3.5 stars rounded up. This book started out slow and kind of confusing. I had to keep going back to remember who was who. Around halfway, it picked up and started becoming a lot clearer. The format between present day, letters from Ruby, and articles kept me engaged. While I did figure a good chunk of the twists out before they were revealed, I still enjoyed the reveals and the twists I didn't expect had me intrigued. I liked this one but it wasn't my favorite by Rachel Hawkins.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for this e-ARC. This was such a fun read! It’s definitely a slow burn. So much build up and backstory before a a really great full throttle ending. And I’m not saying the backstory stuff was boring at all. It was very intriguing trying to figure out what all of these clues were trying to tell us. The last 30% of the book was very fast paced and I initially was going to stop reading at like 70% but I just couldn’t. I needed to know what was going to happen! If you like rich people, family drama you will love this! 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Rachel Hawkins is a very good storyteller! Jules and Camden, married for ten years, move from Colorado to Camden’s inherited family mansion, Ashby House, in North Carolina. The story is easily told from different perspectives and different timelines, with lots of satisfying twists and turns. I really like this author and I look forward to reading more. Recommended!

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of The Heiress in exchange for my honest review. I normally really love Rachel Hawkins' thrillers but this one was a bit disappointing. I thought the overall plot was compelling but ultimately fell flat for me. The main plot line about Ruby's kidknapping was never really addressed/answered and a lot of the "twists" were quite predictable for me.

Rachel Hawkins' books keep getting better. The Heiress might be my favorite of hers yet. I know I said that about the last one but this one really hit all the marks. I'm a sucker for a book with old world, southern charm and family dynamics. I love flawed characters when there is redemption of some sort that comes into play. I'm not super sure that anything about The McTavish's was redemptive but the plot was juicy from the beginning. It was a bit of a slow burn but it didn't drag. I felt like Hansel and Gretel with the breadcrumbs gobbling up each one waiting for the next secret to be revealed. The ending answered questions I didn't even know I had. I, however, have one complaint and it's been my complaint with each of Hawkins' books is the excessive swearing. It honestly isn't needed and brings the writing down in my opinion. In this case, the way in which it was incorporated was smartly done but it still could have been left out and it would have taken nothing from the book. I know that I'm not the only one with this criticism and it did kind of seem like it was done on purpose this book as a bit of a screw you to critics lol but whatever, author's prerogative and all that. Regardless, I couldn't put the book down and when I did, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

•The Heiress (ARC)💰•

📚Genre: domestic thriller
🤔Rating: 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺(5/5)
#️⃣ of pages: 304
👯‍♀️ read if you like: family dramas, unreliable narrators, fast paced books, Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
⚠️TW: suicide, abuse
📆Publishing Date- January 9, 2024

👍🏼:
•loved that the twists kept coming the whole book, even up until the end!
•we love multiple POVs, especially when one is from a series of letters from someone already gone 🤫
•short chapters make this one easy to fly through

👎🏼:
•nothing negative to say!

Overall…
TBH, after The Wife Upstairs, I haven’t *loved* the other books released by Hawkins…until this one. I think this thriller was an excellent return for her & gives all the twisty, page turning elements that TWU gives. The narrators are all extremely unreliable and the twists continue to come the more you read. I predicted a couple of them but it was still so well-written that I couldn’t put it down. Really, really enjoyed this one!

Thank you @netfalley and st Martins press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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Over 20% into the book and I’m bored to death. Can’t continue with this one after talking with others who’ve read it!

The Heiress by Racheal Hawkins– A family drama that has so much suspense this book was well played right to the end.

Thank you NetGalley for another amazing read.

Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore, aka “Mrs. Killmore” certainly left her mark. Married and widowed four times over, the press had a field day with her reputation, but money has a way of insulating people, and Ruby had a lot of it.

