Something in the Heir was not what I was expecting. This book is a roller coaster of a tale. The premise sounded like a unique and fun offering from the historical romance genre. Unfortunately, it didn't really end up being a romance novel at all.

Emmeline and Will need to borrow some kids to keep their mansion due to an agreement made with her grandfather. Unbeknownst to Will, Emmie has been lying for years telling her family that they have two kids, and now the time has come to present these mythical children. When they borrow two kids from an orphanage to act as their children, hijinks ensue.

The whole story revolved around the two children and how they were chosen and then trained to act their part. There was almost zero romance in this book. In fact, I felt like we got more romance from the maid and groom than we did from the two main characters. The kids story line was very far-fetched and felt pretty icky for a large majority of the book. These kids will need therapy.

Ultimately, it was one over the top scene after another, including a long lost nefarious older brother, the children stealing and selling household goods, and servants getting involved in the shenanigans. The story lacked the balance of comedy and heart that I was searching for. This book does have an audience. I'm just not sure I'm it. It was a light and fun read, but not the romance novel I was expecting. If you are in the mood for a romp of a story involving kids, servants, and antics galore, give this a shot!

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the e-book in exchange for my honest review!

Well this is something. The writing had good flow and was easy to read. The humor is definitely the high point of the book. What I really did not enjoy were many aspects and actions of the female main character as well as other characters and plot points. So overall I can’t really say I enjoyed the book, especially when I’m reading and wishing certain characters would just disappear. Overall the premise is just strange and uncomfortable and I can’t say I would actually recommend this book to a friend. I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the kids (clever, adorable little criminals) and Emmie and Will and the whole staff. I guessed the ending very early, but it didn’t make the journey any less fun. There were a lot of unbelievable sounding circumstances, but just enough explanation to reason them plausible.

It isn’t completely a clean read: there is swearing (mostly by the children), but no f-bombs (unless you’re British) and no sex scenes (though there are mentions of sex in a fairly vague way). Using the Lord’s name in vain multiple times bothered me more than anything else.

This one is so hard for me to rate. There were so many situations that really rubbed me the wrong way. Emmeline and William were childhood friends. Emmeline knew that in order to continue living in her childhood home she must be the first to marry and produce heirs within five years. She and William agree to get married to secure the house but are unable to have children. Emmeline decides to lie to her grandfather and tell him they had two children. Eight years later, her grandfather asks to meet the children so she comes up with a scheme to find two kids and have them pretend to be her own for a few weeks.

Admittedly, I thought the premise sounded really clever and funny when I read the blurb. In actuality, it ended up just making me feel uncomfortable. To begin, I was instantly annoyed that they would only call each other by Mr and Mrs Pershing after they were married. For a couple that had known each other since childhood (and would speak to each other informally before the engagement) they sure seemed so cold and informal to each other in their marriage. Emmeline was not my favorite heroine. She was judgmental and didn't have a big enough arc to redeem her behavior. The way she went about trying to secure two children for her scheme was off-putting. Asking the local farmers to borrow two of their children because they have a bunch and probably can't feed them all anyway was horrible. In the end, I didn't find any of it funny The romance was nonexistent. and the couple didn't have enough chemistry. The use of the derogatory term for the Roma was unacceptable.

This is my first Suzanne Enoch book and I'm not sure I would be willing to pick up another. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

Emmeline and William choose a marriage of convenience so that she can keep her childhood home because her grandfather has some wacky rules about who is allowed to occupy the house. The story centers around the fact that they were required to have children by their 5th year of marriage or they had to give up their home. Now eight years in with zero children, Emmeline is forced to reveal to William that she created fictional children, Malcolm and Flora when her grandfather announces that all of his grandchildren and their children must come to his home for his birthday. They end up renting a pair of children, George and Rose Fletcher, from a London orphanage (they literally pay the orphanage to 'borrow' the children) and chaos ensues.

There are a lot of POVs, which I am not ever really into. There are 4 subplots happening at the same time as the main plot, which makes it difficult to really get emotionally invested in the characters.
I wouldn't even really consider this to be a romance novel. Emmeline and William have a lack of chemistry, which I believe comes from all the looping plot lines but I could not have cared less if they developed feelings for each other.
I felt like the inclusion of James Fletcher, George and Rose's older brother, did nothing to further the plot. The entire time I was reading I just wanted him to be gone already.
I kind of liked the romantic subplot between Hannah and Billet, but again, there wasn't enough time spent building their chemistry for that relationship to feel fully developed.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rose and George are delightfully wild little children, and they were enjoyable, but I was disappointed in the romance department. This felt more like a made for TV comedy than a romance, but if you go into this book with those expectations, you should be ok. But like seriously, I wouldn't really call this a romance. Can I say again? Don't read this looking for romance.

