This is Rachel Hawkins best novel yet. Such a fast-paced thriller that kept me turning the pages. It also made a reference to Gilmore Girls so that automatically makes a great read. Ruby McTavish is the richest woman in North Carolina. When she died 10 years previously, she left her estate to her adopted son, Cam. Cam cut off the rest of his family though and wants nothing to do with Ashby House. He and his wife, Jules are living their own lives in Colorado. 10 years after Ruby dies, Cam returns to the estate to settle some deep, dark family matters. Nothing short of surprise, this was a great read.

Rachel Hawkins is an auto-read for me, I love her writing! This was faced paced and fun, and had some great twists. I appreciated the mystery of it all and it gets a yes from me!

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins is my first read of the year and what a way to get things started because, wow, this is one twisty, suspenseful, impossible to put down, wildly entertaining gothic tale of family secrets, greed, deception, and murder.

The story is told through several different means including newspaper articles, a journal by Ruby, a four time widow, who, although dead, is really the main character, Cam, her adopted son, and Cam’s wife, Jules. The story begins as Cam has received a call from his family in N Carolina informing him his uncle has died and his presence is requested. Cam had left N Carolina and, despite having inherited Ruby’s fortune and Ashby House, the family estate, had left years before and has no desire to return. However, Jules wants to see the house and meet his family so he reluctantly agrees.

It becomes very evident very fast that, to the family, all of whom still live in Ashby House and depend on Cam’s money, he is and will always be the outsider, the cuckoo in the nest, who has stolen what is rightfully theirs. Cam wants to give them everything and just leave but Jules is determined they stay and fight. The question is how far will the family go to win and, in the end, what are Cam and Jules willing to pay to stop them.

Okay, I gotta say I’m a huge fan of Hawkins’ books. You can always count on a riveting no-holds- barred tale and The Heiress is no exception. There is a sense of foreboding throughout and it becomes fairly clear that there are no innocents among the characters who all have secrets, some are revealed fairly early, some I guessed fairly easily, and some, well, I have to admit I did not see coming. A definite great start to the year and one that no doubt will be on my list of favourites throughout.

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

Twists and turns galore abound in the newest Hawkins' suspense novel. Set mostly in North Carolina, this book is quite evocative in the Ashby House descriptions. I enjoyed how the title could apply to more than one character and how the back story was told through letters to an unknown recipient. I did not guess all of the twists (just some) and think this is my favorite Hawkins' novel so far.

With a tagline like “THERE’S NOTHING AS GOOD AS THE RICH GONE BAD,” how could I not pick this one up?

Ten years after his adopted mother’s death, Camden and his wife, Jules, head back to Ashby House, the family estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, to deal with his inheritance, but the welcome they receive is far from warm.

The family itself has quite the long history, and Camden’s mother Ruby was one of its more colorful characters. Between her disappearance as a young child to her being widowed four times, there’s plenty of speculation surrounding Ruby’s story, and the remaining family members waiting at the house seem driven by their avarice and animosity towards Cam.

How are they all connected? Are Cam and Jules safe at Ashby House? And what is the true story behind Ruby McTavish and her legacy?

If you enjoy morally grey characters, dual timelines, multiple points-of-view, and mixed media in your mysteries and thrillers, this book is for you. I liked guessing what would happen next and trying to predict the twists as I learned more about the past from Ruby’s letters and the various newspaper and magazine articles and as the characters in the present revealed more about their own stories and motivations.

Rachel Hawkins excels at capturing the sense of entitlement and less-than-flattering underbelly of her wealthy characters, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her portrayal of a family ingrained in old Southern wealth here. I also enjoyed experiencing the different decades through Ruby’s descriptions of her marriages.

I received an advance copy of the ebook from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

The Heiress was a book I wasn’t too sure about. The premise sounded interesting but I’ve been fooled before. But I was pleasantly surprised! The story is told by 3 main POVs. Camden, his adopted mother Ruby, and his wife Jules. I loved the chapters Cam and Ruby narrated. I could’ve done without Jules because her chapters always seemed boring to me. But Ruby’s?! Baby she knew how to write a letter! 4⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Friends, this one is so good! It’s short and fact paced, I binged it in a day and a half. There are strong Evelyn Hugo vibes. I love a good rich people behaving badly storyline and add in some family drama and I’m here for it. Lots of twists in this thriller/mystery and they’ll keep you guessing until the end. This is by far my favorite from this author and it’s available tomorrow!

