Rachel Hawkins is an auto-buy author from me and I was very excited to be approved for this ARC. Thank you Netgalley.

While the premise was interesting and I was invested in the storyline, it was a bit predictable. I was not taken by surprise with any of the twists that happened.

Thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book which will be published on January 9, 2023.

This book is very fast paced. I read most of it in one sitting. I enjoyed the Southern setting and the different narrators. I definitely recommend it!

This book was a little slow at the beginning but it picked up at the 1/2 way part. This story was about a family saga. It was very interesting story.

It was a great read and it involves family. So if you want to find out more you will have to find out by yourself.

Thank you net gallery for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review. I have read and enjoyed Rachel Hawkins's books in the past, but The Heiress might be my new favorite. While this was a slow-burn mystery (which I usually do not enjoy), I felt like there was a thrill that kept me reading the entire time.

The book follows Ruby McTavish, who was kidnapped as a child and later in life grew into the richest woman in North Carolina. She has recently died and left the estate to Cam, her adopted son. Cam reluctantly flies back to the McTavish property with his wife Jules to claim his inheritance. There they are met with family turmoil and internal secrets galore.

I enjoyed all the characters in the book and the twist caught me by surprise. I found myself reading faster to get to Ruby's point of view. While Jules and Cam's narrative wasn't boring, Ruby's felt most compelling and where most of the key information came from. I would highly recommend this book to any mystery lover.

WOW! What a way to kick off the new year. The Heiress was so so good it got me right out of my reading rut. The twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat and the suspense had me FLYING through this book.

While reading The Heiress, I kept texting my bookish besties telling them that this reminded me of a more sinister version of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Ruby McTavish, the matriarch of the family reminded me so much of Evelyn Hugo.

The story is told in multiple POVs (Camden & Jules) and different formats (News articles & letters from the past). This format added so much mystery and suspense to the story. Each character added to the story and honestly you just don’t know how the heck to believe. I don’t know how to review this book without dropping spoilers because it truly was such a complex story that it deserves a complex review so I’m just going to keep adding to the mystery myself lol.

Read if you like:
Rich Family Drama
Morally Grey Characters
Short Chapters
Secrets, Secrets & More Secrets
Husband & Wife POV.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s press for the eARC!
3.5/5⭐️

This author has been kind of hit or miss for me so I wasn’t sure what to expect going in. Not my favorite of hers but I definitely enjoyed it! I loved the letters from Ruby (very Evelyn Hugo). The setting was amazing (think creepy old gothic mansion) & the many different plot points were super intriguing. The most interesting parts to me weren’t really the sections about her husbands but about her childhood. The characters & letters were intriguing enough that I finished the book in 3 sittings so I consider that a plus! It was a very slow start for me & took a little bit for the action to really get started, and even then, I don’t consider this a true thriller. There weren’t any crazy plot twists or surprises, but lots of mysteries & suspense. This book falls in the middle of the pack of the books I’ve read by this author. If you enjoy family drama & slow burn mysteries then I think you would really enjoy this one!

This book was my first read by Rachel Hawkins, but it definitely won’t be my last (I actually already own all her other books but haven’t gotten around to them yet 🙈)! This book is full of people who are full of secrets, and I was so interested to know what was going on! There were several plot twists I did not see coming, and I loved the open ending. I still have several questions I want answers to, which I always like in a thriller, as it leaves room for me to figure out how I want it to end. Definitely a fun, suspenseful read!

What an incredibly addictive and darkly twisted gothic mystery thriller. It kept me completely engrossed and flipping the pages until the very end!!

When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, her adopted son, Camden, inherits her family mansion and nine-figure fortune. Surprisingly, he wants nothing to do with the house or the money and flees to start his life over in Colorado. Ten years later, he receives an email from his cousin stating his uncle has passed away and that he should come home to Ashby house.

Camden McTavish seems like just a normal guy who works as an English teacher and is happily married to his wife Jules. Cam knows if he were to go back to North Carolina, that dark hidden secrets are going to quickly come to light. The last thing that Cam want to do is what he and Jules do next. Pack their bags and head to North Carolina. Now the ride begins!!!

The Heiress was a fast paced and entertaining read, and, in my opinion, I think this is my favorite book from this Rachel Hawkins. This family drama is full of morally grey (My favorite color) characters who are full of secrets and backstabbing behaviors. The ending is filled with multiple plot twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. I enjoyed this one and would recommend it.

The best Rachel Hawkins book to date in my opinion. Such a good twisty story with well-rounded characters and an interesting underlying mystery. Will hold your attention to the very end.

This was such a fun ride with a ruthless bunch of people! It was a bit reminiscent of "The Seven Hubands of Evelyn Hugo" meets "Knives Out". Ruby and Jules, by far, are my favorite characters! Sassy and take-no-bull from anyone. If you like rich family drama, lots of dirty little secrets, and murder, this book is definitely for you! I definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes rich people gone bad. It will have you guessing until the end!

Absolutely loved this quick thriller! I did predict a few of the twists early in, but this kept me on my toes.

