This book was so refreshingly delightful in every possible way! It was honestly nothing like I was expecting going into it ,and everything I didn't know I needed in a historical romance. I found myself happy and smiling all the way through.

I loved Emmie and Will's relationship, and George and Rose were so endearingly wonderful. The way the family bond formed was sweet, funny, and really very genuine.

This book had zero on page sex and wasn't spicy at all. It was a very sweet and funny read. I truly loved it!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Short answer: 4 stars is generous. more accurately would be around a 3.25. Had so much quirky and interesting potential and then sort of sputtered along until the end.

Emmeline and William are two folks with very little personality or charm, who we are somehow supposed to believe are the center of this "historical romance". They are in a transactional marriage of convenience, wherein Emmeline is touted as a phenomenal hostess - so good, in fact, that it is the direct reason why William is a successful schmoozer of sorts. Neither appear to have many interesting qualities or passions, nor do they have any friendships of substance with anyone at all.

In order to stay living at her childhood home, they were required to have children They did not and instead lied about it. The time has come for them to present their children to the recluse grandfather and the book plot is based on them renting orphans to play the part and having calamity ensue.

I <b>thought</b> more of the story would center around the children's antics once they got to the grandfather's home. However, almost zero of that happened. The entirety of the book was side plots, a "surprise" brother of the orphans whose entire storyline felt like it pulled away from the actual intended plot and did not add anything of value to drive the story.

There was almost no romance in the entire story. I'm not referring to spice, of which there was also none. This should've been set-up as a historical comedy of errs, sans a romance angle, and I think it would've landed with target audiences much better.

The first half starts off fun, their voices are clear and quicker witted, they had funny awkward interactions with their neighbors and their children which had me thinking it was going to be a delightful ruckus of events.

Then it starts to drag on, and on, and on. Additional side plots that weren't relevant and didn't move the story along, James - as a whole - detracted so much from the story it was distracting. Overall, it was a bit disappointing of a read and I now realize why it took me SO long to muddle my way through it.

A quirky and clever read full of fun and thoroughly enjoyable to devour.

Something in the Heir was a really fun romp! I love historical romances that take a unique twist on relationships, and this one definitely had definitive characters and personalities that had me laughing and swooning. What a fun book! Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Rating : 4 out of 5
Blurbs :
New York Times bestseller, Suzanne Enoch takes a delightful new path in her joyful historical romantic comedy, Something in the Heir.

Smart, capable heiress Emmeline Pershing will do anything to keep her beloved home; and all it takes is an arranged marriage and a teeny white lie to fulfill her family’s silly inheritance rules. But now her little fib means that she and her completely unsuspecting husband are going to inherit big — and very messy! —trouble.

Emmeline and William Pershing have enjoyed a perfectly convenient marriage for eight years. Their relationship is a seamless blend of their talents and goals. They’ve settled into separate, well-ordered lives beneath the same roof, and are content to stay that way—or so Emmeline thinks. And if William has secretly longed for a bit more from the woman he adores, he’s managed to be content with her supreme skills as a hostess and planner, which has helped him advance his career.

Then when Emmeline’s grandfather, the reclusive Duke of Welshire, summons them both for his birthday celebration and demands they bring their two little angelic children, William is stunned to discover that his very proper wife invented not one, but two heirs to fulfill the agreement for living at Winnover. But surely if Emmeline and William team up and borrow two cherubs to call their own, what could go wrong? Enter George, age 8, and Rose, 5—the two most unruly orphans in Britain.

As the insanity unfolds, their careful, professional arrangement takes some surprisingly intimate turns as well. Perhaps it takes a bit of madness to create the perfect happily ever after.

Thoughts :
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. This is a very different type of historical romance. I somehow enjoy this book. I really surprised at first to find that our MCs have married! but it's very funny and light. This is a very likable book. Highly recommended for any romance fans out there!

First off, I absolutely went into this thinking that it was a romance...and it very much is not. Don't get me wrong, while there is a bit of a romance between Emmie and Will, it is in fact not the primary plot and there are many POVs.

The brother, James, really pissed me off SO MUCH. That whole plot point really annoyed me and felt like it wasn't necessary and just made the book longer than necessary.

Honestly the smartest character in this whole book was George. He never trusts an adult, which honestly given the adults he's around, he shouldn't. He protects himself and Rose as best as he can as a small child. Emmie and Will are at best dumb and at worst incredibly problematic. They quite literally go to an orphanage to rent children that they lied about having in order to maintain their comfort in Emmie's childhood home... YIKES. And then once they fell in love with the children and the children with them, the whole reason they said they couldn't keep them was because the village knows they dont have kids? Could they not have just...said that they adopted children? I truly don't understand.

What this had:
- marriage of convenience
- precocious children that actually didn't annoy me for once
- really good writing
- multiple POVs that weren't difficult to keep track of
- a bananaspants plot
- a closed door romance kinda

What this needed:
- literally just one intelligent adult

Ultimately I did enjoy parts of this but I couldn't get past parts of the plot.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really struggled with this book- I didn’t finish it. I wanted to like it because it’s definitely up my alley- I love a good regency romance, but this plot line was just too contrived. It was even more unbelievable than the only-slightly-better-than-Harlequin-Romance novels. I almost never stop reading once I’ve gotten so far along, but it was just too frustrating to keep going.

I absolutely loved this book. It hooked me and kept me turning pages until I was done. Finished it in two days! The character development was strong, and the premise was unique enough that it didn't feel like anything else I've read.

