An enjoyable read, but not as compelling and surprising as some of Hawkins' other books. I found the first-person POVs of Cam and Jules to not have a lot of distinction in terms of voice, just content, so I occasionally found myself forgetting who was narrating. The twists felt fairly predictable.

I loved, loved, LOVED this book! Most definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year. Ms. Hawkins weaves a complex tale via MPN of the complicated, deeply dysfunctional McTavish family, the not-so-benevolent dictators of a small town whose oppressive, brutally-wielded power is symbolized by the renowned Ashby House. The story is quickly and evenly paced and is quite compelling, so much so that I found this book very hard to put down. One of the particularly striking aspects of this novel is how Ms. Hawkins successfully captures the very different voices of her 3 narrators — they are not only from different generations but also substantively different life experiences and thus mindsets, and she thoroughly succeeds in making them sound and feel like very different people. But perhaps best of all are the twists and turns the story takes, which keep you guessing til the very end (and even then…). Most of the time, the twists contained in commercially successful fiction are so contrived, if not outright ridiculous, that I find they stretch the limits of my credulity and intelligence as a reader. Thankfully, that was not the case here. This is an intelligently crafted story whose plot line advances in unexpected but credible ways, a rare but genuine pleasure. I am new to Ms. Hawkins as a reader, but was delighted to see her other published works, which I will happily explore in the near future. Finally, my sincere thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for giving me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I realize such an enthusiastic review may seem contrived, but this book was truly a pleasure to read.

I was so excited to get to read the new Rachel Hawkins book, and I was NOT disappointed.

Told through two POVs, letters and newspaper articles, the Heiress is fast paced and hard to put down. I really enjoyed the North Carolina setting, and the multiple cliff hangers kept me turning pages way past my bedtime.

Thank you to netgalley, the published and the author for an e-arc!

This book was a wild ride—the south, love, and old money in the new world. I loved the characters and honestly wish the novel was longer so I could learn more about each of the keepers of the story.
The plot was a steady twist and turn, and I loved that it mixed two of my “home” states- Colorado and North Carolina. I never knew which secret(s) the next chapter was going to expose, and I also did not expect the ending. This story was super captivating and held my attention until the very end! Highly recommend. Thank you so much St Martin’s Press and Rachel Hawkins for the eARC. I cannot wait until this comes out and will be recommending to my friends until then!!

I have always been a Rachel Hawkins fan so whenever I can read an ARC by her, I am in! This book is much better than her other recent release, The Villa (to which I wasn't the most pleased with). The Heiress encompasses so much family drama and scandal all in one place. Ruby McTavish is North Carolina famous; the kidnapped child of a lumbar tycoon and heir to his millions. She grew up to have many husbands who ironically all met their untimely deaths. This story tells of her past and the present as her family fights over her inheritance. The stories of her late husbands give Seven Husbands vibes in the best way. I would recommend this read, it may just be my favorite Hawkins novel.

This mystery/thriller about an heiress who adopts a child to get even with her extremely difunctional family had me reading it straight through in a day! For those of us who have read this authors books and felt the last couple to be a little slow you will be thrilled with this story as it weaves unexpected surprises all the way through. I highly recommend this book to all mystery lovers.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for allowing me to read and review this book.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins. I really enjoyed this book. I liked the way the story unfolded and the characters were interesting. I liked the different perspectives of the story and will definitely search for more of Rachel Hawkins books.

Book: The Heiress
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub Date: January 9, 2024

Author Rachel Hawkins is a mixed bag for me. I really liked The Wife Upstairs, couldn’t finish the Villa and Reckless Girls was terrible. But she has redeemed herself with this book. It was very good! This family is twisted to say the least. There are lots of bombshells and secrets. The best part is the letters written from Ruby. I will say the book can be confusing at times but it nevertheless kept me hooked throughout. It’s a short read and while there could be more character development I felt you had enough information to enjoy the book. Ruby will remind you of Evelyn Hugo with all her husbands and I wouldn’t have minded more written about them. The plot is unlike anything else I’ve read before with the twists and bombshells. Its publication date is January 9 and I feel like this is a winter read. Do you ever read books that you feel like should be read in a certain season? Just me? Well this is a winter book.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this sneak peak! Publication date is January 9, 2024.

Wow!!! What a great book. I loved The Villa by this author and I loved The Heiress. The book is full of twists all the way to the very end. Thank you so much for letting me read this in advance. Will recommend to all of my thriller friends.

First off, thanks to netgalley for providing me an ARC!

The Heiress is if the 7 Husands of Evelynn Hugo is a thriller!
Camden and Jules are on their way to the Ashby House.. Cam's mother had died previously, and now he's looking into getting rid of the home that was the location of his childhood trauma. Jules has other reasons. She wants to convince him to keep it.
However, the family is a nightmare, and Ruby, Cam's mother, has many secrets that are all detailed out in letters.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It has a really slow start, but once it gets going, it's good. Lots of twists.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the eARC of this work. Ruby and the McTavish family have left quite a legacy. I enjoyed Jules and Cam as main characters. Switching between their perspectives with additional moments from Ruby was a great way to create such a full circle work. Hawkins is a fantastic thriller writer!

