This book was a bit slow and the characters weren't very interesting. I could not wait for it to be over.

I have loved reading Rachel Hawkins' works and this was no exception! The gothic backdrop added to the secrets that were uncovered through this thrilling book.

Review of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins

I was so excited to get approved for this thriller on that galley. I love this authors work, and I had read such good reviews about this book. Fortunately it did live up to its hype me and I really enjoyed it from start to finish. It flowed nicely with action throughout and held my interest the entire book. I loved the present day mixed with the letters that helped explain the past. I loved the interconnection between the characters and the level of mystery. This may be my favorite by this author and it is out now.

Quick 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.

But in the aftermath of her death, her adopted son, Camden, 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, his uncle’s death pulls Cam and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but the legacy of Ruby is inescapable.

And 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

I felt like this was the mystery that I knew Rachel Hawkins was capable of! Probably my favorite mystery of hers so far. There was so much to follow and keep engaged in, I could not put it down!

The story follows the mysterious Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore and her enormous fortune, as well as her adopted son Camden who wants nothing to do with his inheritance. He and his wife Jules are called back to the estate and risk being sucked back in to the mystery and intrigue of Ruby's life. There are long-buried secrets and decades-old letters to unravel them all. Just the right amount of information shared with each chapter, enough to keep the reader engaged and wanting more. Definitely recommend for an atmospheric, layered mystery with a little history and family drama mixed in.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for my e-ARC, all thoughts are my own!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-book of The Heiress" by Rachel Hawkins in exchange for an honest review. This was enjoyable and fun! Definitely fast paced and thriller filled, I was happy to devour this book quickly because of the short chapters. This book touches upon revenge, family secrets, and is packed with domestic drama. It had suspense and I would recommend to people who are new to thrillers and mysteries.

Soooo Saltburn meets Knives Out in the best way!

I feel like Rachel Hawkins really hit her groove on this one - it’s fun, fast-paced and had plot twists galore.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!

To be honest, I really struggled to get through this book. I found myself quite disinterested in the plot line and the characters and I think that was for a few reasons. The first being the chapter length. I ended up listening to this as an audiobook and I’m glad that I did, because had I been reading the physical copy of this, I really think I would’ve DNF’d it due to chapter length. Looking through the timing in the audio book, some of the chapters are 35/40/45 minutes long. That is ENTIRELY too long for one singular chapter. This book was 8 hours of an audiobook and only 17 chapters, and it could have been double that amount of chapters, if not triple. I had a big issue with that.

Second, the plot line. It was so boring and so drawn out, this literally could’ve just been a short story and I probably would’ve liked it better. Ruby’s letters were the only interesting thing going on in this book. Plus I ended up guessing the 2 twists which is unfortunate.

To be honest, Jules and Ben just weren’t that likable for me. I wasn’t invested in their storyline at all, and honestly it was a chore for me to get through this book.

After finishing this book and looking through GoodReads reviews, I can tell that I am definitely in the minority of those who didn’t vibe with this book. I have read other Rachel Hawkins books and liked 2/4 of them, so I did have decent high hopes for them (Reckless Girls was literally so bad), but this one was just a flop for me.

This was an enjoyable read. An elderly woman addresses the mysterious circumstances surrounding her life. It reminded me of “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid and “The Only One Left” by Riley Sager.

I was so excited to get my approval on this book. I absolutely loved The Wife Upstairs and was doing my happy dance with the opportunity to read this before it was released. This book sucked me in! I love how fast paced it was. The multiple points of view flowed together so well. The details were given perfectly in the order of which they happened and I loved them. The family drama was so entertaining. The twist just kept coming and had my head spinning. I absolutely loved this read just like the other books I've read by this author.

This book has all the juicy drama I love. Family drama, lies, secrets, and murder.

Told from multiple POVs, this story is a deep dive into Ruby McTavish’s life and how she got her famous nickname, Mrs. Killmore.

Cam, Ruby’s adopted son, wants nothing to do with the McTavish family and their fortune. But his wife Jules has plans to reunite Cam with who he truly is.

This story was fast paced and full of drama. Hawkins knows how to write people and give them enough substance to make them feel real. This book felt like a TV drama you’d want to binge watch because it’s just so unbelievable. I read the book in one sitting and it was thoroughly enjoyed.

Rachel Hawkins can write a darned good thriller -- you know, the kind you stay up all night reading because you just really, really need to get to the end and figure things out. Phew, this one was great!

If you think someone named "Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore" has a brilliant backstory and a lot of secrets that need to be told... read on. They're in this book.

I can't tell you much without the threat of spilling my guts and telling you everything, so just know this: stay up all night reading. It was fun from start to finish!

I enjoyed this one - very atmospheric and the crazy family story was so good. Thank you for my copy!

I could not get through this book fast enough. Unputdownable. The twists were delicious and the characters were so well written

This was a fun, fast read. Sometimes I felt like Ruby was Evelyn Hugo if Evelyn decided she wanted to end her marriages on her own lol. There was really nothing at all redeeming in the McTavish family so I can understand why Ruby took matters into her own hands with Cam.

I think most of my knocking it down a few pegs comes from Jules. Although her part in this is somewhat explained, I felt like it left me with more questions than answers and I didn't really get why her specific part in this story was needed. It seemed like a superfluous addition to a story that already had many compelling layers.

And let me say - having read this a few months after Before We Were Yours, the whole paying poor families for babies things is really crushing. I'm sure it still happens today, but it's heartbreaking to think kids are being unknowingly taken from families that did actually love them just so families can stay afloat. That's not all that happened here, but again, after having read these books so close together, it's a theme that's fresh on my mind.

