Once I got into The Heiress, I was hooked. None of these characters were redeeming and I loved that aspect of it. Ruby serves some serious energy.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review, all opinions expressed are my own.

Rachel Hawkins has created a lovely gothic tale with murder, mystery, and lots and lots of money. It was a tale interweaving multiple characters and showcasing them for their faults and flaws. She also was able to show that family doesn’t always mean what you think it does. I have enjoyed all of Hawkins novels, this one is no exception. I highly recommend The Heiress for anyone a fan of small towns, large estates, and backstabbing family.

Rating: 3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. ⁣
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Pub date: 1/2024⁣
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A fun read full of wealthy family drama. In a picturesque setting in the mountains of North Carolina, and estranged heir to a family fortune returns to face his family. He brings along his wife, who falls in love with the home and doesn’t want to leave. While I enjoyed the story, it didn’t “grab” me like I wanted it to. There was a lot of deception and lies revealed but only one real twist at the end. This was my first book by Hawkins, and I am looking forward to reading her other novels and really enjoyed her writing style.

Absolutely stunning! I loved the writing style with the mix of past, present, newspaper clippings, letters and multiple POVs. This book grabbed my attention and never let it go. Very suspenseful and mysterious. Some of the secrets revealed in the end were quite unexpected.
Family drama, royalty, mystery and thriller all mixed together to form this amazon book.

3.5 stars - Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore was kidnapped when she was 8. She is also crazy rich and has been a widow four times. She gives her estate to her adopted son Camden when she passes away. Camden wants nothing to do with the house or the money that is tied to the McTavish family. He stayed away for 10 years, but he decides to return to the house with his wife after his uncle dies. Truths get unraveled.

The book was okay. It was not a page-turner that kept me on the edge of my seat but I was compelled to continue reading. Everything tied up nicely in the end.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

When there are obscene amounts of money involved, there will always be people twisting and scheming to keep it or get a hold of it or even to use it to get what they want, no matter the cost. The Heiress has all of this gathered up in a very intriguing story. So many secrets! And so much fun reading along to unravel them. From Ruby to Camden and Jules, even Bill and Libby and Nelle. All gathered together in the once luxurious but now rundown Ashby House of North Carolina. No point in trying to tell the story as that would ruin the twists but I do really recommend it and it has a satisfying ending, even if death and murder might be involved in that satisfying ending.

Is this a thriller? I don't know.
It was messy and fast and fine.
Everything tied up a little too nicely in a bow in my opinion, but there you go.

Everyone on Rachel Hawkins' new book has secrets. When NC's richest woman dies, most of the secrets of her and others come to light. She had been kidnapped and returned as a toddler and went on to marry several times. Throughout all the marriages, she kept her friends close and her enemies closer. Following her death, her adopted (outcast by the other family members) son returns with his bride. Just when I thought I knew what was going on or had already happened, I was surprised again and again.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

This book is awesome! The suspense and the secrets had me wanting to keep reading so that I could find out what really happened! I loved it! Rachel Hawkins does it again!

Book review ⬇️ 📚

ARC COPY! Thanks to @netgalley
and @stmartinspress for the ARC.

The Heiress - Rachel Hawkins (@ladyhawkins)
Genre: Thriller / Mystery
Read on E-book
Pub date: Jan 9th 2024
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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. 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.

But to everyone’s surprise, Cam 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, Camden is a McTavish in name only, but a summons in the wake of his uncle’s death brings him and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but coming home reminds Cam why he was so quick to leave in the first place.

Jules, however, has other ideas, and the more she learns about Cam’s estranged family―and the twisted secrets they keep―the more determined she is for her husband to claim everything Ruby once intended for him to have.

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.

My review ➡️
Overall, this book was a good one! I enjoyed it for the majority. The beginning of the book was a bit slow but it really picked up at around 70%. I found that some parts were a bit difficult to understand and I had a hard time following.

The twists were surprising and I didn't see them coming at all. I particularly loved the letter that Ruby wrote.

I didn't really like this, but something kept compelling me to go forward. I think it was that I kept hoping that I would care about the characters more, or that The Big Reveal would feel satisfying. This is very much a gothic novel (which I take is the author's current specialty, having read her last three) and I do appreciate that part, but it doesn't feel fully formed. There's both too much going on and not enough fleshed out, if that makes sense.

Ruby McTavish is North Carolina's richest and most notorious woman. With this title comes a checkered past and horrific family. Her pride and joy is her adopted son, Camden. Camden's mission is to escape his toxic family and start a life of his own. However, when Camden and his wife, Jules, return to the McTavish estate, they are roped right back into the toxicity of the McTavish family and their estranged ways.

