Unmasked by the Marquess

Between four and five stars.

I enjoyed this book very much, but it was slightly too angsty for me. I don't think this is a fair complaint, though, because it reminded me strongly of The Duchess War by Courtney Milan; I liked that book too, but I had the same problem with it. So, I'm probably objecting to genre conventions.

Nobody dies on-page or anything. But both characters were so miserable when they were forced to part that I honestly thought they were contemplating suicide, even though neither of them says that outright. This was too much sadness for me personally.

I am a cis reviewer but I thought the nonbinary rep was done well. Robin (Charity), who is AFAB, has lived almost full-time as a man for several years before the story begins. (She uses “she/her” pronouns throughout the book, and in her own mind.) She started doing this for reasons unrelated to gender, but it has become more comfortable to her than living as a woman. I got the impression that being fully seen as a man in everyday life wasn't really necessary for her; instead, she wanted to wear men's clothes. I don't know how she would define herself in modern terms.

Alistair accepts her gender and gender expression at every moment, which makes sense, because he is bisexual. He doesn't have a moment of thinking “thank God I'm not actually gay!” or anything like that. Despite the book's title, she tells him what's going on with her, after he has already developed feelings for her as a man. He reacts badly, but it's because she lied to him about many things, not especially because of her assigned gender. Still, I know that the framing of gender as a deception can be a sensitive topic for trans people. I advise people to seek out reviews from trans readers.

I loved both main characters so much. Robin really enjoys life, and it's easy to see why Alistair, who has been living an emotionally empty life, feels compelled to seek out her company. He's exceptionally steadfast; once he falls in love with her, which happens fairly early in the book, that's it for hin. He never doubts it and does everything possible to be with her. It's a really good romance.

I'll continue with this series, but only when I feel like I can handle a higher angst level again. But it's an excellent book and I recommend it! It's always exciting to me when one of my favorite authors does something new for them.

This is a looser interpretation of “eloping” than I'd like, but here we are - there is an elopement but it's not the MCs, so it does fit, at least. Anyway. I enjoyed this and I found the historical note at the end really interesting.

(2019 summer romance bingo: “eloping,” loosely but that's what I've got; would also fit “roadtrip,” possibly.)