Ruby, who is North Carolina’s wealthiest woman, dies and the family discovers mysteries, secrets, and lies that have been told. Great writing, great book.

Another fantastic Rachel Hawkins book! The Heiress has it all: rich people doing very bad things, greed, suspicious deaths, a fabulous mansion, a kidnapping and best of all the question at the heart of it: are all good people good or do they have some bad in them as well? What compelling characters and I found myself wanting to learn even more about Ruby.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC.

ah yes, another installment of Rich People Making Poor Choices. this time, it’s the McTavish family, who are full of old money, secrets, and betrayal.

I’ve read almost all of Rachel Hawkins (aka Erin Sterling!!) adult gothic thrillers and have enjoyed them. This one isn’t my favorite of hers, but I don’t regret reading it. There were so many twists and turns that sometimes I had to stop and digest to really follow the plot. I loved Ruby; her POV is told through letters she wrote. Her dark sense of humor thrilled me.

highlights
- set in a north carolina mansion
- told through the dual POV of main characters (cam and jules), letters from ruby, and media articles.
- unexpected twists along the way (maybe too many?)
- easy read - could finish in one day

If you love rich people behaving badly, this one is for you! I really enjoyed this dark and twisty story about a wealthy family in the Appalachians and the long-held family secrets that could threaten to destroy them. I was rooting for Camden and Jules, but the star of the book for me was Ruby, the already deceased enigmatic matriarch who tells her story in her own words through letters. Though her character could have easily come across as a one-note caricature, the author expertly breathed life into her throughout the book to create a compelling and complex character that I couldn't get enough of.

The Heiress comes out on January 4, 2024. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley and Rachel Hawkins for the ARC!

Can a person be only bad or only good? This is the question at the heart of this novel. Camden is the adopted child of North Carolina royalty and the real blood McTavish’s are not impressed. Ten years ago Camden left it all behind to start afresh but your past never stays truly hidden and forgotten and he is drawn back to Asher House and all its secrets.

Jules is Camden’s wife and she has a strange fascination with Asher House and the McTavish family and secrets she hasn’t shared. Will those secrets be revealed and shatter their marriage or make it stronger.

There is a lot of tension and darkness throughout this novel. At the center is Ruby McTavish, the child who went missing on the mountain but was miraculously found a year later. Ruby is known as Mrs Kill-More due to her four husbands perishing in various ways. I really liked Ruby, she was straight talking and definitely owned all her actions. Camden was the moral compass, Ben and Libby, the spoilt, privileged cousins and the living matriarch Nelle, bitter and twisted from never winning against Ruby.

All of them stuck in Asher House, it can only end one way.

I loved the wickedness and the idea that good people do bad things and vice versa. This was a brilliant read.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

I’ll admit, this started off great. I read it so fast I didn’t want to stop for real daily life.

There’s a part before the very beginning that has a little description and I think I got my hopes up reading that as for some reason this book went way left.

A husband and his wife travel to the grand estate that’s been in his family for years and years after a death that’s left everyone bitter and unhappy. For all the wrong reasons of course.

Money IS the root of all evil.

Once the book dove into the family history and who’s related to who and who isn’t, it got so intertwined that I honestly didn’t care to connect the dots. Greed is greed and this family is sick with it.

Add to that, a missing child story that happened at the house long before their time and the two stories just didn’t mesh well for me. I’d have liked more of that. You do get the closure in the form of letters throughout the story but again, it’s just a lot.

The plot is fun it just wasn’t twisty and fun for me in the way that it was told.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for granting me access to an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Rachel Hawkins~you are spectacular! I have read all of your books and and liked all your books (well, not “The Villa” so much) and this one is the best yet! Family = Drama, it’s just a fact. These people are something else though. Ruby is seriously crazy, but she owns it so I have to admire that. The story had twists and turns and so much I did not see coming~I could barely put it down but read with “ one eye open” if you will. With all the build up, I was hoping that it didn’t race forward and then fall flat which so many recently released books seem to do. This did not disappoint, do yourself a favor and add it to your book stack, you won’t be sorry.

