⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5 Stars
Happy pub date to Rachel Hawkins and The Heiress! Thank you to @ladyhawkins, Macmillan Audio ( @macmillan.audio ) 🎧and NetGalley ( @netgalley ) for allowing me to read and listen to the book 📖 for an honest review!

This is by far my favorite book by Rachel Hawkins to date! 🤗 Bravo!👏 🎉

The setting was fantastic for so many reasons. The book is set in the mountains 🏔️ of western North Carolina. A serene and secluded setting. The secluded house and town really helped intensify the creepy aspects portrayed throughout. Full disclosure, I may be partial to the setting because I am originally from North Carolina and I lived in a mountain town named Boone for a couple of years.

Characters in the book find themselves craving the balance between power, wealth and entitlement with true love, family, independence, and loyalty.

The definition of family is explored throughout including but not limited to: birth family, adopted family, found family, and forced family. Lack of trust and deceit run rampant between all connections and family units. The power of persuasion and influence by the defined matriarch (Ruby McTavish) is present in different degrees.

There are so many twists and turns in the book starting with Ruby’s kidnapping as a child and ending with her heir as supreme matriarch of her family (and most wealthy woman in North Carolina). The ending leaves the reader wondering if money can buy you (or your way out) of everything.

I devoured this book in ONE day! I was so invested in knowing more with each revelation. This was a great way to kick off the New (reading 📚) Year!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

"The Heiress" is another hit by Hawkins! Told in alternating perspectives, this book tells the story of the McTavish family, the richest family in North Carolina. Ruby McTavish disappeared as a small child and was recovered months later after her parents purportedly paid more money to recover her than had ever been spent on a ransom. But, later in life, she became notorious after a string of dead husbands. (Not quite Evelyn Hugo vibes, but not very far off). Ruby later decides to adopt a little boy named Camden who, much to the rest of Ruby's family's dismay, later inherits all of the McTavish fortune and the family estate, Ashby House. The other McTavish's treated Camden terribly his whole childhood and he couldn't wait to get away from them and out from under Ruby's thumb.

Ten years later, Camden, who hasn't touched his inheritance, is married and far from the remaining McTavish's. But, he has to return to Ashby house and face the ghosts from his past.

There were so many wonderful twists throughout this book. Just when I thought I had something figured out, another twist! The characters were wonderfully crafted and this book was one I read well past my bedtime!

Not exactly a thriller (in the "who's going to die?" sense), but certainly a family drama with intrigue and a number of twists. At the simplest level, it's a portrait of toxic entitlement, and how the well-off can convince themselves that the rules of polite society (and the law) don't apply to them. But there's also plenty of "I'm hiding secrets..."from the various first person POVs. I enjoyed the historical drama flavor as Ruby tells her own story in letters to an unknown recipient, but I also enjoyed the modern-day interactions of Ruby's adopted son Camden and his wife with her blood relatives. I can't say that I was surprised by any of the reveals, but that's not a bad thing--I'd much rather twists that fit into the story than completely coincidental nonsense.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me a chance to read The Heiress in exchange for an honest review.

All I can say is wow! This is my third Rachel Hawkins book, and she never disappoints! This book has a little bit of everything, Dual POVs, newspaper clippings, old letters, family secrets, a mansion called Ashby house that feels like a character itself and so many surprising twists and turns throughout.

This book is about a very wealthy woman, Ruth McTavish Callahan, who dies and leaves her home and her entire fortune to her adopted son Cam. Cam lives in another state with his wife Jules and wants nothing to do with his family or the fortune. After hearing some news from home and after some convincing from his wife, he decides to go back to Ashby house where his aunt and two cousins still reside who want the house and the fortune for themselves. You hear from Cams point of view on why he left Ashby house to begin with, as well as Jules, his wife, who is very excited about the house and the money and would love to live in this world. The thing is, nothing is what it seems and everyone has secrets to hide. You learn from Ruby that she has many secrets herself that are revealed through letters throughout the book. Who really was Ruby and what were her intentions?? Why does Cam not want his family fortune and what does the family have in store for him? Also, Ruby was kidnapped as a child, how does that play into this? I couldn't put this book down once I started and throughly enjoyed evrry minute. Four stars from me!

