This was a lovely mix of both a friends-to-lovers and instant-family tropes. A great blend of silly and sentimental all mixed in an historical-fiction world.
If any of those things are your jam, and you're looking for a light read, give this one a go.

Overall a solid 3.5/4 but rounding up to 4.

I was given a free copy of this book from netgalley, but my review was not influenced in any way.

What a fun read! I like Historic Romances, so I knew that I wouldn't have any trouble reading this one, the premise sounded different enough to not be the same book I've read countless times, and this book did not disappoint! I didn't want to stop reading, it was so enjoyable. Imagine making a deal with a friend, to get married, which will benefit you both. This is what Emmaline does, in order to keep her home, and proceeds to send letters to her grandfather, keeping up an allusion of a perfect marriage (and family)! And it works perfectly, until Emmaline's grandfather invites the family to celebrate his 70th birthday. Now Emmaline needs to find 2 children to pretend to be part of her perfect family.

3.5 Stars This book was not at all what I was expecting, but was an unexpected delight, nonetheless! It was listed as a romantic comedy, but I would say that it leans much closer to the comedy side of that than the romance side. In order to keep their home, Emmeline and Will Pershing take in two precocious orphans, George and Rose, to fulfil the stipulation from Emmeline's grandfather that they have children in order to stay in Winnover Hall. Since Emmeline couldn't have children, she lied to her grandfather and made up two children. When the Pershings receive an invite to her grandfather's birthday party, they need two children to play the part.

This book was much funnier than I expected it to be and I absolutely loved George and Rose. They were adorable and hilarious (especially George's go-to insult of calling someone a "fart catcher"). The story is told in the third person, but the POV alternates between most of the characters, including Emmeline, Will, George, Rose, Hannah the lady's maid, Billet the groom, Powell the butler, and George and Rose's older brother James. I didn't think I would like how the POV jumped around, but it gave great insight into what each of the characters saw and felt, especially George and Rose.

Since this was characterized as a romcom, it could've done with some more romance. The author built up Emmie and Will each wanting more than a partnership and to be in a real marriage, but we clearly missed the conversations and reunion that led up to them deciding to live as a real couple. They went from both wanting each other to Rose remarking that they were sharing the same bed, which they hadn't before. I wish we had gotten more about Emmie and Will's rekindling of their relationship. This was still a great read and I really enjoyed it!

This is a well written historical romance with likable characters and some "wise" young orphans that are "old" before their time. I enjoyed this story about Emmie and Will and how their lives transitioned from family friends to spouses to "partners" and then finally to the realization that their lives could be so much more. Two little scamps, Rose (5) and George (8); are orphans that Emmie and Will "borrow" from a London orphanage to help Emmie and Will keep their home.

I found this story to be engaging and delightful as well as suspenseful at times. I think the characters have depth as the story unfolds and some of the secondary characters are very well explored too. The premise of the book was interesting; that a Duke would allow certain members of the family to live in a specific place as long as they fulfilled the requirements of an agreement. If not, it would go to the next offspring that could.

Emmie married her friend Will 8 years ago in order to keep her wretched cousin out of and save her childhood home in accordance with stipulations made by her grandfather the Duke. They were also to have children no later than 5 years after their marriage, which they failed to do. Unbeknownst to Will, Emmie told her family they had two children and has been concocting stories about their lives to her loved ones. Now, on the eve of her grandfather’s birthday party, Emmie and Will are forced to concoct a plan to save their home.

I knew from the synopsis that this would be a hard plot to pull off, particularly when the synopsis says the “borrow two cherubs.” Translation, they find themselves at the nearest orphanage and temporarily adopt two kids with the intention of dropping them right back off when it’s all said and done. Sooooo, human trafficking? Nevermind the obvious and glaring plot holes a scheme like this inevitably entails. The fact that no one has met their children over the course of 7 years?! I start getting twitchy when I haven’t seen my nephew in a few days over Facetime, sickly or not I wouldn’t accept SEVEN YEARS of no introduction or communication. This book required too much suspension of disbelief in order to be enjoyable.

