of unanswered questions, although we quickly learn that he is carrying a pretty large secret: he is a transgender man. In the time this story took place, it was essentially unheard of, and this fact limited Christopher in regards to relationships, both platonic and romantic. His valet being unable to dress him, any romantic prospects having to be most trusted and really just for show. It opened my eyes to how trans people had to live in this time, details I had never even considered. While Christopher seemed to be a simple shut-in with strange practices in regards to how he treated his staff, though he was anything but.

James’ character was so endearing to me. The way he showed familiarity to Christopher that allowed him to feel annoyances. I don’t know if that makes sense, but James’ actions allowed Christopher to let his emotions show. I truly adored Christopher’s POV, showing his feelings towards James, positive and negative. The yearning was so prominent and sweet it completely swept me into the narrative.

I completely loved this book, I’ve re-read it already once now because I was so enthralled.

Oh my goodness, what a refreshing take on Regency romance! I'm a huge fan of TJ Alexander's contemporary romance, so it was delightful to read their fun and humorous writing style but *make it historical*. A Gentleman's Gentleman is exciting, funny, and insightful, and I LOVED all of the twists. And gosh, I was so curious about how TJ was going to incorporate a trans MMC into the time period - it's masterfully done. HIGHLY recommend this book, I had such a good time. And it's definitely one to get on your TBR if you are planning to participate in the Trans Rights Readathon too!

I absolutely loved Christopher from the beginning. While he's extremely cautious about who he interacts with due to the secret about himself that he must keep, he still manages to be a kind, loyal friend, always thinking about others no matter their social status. A Gentleman's Gentleman has found family is SPADES as Christopher has no living family members, but he keeps those he trusts very close. It takes him a LONG time to take his new valet, James Harding, into his inner circle, but the chemistry between the two characters is present immediately. Be prepared for an understandably slow burn though my friends - it's worth the wait! There's plenty of adventure and social scheming along the way, and I literally couldn't put the story down.

If you are looking for low angst queer historical romance with low stakes, a fun plot, and excellent trans rep, THIS is the book. Quite possibly my favorite read yet from TJ Alexander, and I'd honestly love more from this time period from them! I'm extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to read this one early and to have received a gifted copy of this book, I will absolutely cherish it.

I was incredibly excited for this book, as I’m always on board for more queer historical romance. But it’s very obvious that TJ Alexander didn’t do a lick of research, as their basic plot falls apart within the first chapter. The previous titleholder CANNOT put stipulations on the heir to marry before a certain age, or he’ll be stripped of his title. There are very few reasons he could be disinherited, all of which are rather extreme. I hate to be the “historical accuracy police,” especially on a queer book, but there’s literally a post from a fellow author of queer historicals (KJ Charles) that goes into this and more! Just disappointing.

📚🏳️‍⚧️New Book Review🏳️‍⚧️📚

It has been a while! Winter time is when I take a break and curl up shamelessly on the couch, reading all the wonderful, smutty romantasy series that exist out there.

However, those who know me understand I am also a HUGE Bridgerton/Regency stan. When I was recently given the privilege of receiving an advanced reading copy of the new TRANSGENDER centric Regency romance about to hit bookstore shelves, I couldn't possibly pass that up.

A Gentleman's Gentleman by best-selling queer author @tjalexandernyc really hits the spot like a good cuppa ☕️. Regency tales are subconsciously ladened with white supremacy and the misogyny of marriage obsessed times. And much like the fantasy of Bridgerton, this book allows us to break away from the dark reality of the age into the magic of modern-day fiction.

Lord Christopher, "a man of unique make," and the sole heir of the Eden Estate, has lived with a secret all his life. He lives a solo bachelor lifestyle in a crumbling abbey, with the same two household staff from childhood.

This book gives an accurate portrayal of the utter shame, isolation, and loneliness trans individuals can feel in life. Locked not only inside of our rooms but fixated on other peoples' and society's expectations for us (like finding a wife before his 25th birthday in order to keep his title).

In preparation to enter the Ton of London and find a suitable candidate for marriage, Lord Eden had to hire his first ever valet (for appearances sake). Enter the young, incredibly handsome, experienced valet, James Harding.

Together, Christopher and James embark on a fiery, flirtacious journey of trust, companionship, and self-discovery. Navigating the specific challenges life hands out to those who are deemed "othered."

We all have our secrets 🤫

This book is released on March 11th! Don't hesitate to snatch up a copy, and don't ever stop reading! 📚

#agentlemansgentleman#bookrelease #regency
#romance#translivesmatter
#t4t #politics #bookgram #book#bookshelf #bookreview #queer #queerbooks

I don't usually read historical fiction / romance but TJ Alexander blew all of my expectations out of the water. This is definitely their funniest book yet! It was full of shenanigans and chaos, which made it such a fun read. It took me a couple chapters to get into the historical reading mindset but once I was there, I was SAT. I binge read this book in less than 24 hours!

Thank you to Vintage Books, NetGalley, and TJ Alexander for sending me an early copy!

A beautiful historical romance that would appeal to fans of Bridgerton and Maurice! A great read for both YA and adult readers!