Well this definitely wasn't what it was expecting when I opened the book. No I didn't reread the summary before I read it. Because ya girl likes to punish herself and go in blind. That is the most funw ay to enjoy a thriller or suspense novel IMO.

I annotated at least half of the book because things were getting so wild. I kept thinking yeah this is going to crop back up at some point and I'm going to need to know this. And it sure as hell came back. With a vengeance. I wasn't expecting half of what this book had to offer. But I sure as hell read through it like a mad woman. Because I ate up the DRAMA, HONEY. Family drama is always something that I seem to either love or hate. And I was seriously straddling that line throughout the whole book. But it kept getting more and more complicated. And I couldn't stop reading. I HAD TO KNOW.

Well, I know now. I know what happened. And I loved every torturous page. It game me the drama, the murder, the back stabbing. I was in a perpetual state of shock and awe. And I loved it. So. Much.

I’ve thought about Rachel Hawkins’ newest novel, The Heiress, for weeks after finishing it! This novel is filled with interesting characters, complicated family dynamics and a thrilling story. It was the perfect mix of suspense and drama without being horror-ish. Camden has spent his adult life trying to put his childhood behind him. Living in Colorado, teaching school and marrying Jules, he’s made a life that makes him happy. When his adopted grandmother, famous Ruby McTavish, dies. Camden is forced to return to North Carolina and face his cousins and his complicated past. Jules has no idea what is waiting for them when they arrive and how many secrets that Camden has been keeping from her over the years. I really enjoyed the back story of Ruby and the Ashby House. Jules and Camden are enjoyable characters and The Heiress was one of my favorite thriller’s I’ve read!

A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like author Rachel Hawkins has done it again! This was a very clever, twisty story that combined a gothic mystery, family drama, a small town and of course a mystery. The details in the world building were not confusing and easy for any reader to understand. I felt this read like what could be, a TV series script. Sometimes I wished it has a little more action to be classified as a thriller, but overall a very satisfactory read. A strong 4 of 5 stars for me!

I really loved this gothic mystery from Rachel Hawkins. I loved all of it: from the multiple POVs, multiple marriages and murders, Ruby's letters, Ashby House, the dysfunctional family, and all the twists and turns that left me guessing (and gasping) until the very last page. This one is probably my favorite from this author and I can't wait until her next one! A great way to start off 2024!

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins 🖼️

Official rating: 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Page turner rating: 5 stars 📄📄📄📄📄

Rachel Hawkins is back! I have loved most of her books, and this is definitely one not to miss! I thought this was going to be my first book of 2024, but after picking up to just get started early on, I read it all before the New Year. Highly recommend you are into thrillers. Don't worry about the synopsis, you will get attached right when you open the first page.

Read if you:
🪞Like an atmospheric suspense/thriller
🪞Think old mansions are always spooky
🪞Liked A Flicker in the Dark

Looking for a sinister, twisty, disastrous story about wealthy people and their ostentatious behavior? Look no further! Rachel Hawkins has managed to write a book that keeps the reader guessing and shaking our head throughout the entire wild ride. Is suspension of disbelief needed, well, yes and no... because although 🎶"money can't buy me love"🎶, it can apparently buy plenty of alibis!

Pick this one up if you're looking for a wildly dysfunctional family drama and get ready to dispense a healthy portion of eye rolls at the characters' entitlement, lol🙄😆! I would call this a gothic drama with an entwined murder mystery - certainly a genre I don't generally gravitate toward - but somehow, the absurdity of it all had me hooked, which speaks to Ms. Hawkins' skill.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this wild novel!

Holy cow, this one was a wild ride! I have read two books by Rachel Hawkins (Reckless Girls and The Wife Upstairs) and liked them both but her latest takes the cake!! I was hooked throughout— the plot, the characters, the atmosphere; everything was just right. It’s truly unique, unlike anything I’ve ever read before. Secrets, lies, family drama, rich people behaving badly, murder— what more could a suspense lover ask for?! It’s possible these morally gray characters are intended to be unlikeable but I actually really liked them, lol. I found them utterly fascinating!! Ruby’s letters were probably my favorite part of this story. That’ll make sense once you read it, which I highly recommend you do!!! It’s suspenseful but not scary, so don’t let that hold you back if that’s something you typical steer clear of. It reads more like a slow burn, twisty family drama than a thriller, in my opinion.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝:
* The Only One Left by Riley Sager
* Look Closer by David Ellis
* Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney
* The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are my own.