Thank you NetGalley, St Martin's, and the author for the eARC in exchange for my review.

Emmeline “Emmie” Hervey is the granddaughter of a curmudgeon duke. She must marry and have children to keep her precious home. Emmie offers to help William in his political aims if he would marry her. However, after eight years of marriage, the lie she concocted seven years ago catches up with her. Emmie and Will scramble to find suitable children to play their “pretend” children or lose their home. They manage to find two recalcitrant orphans to play the part. Can Emmie prepare the children in time? Or will she discover something even more precious than Winnover Hall?
William “Will” Pershing has always been in love with Emmeline. When she needs to marry to keep her childhood home, he agrees to Emmie’s unorthodox proposal. Eight years later, William discovers that his perfect wife invented children to appease the agreement for living at Winnover Hall. He helps Emmie search for two children to pass off as their offspring. The two wily orphans they find turn their idyllic life upside down. Can William and Emmaline succeed in their subterfuge? Can he give the children up once the charade is over?
It took me a while to warm up to Emmeline. At the beginning, she comes off as too prim and self-centered for my tastes. I dislike how Emmie’s entire focus centers around Winnover Hall. I understand her desperation to keep her childhood home; however, I think she takes things too far. I adore how well Emmie and William work together. The two are a united front, working perfectly with each others’ strengths and weaknesses. What I love the most about Emmie is how George and Rose open her eyes to new possibilities. She finally realizes there is more to life than Winnover.
William surprised me in a delightful way. His easy-going personality won me instantly. I admire how Will never tried to deceive George and Rose. He understood that they had trust issues with adults, so he never asked too much from them. William also tried to make their stay fun and enjoyable. What I adore the most about Will is his dependability. Even faced with his wife’s life, he never abandoned her. Instead, Will remained her staunchest ally and helped find solutions to escape their troubles.
SOMETHING IN THE HEIR is a standalone, historical-romance novel by Suzanne Enoch. I am a big fan of this author. This story did not read like the typical romance I come to expect from Suzanne Enoch. It has more of a feel-good, fluffy vibe mixed with some comical relief. Emmie and Will’s romance is more secondary and subtle. The main point revolves more around them trying to prepare George and Rose how to maneuver in a polite society setting. The children’s mannerisms and hijinks make the story entertaining.
SOMETHING IN THE HEIR is a fun and delightful tale of two adults and two children discovering the true meaning of family. I wonder if Suzanne Enoch plans to write more stories in this new direction of hers. I cannot wait to see!

DNF'd at 63%. I was only continuing because I thought maybe the main couple would get their just desserts, but the longer I read, the clearer it became that that was not going to be what happened.

I'm so disappointed by this book! I have enjoyed the Suzanne Enoch books I have read before (particularly the first two Wild Wicked Highlander books) and I enjoyed this book for maybe the first chapter. And then I quickly soured on the couple.

Emmeline and William Pershing are in a marriage of convenience that she proposed eight years ago in order to secure her inheritance. Her inheritance of her childhood home is dependent on her being the first to marry in her generation. This set up feels very Enoch, high concept, you just kind of have to go with it. There are hints that William feels more for Emmeline than she does for him pretty early, though God knows why. Another condition of the inheritance is that in order to stay in home longer than five years, they need to have a child. They cannot do this because Emmeline is infertile. She tells William that her grandfather waived the condition and they remain in the home.

Only he didn't waive it. Emmeline instead invented two young children for her and William, that somehow, her family has never met or wanted to meet.

Emmeline is one of the worst characters in a romance that I have ever been encouraged to like by the narrative. And I love unlikable heroines! It's kind of my thing. I don't even necessarily take issue with the premise--I knew all of those when I volunteered for the ARC. I imagined that William and Emmeline would strike an equitable deal with some plucky orphans and antics would ensue. And I think that might be how Enoch would characterize what happens.

But instead what we get is the couple having very little insight into the absurdity of what they are doing. First they try to convince some family friends to let them borrow their children for a vacation without their parents. These friends rightly point out that that is so weird and inappropriate.

Emmeline and William laugh it off and realize, oh yes, it was quite inappropriate to do that to their peer's children. So instead of looking inward and thinking "let's stop and think about this scheme," they immediately go to a tenant farmer with a dozen children and ask for two of them. Again the farmer, rightly, points out that this is SO WEIRD. Emmeline and William attempt to buy him off and he refuses.

