4.5 stars

What away to start off the new year! I could not get enough of this book! Every free minute I had was spent reading this book. It started out very intriguing, but it just kept getting better the more I read. The plot turns, the characters, and the writing. Ms. Hawkins knows how to reel in a reader with her writing. I cannot say enough good things about The Heiress, I highly recommend it!

***Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC copy in return for an honest review***

What an absolute page turner!!!!! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advanced copy of this beautifully written book in exchange for my honest review.
Rachel Hawkins hit the ball way out of the park with this one! In the crowded genres of thrillers and mystery, sometimes it feels that a books theme is repetitive or that you simply have read the storyline before but under a different title and by a different author.
This gripping gothic thriller felt so original and fresh - it was a pleasure to read. It went by super quick and I surely did not want to stop. The pacing was wonderful with little sprinkles of tidbits along the way that make you say "oh boy, this is gonna get good." I would be shocked if this isn't on the top 10 list for its GoodReads Category at the end of the year.
Set in the mountains of North Carolina is the stately home of the infamous McTavish family. The estate is not the only thing in disrepair but so is the whole dysfunctional family. The story is told from three perspectives and they all intertwine seamlessly. You have Camden, the adopted son of the heiress, the heiress herself and Camden's wife Jules. This family is as twisted as the story lines - how far would you go for family and money?

Thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for the ARC.

This was fine, I was never super into it but it kept me reading as it was an easy, fast read.

"Succession" in a small southern town. A haunted house story without the ghosts. Terrific characters, great twists, so much fun!

The Heiress was my last book of 2023 and it was a fun one to go out on. It was my fourth book by Rachel Hawkins and I have ended up giving each one 4 stars. Each one is so different from the others, but equally engaging and fun. I loved the sort-of gothic theme of this one, being set in a crumbling mansion in North Carolina. It was an unexpected setting for a gothic novel, but I loved it. The characters were a bit eccentric, but each one fit the narrative well-enough. The husband and wife leads were good protagonists that had me wondering when the shoe was going to drop and reveal something horrible. The aunt was too much, but the cousins were just enough. Of course, my favorite character was Ruby, the heiress, herself. What a colorful story that while maybe a stretch of belief was required, just made sense in the context of her story. So fun and I will continue to wait anxiously for Rachel Hawkins next book as I have every year since I read The Wife Upstairs!

I stayed up way too late to finish this book last night.
I loved the setting: a gothic estate in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. You know it’s gonna be toxic when money, a palatial estate, and bitter family members are involved, especially when the Heiress’s heir is adopted.
The story moves along really fast. It’s told through the POV of Jules and Camden with some mixed media thrown in of letters and newspaper articles; however, I did drop it down in stars because I thought there wasn’t a great separating in character voice.
It didn’t really feel like much of a mystery, it kind of tells you what’s going to happen along the way so you’re not really left to guess anything. There is a bit of a bigger reveal but I already kind of suspected something like that so I wasn’t really shocked when it was revealed.
Despite that, the book is still really entertaining and I love that it’s got a little teaser from The Villa in there too. If you loved Rachel Hawkins’ other books, you’re going to love this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the copy of this eARC.

One of my favorites of the year already! Rachel Hawkins, aka Erin Sterling, has done it again. This mystery deals with a lot of family drama (and I love some good gossip about wealthy, dysfunctional families), everyone has something to gain, and they all have something to lie about. There’s so many twists and this story is definitely a fun thriller.

The Heiress is a page-turner, and I found myself binge-reading to uncover the hidden truths and shocking revelations. I enjoyed Hawkins's writing style that incorporates a mix of past and present narratives, newspaper clippings, letters, and multiple points of view. This technique adds a layer of complexity to the storytelling, keeping me engaged and guessing at every turn. This was a great fast-paced mystery!

I haven't read a book by Rachel Hawkins that I haven't just absolutely loved. They have all been edge-of-my-seat thrillers that I have devoured. The Heiress is now up there as one of my favorite books by this author.

The Heiress is filled with secrets, deceit, backstabbing, and redemption for past behaviors. And then more secrets. Just when you think you know what's going on and who is doing what to whom, the story flips and things are not what and who they appeared to be.