This was the shallowest group of characters I’ve ever encountered in a book. Will and Emmie couldn’t see beyond themselves. Willing to ruin two children’s lives all to remain living in a building? The arrogance of thinking you are bettering these children with your temporary scheme. Of all the characters, and we get many unnecessary points of view, the eldest child George was by far the smartest and most endearing of any of the characters.

Also, this is not a romance. There is no banter, tension or wooing. There is an attempt at flirtation in which one character says they are naughty but it is quickly determined they meant knotty. I actually stopped reading, stared at my e-reader and imagined crickets chirping after that one.

The ending had me floored. There were no consequences for Will or Emmie. Everything turned out for them and I don’t really think they learned a thing. There was a small plot introduction about two characters marrying and then never really mentioned again. Why was this introduced? What effect did it have on anything? There were too many subplots and too many character point of views and because of that I started losing interest in the main story.

This was not the heartwarming and endearing story I think it was intended to be.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't sure what to expect heading in to this Regency era novel that described a marriage of convenience and fake heirs in the summary. I thought there would be more romance between the leads, or at least for either of them to profess the love they've secretly tried to hide over the years to the other. Instead, there was a much bigger focus on the children and the lessons they provided to them on how to be part of society. The pacing of the book was pretty slow, and took me longer than I'd thought to get into it, then the ending couple chapters felt very rushed in wrapping up the plot (it didn't really get wrapped up until the epilogue in my opinion). All in all, it was a cute read, but not one that I would pick up again.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A marriage of convenience and a lie that will get out of control and turn this couple’s lives upside down/. Emmeline and William Perishing have been married for eight years, their marriage is one of partnership, they are friends who were married so that Emmelie could inherit her family’s home and in return she would help William with his political career. They have maintained their partnership for eight years, living separate but peaceful lives in their home, only ever really talking when they have dinner but otherwise they sleep in separate rooms and stay out of each others lives. That is... until Emmeline’s grandfather, the Duke of Welshire summons the couple for his birthday party celebration and demands they bring their two children... two children that Emmeline made up in order to keep the family home. They have little more than two months to find two children and turn them into the angelic children that Emmeline has created. They decide to rent two orphans from an orphanage, George and Rose, the two must unruly thieving children there ever was. Soon Emmeline and Will will have their hands full raising these children to be presentable to the Duke, it also doesn’t help that the children’s criminal brother has made himself at home in their home as well and is intent on stealing everything. Can these two mold the children in time or will they lose their beloved home... and along the way can they actually fall in love with one another after eight years and actually make more of this partnership? I definitely went into this book thinking it was going to be a historical rom-com... and what I got was a family drama.There was very very little to no romance in this, in fact a vast majority of this book was focused on the children stealing, and Emmeline and Will trying to educate the children. The book felt a bit long and I found myself not interested in the story at all, the constant repetitive chapters of the children stealing was not great either. I just wasn’t invested overall and the book felt too long for what it actually was. The children didn’t really come off as likable or even endearing to me and thus I just couldn’t connect to the story. The lack of romance didn’t help either. Overall, this story was not what I was looking for or expecting, so while it didn’t work for me I definitely think this would be well suited for someone who wants to read a story with family drama and kids.

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Going into this book, I thought I knew what was going to happen, but as I read, I realized it’s not as predictable as I thought. It took me a few chapters to get into it, but I quickly became invested in Emmie, Will, George, and Rose’s stories. There are plenty of surprising twists and turns I didn’t anticipate that added to the intrigue of the story. It was a cute read from a different lens than other regency-era books I have read. This story has a little bit of romance, but it isn’t the main story line. You go through the book seeing it from the points-of-view of the main characters and some of the supporting characters, so you have insight on their motivations and feelings as the storyline progresses as well as all the goings-on at the estate. The characters are multi-faceted and you understand why they think and do the things they’re doing, even if you don’t always agree with them! I really enjoyed this book!