Again, perhaps a time for the couple to look inward and think "what if we stopped be so creepy about this." At this point, I thought maybe the plot could be saved by children volunteering for the role. Maybe they meet enterprising unhoused children who need the Pershings as much as the Pershsings need them.

Nope! The Pershings then think wistfully "oh if only there was a shop for children!" Ah ha! An orphanage. They go to a convent orphanage and offer to "borrow" George and Rose Fletcher. The nuns insist again that this is kind of weird behavior. But George and Rose are little hellions, I guess. So the nuns are happy to pass them off to the toffs.

Then the Pygmalion plot proceeds where the Pershings attempt to train George and Rose into being stand-ins for their non-existent children. It takes forever for the couple to come clean to the children about the plan. They lament the lack of trust the children place in them, all while fully intending of sending them back for the majority of the book.

Pygmalion is already kind of a touchy, hard to do well plot. But Eliza Doolittle knows what she wants out of the deal! And she can leave at any time, even if means returning to selling flowers on the street. The Pershings effectively traffic these two young children, with very little plan of what they are going to do with them after their needs are served. They are also constantly shifting their lies of just who the children are, so there isn't even much of a mystery that they are going to be found out.

This is not even mentioning the arrival of the children's brother, who was so simultaneously unnecessary and revealed Emmeline's judgmental nature even more. Good heavens! A FELON in our midst. He's not upstanding like my husband, whose main political goal is "build one road in Africa," that is mentioned at the beginning of the book and then never comes back up.

If this doesn't sound like a romance, it is because there isn't much romance!

There are vague references to Emmeline and William's wedding night that didn't go well. He was too eager or something and it freaked her out. But then they keep sharing a bed for seven more months, until she is declared infertile. A hero, even a young one at 20, who sleeps with his wife for seven months, while she is so scared that they recede to calling each other by their last names, is not a very sympathetic hero! And it is not really addressed! Also it is unclear through out if they have been celibate the past eight years or not. There's a reference to him giving her "advanced notice" of bedsharing, but then she also turns into a puddle when he holds her hand for a split second too long.

There could have been a POV of William's thoughts, explaining an over eagerness for someone who he has been pining for years that frightens her away. I really thought this would be a dual timeline romance when I first started, given the references to their early marital bed. Like what possibly happened to scare Emmeline so badly! But not so badly that William continues to sleep with her for seven months and it wasn't assault? Because we're supposed to like William! But Enoch is pretty uninterested in that aspect of their relationship. To be fair, I guess, I didn't finish the book. But I did read other reviews because I was so confused by the lack of romance and it confirmed "no sex, very little romance."

Other things that annoyed me: the way the servants speak about Emmeline. No one in-universe seemed to realize how absurd or cruel her behavior was toward the children. They all think of her as their perfect mistress and they are willing to participate in the ruse, no matter how ridiculous it is or how harmful it might be toward George and Flora. Also, Emmeline uses the g-slur. I really don't get a wit about historical accuracy when it comes to that. Romance has such a problem how it uses Roma people. I can wince at something like Kleypas' Hathaways, where I really think she was trying to do ill-conceived representation. Also they were published 15 years ago! Kleypas at least attempts to do "exploration of culture," however ultimately fetishizing. It makes me like those books less, but not write her off as author totally. But to just drop a slur! Something that could so easily have been excised. It makes me annoyed with Enoch as a whole.

I've read some of Suzanne Enoch's previous works and enjoyed them, particularly her work in the 2 Lady Whistledown anthologies. However, I don't like the premise of this book, especially the attitude both characters have regarding their plan to borrow children. (Yes...spoiler alert.) I couldn't get past that aspect, especially since it's all being done to hold on to a house! That seems ridiculous to me, even though as a student of history, I know how important it was for property to be kept in the family or to be maintained by the responsible & dutiful family members. I guess this book just rubbed me the wrong way. It certainly proves that I was not wrong in taking Enoch off my list of go-to romance authors. I doubt I'll read anything of hers again.
Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for this advanced copy, which I voluntarily read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Very enjoyable read! I totally love the characters and flew through this book in no time at all. The dialogue is witty and fun and had me laughing out loud several times. I enjoyed the romance and the comedy and everything in between. I would totally recommend this to fellow book lovers.