Some of the things that some of these characters did were unbelievable. Not unbelievable like no one can do that but more like, how can someone be so twisted that they could do that, and think it's okay. Wow! But you know what, that is exactly what kept me so invested in this story. I couldn't wait to see how it, and they, all turned out.

Rachel Hawkins is already on my list of must-read authors. The Heiress makes me even more excited to see what she has planned next. I highly recommend it!

“𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭.”

The past three years, I have started my new year reading with Rachel Harkins’ latest book, and I continued the tradition again with, what I think, is her best book yet.

Dysfunctional family? Check. Gothic manor house? Check. Characters with shady pasts uncovering secrets? Check. Hawkins has crafted an addicting tale, filled with characters you love to hate (Ruby is both intriguing and unnerving, with each member of the McTavish family both abhorrent and charming) and Ashby House as a distinct crumbling mansion that reflects the generations of wealth in this family but also the problems that this can cause. I loved the narrative structure with both Jules' and Cam's confessional points of view, alongside articles and Ruby's letters. Not only was it a fun way to tell the story, but they really make Ashby House and its inhabitants come alive. I immediately liked Jules and Cam, both individually and as a couple and routed for them the whole way through. Hawkins' story reminded me a lot of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo with murder, and I loved how she, like Taylor Jenkins Reid, showed that this story takes place in the same world as at least one of her other books (Lara Larchmont's Aestas album from The Villa).

The Heiress is a story of power, revealing secrets, the complication of family, capability, and money. It is a fun atmospheric read that has me excited for Hawkins' 2025 release. Thank you to Minotaur Books for and NetGalley for the ARC!

This was my first by this author and it was a fun read. Is enjoyed the movement between past and present. I enjoyed getting to know the MC. But I really liked the perspective of the daughter in law most.

For fans of mystery, family drama and secrets. This book kept me intrigued from start to finish and overall I really enjoyed.

3.5 stars rounded to 4 on GR.

Thank you netgalley and St Martins for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book!

First off, the setting was fantastic, I love books set in the Blue Ridge Mountains and especially Asheville. I have family there and have been visiting there on a regular basis since childhood. It’s beautiful and I’ve read several great books set there in recent years.

This one had some twists and surprises and some awful characters and some murderous characters and it was just a fun ride. These types of books you just have to set aside your expectations of reality and just go with it. I love "rich people behaving badly" stories and this one had the crazy turned up for sure.

This book, although slow at first, turns out to be excellent, with a twist I never saw coming!

The McTavish’s, a wealthy family southern family, suffered an unspeakable tragedy when their young daughter went missing.
One year after, they found little Ruby again, kidnapped by a poor couple. Baby Ruby was home again!

Written as multiple letters from Ruby, we learn all the details of her life; her three marriages, her adopted son Cameron, and her ruthless family. Ruby is the sole heir to the entire estate.
Following Ruby’s death, her son Cameron, and his wife Jules are now the heirs.
Knowing that Cam was adopted, and not a true blood McTavish, the other family members are outraged,jealous and revengeful.
How far will they go to get hold of the inheritance?

From the halfway point of this book, I was hooked.
It was exciting , with a twist I never expected!!
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the ARC, in return for my honest review.
5 stars

Rachel Hawkins has solidified herself in my autobuy / autoread authors list. The Heiress is such a wild ride of unlikable characters you can’t help but keep flipping pages to see where their life goes. I loved the mix of the story being told from the points of view of Jules and Camden, combined with news stories and letters from Ruby to an unknown person.
This story has a mysterious vibe along with majorly unlikable characters and is absolutely bingeable. I devoured it as quickly as I could and will be recommending to lots of people to read.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ruby McTavish was from one of the wealthiest families in North Carolina and her life was filled with drama. Between getting kidnapped then returned at a young age, then having each of her four husbands suddenly die, there has always been a lot of mystery to her. After her death, her estate and wealth is all passed down to Cam, her adopted son. The other surviving McTavishes are livid he got all the money and Cam wants nothing to do with it or them. Ten years later, after his uncle’s death, Cam returns to Ashby House with his wife Jules. But as they are there so many family secrets come unraveled.

