This was a quick and easy read for me. It kept my attention just enough to keep reading to find out where the plot was heading. I felt like the first half was slow, and it sped up in the second half. I think my favorite part of the book was Ruby’s letters she wrote to a mystery person where we find out all of the sordid secrets of the McTavish family. I figured out all of the twists except one before they happened. The one I got wrong, I was on the right track for. I still recommend this one because of the mystery and family drama of the family!

I would first like to thank Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Rachel Hawkins for providing me with an ARC of The Heiress in exchange for my honest review.

Going into The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins, the beginning was very confusing. The format of the book wasn't what you would normally expect as it flipped between three POVs but one of the POVs was told through letters. It was refreshing to see a different format and it felt like the best way to tell the story.

I would absolutely recommend this book, and have already done so. I recommended this book to my mother and sister and would recommend it to anyone else.

I found The Heiress to be a slow burn, that just fell flat for me. It was a good story however it took to long to get to the ok twists. The Heiress had several things I enjoy in books, quick chapters, multiple POVs and timelines, unfortunately it just didn't hit the mark.

I am gonna say it-this is my favorite by Hawkins and her best yet! I loved every delicious, decadent second of this book. It was twisty, witty and so full of spite it made me cackle. Who doesn’t love a rich old bitch?! I mean…

All of the characters are deceptive, holding secrets and a bit morally gray. I just love that…I loved the flip flop between POVs, letters and diary entries. It really helped confuse your loyalty to each character and kept you on your toes. Right when you thought you knew what was up-you were wrong.

The setting was perfection as well. The mountains with a giant gothic house just really set the vibes. Also-short chapters?! Heart was singing. I really enjoyed this one! Well done @ladyhawkins. Thank you @netgalley for my advance copy!

Cam, a humble schoolteacher in Colorado, is really anything but. Adopted by the rich and infamous Ruby McTavish at the age of three, he inherited her massive fortune and historic estate when she passed away 10 years ago. But Cam has refused to return home until now, when his toxic uncle has finally died and he is left with just his equally awful cousins and great aunt to contend with. He and his wife Jules head to the family home to finally confront the situation. But as secrets come out, who will walk away unscathed, and most importantly, with the family fortune?

The book is told through both Cam and Jules POVs in the present and Ruby’s story is told through a series of letters she wrote in the past, scattered throughout the.

So, Rachel Hawkins is officially a must-read author, right? I mean if she wasn’t before this book, she certainly is after. This book is so unique and so suspenseful, I was absolutely flying through it. I mean, I don’t know which storyline I was obsessed with more, Ruby’s or the modern-day one, that’s how good this book was!

And though I had an inkling of at least one of the twists, I feel like I only got that inkling when the author WANTED me to have it. Like when she strategically dropped the hints to see who could figure it out. And those hints did not detract from the big ending at all - which was just a great, haunting finish to what was an overall amazing gothic-like novel.

As I said earlier, this is just another in a great line of thrillers from Rachel Hawkins. Each one has such a unique vibe and such killer characters and a storyline, I can’t wait to see where she takes us next!

My best advice is to read this one, then read all her other books, then pick up her next one when it comes out ASAP!

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins was a five-star read! I just loved it. With twists and turns and a plot that moves quickly, I cannot imagine anyone not loving this. The story is told through three different perspectives. Jealousy and secrets lurk behind every door in the great Ashby House and I was excited to go along for the ride.

Synopsis:

When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

But in the aftermath of her death, her adopted son, Camden, wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.

Ten years later, his uncle’s death pulls Cam and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but the legacy of Ruby is inescapable.

And as Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what’s written in a will––and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.

Out on January 9.

Could. Not. Put. This. Down. Seriously so good. This is a twisty mess of a domestic suspense thriller. Ruby adopted Camden when he was young. While Cam felt lucky to have Ruby, his adopted cousins made his life less than desirable. Once he left the family estate he vowed not to return. But with Ruby gone, Cam's wife Jules suggests that the return to the mansion he grew up in when his uncle dies to put behind all the family drama once and for all.

I could not get enough of this book. There are so many secrets and mysteries surrounding this family. Ruby, herself, is at the heart of it. She disappeared from the estate as a young girl and was found and returned months later. Her sister has always suspected that Ruby was not, in fact, her sister returned but another child altogether. This carries on through her children as they consistently question the legitimacy of Ruby and Cam to the estate and family money. In addition, Ruby has four dead husbands. Jules knows very little of the way in which Cam grew up. And Cam has secrets of his own.

The audio recording of this book is perfection. We get several points of view in the book and all are done really well. The pacing is just what the story needs. The cast of narrators each brings a unique aspect to the book. I particularly loved Ruby's sass as the narrator reads her letters in the book aloud.

This is Hawkins at her best and my favorite of hers. Fans of The Family Game and Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone would enjoy this. I continue to love what this author writes and look eagerly for her next work.