I kinda loved this one. Emmie & Will are quite the pair. They married because it was uncomplicated and made sense but Georgie & Rose are going to turn everything upside down. This kids are hilarious and I loved reading about Emmie & Will find eachother

3 stars

The writing & characters are decent, but I found the main premise weak, one of the MC’s not very likable, & the whole thing involving the children unethically icky. Also, this isn’t really a romance novel. It’s more of a family comedy with romantic undertones.

[What I liked:]

•The romance is definitely slowburn, between a couple who got married mainly for convenience & only start to actually connect several years later. For being marketed as a romance novel, the romance bits are sort of in the background compared to the reputation crisis & the children. It’s still sweet & believable though, partly because there’s a slow build up of emotional intimacy, with a hint of unrequited feelings.

•Some of the dialogue (including internal dialogue) is pretty funny, as are some of the scenes narrated from the children’s POV’s.

•The character development is pretty good! So are the relationship developments between the four MC’s. This is probably the greatest strength of this novel.

[What I didn’t like as much:]

•The whole premise that sets up Will & Emmie’s relationship, as well as the central conflict, is pretty shaky. If Emmie’s mother knew Penelope was engaged, why not wait to vacate Winnover til after Penelope got married but before Emmie did? And…how did Penelope never learn of the status of Emmie’s children?

•How come Will’s never seen Winnover Hall if they’ve been friends & neighbors since childhood?

•While learning better of it is part of their character growth arcs & they’re not completely terrible people, the way the MC’s treat the children like commodities to be used & then discarded for most of the book is very unethical. Doesn’t matter how well meaning they are, they’re still taking advantage of very vulnerable children for their own ends while the children have basically no choice in the matter. It feels pretty icky.

•I’m not a huge fan of Emmie, especially because she uses people to get what she wants. Not in a consciously cruel & ruthless way, but her oblivious self-centeredness deeply hurts Will, George, & Rose. Her childhood home is more important to her than people, even the people she professes to care about, & she’s willing to harm them, lie, & cheat to achieve her goals. Not great traits for an MC we’re supposed to like.

•There is quite a lot of perspective shifting between multiple characters, including side characters, & the switches happen mid-chapter. That narrative structure is not my favorite.

CW: child abuse, treating children like commodities for sale, use of disparaging terms for Romani people & negative stereotypes

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my fair and honest review of _Something in the Heir_ by Suzanne Enoch.

Rating: 3/5 stars
Publication: September 20, 2022
Pages: 352
Genre: Historical Fiction, Comedy, Soft Romance
Spice: 1/5

Historical romance with a bit of wit and humor is among my favorite stories to read. I am so pleased to have the chance to review this book and know that others who love this genre will enjoy this humous tale as well.

_Something About the Heir_ by Suzanne Enoch follows the life choices of Emmeline and William Pershing who are entangled in a marriage of convenience. Their marriage is solely held up by the notion of retaining the family estate, Winnover, and helping William succeed in his career through Emmeline's social connections. While William hints that he wants more from their eight year marriage, Emmeline and Will find themselves content with their separate lives within the construct of their marriage.

Despite their contentment, Emmeline and William find their story to become more complex once Emmelin's grandfather, the Duke of Wilshire, instructs his family to come home and join him in celebrating his birthday. This invitation should have been a welcome one; however, Emmeline has strung an elaborate tale of having two children, who do not actually exist. This lie ultimately leads to a rues where Emmeline and William must find two children, a boy (8) and a girl (5), to act as their own. Cue Rose and George, two orphaned children who give Emmelin and William a run for their money!

While there are many moments in this book that bring me joy, there are also moments that give me pause. Emmelin's character in particular seems to be problematic in that her sole purpose is to keep the estate at all cost. I expected her to grow out of this tunnel vision by the end; however, very little growth came about from her. On the opposite end, Rose and George are actually the stars of this story, particularly Rose.

If you are looking for a quick, easy historical comedy, this is the book for you! However, if you are looking for a spicy, historical romance, go into this read knowing that there is minimal romance and nary any spice.

Again, thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press to access this eARC in exchange for my honest, fair opinion.

When I read the first few pages of "Something in the Heir," I thought I knew where the book was headed. I did not -- and I was wrong in the most delightful way. Emmeline and Will have been married for eight years, but theirs is a marriage of convenience. They married in haste to secure Emmeline's right to live in her family home. There's one more requirement of their occupancy: they need to have a child within five years of their marriage. Emmeline has been led to believe that she is unable to conceive and has more or less given up on motherhood.