Camden swore he would never come back Ashby House; he was going to find his own way in the world. The “house” which is more of a large estate that also comes with half of the town of Tavistock and a nine figure fortune belongs to him, but he doesn’t want anything to do with it. When family calls insisting he come and release money to fix things around the estate “the prodigal son returns”. His homecoming is exactly as he expects, and he tries to warn his wife Jules of his poorly behaved family that resents him. Camden was adopted by Ruby, therefore his aunt and cousins, who reside in the home consider him an interloper at best and a downright thief at worst.

As Jules and Cam stay to work on the estate, Ashby House slowly releases her secrets. And man does she have more than a few. This novel is so hard to describe without giving away Rachel Hawkin’s brilliantly woven twists throughout the plot. The Heiress is a book to be devoured in one sitting, and will have the reader guessing until the very end. This is Hawkins’ best work yet!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author Rachel Hawkins for the advanced copy of the book. The Heiress is out January 9th. All opinions are my own.

If you love rich people family drama, multiple timelines, letters, and a story full of lies then you will like this.
The beginning was a bit slow for me and I didn't know what to expect going into this. After a couple chapters, it does start to pick up. It has three main characters, Ruby, Camden and Jules. Each character had their own flaws and faults, but as the story goes on we unfold each of them. The novel showcases that family doesn’t always mean what you think it does.

This is my first Rachel Hawkins book but after reading this one, I will be picking up her previous books!
Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read in exchange for honest opinion.

What a fantastic story, and quite possibly my favorite from Hawkins so far!

For starters, I appreciated the layout of the story. You have Camden and Jules in the present day and then letters from Ruby and newspaper clippings to tell the story of the past. Sometimes alternating timelines and character perspectives can get confusing or feel like too much, but I felt like the way it was done here, allowed the story to unfold and flow perfectly. There was just the right amount of past information revealed to make you keep wanting to know more and just the right amount of mystery and intrigue going on with Camden and Jules to keep you on a string, anticipating what would come next.

I have to admit that I didn't fully expect to enjoy this book as much. I am a huge fan of Hawkins so I knew it'd be a good read; I just didn't find the premise to be super intriguing. This is a bit ironic since I felt the exact opposite about the premise of Hawkins's novel last novel, The Villa; I was beyond enthralled with the premise of that one, but then felt like the book itself fell a bit flat. I went into The Heiress without any over expectations to the plot, but I felt instantly hooked from the start which only grew as the story unfolded.

I felt there was just the right amount of surprises and twists so it didn't feel over done. I guessed one secret about Jules correctly pretty early on, but there were still a few things Hawkins kept me guessing on till the reveals. By the end, all of the characters had their moments of being unlikable, but I felt like that fleshed them out and made them feel more real.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this one and so a big thank you to Net Galley, St. Martin's Press, and Rachel Hawkins for the privilege of reading this eARC!

*The Heiress will be out January 9, 2024!

Thank you to St. Martin's press and netgalley for providing me a copy of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins. This books was full of suprises, secrets, and drama. Families are a part of this story where wealth plays a role. This story is told in multiple points of view and is told in letter format. I will read another book by this author.

Rachel Hawkins is BACK with a vengeance in this twisted gothic suspense about an infamous heiress and the complicated inheritance she left behind.

One sentence to describe this book: Dysfunctional family drama and rich people with DARK secrets behaving badly...and possibly murder?👏🏽 These family members are VILE and morally corrupt, murder following them everywhere they turn. It starts off as a slow burn drama with an element of mystery but once it pops off, the surprising twists (and a couple predictable ones) just keep on coming and FIT SO WELL.

What I especially loved:

- Evelyn Hugo vibes but DARKER.
- Mixed media (letters and articles) vivid memories from Ruby’s past through letters.
- Jules speaks directly to the reader in her POV.
- The gothic Ashby mansion as a character.

The plot, the characters, the twists - I devoured the storytelling in The Heiress in ONE DAY!
Definitely add this one to your list.

WOWW this was such a fun read. If you mixed your favorite thriller with THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO it would be this.

My favorite part of this book was the unexpected "lack" of a plot point. It was a lot of main character POV's telling their stories and playing with your mind on what would happen next but this definitely wasn't a WHODUNIT. I thought it was really exciting just reading about this UBER wealthy woman and her insane family and it was more fun to be along for the ride than being concerned about who did what. It was a nice change of pace for most thrillers I read.

