—"you must marry to inherit"

—trans hero

—"oh no my new employee is hot"

—slow burn to passion

Heat Index: 6/10

The Basics:

Lord Christopher Eden prefers to keep his distance from society, both because he’s somewhat eccentric in general, and because he doesn’t want anyone to know his secrets. The trouble is, Christopher is going to lose his estate—and his earldom—if he doesn’t marry before his next birthday. On his quest to find a wife, he hires the prickly (some might stay STARCHY) valet James Harding, whose stern attitude is both annoying and, let’s be real, super hot. As they become friends, however, Christopher’s burgeoning longing for James does pose a complication for the whole “finding a wife” thing…

The Review:

TJ Alexander has become an author I can reliably recommend—you’ll almost definitely like or love the book if they wrote it, and this is no exception. I am SO happy to see them hitting the historical romance space when it needs a voice like theirs so desperately. Historical romance is not dead! But damn, if you want to keep it alive you need not only diverse writers, but writers who write unabashedly what they want. That is TJ. They are fearless and they are determined and it’s just a joy to read their stories.

While A Gentleman’s Gentleman does touch on some very difficult topics—transphobia and homophobia are never confronted directly on the page, exactly, but they’re forces that obviously shape the world and the circumstances in which Christopher lives—it has a really breezy, wryly humorous tone infused with some classic Historical Romance Pining. I don’t know that any romance subgenre does Pining as well as historical romance, and you get the whole nine yards here.

This is entirely from Christopher’s third person POV. While I do admittedly prefer dual POV, TJ does a great job of giving us a very clear picture of who James is, what he longs for, his quirks. Christopher is fairly smitten fairly quickly, but in a “This is so embarrassing and also inconvenient, I can’t believe myself” kind of way. (There’s also a really good beat wherein he discusses whether or not being attracted to a man makes him LESS of a man—something that was refreshing to see touched upon.) It’s as the story goes on and he and James become friends that their feelings deepen. It’s gradual, it’s natural, but it never feels meandering. This is, inheritance plot aside, overall what I would call a character study romance.

When compared to Alexis Hall’s Something series (which I love) I’d say this is sort of between that and a “traditional” historical romance vibe. It’s set firmly in a more realistic, if optimistic, historical setting. Christopher does have a close queer friend, but he doesn’t have a circle, as Hall’s characters often do. And part of that is also necessity, right? Christopher is hiding, and I wouldn’t say that the urge to hide is ONLY due to his transness (he has a great backstory that DID feel very classic old school historical romance in a lot of ways). But you’re in that middle space, where Christopher isn’t ashamed, exactly, but also feels pretty alone because while he has a friend that is gay, he doesn’t have any friends who are trans.

By rooting this story in a more grounded world, TJ also gets to highlight the reality of trans history: that it is, in fact, a history. That there were and have always been trans people. And there will always be trans people. Regardless of whatever various corrupt regimes try to tell you. It’s not that Christopher is truly alone; it’s that he feels alone, and once he realizes he isn’t, you can truly feel this weight lift a little.

All while he’s falling head over heels in love with a very uptight hot man who’s all about dressing him.

The Sex:

Although there is explicit sex in this novel, you do have to wait a good while for it. I’d definitely categorize this as a slow burn; but because the emotions are big and the longing is LONGING, I didn’t feel undermined or whatever. Plus, what you do get is truly excellent and really unique to the characters. I don’t know if I’ve read a sex scene before that had the exact same kind of… framing, I guess? In terms of where the characters were coming from emotionally speaking.

Also, Christopher is totally inexperienced, so…. a win for the lovers of virgin heroes (there are dozens of us! Dozens!).

I will say, though—if you’re a fan of the stretched out tension? Yeah. There’s a scene in this book that does tension SO. RIDICULOUSLY. WELL. I may have pearl-clutched a little.

Look, I’m not gonna ignore the elephant in the room: Trans people are under attack in my country. They always have been, but the loud part is very loud right now. Reading and buying and promoting trans romances should always be a priority. People NEED to be exposed to these love stories. It’s political. It’s emotional.

And, oh look, you also get to read a really great love story. You’re winning on every level. Give yourself that win. Buy this book.

Thanks to Vintage and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Pub date March 2025
Read 2/26/25
Arc from the publisher- Vintage

To start, look at this gorgeous cover art. Christopher Lord Eden talks about his clothes, his cravats, the pastel colors he wears. This image is perfect for how he describes his style.

Set in England 1819. Single POV from Lord Eden. He’s a young lord, living isolated in the English countryside with only a few servants. He keeps himself to himself, but seems very lonely. But, he’s recently been told by his solicitors that his fathers will stipulated he must marry by age 25 or lose his lordship and estate. He’s 24, so only has a few months to find a wife.

Now Christopher has to go to London and socialize and meet a lady to marry. He really does not want to marry. At this point, in Christopher’s inner monologue, the reader knows he has #reasons, but not exactly what they are. We just know he’s an “usual man.” But as reader we can kind of guess what’s going on.

Part of going to London, Christopher has to act like a regular Lord, so he needs a valet to work for him. He figures this is about the bare minimum he can get by with. He hires James Harding, a very proper, stern valet. But, this is just for show Harding, you aren’t actually going to dress Lord Eden, no way. Because Lord Eden has Secrets.

These two slowly build a working relationship and Harding really wants to do a good job for his boss, and can see he’s a pretty lonely, sweet and kind person.

There’s a bit of drama and fun while in London. Christopher starts to trust Harding a bit more while he looks for a wife that will be ok with a marriage of convenience only.

I don’t want to spoil the HEA or how it works out. This is a sweet slow burn and I was rooting for these sad boys to find happiness together in a world that would not be kind to them.

Downside, I didn’t get to know Harding very well. It definitely needed to be single POV but we miss out on his thoughts. I could make the connections as a Romance reader, but I was left wondering if these 2 are together because of proximity and because they are both SO NICE.

Content warnings: death of family members (off page), death of a mentor (on page), bad dad (secondary character). No one is outed and no on page queer phobia (no one is rude or nasty to the main character).