This is my first book I've ever read by the author, Rachel Hawkins. I have a t least a couple other books by her on my TBR list but this is the first I'd ever got around to actually reading. I honestly don't know how to explain my feelings towards this book. On one hand the writing style itself was extremely engaging. I slipped into this book very easily. As an adult with ADHD I find it more and more difficult to read books unless the are extremely stimulating to me. This is why I end up listening to books more than reading these days, but I digress. My point is, I fully read this book which in and of itself shows that there are plenty of positive aspects about this book. On the other hand the plot was a bit of a let down. Even that probably wouldn't have been an issue if it had been marketed differently.

On Netgalley it's listed as a Mystery/Thriller and it definitely has both sprinkled in among the pages but to me it seemed more like a duo timeline family history. There were some twists and turns along the way or more accurately some winding curves. Overall I found the book to be and entertaining and easy read and I fully intend to read more books from this author's backlog.

I was so excited to see a new book by Rachel Hawkins and downloaded it right away. I loved her books The Wife Upstairs, Reckless Girls, and The Villa and her new one did not disappoint.

Jules and her fiance Camden live the simple life in a small house in Colorado. You would never know that Camden is the heir to a fortune left by his adopted mother Ruby, who passed away a decade earlier. He has turned his back on his fortune, and the family that came along with it. His family has always felt bitter towards Camden and Ruby and they never had a healthy relationship. When Camden's uncle dies he and Jules decide to return to the estate to tie up some loose ends. Camden wants this to be a quick visit, but Jules has other ideas. As she starts to familiarize herself with the property she begins to want this to be her future home. She starts to snoop in each room and uncovers some decades old secrets of Ruby's that could change everything Camden thought about his life.

I really enjoyed this book! Plenty of family secrets and twists that will keep the reader guessing. I loved the way letters, newspaper articles, and different POV's were woven together to create the story. Thank you for the ARC!

Eerie and tense, The Heiress does not disappoint! There were so many twists and turns throughout. Reveal after reveal. It was smartly written. So clever. I loved it! Hard to put down. Highly recommend. Look for it in January!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance reader copy!

Lots of twists and turns and fast paced. Perfect beach read because the chapters are short and you don't have to give 100% attention to the story to get what is happening. I particularly like stories told from different characters' viewpoints like The Heiress. Ruby McTavish was quite the woman and not in a good way! Sadly, the ending fell a bit flat for me. It just seemed like it was all tied up very nicely despite the drama that was happening throughout the book. A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the Advanced Reader's copy.

Rachel has done it again! Another book I couldn’t put down. The chapters are small and told mainly in Camden and Jules pov. Filled with family secrets, you’ll have no idea what’s going on until the end.

Rachel Hawkins is easily becoming one of my favorite authors! This book had so many twists & turns that I could just not put it down! I will be thinking about this one for awhile!

The Heiress is the fourth book I’ve read from Rachel Hawkins and probably my favorite yet! It’s a very fast paced read and I had trouble putting it down.

It’s about a guy named Camden and his wife, Jules, who live a seemingly simple life in Colorado. He’s the heir to the McTavish fortune and Ashby House, an impressive estate in the Blue Ridge mountains, but doesn’t want to take a penny from his complicated family. After his uncle dies, he finally returns to Ashby House to set things straight, but his tumultuous childhood haunts him. Jules wants Cam to take his inheritance and start a new life there, but the remaining McTavish family members will have something to say about that! It also jumps back in time to reveal letter written by Cam’s adoptive mother and newspaper clippings about Ruby McTavish, the heiress of the complicated family, which I found just as exciting as the current day chapters, as it played highly into the story.

I received an advanced copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for a review, and opinions are my own.

This book was AMAZING! It was such a twisted story. The ending was something I never saw coming! I loved it!!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Review: ⭐⭐⭐

If The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo met The Château, you'd have The Heiress.

The book is okay, I like Rachel Hawkins but it didn't quite come together for me... As if the book is giving you one too many winks.

I couldn't even tell you what the actual premise is, it was well written and interesting but didn't really execute on anything.

There are a lot of twists or attempted gotchas but it really feels like the book just isn't quite sure what it wants to be.

Not a bad read by any means but not as tight or substantial as it could have been.

An abundance of thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rachel Hawkins is popular in our libraries and this one brings her signature style with a new, twisty plot that will definitely catch our readers. Will definitely go over well.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Rachel Hawkins does it again with this twisty family drama/thriller. Camden and Jules are summoned home to unravel a family inheritance left by his mysterious mother, Ruby McTavish. Ruby has a dark past, having been widowed four times under mysterious circumstances and survived a kidnapping as a child. Everything comes to light as the past and present are given alternating chapters. Really enjoyed this one. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love Rachel Hawkin’s books and this one was no exception. It was hard to put down and really sucks you into the drama of Ashby house. So many twists towards the end to keep you guessing. I really enjoyed the three different perspectives of Ruby, Jules, and Camden. Also, the other family members of Ashby house make for good drama. The author does a great job of describing the feel of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The mystery and intrigue of Ruby’s disappearance as a child was so juicy and really was a unique twist to the book. I would definitely recommend this book if you like this author and like thrillers/mystery.