I do want to circle back to the McTavish family being unredeemable to just put this out there for all stories everywhere - it makes for a less enjoyable reading experience when the bad guys are just bad. If there had been any humanity or caring in even one of those folks, maybe I would've been more drawn in. I suppose that was kind of the point based on what Jules saw in the end, but I also think it would have made that particular plotline more heartbreaking in a way to add some more humanity in, you know? Just my two cents.

This was a fun ride though. Definitely great for a one time read.

I heard Rachel Hawkins speak about Reckless Girls. I loved that and wanted to try another.
I loved the small town secrets and twists and turns in this book.
Recommended for fans of American gothic writing.

I received this book and sadly it took far too long for it to make its way onto my TBR list. Rachel Hawkins sets a brilliant stage for mystery, intrigue, secrets, and lies with this family.

Rudy is shrouded in mystery throughout this book, she was kidnapped when she was young and eventually returned. She has been married four times, but sadly all of the have passed away in some pretty freak accidents. Finally, instead of leaving her wealth to her sister, she decided to adopt a little boy and he, Camden, was left with a fortune when she finally passed away.

There was so much going on in this book, partially about Rudy and her like through letters, it also follows Camden and Jules. Camden inherited all this money but just lets the rest of the McTavish's use it and still live in the mansion while he pretends that this horrible family that never accepted him don't exist.

There was so much going on throughout this mystery. Between Cam and Jules, and all the other family members and then Ruby and her story. I loved Ruby's letters they were so good. Ruby was strong, sadly for all the wrong reasons, but she was also determined and independent and often sarcastic and unreliable.

Jules is also a POV, she is telling her story as she hopes for Cam to settle here. She yearns for the life they could have with this money. Cam feels scandalized by this family most of the time, they are rude, mean and so unaccepting, but he holds the cards to them having anything and staying in the house. Sadly, he just lets them live because he is far nicer than all of them.

This was a crazy, exciting, read and it kept my head spinning the whole time. If you like mysteries, secrets, lies and a dose of murder, this could be a great read for you.

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins is about the death of Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore and how her adopted son Camden wants nothing to do with the inheritance she left him. However, when Camden's uncle dies, he finally must go home to finally settle the estate. The Ashby House is just as stunning as ever, but will it take hold of Camden and his wife Jules?

A huge thank you goes out to NetGalley for the Advanced Readers Copy I received of this novel. Rachel Hawkins is a talented author, so I was thrilled to read her latest story, and I wasn't disappointed in the least.

When I finally started reading Rachel Hawkin's latest work of art, The Heiress, I had a little trouble getting into the storyline, but that didn't last too long and was sucked in after the first few chapters. The story was set up so that as the reader, you don't really trust two of the three main characters of the book, Jules and Cam. Both of them tell their portion of the story in the present and definitely are keeping secrets ... I couldn't wait to find out what those were. The other main character is Ruby, who tells her portion of the story in the form of letters that were written and seems to be a reliable narrator.

Rachel Hawkins did a fabulous job of creating a fabulous story and making the reader what possibly could come next. I didn't quite expect the ending of The Heiress, and I know I will be thinking about it for quite some time. I do have a lingering question about part of the ending, but I 'm going to do my research on that so as to not spoil anything for those who haven't read this book. At times, it felt like the author pulled elements of a V.C. Andrews novel into this one, and I don't mean that in a bad way because I loved it. It was like reading an adult version of a V.C. Andrews book but better!! Five out of five stars.

I felt this book was a good filler book. It wasn’t life changing, but also wasn’t terrible. I would categorize this book as more of a family drama than a thriller. The characters were not Likeable and I felt the book dragged on! I would have appreciated shorter chapters and just more excitement.

High in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC, the tiny town of Tavistock is ruled by the wealthy McTavish family. Their estate Ashby House is a sprawling mansion with secrets inside and out. When 3 year old Ruby McTavish vanishes in the woods, after several months a part-time worker from out-of-state is found with the child matching Ruby’s description in another state. This apparent kidnapping sets out the plot of this book, as the kidnapping continues to haunt Ruby as she ages. When Ruby dies, her adopted son Camden and his wife Jules are forced to go back to Ashby House and accept that they are the new heirs. But if they accept this inheritance, at what cost will it be to them? Both are hiding secrets from the other that they fear may destroy them both.

Told from multiple points of view, Ruby’s POV is the most fascinating to me, as she details her 4 marriages and the demise of each husband. Camden hates Ashby House with a passion and all the bad memories there, mainly due to his dysfunctional aunt and cousins who are still alive and think the estate and everything with it should be theirs. Jules sees the estate and money as their rightful inheritance, despite the less-than-desirable family members that come with it.

I listened to the audio, which I highly recommend. The voice of Ruby is excellent as an aging Southern lady (and I use that word lightly!), as she recounts her life in letters to her son. They are her “confessional” letters, but she’s not the only one with secrets that need to come to light. With a last minute twist that was a complete surprise to me, this book had me hooked from the beginning, and I couldn’t wait to see how it all played all. Out now, and I highly recommend it! Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this one; all opinions are my own.

If you’re into soapy, gothic mysteries full of family secrets you will love The Heiress. This story is told from multiple POVs along with magazine articles and personal letters. I was captivated as secrets were revealed and the past came back to haunt the present. This atmospheric mystery had clues sprinkled throughout but still had enough surprising twists that led to a shocking conclusion. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my copy.