Publisher: Vintage (March 10th, 2026)
Series: series title
Genre: Historical Romance (Queer)
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman who has lost her fortune must be in need (not want) of a husband. Beautiful, cunning Verbena Montrose must marry to save herself and her odious family from abject poverty. Fortunately, what she lacks in a dowry, she makes up for in the currency of gossip.
When she hears an alarming rumor about her very dear, very queer friend Étienne that could ruin him, she comes to his aid with a proposal—for a marriage of convenience, that is. But when Verbena discovers that a mysterious and celebrated poet by the name of Flora Witcombe has been publishing verses that hint she is onto their scheme, Verbena has no choice but to pretend to be a poet herself to confront her in a local salon. And—unexpectedly—be charmed by her.
Flora, in turn, is terrified by and smitten with Verbena in equal measure. But she holds a secret of her own: he is also William Forsyth, a struggling novelist and fifth son of a minor noble family. And if circumstances don’t allow Flora to woo Verbena, perhaps William can. Faced with two suitors and a fiancé, Verbena, who has always had to be clever to survive in society, starts to realize she may need to think outside of society’s constraints to find true happiness.
A Lady For All Seasons by T.J. Alexander is a gorgeous historical romance featuring two protagonists. One, Verbena Montrose, is a beautiful, brilliant, and unfortunately financially-struggling socialite who seeks to marry well, preferably rich. The other is the poet and fiction writer Flora Witcombe and William Forsyth (being genderfluid, they are both identities), a minor noble's fifth child and a brilliantly popular poet as Flora but a struggling fiction writer as William. The two meet when Verbena decides to marry her dear friend Etienne, a wealthy tailor who is very gay but needs to do a lavender marriage to keep his social standing, and Flora publishes poems about Verbena and Etienne. They meet. They flirt a bit. And soon, things go a bit off the rails in their plans as Verbena finds herself debating between (who she thinks to be) three people: Etienne, her dear friend who is wealthy but gay. Flora, the gorgeous poet who makes her start questioning. And William, the minor noble who appears to be wooing her.
This historical romance was so fun and such a charming read! Verbena was spirited, intelligent, and a really fun character to read, especially with her gossip-hound instincts. Meanwhile, our other MC comes across really well and charmingly both as Flora and as William, and the differences in their POVs worked well, too! The characters were very humanized and human, not just our protagonists but others like Etienne and Lord Byron (yes, THAT Lord Byron), and I loved the strong LGBTQI+ rep. The angst elements worked pretty well, even the third-act breakup, and the ending was fantastic too. Meanwhile, the chemistry sizzled. As a whole, I'd definitely recommend this one.
Thanks so much to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and NetGalley for the E-ARC!
5 STARS!
Until Next Time,
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