A classic historical romance, but with trans representation. An earl, in need of a wife, to keep his inheritance, and a valet, to keep up appearances while in London, tries to also be a good person and true to himself. Like most romance book earls, he has too much to balance and something is going to need to give. The ending will not be a surprise, but the trip is warm and joyful, with the romance-novel-required misunderstandings and miscommunications clearing up quickly and with humor.

I really enjoyed A Gentleman’s Gentleman. I have never read anything by TJ Alexander before, but I plan to read the authors other works after reading this.

I just loved the characters in this book. I’’m so soft for Christopher (just want him not to be lonely and to have the support he needs). I initially wasn’t sure about James but ended up really loving him too and how he and Christopher treat each other.

Some of my favorite things about this book are how Christopher referred to himself “a man of unusual make” and how being trans was talked about in this book. I also really loved how Christopher opens up about himself and his past both for the reader and James throughout the book. It felt like Christopher was slowly revealing himself to us (the reader) and James at the same time which felt really natural and beautiful.

I loved the ending (though I wish there had been some possibility for acceptance in England) and how the characters end the story on even footing (if that makes sense without spoilers).

Lastly, I loved the yearning in this book. It is obvious from the beginning that there is significant yearning from one MC and I loved watching the relationship unfold.

Really beautiful book about love, acceptance, and trying to be true to yourself regardless of societal norms.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for a chance to read this eARC.

Another BANGER from TJ Alexander!! This book is amazing. Christopher’s initial attraction/hate toward Harding is EXCELLENT. Read for lovable characters, Hijinks and lots of action, and a satisfying happy ending! My only gripe would be with the pacing, which felt a little rushed in the back half. 4.5 stars!! ❤️ Thank you NetGalley and Vintage for the ARC.

So I really enjoyed this one - it was fun! It was packed with heart! I loved both the MMCs, their relationship, and how they grew closer to one another over the course of the book's events. It was incredibly refreshing to see some very important topics being tackled so expertly in a historical romance, which, in my opinion, is something that the genre on the whole needs to see more of.

As is often the case in Regency romance, a reluctant Lord finds himself in need of a wife in order to fulfill the edicts of his father’s will and save his family fortune. Preferring to spend his days on his family estate away from society, Lord Christopher Eden is used to tending to his business alone with the help of two loyal servants. He doesn’t want a wife, but if it means securing his future, he’ll turn his world upside down and spend the Season in London to find one.

But finding a wife also means appearing to be a respectable suitor rather than a simple country gentleman. Step one in accomplishing that goal: find a valet. James Harding seems to be the right man for the job, there’s just one problem. — he’s exactly the kind of temptation that could threaten to ruin Christopher’s entire plan.

A Gentleman’s Gentleman is a trans Regency romance with an unexpected double twist. Its sedate pace sets the tone for a slow burn romance full of uncertainty, misunderstanding, secrecy, and intrigue. Alexander cleverly evades revealing too much in favor of captivating and tantalizing readers with hope and possibility while racing toward an unexpectedly emotional happily ever after.

3.5⭐️ rounded up!

Review to come~

edit 12.4.24:

thank you to netgalley and knopf, pantheon, vintage, and anchor for a copy of my arc in exchange for my review!

oh y'all just know i'm a slut for a queer historical romance. a gentleman's gentleman follows lord christopher eden, a closeted trans man who has to marry by 25 (🤢) in order to maintain his title and estate. as a social recluse with little staff, he heads toward london to secure himself a wife and hires a valet to maintain appearances of normalcy.

enter james harding, the emo man of our dreams. the dry humor sent me into another dimension. i loved their casual banter, sarcasm, and overall chemistry. they were both adorably clueless in terms of their feelings for each other

however, the ending felt incredibly rushed to me, and (almost) nothing physical happened between christopher and james until *checks notes* 97% of the way through. i'm all for a slow burn, but that was like 0 to 100 and i suffered from the whiplash. i felt like their relationship had developed in such an organic way, only for it to climax (lol) at the very end of the book with only a short epilogue stating the aftermath

all in all, the story was lovely, and it's always a joy to read a queer book by a queer author. truly my only stipulations were with the fast-paced ending. i just love queer regency era shit *sighs dreamily*

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC for an honest review.

This started out fairly slow, but I'm glad I pushed through it. This was such a cute read and had amazing reputation for LGBTQ historical romance in a remake story.
Was an amazing read. I absolutely enjoyed it!

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.