I typically like books by Rachel Hawkins. The Heiress was promising but somewhat predictable. The perspective switches kept me turning the pages as I tried to figure out the motives behind each character, but I wasn't that shocked by the plot twists. I had to really think about the characters and their relationships at the end because it began to get confusing as a multigenerational thriller. Overall, it was an entertaining read, but not one of my favorites.

The Heiress is a novel with shifting POV. The story alternates from husband Cam, wife Jules, and the diary letters of the late Helen McTavish, Can't adoptive mother. Excellent setup of Cam being summoned home after a decade, and marriage, away from the family estate. He inherited Helen's millions but has no interest in the money, or supporting the aunt and cousins who remained in the mansion bitterly resenting Cam. POV from Cam is revulsion about going home mixed with wounds that need to be cauterized. The secrets are established early on with hints from Jules' POV making evident that unbeknownst to Cam she has been stalking the house and cousins for years, and Helen slowly reveals we rest about her life and who Cam is. For people who enjoyed Gone Girl, Girl on a Train, and The Last Thing He Told Me. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I have grown up on the writings of Rachel Hawkins and consider myself a long-time fan. I checked the library every day in middle school after reading Hex Hall, bugging those poor librarians to death wondering if they had the next book in the series. It’s my earliest memory of impatiently waiting to devour what this author will write next.

Without fail, my jaw hit the floor during this ending’s big reveal. The almost tangible burning I feel when reading her works is the constant temptation to rip the bandaid off and spoil the ending is almost impossible to ignore. It eats at me. I know I’ll never be able to guess “whodunnit” but I want to solve the mystery myself the entire time. A true exampling of a page-turner. She is consistent with her masterful conclusions, carefully balancing her last words with powerful statements of self-reflection and wonder. I will always be first in line for her next work, anticipating what is to come.

I consider myself the critical reader, constantly wondering and comparing my experiences from an author’s previous works against the current read at hand. That being said, The Heiress wonderfully achieves the twists and turns I could not get enough of when reading her previous thriller, The Villa. Hawkins is an exquisite storyteller and reading her thrillers is such a treat for me.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for making my experience possible. By granting me access to this digital ARC, readers like me get to participate and advocate for the success of works by these wonderful authors.

My favorite Rachel Hawkins now. Found it to be fast-paced and enjoyable and I never could predict where it was going. I liked the style of alternating narrators and that Ruby's parts were told in letters
I will be recommending this title.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

It has been a long time since I’ve read such a fast paced book. At first I wasn’t sure I’d like this book —- so many characters. But I soon learned who is who. The characters have their own secrets and tell their own confessions.

Ruby writes letters, but to whom? You wonder what’s going on and how the characters are interconnected. The ending explaining all the twists is satisfying. Highly recommended.

By far my favorite Rachel Hawkins book to date! The Heiress was so face paced and I was hooked right away. I could not read it fast enough.

I loved that you get multiple viewpoints, as well as articles throughout the book. I thought I knew where this was going to go, but I was wrong, and loved the ending!!

This book has it all: family drama, murder, secrets, and a rich family living in a huge mansion!

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of The Heiress in exchange for an honest review

Usually thrillers and mystery are not genres I am drawn to so I really didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. The Heiress was my first read by author Rachel Hawkins, it is filled with twists and turns which kept my interest from cover to cover and I really enjoyed her writing style.

Camden McTavish wants nothing to do with his family, he was adopted into the McTavish family when he very young but as far as his extended family are concerned he never was and never will be a McTavish. However, the problem and the focus of most of this book is Camden inherited the family fortune and their estate with the death of his mother Ruby McTavish which means he will never be free of the family who despises him. Ruby herself has led quite a life of intrigue and not only does she leave behind an enormous fortune but also a string of dead husbands.

I book was well paced, I feel like I got a really good idea of who each of the characters were as the author carefully unwrapped their complex history and tied it up beautifully at the end. While they are certainly flawed you couldn't help but be invested in the protagonists and the outcome of their story. Their lives were formed by tragic circumstances and abuse but together they find a way to form a new family in spite of everything they have endured.

