Reviews - Something in the Heir

502 reviews for:

Every Duke Has His Day by Suzanne Enoch was a quick and enjoyable read.

Michael Blumley is the Duke of Loriton and despite his title, he is considered an eccentric by his peers in the ton because of his love of science and the way he acts at times. He truly has no interest in Society but when his favorite aunt, Mary, Lady Harris, leaves her precious, well-behaved black poodle, Lancelot in his care while she travels his life takes an interesting turn.

Elizabeth Dockering is in her second season and is adored by everyone. It's expected that she will make a match this season but whoever she decides upon will have to win over her dog, a black poodle named Galahad. Unfortunately he does seem to push the limits with everyone and especially has it in for one of Bitsy's biggest admirers, Peter Cordray.

When Peter hires a thief to steal Galahad so he can win Elizabeth over without having to fight Galahad off, things take a turn. Little did he know that when Elizabeth and Michael crossed paths in the park, they ended up with each other's dogs and by the time Michael can resolve the issue, Peter's thief has stolen Lancelot instead of Galahad.

I loved how Enoch introduced these characters to each other and the way they end up working together and ultimately coming to rely on one another to find the dogs, was well done. The friendship and relationship were believable and I especially enjoyed the way Elizabeth and Michael were when they were together. They weren't afraid to challenge each other.

If you're looking for a fairly lighthearted historical romance consider picking this one up. I'll be keeping an eye out for more from Enoch in the future and already have some of her backlist on my TBR.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

isabellabaker's review against another edition

5.0

funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

cfdaws's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny lighthearted

autumnleeves's review against another edition

3.0

This was very cute, with a premise that I haven't encountered before. But I have to admit I was surprised and a bit disappointed at the lack of heat. It was very G rated: sweet, but not sexy. And I wanted at least a little more of that for the couple.

I suppose the cutesy cover may have been trying to tell me that, especially compared with Enoch's other more traditional romance covers. But with that illustrated trend showing up in every new romance novel, this is the first time I've seen it signal a change in tone for an established author.

allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition

2.0

lighthearted slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Something in the Heir has an interesting premise. It's a marriage of convenience, but eight years in, things are about to get quite INconvenient. Mr. and Mrs. Pershing (that's actually what they call each other) were childhood friends once. Then Emmie had a desperate need to get married on the double, or a family rule enforced by her ducal grandfather would cause her to lose her home. Will agreed to her sudden proposal not because Emmie promised to further his career in the trade ministry but because he was in love with her. The second requirement to keep their home was to produce an heir within five years. They did not. It turns out that Emmie can't have children, and their attempts to make it happen grossed her out, driving a wedge between the former friends. Now, they're professional accomplices in making Will successful. Oh, yeah. And Emmie lied to her grandfather about the lack of heirs to keep their home. Not just a little lie. She invented two children, spinning perfect tales about the sickly dears for her whole family. Now, the Duke's 70th birthday approaches, and he wants to meet the children.

So begins a comedy of two hapless adults (same) hunting down two children to pretend to be theirs. When two families shockingly don't wish to part with their offspring for a couple of months, the two consider how grand it would be if they could just pop by a store for children. And that's when inspiration strikes. Off to the orphanage to temporarily take in George and Rose, who will require a good bit of polishing before they can pretend to be the docile, well-mannered Pershing children. As two well-ordered, well-heeled adults, they are pleased with themselves to find a pair that fits their lie. Surely everything will be easy from here on out since children are such reasonable creatures at baseline. Ha.

I'll admit that something caught me off guard right away. To establish what the Pershings' normal existence looks like and show how their political partnership functions, the book opens with them negotiating the building of a road in Africa (bad vibes already, but I held out for confirmation). Why is this deal so important to our intrepid, childless heroes? To "improve not just Britain's spice trade, but our relations with half of Europe" aka the rampant colonialism starts up as early as chapter 1, my dudes. While it didn't really feature in the story after that, it left a bad taste in my mouth.

The main reasons I disliked the book took me a while to disentangle. The romance is about the Pershings realizing they haven't properly been appreciating each other. But is it even a romance when a side plot romance has more chemistry? There were two scenes from their POV, and it's like hey... is this kind of cute? Is this cuter than the married couple I'm supposed to be focused on? And I think the problem's not only about all the other things the plot tries to squish in. I just didn't find Emmie and Will particularly likable separately or as a couple.

Romances with important kid characters are either the best or the worst. For me, this one was the worst. And with such wily, huggable kids, that's a crying shame. The plot's meant to be a series of cute, touching moments between the real Pershings and the temporary ones, but the plot drags. The Pershings are training the kids while still intending to give them up. Then, they start to second guess that plan from an emotional level but can't come up with a single solution between them on a logical level. Honestly couldn't be me. As someone who spends all day with kids, you either make the effort or you don't. Like, get over the house already. Emmie and Will keep having to make outlandish compromises to keep that prize. I'm not saying it's fair for them to lose their home or that they shouldn't fight for it, but compared to losing your kids? And knowing they're practically guaranteed a shitty future otherwise? It took them too damn long to sort out their priorities. They keep thinking there must be a way to have it all (I mean, there is because it's a romance novel) rather than making sacrifices to love and protect their kids. Lame.

This was a weird dislike because it kind of crept up on me. I thought I was fine, but then I realized how uninterested I was and how little I looked forward to picking it back up each time.