I decided to pick this one up yesterday to distract myself from all of the essays I need to grade for semesters, and my god. I absolutely devoured this book. I turned on the audiobook while I cleaned my classroom, I listened to it on my short drive home from work, and then I continued to listen to it while I did dishes and made dinner. I did not stop listening to this book until I finished.

After a day to reflect on the book, however, I have developed some mixed feelings. I will keep this spoiler free but as always, I recommend going into thrillers blind unless there are certain tropes you know you dislike. I will say, do not go into this expecting an action-packed thriller. After reading previous books from Hawkins, I was expecting more stakes. However, The Heiress reads more like a psychological family drama.

The Characters
Jules and Cam, a couple married for ten years, have spent most of their years together living modestly in Colorado. Despite Cam's hidden wealth of millions, he shuns it due to a troubled past and strained relationship with his adoptive mother, Ruby. After her death, Cam left and never returned, but he's still tied to Ashby House. When his uncle dies, Cam is called back to handle the neglected estate. Initially reluctant, Cam agrees to a brief visit, while Jules secretly hopes for a permanent stay.

The book follows three different perspectives: Jules (the wife of Camden), Camden (the adopted son of Ruby), and Ruby (the rich--and dead--mother who was famous for being kidnapped as a child and for having four husbands in her lifetime). This is all I can really say without giving anything away.

The most unique part of this book was the reveal of the past through Ruby's "perspective," which was letters to an unknown person where she SPILLS SOME TEA. Reading the letters of Ruby's was probably my favorite part of this book! She was a complicated, but interesting character, and I found myself wishing she was alive so that I could have more.

The Plot
Part of the reason I requested this book, besides the author, was that the premise sounded great! A huge house in North Carolina, rich snobs, and family secrets...What's not to love!? The story was fast-paced, and while the suspense wasn't intense (like I said, this was not really action-packed), I still wanted to know what happened!

However, I have extremely mixed feelings about the story as a whole. When I was 85% through the book, I had loved every aspect of the story to that point. But by the time I finished, all I could think was, "What was the point?" It felt like everything that the book built up to didn't matter because of some actions that were revealed on the last page. It was, quite literally, the last thing the reader is left with.

Now, I think this might be a bit of an unpopular opinion for this book because I have seen people rave about this (including the ending). But sadly, it brought down the overall rating for me. I am looking forward to reading more thoughts on the book as more people read it.

Overall Thoughts
While the ending fell short for me, I am not upset that I decided to pick this one up. Everything leading up to the end was fantastic, and Rachel Hawkins always has been a strong writer.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves reading family dramas and unlikable characters. It is definitely the most important and most entertaining aspect of the book.

Final rating: 3.5/5

This was so entertaining! Absolute page-turner with a great twist! It hooked me from page one and held my interest until the very end. 5 stars! I found Ruby to be one of the most interesting characters I’ve met in a long time. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for proving me with a free copy.

Wanna know how to sell me on reading a book? Tell me the characters are horrible and family drama runs amok.

In “The Heiress” we have alternating POVs — Cam, Jules and the words of Rudy’s via her letters. Which at about 65% I figured out who she was writing to and y’all, it’s a game changer for the plot.

When Cam is called home to Ashby House to handle McTavish family business, he is bombarded with much of the same drama, death and dishonesty of his childhood — the very things he ran away from years ago. What unfolds is a truth no McTavish ever sees coming.

Simply put, I’m a fan of Hawkins. Her novels are packed full of shady characters with little to no moral compass and they always take me by surprise.

Okay first let me add a thriller this was not!!! It gave lots of suspense and was a good mystery but I didn’t get thriller from this. Maybe I don’t know what a thriller really is LOL but this wasn’t it in my opinion. To truly be a thriller in my eyes it should have me on the edge of my seat rapidly turning pages craving more.

Now I did enjoy the book it had a nice twist and loved how the letters were incorporated to reveal some of the family secrets. But I really wanted a little bit more from this; something to really wow me. All we get is a dysfunctional family full of drama, a woman who has a long list of secrets, an adopted son who could careless about the family or the money he inherited, and a wife who’s intentions weren’t as pure as they seemed. One thing I can say is not one character had an issue with killing anybody. There was really a “you get in my way I’ll kill you” type thing going.