This is my favorite book I’ve read from Rachel Hawkins. The mystery, suspense, twists and turns were just what I need In a mystery novel!

Family drama most time ensues when there’s a death in the family and money is involved. Ruby McTavish’s adopted son Camden, could not care less about all that. His wife, on the other hand, is enthralled by the idea as they travel back to his childhood home. The glitz and glam, big house and money is not all they find. The same family that dislike him remain the same… However, the secrets of his adoptive mother and what really happened to her years ago start to unfold and we are taken on a ride with this one.

The way we find out pieces of the puzzle with Ruby’s letters was genius. It felt as though I were the one really finding the pieces as I read and putting together past occurrences. We are given small breadcrumbs along the way that make you want to continue reading to find out the past and truths! Loved it and highly recommend picking it up! Especially if you’re into the family drama that can happen with the wealthy heirs and the bitter family!

The Heiress has gotten a lot of pre-publication press and it’s worth the hype! It was the PERFECT way to start out the year! If you liked The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo I’d definitely suggest this book. It’s written in a similar format but with way more drama, suspense, and unexpected twists. At no point did I see this ending coming and absolutely loved it.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a unique blend of suspense and mystery about a husband and wife who each have a boatload of secrets about their pasts. Just when I thought I’d figured out the ‘real’ story I discovered I was completely wrong and totally missed the point. It was dark and twisty and hard to figure out who was the character to trust. The end is even more unsettling. This sounds as though I didn’t like the book, but I loved it. I was on a looong plane ride and the entire book so engrossed me we landed after 6 hours and I hadn’t even realized the trip was over. A great who done it!

I'm a big fan of Rachel Hawkins' work and was thrilled when I saw the cover reveal for this gem.

From the publisher: 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. In the aftermath of her death, that estate—along with a nine-figure fortune and the complicated legacy of being a McTavish—pass to her adopted son, Camden.

But to everyone’s surprise, Cam 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, Camden is a McTavish in name only, but a summons in the wake of his uncle’s death brings him and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but coming home reminds Cam why he was so quick to leave in the first place.

Jules, however, has other ideas, and the more she learns about Cam’s estranged family—and the twisted secrets they keep—the more determined she is for her husband to claim everything Ruby once intended for him to have.

But Ruby’s plans were always more complicated than they appeared. 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 loved this book. Hawkins' storytelling abilities really shine here, and this might be her best work yet. The pacing is spot on and I enjoyed the twisty unraveling secrets.

Big thanks to St. Martin's and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

I devoured this. It felt very Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo with some mystery mixed in. I liked that the bulk of the story was told through letters and newspaper clippings with some character inner thoughts chapters in between.

A compulsively readable mystery that kept me guessing from page 1. Admittedly, the conclusion comes quickly and things are resolved a bit too cleanly, but the journey was a great deal of fun.

The Heiress
Pair this with some dom rose 🍾 iykyk
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Happy Pub Day and a huge thank you to @stmartinspress
#StMartinsPress and @ladyhawkins and @netgalley
#theheiress #RachelHawkins (COMES OUT TUESDAY 1/9!)
This was absolutely un-putdownable family drama thriller, I loveeeeed every second!
➡️ multiple POV
➡️ SO. Many. Twists.
➡️ DRAMA. With a capital D.
➡️ Wealthy North Carolina estate

After having read every other thing written by Rachel Hawkins, she’s officially an auto-buy author for me 🥰👏🏼 this was a little less “thriller”-y than some of there other books but I was HERE for the story, and there are zero complaints from me.
Cannot wait for more from her, her style is 10/10. Highly recommended this one!

5 Stars

Rachel does it again; she takes a general idea from a classic (this time it’s Great Expectations) and makes it so unique and twisted and fast paced, brand new for a modern audience.

As this story of generational wealth and twisted family trees and greed and tragedy unfold through past timelines and letters mixed with present day reconnections, we are taken on a wild ride of who the heiress really is and if she was never even the main character we thought she might be.