I loved the story telling, the heiress was SO FUN and full of personality which made her chapters fun. I equally enjoyed following along with her son Charlie, and his wife, Jules. I feel like in a multi character POV story, I favor one persons chapters over the other, but that was not the case here.

Overall, this is A MUST READ. It was so fun, and exciting and I felt myself grinning anytime the good guys won.

Thank you so much St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

💰𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙴𝙸𝚁𝙴𝚂𝚂💰
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝙶𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛
𝙿𝚞𝚋 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝙹𝚊𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝟿, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺
𝙼𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝟺.𝟸𝟻 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

𝙼𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 💭This one was great!! I loved the family drama(these rich people be cray), the twists, the multiple time lines, POVs & the setting! It was set in the Blue Ridge Mountains in NC which is a short drive away so I always enjoy reading about places close to me🏔️🩵. It’s atmospheric, suspenseful & even reminded me of Evelyn Hugo some…gosh, that book was so good. The matriarch had 4 husbands so you get the EH vibe some!🙌 It’s not too scary either so if you like light-ish thrillers then this would be a great one!

I thank @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review! 🫶 @ladyhawkins bravo 👏

🤏𝚃𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚢 𝚃𝚒𝚍𝚋𝚒𝚝
“A twisted gothic suspense about an infamous heiress and the complicated inheritance she left behind”

I don't believe this is Rachel Hawkin's best novel by far.
This was such a slow-burn, I wouldn't even consider it a thriller. Not a domestic thriller, not a who-dun-it, barely a mystery; more of a family drama with murders thrown in.
I absolutely despised one of the main characters, Jules, from the beginning, which wouldn't normally err me away from loving a book. Sometimes it's nice to have a character you hate stirring the pot, but she just did nothing for me and her role in the book, though clever, simply irked me.
So many weird concepts and weird murders that were tied up and not in a thrilling way. I think this could have been told so much better from Ruby's POV (in REAL time) or many different POVs, but us not knowing whom was speaking. (Trying to explain myself without giving pieces away!)
Don't expect to have anything happening for the first 70% of the book! It's nothing but stories and building up the tension of the families. The action does not happen until the last 20% and it's not even that great!

Name of Book: The Heiress
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Pub Date: January 9, 2024
My Rating: 4 stars
Pages: 394

The Heiress is an intriguing novel that you don't want to miss.

I felt this was one of Rachel Hawkins best books she is such a good thriller author she is an auto buy for me whenever she comes out with a new book

I have read all Rachel Hawkins books so I was really excited to get a copy of this arc from Netgalley. Cam was adopted and raised in an eccentric rich family. They Own a prominent estate in the hills of the blue mountains. This book made me think of the Biltmore in Asheville. Cam flees his family and moves to college in California. With a death in the family he is forced to return to his hometown and face his inheritance. His wife has other plans and the plot thickens. Everyone in his family has secrets. Family is complicated and this one is even more so fighting over this large inheritance. This novel is great for people that enjoy a slow burn and love a family drama.

As the expression goes, “money is the root of all evil” and it surely evident in the family saga of the McTavish family of North Carolina.
   The first introduction to what the family’s fortune can buy takes us back when the daughter of the head of the McTavish clan was abducted……..and then miraculously found……but questions arose as to whether this was not the abducted Ruby but a child bought (from a poor family) as replacement for a grieving mother.
   We then learn of Ruby’s storied life as told by her in letters to her adopted son Camden. Camden, long disenchanted with all that money, has gone off to live his life away from it all but is forced back when Ruby dies and he is the sole heir to the fortune.
   Ruby’s few relatives, never having been named beneficiaries when the parents died and long on the dole, are now fearful about their status and will do anything to prove that Cam is not the rightful heir………anything.
   What is delightful about the Ruby character are the recounting of the stages of her life, her numerous husbands, why she married them and how they met their demise.
   Ruby is a unique character that provides new twists in the story till the very end. A really enjoyable read.