One day, her great-uncle, the owner of the estate (and the one who imposed these conditions on occupancy of the estate) calls all of his family to his home for a birthday party. Emmeline is in a pickle: she has invented two children in order to keep living on the estate, but now she's obliged to attend the party -- but has no children. She confesses to her husband. They together come up with a scheme to "borrow" two children from an orphanage and pretend they are their children. Of course mayhem and tomfoolery follow.

This is a very sweetly written book which gently addresses what it means to be a parent, how people can live their lives hostage to others' expectations, and how a couple who have grown distant can rekindle their marriage and deepen their feelings for each other. This is a closed door romance, if that's important to you. I enjoyed the plot (even if it wasn't too difficult to anticipate what would happen) and found the characters to be charming.

I expected to love this book. I wanted to at least like this book. Unfortunately, I did neither.

Suzanne Enoch is absolutely, hands-down, the best at making the Regency period funny. Her wit is beyond just about anyone else who writes historical romance. However, it fell flat for me in SOMETHING IN THE HEIR. I just couldn’t find anything amusing in a couple who gave up on each other after so brief a period and who came across as truly mercenary. Okay, I understand that Grandpa Duke is a grouch and her cousin, Penelope, is the queen of gimme-gimme-gimme. But, isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?

Emmie wants to keep Winnover Hall, even though she knows the requirements are that she must be married and have a child within five years to maintain possession. To get this, she proposes to and marries Will , then invents two children. Yet she’s surprised when Grandpa Duke wants to see them? I was appalled that the answer, to her mind, was to borrow a couple of children from an orphanage, slick them up a bit, have them lie constantly, then return them to the nuns a few weeks later. That’s funny??

Of course, things change over the course of the book, but not enough for me. Where was the romance? (Spoiler: There isn’t any.) What about the amusement factor? Yeah, the kids were funny, at times, but mostly because they are confused by what everyone around them was doing. So, since there’s no romance and little amusement, I can’t rate this rom-com more than two stars. I was greatly disappointed.

I received a pre-release copy via NetGalley and the publisher. I appreciated the no-cost copy, but it did not affect my personal opinion of the book in any way.

This book was absolutely fantastic it was such a good summer read I could not put this book down I wanted to live here.

Humorous and refreshing. 3.5 STARS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The story is completely unique and is just a delight to read. The characters are beautifully explored and you enjoy every one of them in one way or another. From the staff to the children, humor leads the way.

Enoch builds this story in a different manner than what is expected in a historical romance and it is a refreshing read.

Personally, I wanted a bit more in the romance department and sooner in the story, but it was getting there by the end. Plus, there were a few areas that I had to ask why she put them in the book… and the ending had a few weird spots.

Regardless, Enoch’s stories are always a memorable, delightful jaunt into the past, just like this one.

I absolutely loved this book! The plot and the twists and turns it contained was fantastic. I loved all the characters!

(2.5 stars rounded up to 3)

Emmeline and William Pershing have a marriage of convenience. In order to inherit her beloved family estate from her grandfather, Emmeline (or Emmie) has to beat her cousin down the altar, and offers to help William advance his political career if he marries her. Fast forward eight years later, and they have a picturesque life together, complete with a Mr. Carson-esque butler. But there was another catch to Emmie’s inheritance: she had to produce a child within five years of her marriage. When her grandfather invites Emmie, William, and the two children she invented without her husband’s knowledge to a family reunion, the couple desperately turn to a pair of orphans who they slowly begin to bond with — and realize their love for each other in the process.

What nearly turned me off of this book as soon as I started it was the MASS of info dumping at the beginning. The orphans, George and Rose, were the most compelling characters by far, and they weren’t even part of the central romance at play. Beyond that, it’s a funny story with some genuinely adorable moments.

At the end of the day, Something in the Heir was a sweet romcom that delivered both comical and somber moments, but failed to have any deeper, overarching themes. Obviously, no one wants a dreary examination of the human condition from a historical romance, but a little more passion — and a lot more resolution — from the central couple would not have gone amiss. Scenes in the book that did allude to passion were weak; I expected a little more from a couple that had been longing for each other in such close proximity for eight years.

If you enjoy simple, not-too-exciting romances that will put a smile on your face before bed, you’ll probably really enjoy this book. If you’re a fan of more intense romance, it’ll miss the mark for you.

This book was so much fun!!!! Super cute and clever, I loved loved it! Usually I see books where men have to marry to secure whatever they need/want, but I don’t think I’ve found one with a woman before! The characters were really fun and adorable and I loved it :)