I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll just say I absolutely loved this audiobook and listened to it in one sitting. Its full cast made it refreshing and I swear the writing almost felt like a diabolical podcast playing out in my ears.

In Rachel Hawkins' captivating novel, The Heiress, readers are taken on a thrilling journey into the heart of a family mystery that's as dark as it is enthralling. Set against the backdrop of North Carolina's scenic Blue Ridge Mountains, the story unfolds in the hauntingly elegant Ashby House, where the past's grip is as tangible as the mist that rolls over the hills.

At the center of this twisted tale is Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore, a character who posthumously dominates every page with her enigmatic legacy. A kidnapping victim, a widow four times over, and the matriarch of the McTavish dynasty, Ruby's life and death cast long shadows over the lives of those she left behind, particularly her adopted son, Camden, and his wife, Jules.

Camden's rejection of his inheritance and subsequent return to Ashby House a decade later sets the stage for a story rich in family secrets, unexplained deaths, and rumors that refuse to die. Hawkins expertly weaves a narrative that feels like a dark version of The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo yet stands firmly on its own with its unique blend of suspense and Southern Gothic charm.

The brilliance of The Heiress lies in its ability to keep readers guessing. The mysteries surrounding Ruby and the eerie Ashby House keep the pages turning. Hawkins masterfully crafts a story where the house itself feels like a character, haunted not by ghosts but by the memories and secrets of its inhabitants.

The Heiress is a perfect choice for those who love a family saga with a twist. Its exploration of how the past can shape and sometimes warp the present is compelling and thought-provoking. The characters, especially Camden and Jules, are well-developed, with their struggles and motivations adding depth to the mystery at the story's heart.

In summary, Rachel Hawkins' The Heiress is a gripping tale that combines the intrigue of a family drama with the suspense of a mystery novel. Its setting is as atmospheric as its plot is captivating, making it a must-read for fans of dark, suspenseful narratives. The legacy of Ruby McTavish and the haunting allure of Ashby House will linger with readers long after the last page is turned.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an e-Arc of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins for my review.

3.5-4 Stars!
Thank you for the ARC Copy of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins. I thought this story was pretty good and very fast paced. I liked the alternate ways of writing with this one which was with different timelines as well aswith the different characters Camden, Jules and Ruby. and the use of Ruby's letters and what it was like for her growing up. Also the setting with the Ashby House made this story great and had that creepy spooky vibe feeling.
If you are looking for a good thriller with some mystery thrown in then this would be a great way to start the year of right this one!

This book is all about secrets, lies, and how far a family will go to keep their wealth and notoriety. The multi POV & dual timeline kept me on the edge of my seat and I loved how the letters and news articles were incorporated to support the storyline of the characters. I was completely enthralled by the life of Ruby, and the experience Camden and Jules have when returning to Ashby House.

I have been waiting for a book by Rachel Hawkins to hold my interest the way The Wife Upstairs did. While The Villa came close, it still fell short.

The Heiress has surpassed The Villa on my list of favorite Rachel Hawkins books. The only thing that kept this book from being five stars and being right up there with The Wife Upstairs is the fact that the characters occasionally slipped into second person narrative. I don't like when stories are written when characters appear to be speaking to the reader. I don't want to be apart of the story. The way a character talks to me throughout the story won't change the outcome of the story. I don't have a specific example from the story, but here is something that is similar to what's in this story:

"You've got to believe me..." A line like that could have simply been written in a different way, such as, "I didn't intend to..." or something along those lines. It could have been written in such a way the character could have explained his/her actions without trying to make their argument to the reader.

Overall, the mystery part of the story was great. There was a variety of characters that I loved and hated. I give this book four stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. You can get your copy of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins out tomorrow, January 9th, 2024.

Since Tuesday is a monster pub day, I am trying to get all of my reading crammed in and posts done. The Heiress is one of the books coming out and I loved it. It is a thriller about a couple who returns to the husband’s childhood home only to discover so many secrets and deceptions about his wealthy childhood. There are old letters and newspaper articles woven in to set the scene and add to the suspense. I loved the slow burn and the little red herrings thrown out. It was clever, addictive, atmospheric with the old southern estate, so twisted and just a fun read to start the year.