[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Griffin in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Theirs was a marriage of convenience. Emmeline offered to help William with his career in exchange for a whirlwind wedding to ensure she got to keep the family home. As the first to wed, she was guaranteed the house in the short term. To keep it, she needed to bear a child.
When that didn’t happen, Emmeline fed her family a series of… stories… about their son, Malcolm and daughter Flora, expecting (hoping) no one would ever find out the truth.
But now the family patriarch has called everyone to gather for his birthday. So Emmaline and Will need two children. Immediately. Preferably ones who know how to behave properly in society.
They have to settle for George and Rose, two orphans they take in on a “trial” basis. Once the family makes an appearance at the big birthday celebration, they should be off the hook forever more.
Review
This was an interesting story. Predictable in a lot of ways. There are no real surprises with this, except maybe the sheer number of lies the family resorts to over the course of the book. And the story is not really a romance in my opinion.
While William and Emmeline do discover a spark while they deal with her deception and their attempt to keep the house, most of it is conveyed in glances and internal observations for the two characters. It’s only a tiny piece of the larger story.
The salvation of this for me was how likable the children are – and Will and Emmie, too. And I especially enjoyed how the household staff responded to the situation.
If you like stories with endearing children and a ton of hijinks, you should definitely pick this up. If you are looking for a romance, this one may be a disappointment. Lower your expectations and focus on the family story instead, and you might get a kick out of this one.
Rating: ♥♥♥½*
*♥♥♥½ = Good+