What I loved about this book:
- multiple points of view. The main view points are Camden McTavish and his wife Jules but we also hear from his notorious mother in the form of letters she has written in the days leading up to her death
- Lots of multigenerational family drama
- there were so many twists and turns, some I saw coming, some I should have picked up on as there were definite hints throughout the story and others took me by surprise

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an advances copy of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins.
The story features a very well known deadly widow who dies leaving her extreme wealth to an adopted son, including a massive mansion in the mountains of North Carolina. The will angers the immediate family but Camden, the adopted son is unmoved and stays away from the estate, beginning a life across the country.
However, when another death occurs, Cam is forced to return with his wife. What they face is years and years of secrets and death as well as a very angry Aunt and cousins.
I love how it's told in multiple POVs and told as a story to the reader themselves one on one. The story is told between 3 characters, Ruby, Camden, and Jules, which gives you the feel of something unsuspecting and sinister that might happen. There were so many twists Rachel Hawkins set up perfectly! This was a psychologically thrilling page turner and so much fun to read!

Rachel Hawkins returns with a Gothic suspense thriller about an adopted son, returning to his North Carolina roots, to deal with the aftermath of an inheritance (a mansion) ten years after his mother died and left an eight figure fortune he walked away from.

The narrative is told via 2 POVs, an epistolary, and newspaper clippings: Cam/Camden, the returning prodigal son; his wife Jules/Julia, who has never been to North Carolina or met any of her husband’s relatives; and also via the decade old tell-all letters left behind by Ruby McTavish +4 surnames (all dead husbands). Matron Ruby was notorious due to being kidnapped at age 3 and discovered unharmed a year later in 1943 (long before DNA testing); the circumstances of the sequentially dying spouses just added to her “fame.” And since the author helpfully gives us the dictionary description of “changeling” at the start and references to famous cases, we immediately suspect that Ruby’s story is even more deeply layered. And Cam and Jules are here to obviously stir up things.

As Ruby’s letters reveal her past, the current timeline discloses the ongoing toxic relationships still thriving at Ashby House. Hawkins builds the suspense and then throws in multiple twists. In the end, this s a book about complicated family ties and money and greed destroy integrity and create secrets. 5 stars!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES So many green eyes, in fact. Jules’ are so dark green they’re almost black (“dark hazel”) and Cam realizes they are like Ruby’s. And also Duke and Libby have green eyes. Cam is the odd man out with one blue and one brown eye, a rare case of heterochromia.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): YES Cam bemoans the state of the sunflower garden, which are currently brown stalks. But it’s September and sunflowers (basically hardy weeds) are usually still in full bloom unless there’s a killing frost (and this is unlikely in North Carolina)

I LOVED this book. It definitely had an Evelyn Hugo vibe with the multiple husbands but it included that thriller twist. Loved the twist at the end. I wish that it hadn’t ended there and I could read more about that part. Overall, fantastic book that I absolutely loved!

Hawkins made me genuinely care for the protagonists and the outcome of their story. The twists were subtle and surprising. By far my favorite of her work.

I enjoyed reading this book and got through it very quickly. I was hoping for some twists that I thought there might be potential for that didn’t manifest, but I still was very entertained by the story. Definitely worth a read!

Big mansion. Lots of money.
Switching identities.
The past mistakes catches up with you to pass on to any future heir.
This story had me on the edge.
Love the storyline.
So many twists and turns.
Someone always wants revenge.
I'm a big fan of ms Hawkins
I believe this is her best book so far
Must read

Another hit from Rachel Hawkins! Kept me guessing! So much family drama, my family seems tame in comparison.
I know I love a book when I read it so quickly. I liked hearing the story from multiple characters.

Thanks to net galley for an advanced reader copy of this book. It was the first novel by Rachel Hawkins That I've read. I found it fairly interesting and quite suspenseful. The plot was interested enough to keep me absorbed. I can't say that it left a strong impression of me when I finished it. But I thought it was a respectable suspense novel

This story was twisted and turned from beginning to end. I found myself loving Ruby, despite all of her flaws. Her humor and honesty made her so likeable. I never saw the connection with Jules and Ruby coming. Loved it!

Thrillers with a historical element are not usually my genre, but this book was so well-written and the characters had such realistic streams of consciousness that I loved it! I feel like all of her books are unique, and this was no exception.

I loved it- I have been reading Rachel Hawkins since I fell in love with Harper Price and this fascination with crazy rich people just keeps developing. It’s really fun.

And the covers of her last few books have been GORGEOUS

Rachel Hawkins does it again!! Another bizarre and twisty read. Just when you think you have it figured out, she throws another curve ball to make you start to question how the story will end. I love her books! This one was a great, fast paced read that kept me wondering where it was going. This is a definite must read!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I love Rachel Hawkins’ books and this one was no exception. I flew through this book without even realizing it. There are so many stories and they all come together so well. Everyone is hiding something (or ten something’s) and good luck figuring out who to trust!