This was written very well! A limited 3rd person reader POV allowed for a wonderful narrative and was so enthralling. Lgbt+ regency is a huge draw for me, and this was done so perfectly that I just had to keep reading!
The plot, the characters, and the writing all melded so well together! Although I would have liked to see more of the relationship, the slow burn was done well so I can't really complain!

TJ has done it again.

She regarded him closely. “I thought you didn’t believe in love.” “Of course I believe in it. I just don’t think I can wear it, what with my complexion.”

I would like one of those buttons that you press to unleash catchphrases but they are all things Christopher says in the book.

This is a marvelous book filled with lovable characters in a Bridgerton-esque world. The scenarios that the dashing Christopher and Harding find themselves in are engaging and worthy of staying up just another hour to finish their latest escapade.

i am in my historical fiction gay romance arc with this book ! this was so steamy and romantic. i had a lot of fun with his one.

Pub date March 2025
Read 2/26/25

To start, look at this gorgeous cover art. Christopher Lord Eden talks about his clothes, his cravats, the pastel colors he wears. This image is perfect for how he describes his style.

Set in England 1819. Single POV from Lord Eden. He’s a young lord, living isolated in the English countryside with only a few servants. He keeps himself to himself, but seems very lonely. But, he’s recently been told by his solicitors that his fathers will stipulated he must marry by age 25 or lose his lordship and estate. He’s 24, so only has a few months to find a wife.

Now Christopher has to go to London and socialize and meet a lady to marry. He really does not want to marry. At this point, in Christopher’s inner monologue, the reader knows he has #reasons, but not exactly what they are. We just know he’s an “usual man.” But as reader we can kind of guess what’s going on.

Part of going to London, Christopher has to act like a regular Lord, so he needs a valet to work for him. He figures this is about the bare minimum he can get by with. He hires James Harding, a very proper, stern valet. But, this is just for show Harding, you aren’t actually going to dress Lord Eden, no way. Because Lord Eden has Secrets.

These two slowly build a working relationship and Harding really wants to do a good job for his boss, and can see he’s a pretty lonely, sweet and kind person.

There’s a bit of drama and fun while in London. Christopher starts to trust Harding a bit more while he looks for a wife that will be ok with a marriage of convenience only.

I don’t want to spoil the HEA or how it works out. This is a sweet slow burn and I was rooting for these sad boys to find happiness together in a world that would not be kind to them.

Downside, I didn’t get to know Harding very well. It definitely needed to be single POV but we miss out on his thoughts. I could make the connections as a Romance reader, but I was left wondering if these 2 are together because of proximity and because they are both SO NICE.

Content warnings: death of family members (off page), death of a mentor (on page), bad dad (secondary character). No one is outed and no on page queer phobia (no one is rude or nasty to the main character).

I’m a huge fan of TJ Alexander so I was really excited to read a trans historical romance from them. I loved it! It’s bumped up to second favorite in my personal ranking of their books. The slow burn of the romance was excellent, the plot and side characters were entertaining, great book!

This plays with a very familiar set-up in historical romance - titled main character must marry by a specific birthday to secure inheritance - and beautifully subverts our expectations at each turn. Alexander's prose is so compelling and sharp and they have such a subtle humor I love (particularly in inner monologue). I really enjoyed the use of limited third person POV, because with only Christopher's perspective, we can really feel both his loneliness and his drive to survive to the best of his abilities. It also allows for some really enjoyable plot twists - one or two that are so obvious even our side characters have to poke fun at Christopher for not seeing them earlier (love a meta moment). I would caution readers that this is a slow, slow, SLOW burn, but it builds into a really fitting and lovely HEA.

"From the acclaimed author of Chef's Kiss, a groundbreaking trans Regency romance that's both delightfully witty and refreshingly iconoclastic.

The notoriously eccentric Lord Christopher Eden is a "man of unusual make" and even more unusual habits: he prefers to live far from the prying eyes and ears of the ton, and would rather have the comfortable company of his childhood cook and his aged butler than the swarm of servants and hangers-on befitting a man of his station. But Christopher's pleasant, if occasionally lonely life is upended when he receives word from his lawyers that, according to his late father's will, he must find a wife by the end of the Season if he intends to keep his family's fortune and the Eden estate. Christopher cannot imagine a worse fate: as he isn't attracted to women, his chances of making a wife happy are slim. Furthermore, if his quest to marry has any hope of succeeding, he must move to London posthaste and acquire some more suitable staff.

Enter James Harding, Christopher's new, distractingly handsome - if rigidly traditional - valet. After a rocky start, the two strike up a fragile friendship amid the throes of the London Season...a friendship that threatens to shatter under the looming shadow of Christopher's impending nuptials - and the secrets both men are keeping. With its heady combination of dry wit, slow-burn romance, and a nuanced portrait of trans identity, A Gentleman's Gentleman stands to transform the historical romance genre as we know it."

Because life has never been as black and white as some people would have you believe. And everyone deserves representation!

While the premise was nice, the writing was... not what I expected. I wanted more from the characters because I felt that what was on the front cover and the front flap was not what we were given.