Ruby was definitely something else the title should’ve been How the Heiress Got Away With Murder. Killing the first husband I definitely understood but the reasoning for the others not so much. The twist involving Jules was definitely clever but did create a little confusion in the last chapters.

Overall, the book was pretty good a few hit and misses here and there but well-written enough to keep you interested. If it weren’t for the letters Ruby wrote I probably would’ve lost interest before I hit the halfway mark. It was fast-paced, the character development was meh didn’t really connect with any of them, but the drama and secrets kept me going. Special thanks to the author & @stmartinspress for my gifted copy!!!

I really enjoyed this book. The subplots were relevant and well integrated into the main story, the writing was smooth and natural, and the plot moved along at a pretty steady pace. While there are a few well-worn tropes, they were well executed, with plenty of twists to keep them feeling fresh and interesting. Ruby was such an intriguing character considering she spent the entire book dead, and the dynamics in her relationship with Cam are mind boggling. The masterful execution of her plans and manipulations made the final reveal so unbelievably good.

Important things you need to know about the book:

Pace: The pace of The Heiress is fast.

POV: The Heiress is told from two POVs. It is told from 1st person POV through Jules and Camden’s chapters and 2nd person POV through Ruby’s letters to an unknown person. There are also snippets told from newspaper/magazine articles.

Trigger/Content Warning: The Heiress has trigger and content warnings. If any of these triggers you, I suggest not reading the book. They are:

Murder
Domestic Abuse
Death
Suicide
Kidnapping
Death of a parent
Classism
Alcoholism
Gun Violence
Physical Abuse
Toxic Relationship
Violence
Injury/Injury Detail
Bullying
Grief
Pregnancy
Child Abuse
Blood
Grief
Fire/Fire Injury
Gaslighting
Abandonment
Alcohol
Adoption
Anxiety & Anxiety Attacks
Boating Accident
Electrocution
Poisoning
Sexual Content: There is mild and implied sexual content in The Heiress.

Language: There is moderate swearing in The Heiress. There is also language that could be triggering to some people and considered offensive.

Setting: The Heiress is set in Tavistock, North Carolina. Some chapters are also in Denver, Colorado, Paris, and South Carolina.

Age Range: I recommend The Heiress to anyone over 21.

Plot Synopsis (as spoiler-free as I can get):

When his adoptive mother died, Camden McTavish became her sole heir, which angered his great-aunt, uncle, and cousins. But, to their surprise, he refused to do anything with the money, the house, or the town where he grew up. That all changes when he finds out that his uncle has died, and his cousin emails him and asks him to come home. With the support of his wife, Jules, Cam goes home. There, he is reminded of exactly why he left ten years earlier.

Jules, Cam’s wife, has her own mysterious and messy past that she must deal with. She is also determined for him to claim the inheritance he rejected. As she gets to know his cousins and great-aunt and uncovers secrets they would rather keep buried, Jules becomes even more determined for Cam to claim the inheritance. But Jules’s secrets and her past threaten her plan and her marriage.

On the other hand, Ruby remains the mysterious woman she was while alive. But her secrets threaten to be exposed by her nephew, great-nephew, and great-niece. What are these secrets, and how do they connect to Cam and Jules? Will Cam keep Ruby’s deepest secret? Will Jules’s past and secrets destroy her marriage? Will Ruby’s relatives get her inheritance?

Main Characters:

The main characters of The Heiress are Ruby, Cam, and Jules. These characters were either battling echoes of their pasts, were deeply flawed, or had secrets they could and would not let come out. They were each well-written and well-fleshed out.

My favorite character in the book was Ruby. The letters she wrote, explaining the situation around her kidnapping, the deaths of her four husbands, and her relationships with her family and Cam, were tabloid-worthy. She was smart, proved by how she made money and other things I can’t mention because of spoilers.

The secondary characters did flush out an already great storyline. I couldn’t stand them, but I could understand where they were coming from. Except for the hatred of Cam. That baffled me because he was the only true innocent (well, up until Ruby’s death) in this book.