If you look at what I tend to read you’ll find plenty of romance novels. This may be a romance novel but the love that really shines through is that of parental/familial love.

This awkward couple learn so much about each other and themselves throughout this story. It’s not your typical romance. It’s slower, subtler, and just as beautiful.

Love is not just for those with the same blood, and the familial bonds that grow between the characters is sweet and hard not to want to support. ​

If you’re a fan of Bridgerton but you’re also looking for something with a little less drama but with just as fun of a family, this is the book for you!

This story is not what I expected. It is so much more! Logical, organized people need to "borrow" two children to pretend to be their children at a huge family party. The kids will learn new skills, eat well, have a good time, and then be returned. No problem. Ha! There are so many laugh out loud moments in this story. I adored it.

Something in the Heir was just the book I needed--a delightful, historical rom-com that kept the smile on my face from beginning to end. The plot was a little far-fetched but the wonderful characters convinced me to go along with it. Glad I did!

This was my first Suzanne Enoch book. Based on her back list, I was expecting more romance and less feel good family hijinks. This book felt like a cozy episode of Little House on the Prairie but regency. Emmeline Pershing invented two heirs in order to keep her family estate from passing to her cousin. When her grandfather demands to meet her children, she cooks up a plot to borrow kids from an orphanage and polish them up. It not only didn't work, but left me feeling pretty irked. This book could have been 100 pages shorter and nothing would have changed. There wasn't much of a romance and a lot of repetition. I should have looked into the plot more before reading this.

If you like a chaste romance with a focus on orphaned children, this is your book.

To keep the home she grew up in, Emmeline must follow two firm rules set by her grandfather: she must marry and produce an heir within the first few years of marriage. Emmeline completed the first task and only fibbed a bit on the second. Emmeline and Will Pershing have been married for eight years, and though they tried to have a child, it sadly wasn't in the cards for them. But that didn't stop Emmeline from conjuring up two fake children to appease her grandfather and keep her home. Now, as her grandfather's seventieth birthday approaches, Emmeline, Will, and their children are required to come to the festivities. That leaves the pair with only one choice: find two children willing to play out the ruse, or lose their home for good.

I feel a little duped by this one. I went in thinking it was going to be a fun historical rom-com, but what I got was more of a family drama set in a historical period. There was little to no romance in this at all. Sure, we get little bits between Emmie and Will as they learn that their marriage is more than the transaction they thought it was. Will has always loved Emmie, and Emmie grows to love him, and it was sweet watching them figure that all out, but it was more of an afterthought. The main plot revolves around polishing these two orphans to pass off as their children. There's no denying that George and Rose were precocious little miscreants, but all their pickpocketing and scheming did get repetitive quite quickly. Still, they had me chuckling and smiling with their antics. I did think Emmie and Will's plot was unnecessarily messy and didn't understand why they wouldn't just tell their tenants or those around them that they just adopted the children. I also couldn't stop myself from eye-rolling every time they swore they wouldn't be keeping the kids. You knew they weren't going to give them up and that they'd be a family by the end. I don't think this was a bad book necessarily, it just didn't end up being for me.

Emmeline and Will have been married 8 years, it's a partnership that works for them, giving them the benefits they both want, stable home, connections, etc. Things get turned on their head when Emmie's grandfather, the duke writes that he wants all his offspring, their offspring and so on at his 70th bash. The problem being, Emmie may have claimed she and Will had two kids that don't exist. So a bit of suspension of disbelief is required, just don't think about it too deeply. Because the premise isn't the point in my opinion. It's kind of a second chance at this relationship for Emmeline and Will. They were incredibly young and ill prepared for marriage, and they have a chance, to right things in their relationship. I thought this was portrayed realistically and slowly. George and Rosie, their fake offspring take their share and are each given a pov in the narrative. Seeing things from their perspective was an interesting choice that I liked, particularly George's pov was so much about his trust issues and were really well done. This is a very different book from the normal variety of this time period, it's a bit bonkers, but I really enjoyed it. It had tons of heart and put a smile on my face. I was provided an ARC for review from the publisher and Netgalley.