The Heiress is a quick and suspenseful read. The McTavish family is one you will love to hate. Ruby's character has a lot of depth, and her twisted love for her adopted son keeps you guessing to the very end.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this suspenseful and enjoyable book.

Bravo!!!! A masterpiece of storytelling full of secrets and lies. Twists and turns from the three main characters, Ruby, Camden and Jules. Loved how the characters are speaking to us the reader directly. Reminiscent of film noir and classics like Jane Eyre and Rebecca. Please someone in Hollywood make this into a movie.

Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read in exchange for honest opinion.

4.5 rounded up
Well developed characters, some quite unlikable. Good story with twists. Excellent use of multiple POV. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

I Absolutely loved this book. By far my favorite from this author. It had quite a few twists that surprised me. I really liked the reference to The Villa which i really liked that book also. Rachel Hawkins is an auto buy author for me. Her books just keep getting better 5/5 stars for this one

4.25- 4.5 stars! This was a lot of fun. Complicated family drama with plenty of suspense. Had me completely engaged racing to finish. Had many elements that I enjoy in a suspense/mystery novel: rich people behaving badly, potentially unreliable narrator(s), creepy old house, mixed media presentation and lots of secrets..
Told primarily through three POV: Cam, Jules and Ruby. Intermixed with the POV are newspaper and magazine articles about the McTavish family
Ruby goes missing as a toddler but is eventually found. But is the little girl really Ruby? Ruby’s disappearance impacted her relationships with her parents and sister and ultimately who she became as an adult.
Very early in the book the definition of a changeling was presented which made me wonder if this would have a supernatural element. I was pleased that it did not. This definition was used to help create doubt about Ruby’s disappearance.

Cam and Jules perspectives are given through real time narrative. Ruby’s story is told through letters she writes to a mysterious person. Ruby’s back story was very unexpected. She was a much darker character than I originally thought. The use of letters to tell her story worked really well.

Cam left the family home and never looked back. He has no intention of keeping the house or the inheritance.
Jules is happily married to Cam but has some secrets and hidden motivations. When Cam is asked to come back to the family home to help with repairs and sort out inheritance issues, Jules hopes to encourage him to stay at Ashby house.

The remaining family relatives at Ashby House do NOT like Cam and have every intention of finding a way to get the money they need and get rid of him. Relatives I am glad are not mine.

The alternating POV, letters, emails and articles tied made this a fast read. The format enhanced the suspense and kept me guessing. Definitely did not see all of the twists and secrets that were revealed.

highly recommend to mystery and suspense readers! Loved it!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Heiress is a fast-paced family drama with plenty of mystery, backstabbing, and money-hungry family members.
It's told from three POVs: Rich heiress Ruby (through letters after her death), her adopted son Camden, and his wife Jules. I loved the inclusion of the letters with Ruby's sarcastic tone and the newspaper clippings throughout added a good element to the story. And I really like Hawkins' writing style.
The McTavish's were certainly an entertaining bunch. Camden's cousins are just after the family money. Other characters are keeping secrets as well (of course).
It was somewhat confusing towards the end when the family connections come out.
Overall, a good, twisty family drama.

I don’t think I have ever finished a book so quickly. I couldn’t put it down and had to know what happened in the end. The Heiress is an enthralling masterpiece that masterfully weaves together elements of suspense and mystery, captivating readers from the very first page until the astonishing conclusion. With its well-crafted plot, richly developed characters, and an atmosphere drenched in intrigue, this book stands is a must read if you love the mystery genre.

“Until that moment I had never realized that you could feel someone's voice like a touch.”

“"Promises are like piecrusts, made to be broken."

“You can put miles and mountains between you and home, but eventually home will call you back.”

My absolute favorite Rachel Hawkins book to date.

Told from three different POV’s Camden, Ruby, and Jules. A true “gothic” southern family drama. This story will keep you on your toes and guessing until the end. Many twists and turns in true Rachel form. I will say the beginning was a bit slow and weird for me, but once past a couple chapters I was hooked. I devoured this book!

Thank you for St. Martin’s Press and Netgally for the e arc! Publishing date is January 9th, 2024. A must read!

It's what I wanted The Villa to be, but like The Villa it fell a bit short. I adored the "Evelyn Hugo" vibes. This story read like TJR's novel, but with a mystery. What became a bit ridiculous was all the connections at the end. Overall it was a great story. Love the idea of family history and the House of Usher undertones. I think pop culture has conditioned use that changelings are usually an evil imposter, and if you were expecting a novel with this type of fantasy/magic realism, you would be dissatisfied. The way there book starts suggests there's more going on in the woods at Ashby... But that part off the plot falls flat.

There is much left unexplored in this novel, but still better than her last.