okay wow, I went into this blind and am glad I did. I think this will be a favorite thriller of 2024. Mark your calendars for release date 1.9.24!!! I loved the Asheville/Biltmore vibes, the family drama, the plot twists, the alternating chapters between characters, newspaper articles, AND a diary all in one. Truly a fun, fantastical thriller. I think this is Hawkins best yet and I cannot wait for this to be out in the world!~

I was in a major reading slump before I picked up an early copy of THE HEIRESS, Rachel Hawkins’ latest adult suspense novel. It turns out that Hawkins’ signature pulpy suspense is just what I needed! Thank you, St. Martins Press!

There are 3 narrators and points of view in this book. First we have the infamous Ruby McTavish, a wealthy heiress who was kidnapped as a child and became a widow four times over. Then we have her adopted son, Camden, who has rejected Ruby’s legacy but is compelled to return to the family estate, Ashby House, in the wake of a family death alongside our third narrator, his wife Jules. Each character is hiding secrets and Ashby House has a way of keeping the family in its grip…

Although I predicted most of the plot twists early on, I found this book a delicious experience that I gobbled down. Ruby is the kind of sardonic narrator I love to read and her past was really fascinating. (It almost gave me The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo but with murder lol). Jules is a classic Hawkins character and I mean that in the best way. Camden felt like the weakest character in some way and I wish there had been just a few tweaks to his twists. I wanted a bit more about his childhood/his reasoning for leaving the family.

The end, however, was just as twisty as I dreamed and overall it was a highly entertaining read! Sometimes you just need a gossipy, juicy popcorn read that feels like digging through old family secrets… It seems like a new tradition for Rachel Hawkins to release a thriller each January and I throughly approve starting off your reading year with some murder-y bookish fun!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book!

When I finished this book (after one sitting), I texted several friends and told them I had their next vacation read picked out! This is a fantastic Southern Gothic mystery with fascinating characters and a setting that absolutely captured my imagination.

I read a lot of thrillers, so I know better than to trust any main characters, but I couldn’t help rooting for Jules and Camden from the very beginning, especially Jules. Hawkins does such a good job on intentionally making her such a relatable character so that the reader can make a connection while surrounded by truly horrible people for most of the book. And of course, the twists. This book is told in two timelines, one through Jules’ and Camden’s alternation points of view, and the other through the deceased Ruby McTavish’s letters about her life. Both storylines are gripping and the way they all come together - chef’s kiss.

If you read The Villa by the same author, keep an eye out for a fun Easter egg in the story! However, you should know that while Hawkins’ other books are good mysteries, this is by far a superior story in my opinion. I absolutely loved this and highly recommend it as a vacation read!

The Heiress is a stunning tale. That is, to say, Ruby’s story was so interesting and engaging, I could not read through her letters fast enough! The present-day story was not so interesting. In fact, it was a burdensome interruption to the real story told by Ruby. I wish Ruby had been alive to tell her story instead of learning of it
Posthumously. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

Camden and his wife Jules share the narration of this story about the McTavish family. Camden's mother Ruby has passed, and ten years later, Camden and Jules are called home to the family estate, Ashby House, to deal with lingering matters. Ruby was a larger than life woman who married and buried four husbands. Through letters she tells the stories of those marriages and the truth about what happened to her husbands. Her sister and niece and nephew remain at the family estate and believe it belongs to them, and not Ruby's son and heir Camden. Everyone has secrets in this story, especially Camden and his wife Jules. No one is really who you think they are, except perhaps Camden's cousins who are really as narcissistic as they sound. There are a lot of twists in the story. A few of the twists seem obvious and you expect them, and then another one comes along and completely surprises you. This is a quick enjoyable read.

There's a lot to love about The Heiress. It has that fun, devious mystery thriller vibe to it which is what I'm looking for when I pick up a book from this genre. Having read the author's three previous books, I'd say this one is her best yet.

