Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore is famous for a lot of reasons. She was born into the richest family in North Carolina. She was a child kidnapped at three years old and returned amidst media attention. She's survived four different husbands, all with the means to make her even richer. She is the sole owner of Ashby House, a huge estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains. And when she dies her adopted son, Camden, gets it all.

The novel takes off from there. As we learn more about this toxic family, their secrets and lies and dark sides are revealed. Hawkins' plots are always twisty, and the connections across characters are finely drawn. The second half of this book is what made it unputdownable for me...the threads of it all drawing tighter and tighter. There isn't one redeeming character which made the whole book such a crazy ride.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It’s always hit and miss for me with this authors books. Luckily for me this one was a hit. It’s very mysterious but with a fun vibe to it. It’s full of twist, secrets and murder. What else could you want?! Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this early copy.

Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore is not only the richest woman in North Carolina, but also one of the most infamous. She was kidnapped as a child, and widowed 4 times as an adult, and when she died, she left her fortune to her adopted son Camden. Camden denies the fortune, moves to Colorado, and lives a fairly normal life...until Camden's uncle dies, and Camden must return to his family home. Rachel Hawkins never disappoints me with her stories. Although Ruby had dark secrets, I grew to really like her in this intriguing story.

Thank you so much Netgalley & St Martin’s Press for my arc!! This one hits bookstores January 9th!! I highly recommend checking this one out!!
What a book!!! Wow!! So many twists and so much going on, I loved every minute of it! When I wasn’t reading, I was thinking about this one! Can and Jules were such WILD characters! This author does it again! Such a great book! This one is a tie with My Wife Upstairs by this author - might be my favorite yet!

The Heiress tells a very complicated story about a woman named Ruby McTavish who is from a family dynasty that has ruled a small mountain town in North Carolina for years. The family is pretty awful, to each other as well as to the people in town.

Ruby’s only child, Camden, returns to his family home, Ashby House, with his wife Jules after being summoned by his cousin Ben.

The unraveling of this story is told through multiple points of view, as well as through letters from Ruby to an unknown person.

To say that this novel has many twists is an understatement. It takes until the last several pages to find out the full story of what happened to this family. If you enjoy mysteries, The Heiress does not disappoint.

Thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Reading "The Heiress" started my 2024 off on the right foot. I could not put this book down.

There are three unreliable narrators in this book, and even though you know that each one has done something wrong, you just find them endearing, and you're waiting to find out how their story unravels.

This story is all connected to this whimsical estate, Ashby House, which was left in its entirety to Ruby McTavish. Ruby, to spite her family (and for other reasons), adopts a son that she can mold into her image and leave her fortune and family empire to. However, he is never accepted as a McTavish by Ruby's family, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. This family has some dark secrets.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending this eARC for review consideration.

Ostensibly a thriller but not all that thrilling, The Heiress sets itself up as a meandering mystery with sinister overtones. The story is told through a combination of present day narratives from both leads' (Jules's and Cam's) points of view as well as letters, newspaper articles, and even emails documenting the past and various adjacent details. The prose is smooth and easy to read but the format leaves something to be desired. While I enjoyed the main storyline, I found the secondary storyline (told from the titular heiress Ruby's POV via letter) to be significantly less interesting, and the articles and emails to be downright distracting. The plot was also somewhat unsatisfying as most of its "surprises" were pretty predictable, leaving me bored in a couple of places. Despite this, I still found myself enjoying the writing a fair amount and curious to see how the events would play out. Overall, it made for a good light, quick read, but it wouldn't be at the top of my recommendations list. 3.5 stars rounded up.

I am currently supporting the boycott against St. Martin’s Press until they respond to influencer’s concerns about safety, inequality, systemic issues at hand and also meet the demands of the boycott. I am looking forward to leaving an updated review for this book once the demands are met ❤️

I nearly forgot to review this! I was so caught up in this story that I didn't even take notes for a review. I kept thinking about it. It is an incredibly wild story. I mean suspense, mystery, wacky woman and just plainly wicked.
I received this book from St. Martins Press and NetGalley. This is my own opinion. This book grabbed my attention.
Cam is a sweetheart of a guy with a dedicated wife, Jules. His adoptive mother, Ruby, passed away years ago and the reader learns that she was quite the woman. Not in a good way. When Cam's uncle dies, Jules encourages him to "go home" after a command comes for him to come to Ashby House. Cam has been free of a twisted family for a good ten years and now, Ruby's plans set into motion once again. It's not a feel-good story by any means. It is dark and intense.

I read this book in November or December 2023.