After reading several reviews, I thought I had some idea what this book was about. But when reviewers said "it's more about the children" I thought it meant it was more about the children and their shenanigans rather than the romance

But instead I got an entire book about Emmaline and Will teaching George and Rose how to be there children. We didn't get to the "Emmaline and Will try to pass them off to their family as their own" until three chapters from the end. Which. It made the book have no stakes. There was no "oh no, when will they be found out??" or "how will they smooth over this blunder so no one suspects" which is what I was anticipating going into the book. I thought the shenanigans would be related to passing the kids off as their own

Overall, it wasn't a bad book. I *adored* the characters. But it just...wasn't compelling. It's not even like it was slice of life, it was literally just...lessons

The romance between Emmaline and Will was very subtle and yet...not? It was a strange combo. They talked very openly (though tactfully) about their intimacy after the wedding and problems that arose with the newness of it in a way I really appreciated. But because the book wasn't a romance it felt weird whenever it was brought up and then it was resolved very nearly and off screen, we didn't get any non-sexual physical intimacy leading up to it, save a little kissing

All in all, reading the first twenty-some chapters felt like reading the very long first half of a book and then the last three chapters were the incredibly rushed second half

It just didn't click for me. I didn't hate it, but it also took me a month to read and I had to force myself like it was work. And now I'm concerned it'll put me in a reading slump :/

Still, thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free advanced readers ebook

The premise was fine but like other reviewers have mentioned, the storyline felt a bit drawn out and repetitive at times. It felt 30-50 pages too long given that, but the plot was unique and held promise.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

THIS WAS BORING !!!! It took me what felt like years to get through the first 50% of this book and it still feels like absolutely nothing happened. The whole book felt like going in circles while the two leads danced around each other and did the same things over and over again. I found it enjoyable and cute at some points throughout the novel but it's not enough to make up for the lack of plot points otherwise.

I am so glad I got to read Something in the Heir as an ARC. This is one fantastic story! will keep you spellbound as it takes you on a rollercoaster ride that is like a breath of fresh air as it weaves a story from beginning to end with threads of lies, rambunctious orphans and the true meaning of family.

As Emmeline and Will live a well run and orderly life they can't imagine anything different, so well that they barely see or speak to one another. When two determined and boisterous orphans come to help Emmeline and Will keep their home only chaos, laughter and a one madcap journey is in store for everyone.

Suzanne Enoch has given readers a book that is well-written, filled it with a great cast of characters that will hold your attention as their individual personalities become more than just part of the tale they come off the pages and pull you into their story, sweet romance, witty banter and entertaining situations. With setting descriptions and action sequences that are wonderfully vivid that brings the story to life and brings this read together perfectly!

Emmeline Hervey grew up at Winnover Hall and her home means everything to her! The only hitch to keeping her home is she must get married before her Cousin Penelope and once married, she must produce some heirs within five years. William Hershing agrees to marry Emmie and they form a partnership which on many levels works for them. However, after five years, when they hadn't produced any heirs and had pretty much quit trying. Emmies' solution was to create some fictional children that she wrote about in her letters to her grandfather. Now, eight years into her marriage, her grandfather wants to actually meet these children and it becomes Emmie and Will's mission to recruit some children to pose as their actual children and train them for this event. Enter the adorable and thieving orphans named George and Rose. These two kids will steal your heart! Will two loveable orphans help Emmie and Will find true love with each other? Families are formed in many ways and Emmie and Will are in for a wonderful ride!

"Something in the Heir" by Suzanne Enoch
a fun KNOTTY tale
I loved my time with Emmie, Will, and George and Rose. This is truly a fun laugh-out-loud read that will pull on your heart-strings, too. Happy Reading ! !
NOTE: This review expresses my honest opinion.
I received an ARC of this story from the publisher via NetGalley.