A Gentleman's Gentleman

A Gentleman's Gentleman tells the story of twenty-four years old Earl of Eden, Christopher, who must marry before his twenty-fifth birthday in order to keep his inheritance and estate. Only Christopher lives a lonely and private life with an old butler, a cook and a horse as his sole companionship. He intends to go to London for the Season to secure himself a match and keep his house, however it appears that any respectable gentleman would have staff handling his affairs for him and most especially a valet. Christopher then hires James Harding, a serious man who takes his job even more seriously. As Harding is made aware that he is only here for show and that Christopher's wish to be married is only superficial, the two of them settle into a comfortable friendship that will bloom as secrets and family history come to be known..."What are you doing ? You're-I'm-you're supposed to stay in your room all night!"[...]"You called out for me, my lord."This book was my first read involving trans characters and I had such a good time reading it. I think having different body types described was a good move, it allowed the author to paint different pictures and build different characters based on their varying experiences. Christopher is quite lonely and experiences night terrors due to a traumatic event. He does not involve himself with his pears, too afraid his secret might come to be known. Whereas James ran away from his old life in order to live freely as himself and did as he wished. The other queer characters and allies added this sense of community that was very sweet. Support is impactful and can really change a life. I really liked the T4T relationship here and the sex scene at the end. The characters came to love and trust each other and I felt it could be understood through the intimacy of that last scene, of both of them letting go, finally showing themselves freely.