My review:

I can’t even express how excited I was to read this book. Rachel Hawkins has been on my radar since I reviewed The Villa. So, when I saw The Heiress start showing up on blogs, I knew I wanted to read it. And when St. Martin’s Press sent me the widget, I was over the freaking moon. Now that I have read The Heiress, Rachel Hawkins has become one of my favorite authors.

There are two storylines in The Heiress. One takes place in the present day and features Cam, Jules, Cam’s family, and why Cam came back. The other storyline is letters Ruby wrote that explain everything from her kidnapping to events right before her death. Those two storylines were intertwined but kept separate (if that makes sense). They came together at the end of the book in a way that I didn’t see coming. It was a huge twist that surprised the heck out of me.

The mystery angle of the book was interesting. The author was upfront with everything that had happened (with Ruby) and what was going on (with Cam, Jules, and the family). It was unconventional, but I liked it. I saw everything with Ruby unfold as Cam dealt with the house and his treacherous relatives. A couple of twists in both storylines took me by surprise. One involved who the letters were to (and no, it is not who you think it is), and the other involved the events at the end of the book and what Cam and Jules did afterward.

I do want to mention Jules’s mystery. The author was sneaky about slipping Jules’s past and secrets into the storyline. I was surprised (but nothing like what I said in the above paragraph). But it did explain why Jules was so gung-ho about restoring the house and staying in North Carolina.

The end of The Heiress was jaw-dropping. The author revealed things that I did not see coming. Events also happened that I did not see coming. It was chaotic, and you know what, it suited the book perfectly. Of course, there was the colossal bombshell dropped about Ruby. I liked how the book ended when the dust settled from everything. The author wrapped everything up nicely.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Rachel Hawkins for allowing me to read and review this ARC of The Heiress. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

Thank you NetGalley, Rachel Hawkins, and St. Martin's Press for this ARC of The Heiress for an honest review!!
Description:
Ruby McTavish is the Heiress of the McTavish fortune including the famous Ashby House, but her life hasn't always been easy. She was the victim of a kidnapping when she was a young child and her 4 husbands all died under mysterious circumstances. The Heiress follows Ruby's adopted son, Camden, and his wife, Jules, after Ruby's death. Cam doesn't want anything to do with the McTavish family or the Ashby house, but when his uncle dies, he is forced to reconnect with his family and revisit the Ashby house for the first time in 10 years. But when you reconnect with family and a lot of money is involved, a secret or two or ten end up coming to light.
Review:
I really loved this family drama thriller! The Heiress has 3 different POVs: Camden, Jules, and Ruby (letters). It also featured news articles that I really enjoyed! My favorite POV was definitely Ruby's letters that tell her story through her marriages and her life. I loved how they were written and how you got such a great sense of her personality. I also really loved that there were characters you loved and ones you hated! Overall, this book was really well written and captured my attention right from the start. I kept wanting to pick up this book to find out what new crazy family secret was going to be revealed next. I will say that I did predict all of the twists/secrets. I was hoping for a big one that would catch me off guard, but I didn't get that (I'm sure they will surprise a lot of people though). However, I really loved this book and highly recommend it!! 4.75 stars rounded up to 5.

I adore Rachel Hawkins, and "The Heiress" is another fantastic contribution to her catalogue. Told from 3 different perspectives, the pieces of this story begin a mystery and slowly put themselves together over the course of the book. With her trademark savvy storytelling and unpredictable surprises, Hawkins weaves yet another smart and exciting story.

When Ruby McTavish died she was the richest woman in North Carolina and her estate passed to her adopted son, Camden, but he wants little to do with Ashby House, the family home, or the money. Ten years later Cam and his wife Jules return to Ashby House in the wake of his uncle's death.

The story is told from the points of view of the main characters including letters written by Ruby to an unknown someone before her death. It flips back and forth between past and present and also includes some newspaper clippings from past events surrounding the family. The characters are well developed and there are some amazing twists and revelations in the story and I was totally engrossed in it. This is the third book by Rachel Hawkins that I've read and I think it's safe to say it's my favourite so far.

TW: The f-bomb is dropped quite a bit although not as often as in one of the author's previous books. Personally I didn't find it offensive and in some cases the use of it was quite amusing.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication: January 9, 2024