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.

Rachel Hawkin's latest book, The Heiress is full of suspense and long kept family secrets. Camden is the adopted son of a wealthy woman with a complicated past. When she dies, he wants nothing to do with her money and chooses make his life elsewhere. Years later, when another family member dies, Camden and his wife are forced to deal with the family secrets and find out the truth about the mysterious heiress. I enjoyed uncovering all the mystery surrounding this family. Good read!

The twisted story of a deceased heiress, her four dead husbands and the remaining family fighting over the fortune she leaves behind to her adopted son. Nothing this author does is particularly new or interesting but everything was well plotted out. Her books are fun when you want to be completely immersed in a story then never think about it again.

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins is an addictive thriller that will keep you guessing until the end. The story revolves around the mysterious Ashby House and the exclusive McTavish family, set in the mountains of North Carolina. Ruby McTavish was three years old when she got lost in the woods near her family home. She was found months later and eventually returned home. As Ruby reaches adulthood and goes through four marriages, she feels as though she’s different. Through a series of letters she’s written while much older, we learn what really went on in each of the marriages. When Ruby McTavish dies and leaves her fortune to her adopted son Camden, schemes and secrets are brought to light. There are three POVs- Camden's, his wife Jules', and (my favorite) the letters of Ruby McTavish. Camden was never accepted by the McTavishes, and it’s clear there is resentment towards him for being adopted. He wants nothing to do with this family, until Jules comes into the picture. Jules wants the best for Camden, and she firmly believes he deserves his inheritance. When she finally convinces him to return to Ashby House, they are both thrust into the world of the rich. The story has an interesting medley of characters, who all seem to have two faces. At Ashby house we meet Camden’s cousin Ben, a conniving lawyer, and his entitled sister Libby, a businesswoman of sorts. There’s also great aunt Nelle, Ruby’s resentful sister, who is nothing but nasty to Camden and Jules. Throughout the novel we witness money’s ability to taint all, leading even the most unexpected people to do terrible things. The Heiress was a rollercoaster ride from start to finish, I truly could not have guessed how it would end.

If you like thrillers, The Heiress will not disappoint. Thank you to NetGalley and Rose & St. Martin's Press for the advance reader copy.

Another fast paced, engaging thriller by Rachel Hawkins. I have read all of her books and every single one of them have been such a quick and “unputdownable” read. The twists and turns woven throughout the book took me by surprise and I loved the multiple POVs including letters from the Heiress herself, Ruby.

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a book that will make you binge it in one sitting. Nothing too deep, but such a good story of family, wealth and how money can make you do crazy things.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Once again, Rachel Hawkins delivers another 4 star page turner!

I loved the way this was written, with varying points of view sharing the unique voices of the characters. The use of Ruby's letters and newspaper/magazine articles to reveal the past was also very well done. The tension and drama were high throughout and the end included a twist I was not expecting. Rachel Hawkins has definitely cemented herself as a must-read author for me!

💎 The Heiress - Rachel Hawkins

4.25 ⭐️ Is this my new Rachel Hawkins? I think so! The Wife Upstairs has been holding my number one spot, but I think I have a new favorite in town. Keep your eyes open for this one coming out 1/19/2024! It’s mysterious, mildly thrilling, and full of rich family drama.

I have to tell you, I never know the ending of thrillers or mysteries. In my heart of hearts, I KNOW I figured this one out, but Hawkins continued to surprise me by throwing more twists and turns my way. I loved Cam, one of our MCs, so much and throughout enjoyed his development. We had changing point of views and I couldn’t get enough of who had secrets, who would end up with all the riches, and what would happen to this ridiculous family. At some points, it felt a little predictable, but if you don’t think too far into it and just enjoy this drama-filled ride, I’m sure you’ll like this one too!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the early eARC!

A brilliant, intriguing, page-turning read! A 5-star read for me!

The Heiress is a rousing thriller about the notorious, dysfunctional McTavish family and the substantial Ashby House estate left by the family's late matriarch, Ruby. Camden, Ruby’s adopted son, returns after ten years to the one place he never wanted to see again. Camden is anxious to get his affairs in order and leave Ashby House once and for all, but his wife Jules has an agenda of her own. Although it has been ten years since she passed, Ruby also has plenty to tell through her many letters.

In this riveting book, Rachel Hawkins captured my attention from the very beginning. The Heiress was nearly impossible for me to put down until I reached the very satisfactory ending. This fast-paced story is told from the viewpoint of Jules, Cam, and through letters written by Ruby. I found Jules and Cam, and even Ruby to an extent, to be very likable characters. Hawkins does an exceptional job of engaging the reader with plenty of twists and turns. Readers will be engrossed by The Heiress, overflowing with secrets, betrayals, greed, jealousy, lust, romance, and lots of family drama. If you love a good thriller, make sure to read The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Publication Date: January 9, 2024

ABSOLUTELY LOVED!!!! Finished in ONE sitting, I could NOT put it down.
I loved the writing style Hawkins used, a mix of letters, newspaper and magazine articles, differing point of views, the characters speaking directly to the readers. The story of Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore is amazingly and brilliantly written. The story itself is engaging, suspenseful, thrilling and filled with twist over twist. Bravo Rachel Hawkins!!! Another blockbuster story!!

Ooh I was so pleasantly surprised by this one! I loved it! I feel like it had a little bit of everything: family drama, a historical fiction-mystery vibe, humor, a large southern estate, etc. I loved the relationship between Jules and Cam! And also learning about Ruby’s past relationships and husbands. Maybe I should add love story to my list of having everything. Such a fun, quick read!

Big thank you to netgalley and St Martin's press for my review copy!