Book Review: "A Gentleman's Gentleman" by TJ Alexander

This was a fun Regency romance with a twist. Thanks so much to Vintage Books and NetGalley for the advance copy!

Lord Christopher Eden has no use for many things that other men of his station desire. He’d rather spend time with his elderly butler and cook than socialize with other people his age, and beyond them, he doesn’t need other servants. He is perfectly happy caring for and riding his horse, spending his free time with his books.

But when he finds out from his solicitors that his late father’s will requires he must marry before he turns 25, it throws his life into chaos. Given that he’s not attracted to women, and as a trans man, has secrets he has kept from most everyone, he can’t imagine he’d be able to make a wife happy.

But in order to ensure his family’s legacy isn’t destroyed, he must go to London for the season and find a wife. He also has to appear to have all of the trappings a man of his station requires, so he must hire a valet to take with him to London, a task he asks his solicitor to handle. And James, his new valet, is exceedingly handsome (although fixated on the traditional role of a valet), which complicates things further.

Christopher and James start becoming friends once they navigate Christopher’s need for privacy. But when they get to London, tensions start to rise, as Christopher has to find a woman to marry. And both men are sharing secrets which could change it all.

I am a fan of TJ Alexander’s books and I definitely loved the concept of this story. It is just the slowest of slow burns and I really wanted things to happen quicker. But I really enjoyed the characters.

The book will publish 3/11/2025.

Book Review: "You Should Be So Lucky" by Cat Sebastian

Cat Sebastian’s last book, We Could Be So Good, was one of my favorites of 2023. I love how she built a slow-burn romance between two men despite the fears and possible repercussions of the 1950s. In her new book, she does something similar with equally beautiful results.

Eddie is a young baseball player on the rise in 1960. He was ambushed with news of a trade to the pitiful New York Robins just after a game, and he made some comments to reporters about his new team that he probably shouldn’t have. Now he’s being ostracized by his teammates, he’s afraid to talk to reporters, he’s in the midst of a horrible batting slump, and he's living in a hotel because he's so sure he'll get traded again.

Mark is a newspaper reporter who is barely hanging on following the sudden death of his partner, a relationship unknown to nearly everyone. He is not a sports reporter, but the publisher assigns him to write a series of articles on Eddie which hopefully will endear him to the fans. The last thing Eddie wants to do is talk to another reporter, but he feels a connection to Mark fairly quickly, and trusts the man won’t make him look bad.

As Eddie tries to find his swing again, in Mark, he finds a friend and confidante, and recognizes that Mark is as attracted to him as he is to Mark. However, there’s no way Eddie can be an out baseball player (especially in 1960), and Mark is determined he doesn’t want to be someone else’s secret lover again. He tries to discourage Eddie’s feelings but at the same time, wants him as well.

“Mark always had to be careful, and careful means dishonest; careful means making sure that there’s always a lie at hand that he can reach for and use to paper over the truth.”

This was such a fantastically moving story, full of emotion, hope, fear, and far more acceptance than I would’ve imagined. I loved the supporting characters as much as Mark and Eddie, and was so happy with the way Sebastian let the story unfold. Can’t wait for her next one!!

The Best Books I Read in 2023...

Happy New Year! Here's wishing all of you a happy and healthy 2024, full of joy, laughter, and lots of great books.

This past year was a tough one for me. As some of you may know, over the summer I was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Luckily it was caught early and we're enthusiastic that it won't recur, but I did have surgery in late October to remove part of one kidney. All this to say, this wasn't a typical year for me where reading was concerned. I didn't do a great job of recording (or reviewing) what I read, so I don't have an exact count of how many books I did read in 2023—I'd say it's around 200, but we'll never know. LOL

This year I put together a list of my 20 favorites with an additional 10 books which were too good not to mention.

As always, I'd love your thoughts on what you loved reading this year!

The Top 20

1. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett: One of my favorite authors at the top of her game. This is such a gorgeously told story of family, love, memory, motherhood, and recognizing that happiness can come from a path other than the one you dreamed of. It's a quiet but utterly beautiful book.

2. Shark Heart by Emily Habeck: Lewis and Wren fall in love and get married. Not long after, Lewis learns he has a rare mutation which will turn him (rapidly) into a great white shark. As crazy as this sounds, this book is an unforgettable, powerfully emotional look at love, loss, and creating a meaningful life.

3. The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston: The author of one of my top three favorite books of 2022 makes the top three again! If you’re not a fan of magical realism and weird time loop-ish storylines, you may not enjoy this. But this left me a puddle of emotions.

4. Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez: Another home run from Jimenez, who deftly meshes romance, quirky characters, and more serious topics (this one deals with social anxiety) into a book that made me smile and cry, sometimes simultaneously.

5. Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane: A tense (and intense), sometimes sad, and tremendously thought-provoking book set in Boston in the summer of 1974, in the midst of the forced desegregation of schools. This one will make one heck of a movie.

6. Search by Michelle Huneven: This is a quietly compelling and dramatic story of a church searching for its new minister. (Plus recipes!!) It’s gorgeously written, a fantastic study of human dynamics, and I found the conversations about theology and philosophy to be fascinating and never heavy-handed.

7. In Memoriam by Alice Winn: Two young men, close friends at an English boarding school at the start of World War I, deal with their attraction to one another and the horrors of war, as Henry, who is part German, feels the need to enlist, but wants Sidney to stay safe. This feels like a more emotional E.M. Forster classic.

8. The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters: A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a mystery that will haunt the survivors, unravel a family, and remain unsolved for nearly 50 years. It's such a beautiful book and unbelievably, it's a debut.

9. Glitterland by Alexis Hall: How do you convince yourself that you’re worthy of love? Hall delivers a powerful story of love, heartbreak, and emotional turmoil, which had some incredible moments of beauty.

10. We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian: I feel like this book made my heart grow two sizes larger. It was full of self-discovery, romance, tension, and a good dash of history. I couldn’t get enough of these characters!!

Book Review: "We Could Be So Good" by Cat Sebastian

I don’t know if it’s clinically possible, but I feel like this book made my heart grow two sizes larger.

Nick Russo is a talented reporter for the New York Chronicle in the late 1950s. He’s always wanted to be a reporter, and has worked his way up from a rough childhood. But that’s not his only struggle—he’s a closeted gay man at a time when being discovered could lead to his losing his job, going to jail, and even death.

“But he’s twenty-five and he’s already so tired. He’s so careful, all the time, about everything, from not letting himself look too long at other men to being almost paranoid about who he picks up.”

When Andy Fleming, the son of the publisher, starts working at the paper, it’s clear to everyone that he’s biding his time. Of course, Nick is immediately attracted to Andy, despite all the reasons why he shouldn’t be. Although Andy turns out to be a good reporter (even if he’s being groomed to take over as publisher), he’s also a bit of an absent-minded klutz, and Nick can’t help but want to take care of him.

Little by little, their friendship deepens, although Nick knows it’s just a matter of time before Andy finds a woman to settle down with. But somehow, they both seem to fall for each other, although how can they hope for a happy ever after?

This was such a fantastic book, full of self-discovery, romance, tension, and a good dash of history. I couldn’t get enough of these characters!!