I’ve read several books by this author and to be honest a couple of them weren’t for me. This one is one of the best she has done. The characters were interesting, the feeling was tense and the twists kept coming. I really enjoyed this.

Another fast-paced read from Rachel Hawkins that tells the story of generational wealth and the secrets (and skeletons) such wealth can hide.

Camden is the adopted son of the infamous “Baby Ruby” who went missing from the woods behind her family’s sprawling home, Ashby House, and turns up years later, hundreds of miles away. Camden’s wife, Jules, convinces him to visit Ashby House a decade after the death of his mother to finally settle her estate and deal with his vengeful extended “family” and their claim on his inheritance.

Alternating between Cam and Jules’ POV, Hawkins includes letters written by Ruby detailing the story (and secrets) of her lifetime. The writing style brings Ashby House to life, once again creating a main character out of the story’s central setting. This book is brilliant, with unexpected twists and supremely fast pacing. I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Rachel Hawkins for an ARC of The Heiress. Publication date: January 9, 2024.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
this is rachel hawkins’s best book to date!!! my bed time is 9:00 (9:30 on weekends), and I stayed up until midnight finishing this one.

Old money, a family with everything who hates each other, a grandma with a dark past and even darker secrets. who really is Ruby McTavish- the rich little girl who was once kidnapped? someone with horrible luck? or is she somehow something much worse? multiple POVs with past and present perspectives— think knives out, but more.

This book is full of twists and turns, not knowing who to trust or who to cheer for. I also loved the setting— as someone who has always loved the Biltmore, I loved the descriptions and being able to perfectly picture the Ashby house.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC- I truly loved this book!

My favorite Rachel Hawkins yet! Is this the thriller version of Evelyn Hugo and her four husbands? I love the setting (near Asheville!), the back and forth timeline, multiple narrators, and Ruby’s letters regarding the past. Kept me guessing…

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read this much anticipated book!

I absolutely adored this story! Such a fun read and a definite page turner for me. Ruby McTavish has definitely been one of my favorite characters this year. Kidnapped as a child and a widow four times, we get so much more than we bargained for with her. Her adopted son, Cam, is called back to Ashby house after her passing and the drama unfolds from there!!

This is a story about toxic families, murder, loyalty, and a family with more secrets than you can imagine. I thought I’d was written in such a way where you couldn’t put the book down! The twists were fun and unexpected.

This was an interesting one from Rachel Hawkins. It felt messy and like conflict for the sake of conflict. The ending was a bit unexpected, and I think everyone was just okay with people being complete buttheads in the end.

Solid three stars.

This book is fulllll of twists and turns. It's the kind of thriller where there isn't just one mystery to figure out, so the secrets unfold all throughout the story. While some of the twists were a little expected, there was an excellent twist at the end that I only saw coming at the last minute. It was like reading an old money soap opera, and I flew through it. I always love reading a book in which the setting is my home, and Hawkins did a wonderful job at painting a picture of Western North Carolina.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Rachel Hawkins for the ARC!

I love a Rachel Hawkins book. They are such a good balance of suspense and interesting characters. While this book also had a lot of suspense and interesting characters, it almost seemed like all the family members and their backstories cluttered things up. The book pacing also felt slow. Although, I read the book in one day so it clearly kept my attention. The twist and turns went right up to the end and I loved it! I would recommend this book if you are in the mood for a slower paced suspense with lots of family secrets.

Thanks, NetGalley,

I loved it because it shows how familial wealth makes people nasty from the way they treat strangers and even their own family to keep the wealth for themselves and this book is the perfect example of money being the root of all evil and how to get away with it. The secrets they hide come to light and the neverending unfolding family drama is the heart of this book. I read the entire book in a day because I couldn't put it down with all the twists and turns and I wasn't disappointed.

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. In the aftermath of her death, that estate—along with a nine-figure fortune and the complicated legacy of being a McTavish—pass to her adopted son, Camden.