The bare bones of the story is 3 year old Ruby disappeared and months later she is found living in Alabama. She is brought home to her wealthy parents' estate, Ashby House, located in North Carolina. She accumulates more and more wealth as she gets older, and when Ruby dies, she leaves basically everything to her adopted son, Camden. Ruby's sister and her family ain't too happy with that decision. Camden doesn't want anything to do with his relatives or the money and flees to California where he meets and eventually marries, Jules. Fast forward a decade, and he will be setting foot in Ashby House once again.

I enjoyed the storytelling method as you get Camden's and Jules' POVs as well as Ruby's via letters she wrote. Newspaper articles are also sprinkled in throughout the story. The pacing was good and it was a quick read as I never once lost interest.

There are many components to this story so it's not like you are just working your way to the ending. You are getting plenty of juicy stuff along the way. The weak spot is it was lacking any jaw-dropping moments. I'm racking my brain but I don't recall any key moments that I hadn't considered a possibility at some point. I wouldn't go so far to say the story is predictable but the author leaves quite a few clues. And in her defense, some stuff you are only a beat or two ahead of before she reveals it. Maybe nothing truly shocking, but it still was a fun binge read.

Recommend as a good weekend/vacation thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to review. All opinions are my own.

Married couple Camden and Jules are traveling back to Cam's childhood home, from his new life in California to North Carolina. He hasn't returned to the home since his adopted mother Ruby McTavish passed away. Ruby left him a small fortune, which is wanted by multiple relatives, creating some tension within the McTavish family. She also left behind the house, in need of many repairs, and questionable deaths of her former husbands.

The Heiress follows Ruby in the past, along with Cam and Jules in the present. Through flashbacks, letters, and news articles, Ruby shares more about her life to her relatives. Hawkins transports the reader to North Carolina, in the Ashby House, and develops both timelines and plot points seamlessly. In true thriller fashion, it is full of twists and surprises that I did not see coming. The Heiress explores family connections, the power of money, and how far someone will go to get what they want.

I really enjoyed reading The Heiress. I would rate this book a 4.25 stars out of 5. This was my first book of New York Times Best Selling Author Rachel Hawkins, and I will definitely be reading more. The characters were interesting and well developed. The twists kept me on my toes. It was a really entertaining, satisfying thriller.

If you have read any of Rachel Hawkins other books, you will definitely enjoy this one. There's lots of twists, a fun location and setting, and unique character perspectives.

The Heiress will release on January 9.

Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore led a long and eventful life. When she was six years old, her kidnapping made headlines and had the entire country praying for her safe return. Her first husband was shot on their honeymoon. Her second was electrocuted in the barn of the family estate. Her third and fourth husbands also died under questionable circumstances. She left everything to her adopted son, Camden, who refuses to have anything to do with the family estate or the relatives who still live there. He's created a life for himself in Colorado and is doing just fine without Ruby's money until an email from his cousin draws him back to Ashby house and his wife gets a look at everything he walked away from. Told through Ruby's letters, brief news stories, and the point of view of Cam and his wife, this book kept me hooked from the beginning. The old scandals and current drama between family members combined to make an absolutely fascinating read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC of "The Heiress" in exchange for an honest review.
There's nothing I cherish more than a twisty gothic-like book that delivers so many startling twists, you lose count of them while your head's spinning trying to take them all in.
"The Heiress" had me shaking my head in admiration at the sheer avalanche of revelations piled up before I reached the last page.
You may think that you've read about every forbidding, mysterious vast estate populated with strange families holding on to dark secrets. But nothing compares to North Carolina's Ashby House, amid the Appalachian mountains. It's home to the McTavish family, a filthy rich collection of vipers whose infinite wealth allows them to cruelly, carelessly rule the area like the Romanovs of Russia. And for sheer dread, their mansion makes Daphne du Maurier's Manderley look like a Motel 6.
Camden, the family's young heir, fled as far from these reptiles as he could, now living a simple paycheck-to-paycheck existence with his beautiful wife Jules. But when he's summoned back to Ashby House, Jules, entranced with the glamour of living there, convinces Camden to reluctantly return to return to his home - a place where, as an adopted child, he suffered insults and abuse from the McTavish blood relatives.
So back they go to the place steeped in the memory of Camden's legendary, notorious late mother Ruby McTavish. She first achieved early fame as a toddler rescued from a kidnapping and then later as a four time widow whose husbands all died under suspicious circumstances. At Ashby House, Cam and Jules endure withering contempt from Cam's elderly aunt and two cousins, the surviving McTavishes who permanently reside there.
From this point on "The Heiress" becomes a breathless ride through its staggering amount of twists and reveals,, almost guaranteed to keep a reader's mouth wide open in surprise right up to the finale. And by no means will you hear about any of them in this review......just dive into the book yourself and enjoy.
Highly recommended for anyone who craves a 5 star, quickly paced tour of a rotten-to-the-core family riddled with enough ominous backstory to fuel 10 soap operas. And who can resist that?

