A review by erika_winters
A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I think this is the first time I’ve ever read a historical romance (as far as my memory is concerned), and I loved reading a story centered around a transgender woman named Viola (love the Twelfth Night reference here). Alexis Hall skillfully crafted this book where being trans was not a main source of conflict, but something celebrated and loved. I appreciated all the characters close to Viola, like her sister-in-law Louise, for example, care for Viola and never question her identity. The romance between Viola and Gracewood is beautiful and so well-written; the friends to lovers motif really created a layer of understanding and affection between the two as they grappled with their identities, PTSD, and for Gracewood, a disability that he has to come to come to terms with in a society that he feels will judge him. Viola is not the only character coming to terms with her gendered society; Gracewood is too in all of his personal struggles with drug and alcohol addiction from PTSD from Waterloo, and the harsh upbringing with a callous father who taught him a suffocating model of masculinity that he feels stuffed into. Overall, it is through each other that they find their strengths and discuss their weaknesses, which made this an effective romance, in my opinion! AND all the queer representation really made my heart happy; so, come for the regency romance, stay for the queer joy!
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