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!

Christopher is an earl with a classic problem: he needs to marry by 25 in order to secure his inheritance. He's also an earl with a less classic problem: Christopher isn't the name he was born with, and he hasn't always been a man. In order to find a wife, he'll do his duty and move to London for the Season. His butler and his cook convince him he needs a valet, otherwise people in London will gossip, so he hires the handsome James Harding, who has rather un-valet-like roles as Christopher won't allow him to dress him or be on hand while he is abed. It's a closed off world for Christopher, because he can't share his secrets with anyone, not even the servant he's becoming very attached to....

I really enjoyed this transmasc historical romance! Be warned it is a slow burn, because Christopher takes a lot of time to understand his own emotions related to his body and his desires and his past. Ultimately it works really well, though, because in the last 30% of the book, there are some thoughtful conversations about identity and love for a heartwarming story.

“The fact of your existence is a miracle."

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

TJ Alexander expands their work into historical romance with A Gentleman's Gentleman. Earl Christopher Winterthrope, Lord Eden, is a "man of unusual make" who prefers his privacy. Residing in the country estate with only his butler, his cook, and his ornery horse, Orion, seems perfectly sufficient to him. However, Christopher learns of a clause in his late father's will that hinges his inheritance on marriage before Christopher's upcoming birthday. As such, he must take to London and seem a proper gentleman to acquire a wife. And all proper gentlemen have a valet. Enter James Harding, the most proper valet one could ask for, and, unfortunately, dreadfully handsome.

This trans love story is a slow-burn, gradual building of trust and friendship. Both men have secrets they would prefer to have stay that way, but the need for a confidant who can lend assistance is one that cannot be denied. Christopher also still struggles with the circumstances surrounding the loss of his family and the resulting nightmares.

TJ Alexander displayed clever wit in the banter between James and Christopher as well as a clear appreciation for the Regency romcom genre of it all. While the "reveals" are very much laid out for the reader to grasp and understand before the characters, they are no less impactful for being obvious.

I will happily recommend this to readers of the genre and am eager to explore Alexander's backlist and future works.

Thanks to TJ Alexander, Knopf/Pantheon, and NetGalley for an ARC of A Gentleman’s Gentleman. All opinions are my own.

If you’re looking for a queer trans historical romance, this is the perfect book for you! Christopher was an engaging and intriguing character from the start, and I loved the strong contrast between him and James from the very first moment they met. Opposites really did attract with these two, and a lot of yearning, shenanigans, and grand reveals later, the ending feels just as sweet (and spicy) as I was hoping for!

Excited for readers to get their hands on this on pub day!

POV: singular third person

You can expect: Earl MMC, valet MMC, forced proximity, employer/employee, secrets, opposites attract.

Rep: trans MC, gay side character, PTSD (implied), grief, gay main character (implied), bisexual main character (implied)

CW: death of a father figure, death of parents (past), death of sibling (past)

A lush and beautiful historical romance from TJ Alexander! A Gentleman’s Gentleman is soft and romantic and a slow-burn with high payoff!

Thank you Vintage and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Alexander does a masterful job dealing with realism of what it would mean to be trans in this time. This is definitely a slower burn romance, with the tension present and low before finally building to a boil at the very end of the novel.

It's hard for me to find a TJ Alexander book I don't enjoy! I have loved their contemprary books and was so excited to learn they were writing a queer historical! This book was soemthing that will keep me coming back should Alexander decide to write more queer historicals!

This was a bit of a mixed bag for me personally. I absolutely want to see more queer histrom and am so excited to see this one getting published!
I loved the historical world building of this with our isolated trans MC Christopher and the premise of having to get married as part of a will and entailment.
while i love a slow burn the key is stoking that tiny flame so the reader is on the edge of their seat begging the flame to light. i felt like there weren't enough of those passing burning moments to really justify the giving in to feelings moment later. which was so sad because i LOVED the set up - the starchy and proper valet mixed with the laissez faire attitude of Christopher who wants to be left alone to gallivant on his horse could have had so many good moments that we didn't really get.
i did LOVE the side characters though - both Étienne and Miss Montrose and I hope we get more histrom from Alexander featuring those characters!

Thanks to @ireadvintage for the gifted e-ARC and to @prhaudio for the ALC!

Regency romance is my comfort genre. I love that moment in history. The elegance, the passion, the pageantry. It’s the best. And this book captures all of that.

This was my first regency with a trans main character. Christopher is a trans man who guards his identity by being a recluse in the country. He enlists a new valet, James, to help him be presentable to society as he is forced to find a wife to keep his inheritance. If only his valet wasn’t so attractive!

I adored Christopher and James. Their banter and flirtation was delightful. I was rooting for them from the beginning! And the plot was so entertaining. There were several episodes I totally didn’t expect. It was a very satisfying conclusion as well.

I thought the narrator did a great job bringing the characters to life and giving them their distinct accents.

This was a delightful new addition to the regency romance genre and I completely loved it.

I adore queer historicals because the yearning tends to be on full display and that was definitely the case with this story. The forced proximity of the Lord and his valet plot really increased the tension. The slow burn of their relationship was such a delight to read about and I loved how character-driven this story was. It was hilarious to read about Christopher trying not to perpetually thirst over his hot valet. My one disappointment was with the length of this story. I think they needed a little more time to develop their romantic connection. Overall I had a fantastic time and I'm so excited to read more from this series.

Thank you Vintage and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this one. All thoughts are my own.

I am in love with this book. I was hooked from the start. The writing flows effortlessly, injected with hurt and humour in equal measure.

Christopher is immediately loveable. He’s a recluse, independent, considered eccentric by the ton. He has such a big heart, he so clearly loves those close to him even though he doesn’t hold many close.

Harding is disciplined, a little stiff, believes strongly in the order of things and his place in the world. But he’s hiding just as much as Christopher is.

This is an incredibly slow burn and I was living for every moment of it. There was so much pining, so much yearning, so much chemistry. And the wait was absolutely worth it.

There might be a lot of pain between these pages, but the trans joy is strong too.

The emotional depth and feeling in Christopher and James's story had me from the beginning. TJ Alexander continues to be a master of their craft. I can't wait to see what comes next from them.

I love queer historical romance. They show that queer people have always been around, even if the history books like to pretend otherwise. And in times like these, books like this are more important than ever.

Lord Christopher Eden is an eccentric Earl. He doesn't keep a lot of staff, and he prefers to stay a recluse in his country estate. But his inheritance is on the line if he cannot find a wife by his next birthday, which is just a few months away. He hires a valet to make himself appear like a normal Earl and prepares to travel to London. But having a valet makes it very hard to keep his secret - he is a trans man, and no one knows.

This book made me feel so many feels. It was the slowest of slow burns, which made the beginning just a little slow for me, but it was absolutely worth the wait for the swooning (and spice) at the end! I cannot wait for the second book in this universe, because TJ Alexander is SO good at historical romance.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was a delight! I could not put it down.

This is a slow burn, but the pacing itself was not slow. There’s a lot of heart in this book, and (whew) some very deep emotional grief as well.

Historical romances are a favorite of mine, and this author seamlessly gave us a story that will resonate with readers.

I really enjoyed the ending, the author did a fantastic job of giving these two characters the ending they deserved, without changing who they truly are.