My Kindle shows this file as "Read" but I could not tell you a single thing about this and honestly that is fine with me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Ashby House is a huge estate in the small town of Tavistock, North Carolina and it is owned by Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore. That's right, that is her full name as she has been married and widowed four times. It is really unfortunately what has happened to her husbands to the point where she has the nickname "Kill-more." After each husbands' death, it has been increasingly harder to step outside her estate. When she passes, her adopted son, Camden, inherits the estate and all that comes with it.

The 2 blood-born McTavish siblings are upset that Camden inherits it all as he hasn't talked to them in years and he lives far away from the estate. All Cam wants is to live far away from the Ashby House and to teach English to children.

When Camden and his wife, Jules, decide to visit Ashby House, Camden is reminded as to why he wants to live far away.

What happens to the Ashby House? What happens between Camden and his 2 siblings? What are all of Ruby's secrets?

This book was definitely not predictable to me and I really enjoyed reading it. I was curious about Ruby and her life as she writes letters, which allows the readers to understand her secrets. Who was she writing the letters to though?

The first parts were really confusing as there was a lot of character development and if you go in blind like I did, you're trying to figure out who is who and how they are related. As the book progressed, it was more enjoyable and made you absolutely curious as to what was going to happen next.

Rachel Hawkins is a master of the complicated family, convoluted character relationship, shocking reveals... books that fly by, engross the reader, and give a super fun reading experience. I really enjoyed reading this, it might not be the most memorable book ever but it provided solid entertainment while I was reading it.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of this e-book prior to the publishing date, I really enjoyed reading it.

Heiress is immersive and captivating as Rachel Hawkins weaves a compelling narrative through multiple perspectives. Hawkins skillfully blends these different perspectives with newspaper accounts while also weaving through different time periods. The cleverness of these chapters helps to keep the pace dynamic, leaving readers constantly engaged and turning the page. I couldn’t put this books down as I sought to unravel the unspoken nuances of each character. Although I am not a huge mystery reader, this book has started to change my mind. Likeable characters that are shrouded in layers of mystery only add to the anticipation I felt. The best comparisons I could make with this book is that the moments with Ruby echoed aspects of 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo'. Specifically her storytelling and the way she delved into her many relationships. Ultimately, Hawkins has written a fast paced page turner that is approachable for any reader. The finale only solidifies this book as a must-read as you are left laughing at the characters misfortune.

Rachel Hawkins’ The Heiress follows Jules and her husband Cam as they return to his childhood home in North Carolina. It’s more than a home, it’s a mansion named Ashby House. Cam’s larger-than-life adoptive mother left everything to him in her will, but he’s never wanted the baggage that comes with his inheritance. Cam returns with a dread that his wife can’t understand. The family doesn’t welcome their arrival. Ashby House, the family, and old money have a power over Cam and Jules that’s hard to escape. As they spend awkward days in the mansion, the family shows that they’ve never stopped plotting to seize the wealth.

This family drama centers on an inheritance. It’s about a husband and wife arguing over money. And it’s about the way that greed makes evil easier and quiet disagreements slip into murder. There’s a lot of suggestion and a lot of suspense about what makes this family evil. Some of it seems more like just out-of-touch people being weird. In the end, it didn’t matter to me who won this family squabble.

