The Heiress is a Gothic suspense novel that will keep you guessing until the very end. The story follows Camden McTavish, the adopted son of the infamous Ruby McTavish, who inherits her estate after her death. Camden has no interest in the estate or the McTavish family, but he is summoned back to Ashby House after his uncle's death. There, he and his wife, Jules, begin to uncover the dark secrets that the McTavishes have been keeping for generations.

The book is full of twists and turns, and the characters are well-developed and relatable. Hawkins does a great job of creating a sense of suspense and foreboding, and the setting of Ashby House is both atmospheric and creepy. The Heiress is a must-read for fans of Gothic suspense novels, and it is sure to keep you entertained from beginning to end.

Here are some specific things that I enjoyed about the book:

- The characters were well-developed and relatable. I found myself rooting for Camden and Jules, and I was intrigued by the other members of the McTavish family.
- The plot was full of twists and turns. I never knew what was going to happen next, and I was always on the edge of my seat.
- The setting was atmospheric and creepy. I could picture Ashby House in my mind, and I felt a sense of dread whenever the characters went there.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Heiress. It is a well-written, suspenseful, and atmospheric novel that I would highly recommend to fans of Gothic suspense.

Here are some additional thoughts on the book:
- The book is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, and Hawkins does a great job of capturing the beauty and isolation of the region.
- The book explores themes of family secrets, revenge, and redemption.
The book is full of foreshadowing, which helps to build suspense.
- The ending is satisfying and unexpected.

If you are looking for a good suspense novel with a Gothic twist, then I highly recommend The Heiress.

This will be the book that everyone will want to read. It’s pure entertainment from the start.

The setting is the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina where a mansion sits with killer views. It’s like the Biltmore but a tad bit smaller.

It was built in 1904 by lumber magnate Alexander McTavish. He called it, "The Highlands." In 1938, Mason McTavish renamed it the "Ashby House" in honor of his beloved wife, Anna Ashby. Life was good until 1943 when their three-year-old daughter, Ruby, disappeared. Mason offered a handsome reward and then eight months later, she miraculously was found by a private detector.

Anna gave birth to another girl, Nelle. She was four years younger. The two sisters weren’t close. Ruby was able to get her father to always favor her. After her father died, Ruby ended up with millions including the estate and other properties. However, the will allowed Nelle and her family to live there forever. They would be one happy family…not.

This is a book that is so exciting, it’s difficult to stop reading. When my eyes were tired, the last sentence of the chapter made me want to read just one more chapter. And then one more. The writing is smooth and all the pieces fit together in time with twists and turns. It was easy to keep track of a handful of characters – all with such good descriptions, I could probably draw a sketch of each one.

I can imagine good discussions from book clubs. Why are we so interested in the bad behavior of people of wealth? I’ve read a few of the author’s previous books. This is my favorite.

My thanks to Rachel Hawkins, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy with an expected release date of January 9, 2024.

Alternating POVs, w/letters & articles mixed in; a bit of a domestic, gothic thriller; parts of it reminded me of a morbid version of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo; the overall twist was a little predictable but there were SO many other twists thrown in & I enjoyed how they were all revealed; quick & easy read; engaging & suspenseful; my favorite from Rachel Hawkins so far!

Special thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

“The Heiress” is by Rachel Hawkins and, for me, this was more a family drama with a twist opposed to a mystery thriller. This book is told from multiple POV - Ruby (the heiress), Cam (her adopted son), and Jules (Cam’s wife). I found Ruby’s “confession” letters to be the most interesting part of the book, possibly because even she wondered why she had these, for lack of better word, urges. Personally, my favorite of her husbands was Andrew, the artist. Jules had some fantastic lines - must admit, the comment to Ben (Cam’s relation) about being specific when telling ghost story tales cracked me up. This was a quick and easy read and held my attention. It’s a bit of a slow build-up and the action starts really rolling at a fast clip around the 60% mark. A 3.5 star read for me, rounded up to 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins.

Like her other books, this story keeps the reader engaged from the first to the last page. I recommend this book to readers who like Rachel Hawkins.

The Heiress is a sordid tale! Holy cow! You think it’s going to be this beautiful love story between Jules and Camden, a boy adopted by an heiress who wants nothing to do with them. The many twists and turns and slow reveal of the life of Camden’s adoptive mother Ruby is captivating! Definitely a must read!

I give this book more like 4.5 stars than just 4.
It has been a while since I read a thriller, and this one was good I think because it was almost like it was half thriller, half family drama. Additionally, it wasn't full of goofy jump scares, and it felt relatively realistic. There are always twists in a book like this, and this one was no exception, but they were subtle, not super sensationalized, which I appreciated. Some were ones that I was able to guess at ahead of time, and others I hadn't really seen coming. None of which really jumped the shark or took me to a place where I thought, 0% chance this could happen, which is one of my big complaints about this style of book, that they often feel so unbelievable that they almost enter into fantasy.
I also really liked the structure of this book. It alternates between the POV of two characters and includes things like newspaper clippings and things like that in between the chapters, which gives additional context and shows what the world thinks of different events, most of which happened many years in the past.
This was my first time reading a book by this author, but I will be interested in picking up some of her other books now!
tl;dr: very solid thriller/family drama with multiple POVs and subtle twists. 4.5 stars from me.

4.5 stars! Thank you for this ARC. This is my favorite of all the Rachel Hawkins books I have read. I was captivated by the secrets and lies within this family drama. It felt like subtle hints at movies like Knives Out, where the rich family fights for an inheritance. I loved the Easter egg from her other title, The Villa, and there were two moments in the end that gave me actual chills. While I was able to guess some of the twists, I didn’t feel disappointment in those moments and there will still things that came as a surprise to me or made me smirk. I will be recommending this one when it comes out!