This was a good book it keep my interest I reckon mend Her other books I have read I read in the past have been good too

What a wild ride that kept me guessing! This story follows both Ruby McTavish, and her life after being lost/kidnapped at three years old and recovered less than a year later and returned home, and her adopted son Camden, and his return to the family who hated him. Told in dual POVs, we get to know Ruby and her life through letters, and we have Camden and his wife Jules in present day. We get to know Ruby’s family, and how she always felt things were off in the family home, and we see things not getting better even with Camden gone for a decade. This book kept me guessing until the end – and the twist I didn’t see coming had my jaw dropping! Between Ruby’s four marriages, Camden’s wife, and both the true identity of Ruby and Jules, there were so many things I didn’t see coming but had me thoroughly enjoying this book when I wasn’t originally sure where it was going at the beginning.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Overall, I liked this book a lot. I thought it was definitely a page turner, hard to put down and really intriguing. I especially liked all the parts that were written from the voice of Ruby’s. She was a fascinating character.

That being said, it was sometimes a little hard to follow who was telling the story in the other chapters and I kind of wish I had just been told from one perspective. I also thought parts of the ending a little contrived. However, I do appreciate the opportunity to preview this book and overall found it to be a pretty engaging family drama.

Rachel Hawkins continues her streak for writing women’s fiction/thrillers that have intelligent plotting, developed characters and twisty endings. In The Heiress, we have a tense family drama with a manipulative matriarch ruling over a dysfunctional family. Though Ruby McAllister is long dead when the novel opens, her back story is narrated by letters she has left to a surviving family member. Who is that exactly? Hawkins keeps us guessing until the end.

I devoured this book at a fast pace. Ruby’s story is revealed in layers, from her dramatic childhood as a kidnapped toddler, and through her adult years with one husband after another, all being lost in mysterious circumstances. After a long absence, Ruby’s adopted son, Camden, her sole heir, reluctantly returns to the family estate with his wife, Jules. Is he there to confront his past, claim his fortune or make amends with the greedy aunt and cousins he left behind?

Hawkins has become one of my favorite authors and I am continually impressed by her mad skills in weaving a compelling story. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.

I have read all three of Rachel Hawkins psychological thrillers that are out, and just finished her upcoming fourth, and let me tell you... you are in for a treat! The Heiress is her best yet! I flew through it and got all tangled up in the McTavish family scandals. 

I rated her other three, The Villa, Reckless Girls, and The Wife Upstairs 4 star reads, but this one was 5 stars for me! Much like her others, it is fast-paced, twisty, and dark, but this one felt different. The story is told from two perspectives, Camden and Jules, and there are also letters from Ruby, Camden's adoptive mother and "the heiress," that tell her side of the story. It also includes magazine interviews and newspaper articles, which make it a really fun, bingeable book. It involves a mysterious kidnapping, a lot of sudden, questionable deaths, and a whole lot of family drama. 

You've got quite a while until it comes out (January 9th), but I wanted to put it on your radar so you can add it to your #tbr. 

Well done, Rachel! Many thanks to #netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the early copy! 🙌 ❤

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
5/5 🌟

This was a fabulous fast paced read that I couldn’t put it down. Hawkins expertly weaves letters from Ruby and the current story lines of her son, Cam, Jules, his wife and his cousins as they return to her home to discuss her will and assets.

Ruby’s family ruled the town of Tavistock so she should have had a charmed life. However she was the victim of a kidnapping and as an adult was five times widowed. Her letters detail all her dirty secrets and the reasons behind all her scheming.

Cam her adopted son has rejected his mothers help until her passing when he and his wife decide they must visit his inheritance including the Ashby House. They both are holding back a few truths that are exposed as we go along. Fully connected from start to finish I love how this author writes with a string the outline giving bread crumbs along the way.

4.5 escapist stars

I first met this author with her book “The Wife Upstairs” and I followed that with three more of her books, so she works for me! I enjoy how she brings her characters to life, many of them quite despicable and her writing makes for a few hours of escapist fun for me.

This book is set up with a few narrators and I like that approach, especially when the different views advance the story and don’t retread the narrative from a different perspective.

We have Jules, married for 10 years to Camden, living in Colorado (love that setting!), and working at an historical home. I enjoyed her snarky narration.

Camden is a teacher and has firmly put his past and adoptive family in North Carolina behind me. Or has he? He happens to be the sole heir to the richest family in North Carolina and now the estate and family demand his presence.

The other viewpoint is done through the letters of Ruby McTavish, and this might be my favorite one. I wish we could have met her while alive, but the letters were a terrific addition. Kidnapped as a child, Ruby had quite a life. She’s a widow times four and there’s a whole other story there.

When Jules and Camden arrived at Ashby House in North Carolina, I knew that we were in for a fun ride with this story. Filled with other shady family members and the town of Tavistock, we learn a lot about the legacy of the McTavish family.

As secrets swirled throughout the book, I started to wonder more about this family and the effects of money. Jules falls in love with the house and wants to stay, while Camden resists being pulled back in. Anything goes in this one and that includes the wild ending!

This one made for an interesting buddy read and I think I liked it the most. It must have fit my reading for an escape mode!

More family drama than thriller in this page-turner by Rachel Hawkins. Hawkins says that no classic novel inspired this work the way it has for past novels, and maybe that's what felt like it was missing for me. I wanted a little more from the characters, more twists and turns, though I did enjoy the multiple POV, the letters, and the newspaper articles throughout. Though not my favorite Hawkins, I'd still recommend it as a quick, fun read.

I really enjoyed this book written by a popular local author. This book is written in the familiar multi-perspectives, which I really enjoyed. Ruby is an heiress to a fortune and she tells her life story in a series of letters to her her estranged adopted son Camden. Camden has left his comfortable life behind to rid himself of the toxicity of the family who views him as an interloper. He has returned to Ashby House reluctantly and unknowingly at the request of his wife, who is plotting to stake her claim to the fortune that her husband chose to leave behind.
It's a definite page-turner and gave me "Evelyn Hugo" vibes since Ruby had a notorious love life with many husbands in her wake. I highly recommend this read!