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins is a suspenseful novel that keeps the reader guessing until the very end. It is the story about a family that is very wealthy and what happens to them as they journey through life. One of the characters is the adopted son of the heiress. He wants nothing to do with any type of inheritance. In fact, he wants nothing to do with any members of his adopted family. Why is this? The adopted son does go home after a death in the family and it is then that the plot thickens. This novel will not disappoint the reader. It is the type of book that will have you up all night reading it! Thank you to Rachel Hawkins and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is my first Rachel Hawkins read and I really enjoyed it. It was twisty and dark with secrets. The characters were amazing. I loved the letter aspect. It was definitely a page turner.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I was so excited to read this book and it did not disappoint! If you are looking for a book with family drama, family secrets, extreme wealth, and MANY twists and turns, then this book is for you. Thank you, NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this advanced copy of "The Heiress"

This is my first book by Rachel Hawkins as her writing is not not my usual genre. I've seen her books on Bookstagram and BookTok so thought I'd give this one a go.

I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was so twisty, dark, and unbelievable. It starts with Ruby and takes you on the wildest ride. I loved how the POV changed and how you thought you knew what was happening and then you didn't. Was it original? Probably not... but worth a read!

-Rachel Hawkins is now on my radar.

I utterly adored this book! Rachel Hawkins is a master of the thriller genre, everything she has written thus far has been devoured by me immediately upon beginning the book. I hope everyone loves this one as much as I did. It reminded me mildly of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo but with more grit.

Against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, an estate worth millions is up for inheritance. Camden, the adopted son of the notorious heiress Ruby McTavish, has returned home reluctantly with his sweet wife, Jules, to end the dispute once and for all. This book was easy to get into, it was twisty, and took the “rich people behaving badly” in jaw dropping directions. I loved the letters left by Ms. Ruby McTavish, her glam vibe was everything! While there were moments that were predictable, the story was so much fun to read, I didn’t mind them. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

The ultimate “rich people behaving badly” trope—The Heiress follows the story of the wealthy McTavishes & what happened when their daughter Ruby was kidnapped as a child. Fast forward 80 years to meet Cam, Ruby’s adopted son, & his wife Jules as they return to the family home in NC. Everyone in this story is keeping secrets & none of the characters are likeabke…. There are quite a few convoluted twists and agreat ending. This one was quite a page turner!

This is my new FAVORITE Rachel Hawkins book! So twisty and sinister and dark with an ending you cannot even fathom! Jules and Camden McTavish live a modest lifestyle in California. No one could guess that Cam, the unassuming teacher, is actually heir to millions of dollars and a huge estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains. When Jules convinces him to travel back home, she hopes he will take ownership of all he is entitled to. But Cam has no interest in the money or the house, he fled that poisonous family to start a normal one on purpose. What evil family secrets could cause a man to turn his back on that large inheritance? Plenty my dear, PLENTY! Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on January 9, 2024

4+ stars

This book makes four consecutive novels from this author that I’ve really enjoyed, all for their own reasons. The stories are different, but even so, the writer’s style is consistent no matter what type of story she’s crafting. I was intrigued by the premise of this one; I’m a sucker for a story that promises to be suspenseful and that has a vaguely gothic setting. I actually enjoyed the back and forth of the chapters and letters that wove together to create the story, and the ending was compelling, satisfying, and still a bit unexpected. I know I say it about a lot of my favourites, but I truly can’t wait to see what this author brings into the world next.

Thank you @stmartinspress @macmillan.audio for a copy of this book. This is my favorite book by this author. I always love a book with a large inheritance and people fighting for it. In this case, Cam wants nothing to do with the house but his cousins all want a piece of the estate. The story is told in dual timelines and with multiple narrators and POV. They all did a great job with bringing all the characters to life. I loved all the twists and turns to the story.

I can see why people enjoy Rachel Hawkins, but unfortunately her books tend to fall flat for me. The Heiress is about a man who goes back to where he’s from following a death, to face the trauma of his past. He has a horrible family trying to get in the way of his inheritance, and every time he tries to leave, his wife convinces him he needs to fight for what’s rightfully his.

I enjoyed the multiple POV’s, especially Ruby’s letters! Overall though, the book was simply alright. There wasn’t much of a wow factor and even the plot twist didn’t do it for me.

Ruby McTarvish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore lived an eventful life; she married five men, and each of those men died in freak accidents. Were they accidents or was she really Mrs. Kill-more like the people whispered behind her back?!

Ruby was born into a very rich family, each of them with a heart of ice. There was no love vibrating inside the walls of the Ashby House, an extravagant mansion, where they lived. In 1940, when Ruby was three years old, she was kidnapped during a family picnic in the woods outside the Ashby House. She was missing for seven long months until she was miraculously found living in a shack with a poor family. She doesn’t have any recollection of the kidnapping, and has this weird feeling that she’s not the real Ruby.

This was a dual timeline mystery that’s told between the POV’s of Camden, Ruth’s adopted son, and his wife Jules. Before Ruby’s death, she started writing letters to her son, or anyone that would find her confessions. Family secrets are shared, private detective findings are exposed, and it’s up to Camden to inherit her estate and money, or leave it all behind.

This book was addicting! I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it, and feel like I’m still processing the cycle of events that completed the story. It’s a fast paced family drama with twists that never stop, and make you want to read it again, from the beginning, to fully understand the mind of Ruby McTarvish.

I know that when I pick up a Rachel Hawkins book, I’m going to like it. But, of all her books, so far this one is my favorite! A slow burn thriller with twists and turns, some I truly couldn’t see coming.

I enjoyed the way this book was written. The letters that helped tell the story and the multiple POVs. Just so good.

I’ll leave my review at that so I don’t spoil anything!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital ARC!