After rejecting the inheritance he is called back ten years later, a summons in the wake of his uncle’s death brings him and his wife Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House.

But Ruby’s plans were always more complicated than they appeared. 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.

Ruby McTavish was a captivating and powerful woman in life, and her death changed nothing. Leaving her families entire fortune to her adopted son, Camden, has left the remainder of her blood relations brooding for ten years. Camden left the family estate ten years ago and had never looked back, or touched the massive inheritance he was left. A pleadings note from his cousin and his wife’s curiosity about his roots will send him back to the one place he swore he would never set foot in. Ruby’s revelations and manipulations from beyond the grave will drive this story to it inevitable conclusion.
This was kind of a fun book, which is maybe not great for me to say about a story about death and deception, but I did have fun. I love morally questionable characters and this book is filled to the brim with them. This was my first @ladyhawkins book and I definitely enjoyed it. The Heiress hit shelves Jan 9 2024. Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for letting me read this on early in exchange for a review.
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Not quite a thriller but I will read pretty much anything under the name Rachel Hawkins. Vivid character development is her forte. This story is has some domestic thriller elements, certainly a few storylines with mystery. And people do die. I liked the twist toward the end that I only saw coming shortly before the reveal. And I really liked how things were concluded but not all wrapped up while still leaving me satisfied and not frustrated. Our has some Evelyn Hugo vibes with rubys story telling about her husbands. Who is speaking is always clear. I will recommend this one.

Camden McTavish, adopted son of a wealthy North Carolina heiress, wants nothing to do with the family legacy and has had no contact with them for years. He and his new wife, Jules, are compelled to return to the McTavish estate after a death in the family, and while Cam plans to make their stay as short as possible, others have ulterior motives for their visit. With secrets popping up left and right, all these characters and their hidden pasts, secret alliances, and family skeletons make for one entertaining story.

Listen, Rachel Hawkins can write a popcorn thriller. Is it the best book I've ever read? No, but it's highly entertaining and a guaranteed fast, twisty ride. I know exactly what I'm getting when I pick up her books, and The Heiress did not disappoint in this regard. I loved the format of Ruby's letters interspersed with current events, and when *that* twist happened, I loved it!! Didn't see it coming at all.

Highly recommend this book for the next time you need a fast-paced, attention-grabbing thriller! Thank you to Rachel Hawkins, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for my advance digital copy.

For years I wanted to tour the Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina. Most people, like me, I think, are fascinated with the lives of the extremely wealthy. When I finally got there, I was stunned by both the beauty and the opulence - oh to have a library with a ladder! But I think I was also a bit overwhelmed. Rachel Hawkins digs deep into the overwhelming lives of the extremely wealthy in her upcoming work The Heiress. Like the Biltmore housed the Vanderbilts, Ashby House (located just outside Asheville) houses most of the wealthy McTavishes and to a large extent the house controls them.

We meet Camden and his wife Jules as he is being called back to his family home in North Carolina. He hasn’t been back in 12 years since the death of his adoptive mother (the heiress) Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore - 5 names, 4 husbands- all who died under very mysterious circumstances. He very clearly dreads the return. The story further develops through flashbacks, letters presumably written by the deceased Ruby, news clips and stories, and chapters from the points of view of both Camden and Jules. All these elements are combined masterfully to create a fascinating and suspenseful look at the extended McTavish family. Secrets abound - The McTavishes,the furthest thing from a warm and fuzzy family, are clearly driven by the house and their inheritances. When is enough enough?

As well as giving us a remarkable setting - the house felt like a character to me because of its influence, Hawkins does a remarkable job of creating human characters who are multilayered. In spite of being somewhat unlikeable, I was kind of rooting for Camden and Jules. I should clarify that they became more difficult to like for me as the novel developed - which was part of the beauty of this work. The twists and turns subtly added in with the variety of narrators and methods created a lovely suspense and levels of mystery that were unexpected. I loved the tricky uncomfortable ending the most. Avoiding spoilers, but I was questioning my own judgment because of the complexity of these characters. The last page rendered me speechless for a moment.