Thanks Netgalley and St.Martin’s Press for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

While I usually am not a huge fan of Rachel Hawkins books, I keep giving the new ones a try.
I am so glad I did. This was by far my favorite of hers.
The characters share their perspectives and pulls you into their world. This book is full of secrets and lies and you will love every minute of it.

Thank you netgalley for this arc. I truly enjoyed it. The only reason I knocked it down to 4 stars is because it read more like a drama instead of thriller.

There's something so appealing reading a book that uncovers family secrets; it makes us wonder what was it that causes people become so sinister.

Hawkins drew me in from the getg0 and left me wondering what twists and turns I'd be lead through as I continued reading. She has a knack for including the specific detail that helps you to really picture a character's action and personality. I loved multiple perspectives the reader was given as well as the epistolary style of this novel.

I found this to be the perfect thriller - not gruesome, overly sexual or extreme in any way.

Surprisingly, this was my first novel by Rachel Hawkins, and the premise of The Heiress was intriguing enough to me that I kept returning to unravel this dark family drama with secrets and mystery surrounding it.

The multiple perspectives told in first person moved the story along, yet it could have been better if there had been more distinction in voice/writing style between the two main protagonists-- I really wanted more from Cam and Jules while they're at Ashby House with Cam's family. Additionally, I did like the use of different formats for the reader to unravel the mystery and intrigue that was Ruby McTavish - even though Ruby had been dead before the story started, we still come to understand her motives through letters as well as additional magazine and newspaper articles.

The setting of Ashby House was very atmospheric, and The Heiress could have been elevated if the house was capitalized on more -- the house has as much personality, intrigue, and secrets as all the characters involved.

The plot also left something to be desired. Even though I haven't read any of Rachel Hawkins's other works, I've heard enough to know that she usually packs a story full of intrigue and twists. Unfortunately, for me, this just didn't match up to what I expected. It felt a bit forced and unfinished -- especially with that ending, but that may be me as a reader wanting a bigger reveal and resolution, especially in a suspense/thriller.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but this is not going to be a favorite that I'm revisiting or raving about. It's a quick, easy read - perfect for a weekend getaway or a summer break.

** 4.5 stars. Rounded up to 5 stars, because Goodreads don’t believe in fractions. **

What a surprise. Rachel Hawkins managed to charm me with "The Heiress" when I did not expected it. I liked Reckless Girls but did not love it. So, I approached "The Heiress" with a sprinkle of skepticism and a dash of hesitation, expecting a wild thriller but ending up with something entirely different.

Lo and behold, what I got was a slow-burn, jaw-dropping, rich-people-being-awful kind of suspenseful family drama. Yes, you heard me right. Very rich people, doing what they do best—being terrible human beings. But surprisingly, it worked. It really, really worked. If you are expecting a thriller, well change your expectations!
The three POVs and those short chapters, oh my ADHD loved that! Camden, Jules, and Ruby (through her cunningly crafted letters) took me on a whirlwind journey through their twisted lives. Each character had a unique voice, with their own quirks and secrets that unfolded like a tantalizing onion. "Just one more chapter," until the wee hours of the morning.

If you're in the mood for a downright scandalous tale of rich people behaving badly, "The Heiress" is the book for you. Just remember to clear your calendar because you might read the book in one sitting.
*Note: This review was written based on an advanced copy of "The Heiress" provided by the Saint Martin’s Press and Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

" A haunted house where the ghosts hadn't had the courtesy to die yet"

Ruby McTavish was kidnapped as a child and returned to her family months later. She has also been a widow four times over. When Ruby died, she passed her estate to her only son, Camden, who was adopted. Despite all the wealth, the manor, the clout that comes with living in Tavistock, Camden flees to the West Coast and lives a quiet life with his wife Jules, who he meets there.
A decade later, Camden's uncle dies and he is called back to the manor to deal with the manor. Jules, who secretly digitally followed Camden's family for years is excited, and wants Camden to reclaim everything left to him. However as more secrets keep crawling out of the woodwork, Cam and Jules will have to decide if the cost is too high.

I loved this book. It is faced paced and exciting. The book is told with multiple narrators to give perspective, interspersed with old letters of Ruby's. The heart of this book is really "what makes a family". There are so many secrets and layers to the characters that the reader is made aware of, but the characters don't know about each other that add to the tension. Hawkins did a phenomenal job here and I definitely recommend this. Though classified as a "psychological thriller" I would consider it more suspenseful fiction, meaning that those who don't generally like to be scared would still enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the advance copy of this book.

"we can never discount that most dangerous of animals, our fellow man"

Rachel Hawkins does it again! She expertly captures the beauty of the Blue Ridge mountains and enthralls readers with the mystery of Cam and Jules. Will be purchasing a hard copy!

Normally I love Rachel Hawkins books but this one fell a bit flat for me. thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

This was probably my favorite of Rachel Hawkins' books thus far. There were twists I did NOT see coming and the plot was well-thought out. It's usually harder for me when the narrator's viewpoint changes from past to present and from character to character but this book flowed fairly seamlessly from chapter to chapter. I was never lost and was able to easily keep track of who was important in the story and why.