Language, adult situations, murder

4.25

I really did not think that some mystery thriller-type book was gonna be the most fun I had at the beginning of the year. I also didn't think I was going to like Jules or her relationship with Camden (for reasons I won't go into for spoilers), but damnit! I just couldn't help it. This book was so genuinely enjoyable and interesting. I actually remember being 30% in and being confused as to how the entire plot was going to happen in 250 pages, and yet it did. And I think it did it well, actually.
Camden is really, really likable. The kind of character whose POV's sell a book for you. Ruby's letters were probably the most entertaining part of the whole thing and had so much personality to them. Jules is messy, but you can't help but be gagged when she drops a crazy one-liner at the end of a chapter. I seem to be following a trend this year of books that make me hate rich people. When we say eat the rich, we do NOT mean Camden and his wife!!! Bless them.

This is my first Rachel Hawkins book and I really enjoyed it! It had me engrossed from the start. For the first 60%, the mystery hadn’t really revealed itself. Once it had, it felt a little predictable but that didn’t bother me too much. I loved the different perspectives as well as the different mediums of communication (thoughts, letters, news articles, etc.). Ruby’s history had a very dark, transatlantic feel to it. This era is so fascinating to me with the mystery masked in glamour (felt fitting for this novel).

3.75 stars for profanity and an average ending. Profanity as it didn’t fit the narrative for Ruby. Average ending, as we breezed through Jules history. We don’t find out about the real Ruby and Cam is fine with Jules lying.

4.5 stars, I really liked this story; especially Ruby.

Would recommend if you love:
-multi POV
-atmospheric & creepy setting
-dysfunctional family
-lots of secrets and good twists

Ruby's letters were my favorite perspectove of this story. She seems like a lot of fun and someone you'd want to stay on her good side lol. The remaining POV are husband Cam and wife Jules, as well as media stories. I loved the use of mixed media to tell the story. All the McTavish family members are terrible in their own ways, I found some indistinguishable from the others in terms of what they added to the story though. I love when a story gives a good balance of breadcrumbs and good twists, this story did that really well. We certainly know there are questions and I certainly about lots of the characters but there were twists that surprised me.

Oh, I absolutely loved this book! The characters were so well written that I felt like I actually knew them.

After reading Reckless Girls this summer and loving it, I know I had to check out the Heiress! Camden and his wife, Jules, are returning to the family estate that he inherited ten years ago after his adoptive mother passed. His return sparks up old resentments, secrets and new truths as their visit unfolds. Who is the rightful heir and owner of Ashby House? The cat-and-mouse game of Camden and his family kept me guessing the entire book. I’d feel like I was picking up on subtleties only to have the author take it up a notch and blow me away!! The connections and plot twists were so fun to read. Good character development throughout the book made me feel like I was at Ashby House with the McTavish family. Thank you to Rachel Hawkins and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC! It was a pleasure!

Wow! I'm not usually a thriller person, but every now and then I get sucked into one. And this one didn't disappoint one bit.

Like watching a car accident, I couldn't look away. In the best way possible.

Like having all the puzzle pieces but the box with the picture is missing, and you're trying to make sense of all the pieces. I was drawn in by the engaging writing, and I couldn't put it down until the whole thing made sense.

I was certain I was going to dread the ending, but I was pleasantly surprised by how sympathy I was toward the characters. While some were unquestionably terrible, others had more complexity and despite the glaring flaws, I was hesitant to judge them too harshly.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this complimentary copy in advance.

I have read several titles by Rachel Hawkins, and they all had a dark, twisty vibe to then. The Heiress began differently, and it made me wonder if Hawkins was looking to start writing in a different direction. But oh, was I wrong! Midway through, the dark, twisty vibes presented themselves, although a bit differently, but they were there. I had to get through the book to find out how it was all going to tie together...

You will not be disappointed with Hawkins' latest thrilling mystery. This is a family saga full of lies, deceit, murder, and love in a convoluted way only they know how to display it. Presented in real time through two different characters, readers are regaled with juicy details through a series of letters from the title character. Only, you are not sure to whom she is writing to...

The language can be a bit coarse, just as a warning. That was the only negative I can say about this novel!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

Consistently reliable for a good read, Hawkins builds suspense with memorable characters. Characters flawed and easy to dislike. A ridiculously wealthy family estate in the mountains of North Carolina houses many secrets. I enjoyed the letters and articles in between chapters and reading about the wealthy young heiress and her adopted son. a page turner for sure!

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

A large inheritance, an estranged family, a mansion, and some questionable deaths.

This was a fun ride with a lot of mysterious characters. I enjoyed Jules and Cams POVs along with the letters throughout the book, it definitely added to the story and made things entertaining to read!

The twist at the end wasn’t very surprising but I still really enjoyed the story itself, and was 100% happy with the way all of the characters ended up at the end!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins. This story is about the rich and their entitlement to not be accountable for anything. Money can save you! There were quite a few twists and plenty of tension in this novel. The story is told through 3 different points of view. Parts of the book did tend to drag on a little but all in all it was quite good. I gave it a 4 star rating and I would recommend this book to others.

4.5 stars. I flew through this book. Some twists were predictable, but some were a surprise. This was a fun one!

Read if you like:
-Fast paced mystery
-Rich people behaving badly
-Atmospheric setting
-Multiple POV
-Tidy ending