I think this was my favorite of all of Rachel Hawkins’ books by far. It was so twisty and filled with secrets, lies, and deceit. So many of the twists caught me off guard, and I devoured this book far too quickly because I needed to know what other secrets would come up and how this story would play out.

I LOVED the audiobook - with a different narrator for each POV, it was so easy to follow. Dan Bittner, Eliza Foss, John Pirhalla, Patti Murin all did an amazing job bringing the characters and the story to life.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the advance copies.

Rachel Hawkins pens another beautiful story filled with family secrets and sibling rivalry. The Heiress is similar to The Villa when it comes to complex relationships and hidden pasts. Set in the Blue Ridge mountains, everyone is enthralled with a wealthy family and the drama that surrounds them.

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press/Netgalley, #partner for the advanced e-copy of The Heiress in exchange for my honest review.

I have been a fan of Rachel Hawkins since discovering her first thriller, The Wife Upstairs, so of course I jumped at the chance to get my hands on an early copy of The Heiress…and what a fun escape it was. It’s another gothic tale that kept me completely engaged from start to finish.

I am a huge fan of books that delve into dysfunctional families and boy do we have that here! I loved the inclusion of Ruby’s letters – each one gave just a little more information but at the same time, left you wanting more. And every time I thought I had things figured out, a new twist would come our way and shake things up.

The alternating points of view help to keep this story moving and I loved that the house itself, Ashby House, is as much as character as everyone else. This one oozes with secrets and I loved that as we learn them, it provides motives for each character, though at the same time it also complicates the story.

This book is quite suspenseful as things are hinted at throughout which keeps you on your toes. I had my theories and while some of them did prove to be correct, I was in no way prepared for the ending…it was so clever and so fun! I always enjoy this author’s books and this one was no exception!

I ate this book UPPP. It was so good, I couldn’t put it down. It gave Knives Out vibes, but on a lesser scale. But the plot twists, especially towards the end… I kept finding myself saying “woah!” And just being absolutely mindblown. Also all the (dead) husbands from Ruby’s past… very Evelyn Hugo (if she murdered them all). The first one definitely deserved it, but one of them made me really sad. But it was all such a good book!! Just about every character was morally grey, even the “good ones”, but some were definitely more redeemable than others. I also loved the flow of the story. We bounce back between Ruby’s letters detailing the past and her confessions, and then also between Camden (her son and heir) and his wife, Jules. This showed that the characters are omniscient, but we as the reader are finding out the twist as they are unveiled.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the early copy!

Although I am not always a fan of thrillers, I requested this because the idea of a big old mansion and family drama strongly appeals to me! I’m happy to report it did not disappoint!

Jules and Cam lead an unassuming but happy life together. Cam the English teacher is the last person you would think to be the sole heir to the famous and mysterious Ruby McTavish (child kidnapping survivor) and all of her riches. He has distanced himself from his family, but an email from his estranged cousin about his uncle’s death forces Cam to expose his past to Jules, and so starts an eventful and dramatic trip to the Ashby House, home of dark secrets that are waiting to be revealed.

I think that this book will appeal to a large variety of readers because it dips into many genres- thriller, but with more of a suspenseful air. Family drama, with secrets and “wow” moments. Gothic vibes with a mysterious and often creepy atmosphere. There’s something here for everyone!

"𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙧?
-𝙍"

This was a really fun domestic thriller with a touch of mystery. It felt like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo with an old lady giving an account of her mysterious past, if Evelyn had a dysfunctional family made up of extremely unhinged people.

I won't give much about the plot because it's one of those that can be easily spoiled since it's so twisty. But the star of the show is Ruby McTavish, the richest and most infamous woman in North Carolina. She has passed away and her family is fighting over her fortune. We get a glimpse into her past via letters she's written, mostly detailing her four marriages. The rest of the story is through perspectives of her adopted son and his wife, who have moved back to Ashby House, Ruby's estate.

I loved the setting of beautiful gothic but creepy Ashby House secluded in the Appalachian Mountains. I really enjoyed the mixed media with epistolary sections, newspaper clippings, and news releases. The mysteries were intriguing and although it got a little silly toward the end with twist after twist, it still worked for me unlike others books that tend to induce eye rolling. Overall, I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys fast-paced twisty thrillers!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.