A Gentleman’s Gentleman
by TJ Alexander

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From the publisher

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 as far from the prying eyes and ears of the ton as possible, and would rather have the comfortable company of his childhood cook and his aged butler, Plinkton, 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’s End 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, complex portrait of trans identity and relationships that’s as relevant now as it was during the Regency era, A Gentleman’s Gentleman stands to transform the historical romance genre as we know it.

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My Review

This was my 2nd TJ Alexander book and it will be far from my last. I just LOVED this. It is so tender and sweet! And also so, so very funny!

Is the historical accuracy perfect? No! Did I want it to be? Also a resounding NO! This is everything I want in a historical romance. Contemporary sexual politics amongst our heroes, but still they’re up against the norms of the society in which they operate. Let’s everybody find their happy ending, please.

Christopher was a perfect main character. I love how he has his own sense of style regardless of the trends of the season and how he bucks senses of traditional propriety and manners and “how things are done” in favor of maintaining his informal mode of being (and also his privacy). Watching James struggle to come to terms with Christopher’s casual nature was hilarious. And watching the two of them team up and scheme so that Christopher can claim his inheritance was even better!

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