A Gentleman’s Gentleman

Happy book birthday to TJ Alexander‘s A Gentleman’s Gentleman! This has been one of my most anticipated books this year, and it absolutely lived up to my expectations.

Set in Regency England, Lord Christopher Eden has been living a quiet, solitary life on his estate, but before his upcoming birthday, he’s required to marry in order to maintain his fortune and home. But he’s a “man of unusual make,” and not only does he not believe he can have love, he’s afraid of revealing his deepest secrets. He hires a valet, James Harding, to help him while in London searching for a wife to join his marriage of convenience. But as myriad events leave Christopher no closer to solving his conundrum, his growing feelings for Harding are proving harder to keep hidden.

Why I Chose This Book:

I love historical romances and have been eager to read more diversely within this genre. I was excited that this book portrays not only a romance between men, it’s also about a transgender man. This looked like it would be a wonderful novel.

What I Liked:

• EVERYTHING. But for more detail, read on.
• Portrayal of a trans man in Regency-era England and the lengths he goes to protect himself and his identity.
• Discussions around what it is to be a man. Being trans… but also being gay. Does he still “count” as a man? (Yes!)
• Slow burn romance. It takes a long time for Christopher’s crush to blossom into overt romance, but the buildup is so sweet.
• Christopher is so funny! He’s witty and droll and rarely keeps his thoughts to himself.
• James is so stoic and emo! He’s work-obsessed, reliable, and secretly tender-hearted. Aww.
• Horses!

Final Thoughts

From start to finish, I adored A Gentleman’s Gentleman. Christopher and Harding’s characters are so distinct and fun to read, and I loved the discussions around gender identity and sexuality. Grief and PTSD appear here as well, and I loved the little surprises that eventually came about. This is an extremely slow burn, but so worth it. I can’t wait to read more from TJ Alexander.

Special thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy A Gentleman’s Gentleman here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

A Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ Alexander
Audience	Adult
Genre	Historical Romance
Setting	England
Number of Pages	336
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	March 11, 2025
Publisher	Vintage

Official Summary

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

“A Gentleman’s Gentleman is a thoroughly charming confection of a romance. If you’re looking for a tender, gentle slow burn, this is the book for you.” —Cat Sebastian, author of We Could Be So Good

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.