A Lady for All Seasons

Considering how much I loved TJ Alexander‘s 2025 novel, A Gentleman’s Gentleman, it’s no wonder that their followup has been high on my list of this year’s releases. A Lady for All Seasons came out last week, and it’s just as absorbing as the previous book. It starts with Verbena, a calculating woman intent on securing a husband this season, whatever it takes. Since her friend Étienne recently came into money, she gets him to agree to a marriage of convenience in name only, as he prefers the company of men. But then Verbena falls for the poetess Flora, and she starts coming up with schemes to keep her in her life. Maybe she can get Flora to also fake marry someone, like the lovely novelist William… whom Verbena is also kind of falling for. And she doesn’t know that Flora and William are actually one and the same. How can everyone here find happiness on their terms within the Regency era’s strict confines?

What I Liked:

• Gender fluid main character! William presents as a man sometimes, as a woman named Flora at other times, and considers these two parts a “dual nature.” While I’ve read novels with transgender and nonbinary characters before, this is one of only a few times I’ve read about a character oscillating between gender identities on-page. (A Vow Made Twice by Emma Denny has a similar character, and I highly recommend it!) In A Lady for All Seasons, we get to know Flora-William in both forms, learning how they feel about their different gender expressions. It’s a secret only some characters will eventually be privy to, but I loved going on this journey with them.
• Complicated mess of love. There are numerous characters to keep track of here, between Verbena, Flora-William, Étienne, and Miles, all trying to find love between each other. Flora and William both trying to win Verbena’s affections on their own merits is a special level of tangled! It almost played out like a love triangle… or perhaps a love pentagon. As far as romances go, this is one of the most chaotic ones I’ve read; I loved it! Verbena is so calculating and controlling, but she will need to learn to think outside the box a bit more for this all to work out for everyone.
• Queer community and found family. At one point, the characters spend a fortnight at an artists’ retreat in Wales called Plas Tân. The two women who run the place live together and dress unconventionally for the time, offering inspiration to our main characters on what a life outside of society’s norms can look like. Eventually, Verbena, Flora-William, and the others form close bonds and a supportive community for them all.
• Lord Byron. Yes, that Lord Byron plays a surprisingly large role throughout the novel. He’s so fun and unpredictable! I’m not always the biggest fan of seeing real historical figures in a romance, but here it totally worked. He was a riot.
• It’s hilarious. Speaking of riots, this whole novel is filled with humor. Even with deeper themes and introspective moments, there’s a levity to the story, too. I took note of several passages simply because they made me laugh out loud. This will deserve a reread later.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Verbena said cruel things about William to Flora… but those comments were never addressed later. I was expecting these lies and unnecessary jabs to be explained away, for Verbena to apologize for them, or something, but it never happened. Instead she skips ahead to her love for William, but I needed at least some kind of conversation about that.

Final Thoughts

A Lady for All Seasons is a joyous, convoluted, superb historical romance for anyone looking to read about gender identity and queer love. It has gossip and thoughts on creativity, it has schemes and Lord Byron stirring up drama, and it has a whole lot of heart. Like the previous book set in this world, I adored this one. I’m excited 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 Lady for All Seasons here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

A Lady for All Seasons by TJ Alexander
Series	(#2)
Audience	Adult
Genre	Historical Romance
Setting	England
Number of Pages	304
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	March 10, 2026
Publisher	Vintage

Official Summary

From the acclaimed author of Chef’s Kiss and A Gentleman’s Gentleman comes a riotous Regency romp, featuring a charming and unforgettable genderfluid lead.

“The perfect blend of rich Regency romance and frothy screwball, Alexander has brewed a queer and cozy cup of something sure to delight.”
—L.C. Rosen, author of Lavender House

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman who has lost her fortune must be in need (not want) of a husband. Beautiful, cunning Verbena Montrose must marry to save herself and her odious family from abject poverty. Fortunately, what she lacks in a dowry, she makes up for in the currency of gossip. 

When she hears an alarming rumor about her very dear, very queer friend Étienne that could ruin him, she comes to his aid with a proposal—for a marriage of convenience, that is. But when Verbena discovers that a mysterious and celebrated poet by the name of Flora Witcombe has been publishing verses that hint she is onto their scheme, Verbena has no choice but to pretend to be a poet herself to confront her in a local salon. And—unexpectedly—be charmed by her.

Flora, in turn, is terrified by and smitten with Verbena in equal measure. But she holds a secret of her own: he is also William Forsyth, a struggling novelist and fifth son of a minor noble family. And if circumstances don’t allow Flora to woo Verbena, perhaps William can. Faced with two suitors and a fiancé, Verbena, who has always had to be clever to survive in society, starts to realize she may need to think outside of society’s constraints to find true happiness.