I’ve given this novel four stars. There’s some twists, and they’re good ones, especially at the end. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's for this enjoyable advance read.

4.25 stars
I just wanted to express my thanks for getting the chance to dive into an early copy for review purposes. I'll be sharing a detailed breakdown on my blog soon, but here’s a more technical take on it.

The book's description got me interested. It seems like Hawkins has a certain theme running with her thriller covers. Having read a few of her works before, I was hopeful about this one, and boy, did that first page grab me!

Hawkins has this thing she does with her books: chapters set in the present, mixed in with these cool formatted interludes. Personally, I'm a big fan of this style. The way she switches up the format and point of view makes the book a quick, engaging read. It’s why I keep coming back for more, even if not every story hits the mark for me.

There was something a bit odd about how one of the characters’ perspectives was written. In Jules’ chapters, it felt like she was looking back on things, telling the story like it was in the past, and then suddenly, she'd switch back to the present tense. It threw me off a bit and kind of took me out of the moment.

Overall, though, I liked this book and the story it told. The ending? It left me with that same eerie feeling I got from 'The Villa'—like maybe everything’s not quite as right with the world as it seems.

This story starts a little slow with what appears to be clippings from newspapers and letters. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it or where this was going but I am glad I stuck with it. What a unique story and writing. Everything came together so well! I loved the concept of following generations of a wealthy and powerful family and all their secrets and twists.
I highly recommend adding this to your 2024 TBR list.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑬’𝑺 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑨𝑺 𝑮𝑶𝑶𝑫 𝑨𝑺 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑹𝑰𝑪𝑯 𝑮𝑶𝑵𝑬 𝑩𝑨𝑫

➡️ swipe for synopsis 👉🏼

Special thanks for this #gifted ARC from @netgalley @ladyhawkins and @stmartinspress .

This one started out slow for me. I wasn't sure how the title had anything to do w the story that was being told and unveiling as I read on, but i was still very intrigued. I was so focused on the life of Cam & Jules and wondering how "the heiress" fit either of them.
Cam and Jules are very innocent and likable, and the rest of the tavosich family are cringeworthy in every way, shape, and form.

It unravels more, the further along as you go through the handwritten "letters" as a sort of "dual timelines" / multiple POVs.
The jaw-dropping twist comes, and now you don't know who to trust.
How can people, let alone family be so evil.
Money really does make people do evil things no matter who it's to.
The last like 15% of the book was like a tilt a whirl. Twist after twist. You think you know, but then it's something else. And each character thinks it's got the other sneaky character figured out......but that's the thing about secrets. You never know who's got one......

PUB DAY:
Jan 9, 2024

QOTD❓️⁉️❓️ Have you, or someone you know ever inherited a lot of money from a "famous" family member?

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Ruby is a rich heiress that has died and has left the family fortune to her adopted son. Her blood relatives are not happy about this and what what belongs to them. They think they have figured out how they can get their hands on it.

This book is written in a very different, but smart way. It gives you small bits of the story as it switches between 2 POVS, Cam and Jules, newspaper articles and letters written by Ruby.

This is a story where everyone has a secret and you don't know what they are until the end. This is such a twisty and keeps you guessing novel that you won't be able to put down.

Thank you to Netgalley, Rachel Hawkins and St. Martin's Press for this ARC. This review is 100% my own and honest opinion.

3.5 Stars

I know this book has suspense and murder, and maybe I should have been tense or stressed about what was to come, but it was just so fun to read!

The Heiress is told from multiple point of views: letters from Ruth (the heiress) to her adopted son; Cam, the adopted son; Jules, wife of Cam; and various newspaper and magazine articles. I love unreliable narrators and they were certainly present here.

Family drama, secrets, and the unruly rich make this a juicy suspense novel that’s hard to put down.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. I really enjoyed this book. I’m a huge fan of Rachel Hawkins, both her adult and young adult books so I was excited to read this book and it didn’t disappoint. It was very dark and I was here for it. Loved the storyline and the twists. I couldn’t stop reading.