Typically regency romances are full of spice and sometimes you're just not in the mood for that. Something in the Heir was a clean, closed door regency romance with all that regency romances typically have but with a sense of humor. I loved the main characters and the plot of this book. I'm a big fan of regency romances and I approve this book.

Emmeline and William have had a marriage of convenience for 8yrs and now a lie Emmeline told long ago has caught up to them and in order to remain living in their home they must immediately produce heirs that are of the correct age. Hence the plan to “borrow” two children from an orphanage to pass off as their children for the big party her grandfather insists on having with all his relatives. With more complications than they initially planned for, Emmeline and William must work together to achieve their goal and along the way they learn more about themselves in the process.

I’m not sure regency romances are for me even though there wasn’t a whole lot of romance happening in this book. The romance storyline was a secondary subplot to the children’s antics and the predicament they were in. I don’t think there was a romantic connection between Emmeline and William past fondness and appreciation; almost like they are just good friends. I wish there was more of a connection or desire for them to be together. I did like how the children changed their relationship with each other and I liked their relationship with the kids.

Overall I liked it but I don’t think I’m the right audience for it. Someone who’s a fan of regency romances will definitely enjoy it.


Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I have nothing against closed-door romance but this is very strange that there were no sex scenes since the author does have them in her other books, I think because of this I wasn't able to get into it as much as I would have liked

For the most part, I just can't get myself in to historical books - romance, fiction, non-fiction, doesn't matter the sub genre, I just can't get into it. I found myself struggling to get through this, not because it was bad, but because I just can't say I like historical stories. So in the end, I wasn't thrilled and really had to push myself to get through it. It was an okay story, just not for me. 3 stars, because I can't say it wasn't a good book, I just didn't like it.

Unfortunately I am not finishing this one as I just cannot get past the first 25% without being completely annoyed, angry and disgusted by the main characters. The writing is fine but the premise just makes me so angry. I do not really want to know how it ends

I enjoyed reading Something in the Heir by Suzanne Enoch - Happy Reading!

**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**

This was such an enjoyable book! I love historical romances, and especially ones like this, that don’t feel too historical. Also, I really liked that the plot idea, that they need to find these children to pretend to be their children, new and fresh. It really did make the book more enjoyable, because it was something I hadn’t seen before.

This story was honestly more than I was expecting it to be, and while slightly shocking, it was really good. I went into this expecting it to be most romance, but I was pleasantly surprised when there was a big focus on what I would essentially call found family.

First and foremost, I did really like the two main characters. I thought both Emmeline and Will had journeys where their characters were almost reawakened to who they were. Additionally, I liked seeing representation for people who get comfortable in life and almost need to have things shaken up a bit to remind them how to live. Additionally, I really enjoyed all the side characters as well. I really liked that throughout the book, we got their viewpoints as well. And my most favorite thing is that we get the viewpoints of the children as well. They were important characters to the plot, so it made sense that we also heard what was going on in their heads.

One other thing I liked about reading this book was that there was a slight air of mystery to the entire book. Yes, we got the romance and the slow build in the relationship between Emmie and Will, but we also got this “what will happen??” sense throughout the entire thing as well. It was like on each page we were wondering if the whole scheme will fall out from under them. In the end, I liked how the book ended as well, and I think it really fit well with the lessons in it.

Overall, I gave it 4 stars

I don't recall the other books that I have read from Suzanne Enoch being this funny. The desire to stay in the home she grew up leads Emmeline Hervey to jump through all kinds of hoops to win the right to live in Winnover Hall, owned by the Duke of Wilshire, the current Duke is her grandfather. When her parents announce that they are moving to Bath, the rules say that the first descendant to marry can live there for 5 years and if they produce an heir, they can stay there until they die. Her cousin is all ready engaged and despite having received 3 proposals, Emmeline hasn't made her mind about either of them. With the chance of her cousin getting a special license she makes a proposal to her childhood friend, Will Pershing. Not knowing that he is already in love with her, she proposes a marriage of convenience , where they get to live at Winnover and she will use her talents to help him with his career in the government. He agrees to the quick wedding, but then boggles their wedding night, and they fail to create a heir. She becomes convinced that she is barren, but then makes up two children, failing to tell Will about her lie. Eight years later, they are more like business partners then spouses, but when they are ordered to appear at her grandfather's birthday party, she must confess to Will. What follows is hilarious brainstorming plans and "borrowing" some orphans to play the part. The kids are adorable and Emmeline and Will find out what they have missed by not having children. Wonderful ending. Except for the one "villain", all the characters are very likable and the story engaging.

I read an ARC from the publisher, provided by NetGalley.com. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.

Something in the Heir by S. Enoch, published by St. Martin's Press, was great. This is a fun and enjoyable read and excellently written. I love a good historical read and I would recommend it in a heartbeat to those who love a great plot!

dnf
i was so excited by the premise of this book, but it just did not work for me. I am open to reading more from the author though.
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

I started this book, since it came highly recommended. Didn't care for the messy parts of their earlier marriage, so it wasn't really for me.

This didn't feel like the Suzanne Enoch I'm used to.
To be fair, I'm not a victorian orphan so I don't know how they'd think or feel but I didn't like how untrusting they were, it made the push and pull take too long.

I love love romance tropes like marriage of convenience, and friends to lovers.

I think I would have preferred a different pull together of the main characters than the use of orphaned children but their use and chemistry was great.

I would have liked a different coming together than focused more on the romance instead of world and relationship building as this read more historical than romance but it was predictable fun.