Hello lovely readers! We’re truly in it now.

This week we are reading Chapters 4-8.

Here’s a recap for Chapters 1-3:

Christopher, Lord Eden, awakes in his room in Eden Abbey and gets dressed, which gets us a chance to meet him. Other media that shows the main character waking up at the very beginning is cliche, but this is trans art, so everyone just calm down. We learn it’s very unusual for Christopher to be dressing himself when he’s this rich; we also learn he’s quite lonely. But damn does he love clothes.

To breakfast! We meet Cook and Plinkton, his only live-in servants. Their relationship is strangely informal. They tease him about the new valet that is supposed to arrive today and his upcoming trip to London, which they assume is solely for the purpose of selling a house he owns there. It isn’t. Christopher is keeping a secret from them.

He’s been in contact with his solicitors regarding his late father’s will, which stipulates Christopher needs to marry before his imminent birthday or else lose his estate. The solicitors can’t find any loopholes. The valet that they’re sending to him is meant to give him an air of normalcy in London. Because his actual mission is to get a wife.

Christopher, an accomplished horseman, goes on his morning ride and encounters the new valet on the road. Uh oh, James Harding is hot. But also a bit of a stick in the mud. Harding balks when Christopher reveals that he does most of the work in the stables himself because it’s really not the done thing. He balks yet again when Christopher explains that Harding is mostly for show and won’t be expected to do many of the usual valeting duties. He’s especially confused about why he won’t be dressing Christopher. Take it or leave it, Lord Eden says. Harding begrudgingly accepts the position in which, to be clear, he will be making a lot of money for doing not a lot of work. The poor man seems to be holding onto hope that he will eventually be allowed to work more, the weirdo.

Harding leaves to familiarize himself with the house while Christopher does this:

It’s finally spelled out for the reader that the reason Christopher won’t be allowing Harding to dress him is because Christopher is a trans guy on the DL. This is going to complicate finding a wife, which is not really his cup of tea, but what choice does he have? He stumbles upon Harding admiring the portraits of his deceased father, mother, and sister in the hall and has a light panic attack while recounting their deaths in vague terms.

Time for lunch! Harding follows Christopher while he gets himself something to eat from the larder, asking why his portrait isn’t hanging anywhere in Eden Abbey. Christopher brushes off the idea but Harding points out it would be expected—especially by a potential wife. Christopher is flummoxed that Harding has deduced the real reason behind his hiring a valet and his upcoming trip to London, but Harding kind of shrugs and says this sort of thing happens in Regency romances all the time. (James alone knows he’s in a romance novel. He just doesn’t know he’s one of the main characters.)

Harding asks if he can help Christopher woo any woman in particular; Christopher chokes on his lunch. He begs Harding to keep the whole thing under wraps, and Harding agrees. Privacy, he is starting to understand, is his new employer’s dearest treasure.

And that’s a recap!

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I have a treat for you all this week: a quick Q&A with my first reader, Dana. Some of you might have run into us when we were ambling around the From Milwaukee With Love event. Anyway, here’s Dana.

Dana!! We are old college buddies and I love showing you my writing. I am so blessed to have you as a first reader. For those who aren't familiar, can you tell us what a first reader does?

I feel incredibly lucky that you still ask me to read your writing, because I love doing it! Being a first reader means that you are the first person besides the author to read the first draft in its entirety, warts and all. As your first reader specifically, I read through the draft and all of your notes and comments, add my own notes and comments, and try to be as helpful as possible with feedback that will maintain the TJ-ness of the book but may help smooth things out a bit. When I'm done, we have an epic video chat and you make some initial revisions, and then I have no idea what happens after that because I don't read the book again until it's in print!

Tell the people at home what your credentials are for giving me notes, besides your excellent taste.

I hold a series of increasingly fancy degrees, including a Bachelors in English Education, a Masters in Linguistics, and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Literacy Studies. Along with those, I taught at the undergraduate and graduate level for over a decade, including courses in Children's and Young Adult Literature, and I have authored and edited several academic book chapters, articles, and reports. But most importantly, I read widely and often, and I have been reading your writing for over 20 years! I've read everything from your fan fiction to your senior honors thesis to your poetry (most notably that about Krispy Kreme), and being familiar with your writing is helpful so I can provide notes that don't detract from your style.  

Do you remember reading the first draft of A Gentleman's Gentleman? I literally do not even remember sending it to you way back when, but I must have. What did you think?

I had to go back in my email and see when you sent it to me! (I had three kids under seven at that time, and everything is still a bit blurry.) The book didn't even have a title yet when you sent it! It was still "the regency romance"! BUT it looks like the time that elapsed between you sending it to me and me finishing it was...two whole days. So clearly I couldn't put it down! I distinctly remember reading it on my laptop outside while the kids were playing in the sprinkler, because I got so invested in the characters very quickly and I didn't want to stop reading. Also, looking back, I left numerous comments along the grain of "HE IS NOT SERIOUSLY CLIMBING THE TRELLIS :D LOVE IT that is SUCH a Christopher thing to do" and that's just one small piece of evidence of how much fun it was to read, even in its first iteration. 

Do you think I'm better at historicals or contemporaries? You can be honest, it's just us here.

You have a very distinctive voice in your writing that lends itself beautifully to both historical and contemporary fiction. I don't think you're "better" at one or the other, because your writing is phenomenal no matter what genre or setting! However, although I absolutely stan all of your books, A Gentleman's Gentleman is my favorite--so if you're GOING to TWIST my ARM, I'd say historical. 

I once named a main character after your dog (Mel from Triple Sec). Are there any other family members you'd like me to honor in this way? Be specific.

My retired librarian mom, Joanne, owns and has read all of your books and would be beside herself if she discovered a character named after her! Dana is also a great name... :) But truly, I don't think you can top the best character name ever to exist--Verbena Montrose. I know she isn't real, but she's real in my heart.