Lord Christopher Eden is just fine and dandy (pun intended) living away from London society if it means living peacefully as a trans man in this Regency-era romance. When he discovers he’ll lose his late family's fortune and estate if he doesn’t marry before his 25th birthday, Christopher is forced to depart the countryside and hire a valet to help him search for a wife. Christopher’s easygoing demeanor and disregard for rank initially chafes against the rigid formalities of his valet, James Harding. But as the London social season progresses and Christopher grows closer to James, Christopher must consider if a love match is right under his nose. Author TJ Alexander received their master’s from Emerson College.

Lord Christopher Eden is nearly alone in his country estate, and he likes it that way But when his lawyers let him know he must marry soon in order to inherit his family's fortune and estate, Christopher knows what he must do: travel to London to find a wife who will be open to a non-traditional marriage.

To prepare for this journey, Christopher hires James Harding as his valet. Harding is very traditional in his role, which the young Lord Eden struggles with. But as they spend time together, they forge a friendship that encourage them both to reveal their secrets.

I'm not normally a historical romance reader, but I enjoyed this lighthearted read.

3.5 stars rounded up and my thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the eARC!

Christopher is a "man of unusual make" just trying to live a quiet life in the country. He's told by his lawyers that his father's will dictates that Christopher must marry in order to continue holding the title and land of his ancestors. Entering the marriage market with no staff though, that won't do. He hires a valet to put on a facade of being the landed gentry he's supposed to be, but things are never as they seem.

I really liked Christopher and I liked the little bits of information we got from him, pieces at a time. He's an unreliable narrator but for his own safety, we the reader can't truly know him until he feels safe enough to share.

The only downside was how rushed the ending was. The book is touted as a slow-burn but I never got the sense that anything could happen from James' side until the very end. Even James offering marriage under his former name felt like it wasn't out of love or affection. Just a means to an end for both of them. I never really got the sense that James loved him back, so to speak.

Rating: 3,5/5
Steam: 1 explicit scene


Slowburn
Trans MC
Pining
Cozy read
Great Banter

When I saw the cover of this book I just knew I wanted to read it, then I read the blurb and was done for. A slowburn love story between an Earl and his valet? Say no more!
And oh mother of slowburns, this was slow burning and charming, and with lots of pining and looks and I enjoyed it so much.

In a way, the writing reminds me a lot of Tessa Dare’s books. It resembles the way Dare writes humor and banter while having characters on page that have been through trauma and need to open themselves up in order to get that HEA. T.J. Alexander managed to write that with this lovely, cozy story. It just feels like the characters are giving you a huge hug. Not only the MC’s, but Cook, Plinkton and so many more side characters too. There is such genuineness about all the characters which makes this such a colorful read.


The only thing that gave me a little trouble was the pacing. If you know me, you know that I have one great pet peeve, and it’s inconsistent pacing. I wish the book would have just been a couple of chapters longer, it felt like an abrupt ending after the amazing scenes that had Christopher and James opening up to each other and having such a vulnerable and fragile moment.

Ofcourse I can’t not touch on the queer and trans rep in this book, and also it being historical most of all. It’s something I have wanted to be more purposeful in reading this year, and I just love the way it’s done here. I’m excited to see more histroms with queer couples as main characters, instead of having them in the background. We need these books, especially in this genre, and I really hope that T.J. decided to write more of them.

Thank you to Netgalley and Vintage books for providing an ARC.

Thank you Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the invitation to read this arc.

I knew going into this novel that the premise on which the plot is based - that due to his father's will, Lord Eden must marry by age 25 or lose the estate and his title - is bullshit. But I knew this and decided for the historical queer rep that I'd try this anyway.

Well I tried it and, to be frank, sadly realized early on that the rep wasn't enough to get me through this. The writing is clunky and overdone leading to endless awkward scenes that are painful to force myself through. And Christopher letting poor aging Plinkton overwork himself when the butler ought to have been pensioned off years ago pissed me off. Also Christopher paying so little attention to the estate and presumably the tenants who depended on his management stinks. DNF

ARC Review: A Gentleman's Gentleman by TJ Alexander
Pub Date: March 11

Thank you to @vintage for the early #gifted copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Christopher is an Earl in need of a wife to keep his inheritance. But he also needs something else that he's never wanted - a valet. Enter James Harding, consummate professional who is shocked by the familiarity Christopher has with his staff and the rules he has for James - namely that he won't be allowed to dress Christopher or be in his room before Christopher is awake and ready.

I loved this slow burn trans historical romance so much! I think the slow burn was done so well given what both characters were facing and I do so love a class difference romance. The yearning was absolutely delicious and the scene in which Christopher and James get to truly see and understand each other just really got me in alllll my feels!

I didn't mind the pace of the slow burn but I do feel like the end of the book happened just so rapidly - I could have used just a beat or two of pause in the end. But the HEA was absolutely perfect and not quite what I was expecting! Queer historical romances remain my favorite genre and I can't wait for the next book from TJ!

This is literally the best book I've ever read, it was filled with heart, and soul and I just loved it so much. I want to thank the publisher for gifting me this book!