I was excited to read this as I really enjoyed Hawkins last book, The Villa. The Heiress did not disappoint! I liked how fast paced it was and how the story was told through multiple POV and through letters. The opening excerpt from Outside magazine set the scene beautifully! I did think the plot was a little predictable, especially being similar to The Villa, but still was a fun summer read.

The Heiress was an interesting story. I liked that there were multiple perspectives, newspaper clippings and Ruby's own letters to a mystery person. I thought I knew who she was writing to but I was very surprised when it was finally revealed. Her letters were my favorite part of this book. If you're looking for a thriller, this isn't it, it's more of a slow burn family drama but it has enough secrets and mystery to keep you turning pages. Thank you St. Martin's Press, NetGalley and Rachel Hawkins for my copy!

The Heiress is, by far, the best work from Rachel Hawkins to date. The novel has a Gothic feel to it as it examines the reunion between Camden and his estranged and ruthless family following the death of his uncle. Along the way Hawkins slowly, methodically reveals secrets of Camden, his wife Jules, his plotting cousins, and his mother, the infamous Ruby McTavish. Overall, a must read!

This one is a slow burn and be prepared reaching the half way point before anything really starts to happen. Camden is going home and taking his wife Jules. He left and hasn't been back because his family is dysfunctional and entitled and all they seem to care about is money. Now, will things be any different? Ruby adopted him and has left the family fortune and estate to him.

Ruby was kidnapped as a child. Dora Darnell always claimed that Ruby was their daughter and not a Mc Tavish. Ruby always wondered was she really Dora? Her sister Nelle always told her that she wasn't really her sister.

Jules wants to stay in the estate and kick the other free loaders out. Jules has secrets she has hidden from Camden.

A cast of horrible people, doing terrible things and since they are rich they can get away with it.

A family drama with wealth, love, hate, kidnapping and murder, you can't go wrong. This books seems to be talking to the reader as we read letters and news clippings of family events. What happened to Ruby's four husbands? Why did she decide to adopt Cam? How many secrets can one family have and what will happen if all is revealed? So many questions but to find the answers you must read "The Heiress". Rachel Hawkins does not disappoint.
#TheHeiress#NetGalley#StMartinsPress

I’ve read Rachel Hawkins’s other books and this one may be one of my favorites. I loved the setting of the Carolinas/Appalachia and felt the imagery was beautiful. I also loved the callback to The Villa and Lara Larchmont and Aestas. This is a book that I definitely plan to read again because I feel now, knowing the ending will make the rest of it a little clearer.

Rachel Hawkins’ latest book is, in my opinion, also her best. This is the story of an adopted son coming back home to the dysfunctional family he escaped, interspersed with letters written by his deceased adoptive mother which chronicle her darkest secrets. The story held my attention from start to finish, as there were well-paced revelations and twists I did not anticipate. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I will definitely keep reading releases from this author.

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

This is the second book that I read by Rachel Hawkins and I have found the author keeps me engaged and guessing until the end. The story features a notorious widow who leaves her fortune to her adopted son including a mansion in the mountains of North Carolina. Her other immediate family is angered by this and her adopted son has stayed away from the estate for 10 years. Now Camden is forced to return with his wife. For me, I went in thinking this would be a thriller/mystery and it read more of a family drama. I still enjoyed it very much learning a little more with each page. There was a big surprise about a character that wasn't revealed until the very end that I didn't see coming and I enjoyed that.

The Heiress will keep you guessing and kept me reading late at night. If you like family drama, revenge thrillers, and gothic stories this is the book for you.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an advanced copy #TheHeiressnovel #RachelHawkins #StMartinsPress #NetGalley

I loved this book. It was captivating and I didn’t see the twist coming until it was there. I read it in less than two days.

Fans of Rachel Hawkins will enjoy her latest book. It is definitely one where you do not want to put down. I did not love the ending but that is always such a personal viewpoint!

I have loved all of Rachel Hawkins’ previous books so I was excited when I was given the opportunity to read an ARC of her latest novel, “The Heiress.” I was not disappointed, to say the least.

The book has three protagonists, all of whom appear to have something to hide, with little tidbits about them revealed throughout the book. The first narrator is Ruby McTavish, heir to the McTavish fortune and Ashby House, a mansion on a hilltop near Asheville, North Carolina. She was lost in the woods surrounding her home when she was three years old in 1943, only to be discovered living with a couple in Alabama several months later. However, throughout her life, she wondered whether she really was Ruby McTavish, sometimes feeling like an imposter. Her narrative is told in the first person through letters she wrote to an unknown recipient, which are interspersed throughout the book.

The second narrator is her adopted son, Camden, who fled to California and then Colorado to escape Ashby House and it’s hostile inhabitants—a Great Aunt and two cousins, all of whom resent him for inheriting the McTavish fortune, which they believe rightfully theirs. The third narrator is Jules, Camden’s wife of ten years, who encourages him to return to Ashby House to confront his family in response to the arrival of an e-mail from his cousin, Ben, urging him to return to take care of financial issues involving the estate. It is at this family reunion that all the simmering family tensions come to a head and secrets are slowly revealed, culminating in a shocking denouement.

Through the deft use of prose, the author brings each flawed character to life with all their conflicting nuances and multifaceted personalities. Themes of nature vs. nurture, evil vs. good run throughout the book, causing the reader to question what constitutes both.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley, I was able to snatch up an early copy of this one. This is my first book by Rachel Hawkins, and it won’t be my last. It was a quick read that sucked me in from the beginning. It’s very much a family drama, full of unlikable characters and multiple plot twists. It is told through the points of view of two main characters, plus through letters from the past, giving us the POV of a 3rd character. Some of the plot twists were predictable, but nonetheless, this book was such a quick, fun read.