I tore through this book. Definitely couldn’t put it down. Rachel Hawkins has always been in my to read list and after this will continue to be

I love Rachel Hawkins and The Heiress didn’t disappoint! This gothic thriller was full of twists and turns and all the fun family drama that I love! Seriously could put it down!

I really enjoyed The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins. It was a fantastic twisty read that really surprised me. The characters were unique and not cookie cutter, which I find a lot in mysteries like this book. It was refreshing and I highly recommend it.

"Bloom where you're planted, people like to say, but they ignore the fact that planted is sometimes just a nice way of saying stuck, and I'd definitely fallen into that category."

While I own several Rachel Hawkins books, this was my first time actually reading her work, and I was not disappointed. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid meets Riley Sager's The Only One Left meets a sinister Little Orphan Annie in this brilliant new thriller. Told in two present perspectives––married couple Jules and Camden––as well as snippets of the past through letters, newspaper articles, and magazine features, Hawkins manages to supply the reader with multiple unreliable narrators, creating a story where every perspective is suspicious, yet each narrator likable and rooted for.

Synopsis:
Ruby McTavish was infamous. In her life she had been kidnapped, widowed four times, and died the richest woman in North Carolina. The eldest daughter of lumber tycoon Mason McTavish, Ruby inherited everything when he passed––including the gorgeous and secluded Ashby House, an estate hidden high in the Blue Ridge Mountains. And in her death, the entirety of her legacy, fortune, and estate were passed to her adopted son, Camden, completely bypassing Ruby's sister Nelle and her nieces and nephews.

Despite this fortune, Camden wants nothing to do with the McTavish name. Raised in a house where everyone but Ruby judged his presence and wished him gone, Camden escaped North Carolina as soon as he could, moving to California after Ruby's death. There he met his wife Jules, and the pair moved to Colorado, setting up a simple but pleasant life, never relying on the McTavish money or visiting the estate Cam grew up in. That is until his cousin Ben emails him begging Cam to come back and approve renovations and expenses for the house, an offer Jules desperately wants to accept.

As the pair settle into life back at Ashby House, long-held secrets from the past begin to emerge. We learn about Ruby's four husbands and her life pre-Camden in letters she wrote before she died, as well as newspaper and magazine articles from her life in the 50s and forward. We also learn about the way the McTavish's rule the town of Tavistock, controlling every element of the town's livelihood. But perhaps most sinister of all is the McTavish's left behind; Nelle, Ben, and Liz have relied on Ruby and now Camden their entire lives for housing and money, and with Cam back under the Ashby House roof, they may have their chance to take it all back.

Thoughts (Spoilers!):
I had a very fun time reading this book. I love when authors include storytelling elements outside the narrator's perspective, and Hawkins did a brilliant job of that with her letters and articles. Having those additional points of view made everyone in the house an unreliable narrator, as each perspective contradicted the other or caught the other in a lie, making it the reader's job to suss out who to trust. I also really enjoyed that how Hawkins made each narrator likable, even though you could tell they weren't telling the full truth. Even Ruby, a rich, old, white lady with a penchant for violence was charming in her own right, with quippy remarks and dry humor.

There were some parts of the plot that were predictable for veteran thriller readers like myself, but Hawkins still caught me by surprise with a few twists and turns that I thoroughly enjoyed. I love reading female mystery/thriller authors, as the genre is stereotypically dominated by men, and I can't wait to continue to read Hawkins' other books! She is definitely a new favorite, and I'm so excited to have a new mystery to recommend on January 9.

Rachel Hawkins is back with another incredible family drama. The Heiress has incredible pacing and just enough suspense to have you not wanting to put this down. If you're looking for Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo with more murder and thriller vibes, this is one to add to your list.

Ruby McTavish is the heiress to the McTavish family fortune. Her family has ruled the town of Tavistock, North Carolina, and she has a pretty dramatic life to show alongside her fortune: the survivor of a childhood kidnapping, a widow to four husbands who suffered tragic deaths, and remaining family members who would love to see her demise.

Her adopted son, Camden, has sworn off the McTavish family, moving across the country without looking back even when Ruby passes away. He is now the heir to the McTavish fortune and wants absolutely nothing to do with it, enjoying his easy life as an English teacher in Colorado. But when his cousin reaches out after the death of his uncle, and with some encouragement from his wife, he decides it's finally time to return and sort out the family estate once and for all.

This was one I simply could not put down. I haven't had a thriller like that in quite a while. I wouldn't even say I classify this as a thriller, but more of a suspense novel/contemporary fiction with some thriller elements. But regardless, I finished this in less than 24 hours because I was hooked in.

My one disappointment with this is I thought the way everything closed out was entirely too predictable. I didn't find myself really shocked by any of the "twists" because I had figured them out on my own. But this was so well written that even though I'd usually be bummed by this, I am giving it 4 stars regardless. Definitely worth picking this up on release!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Gothics are my reading jam and I am so happy that Rachel Hawkins obviously likes them too.

The Heiress is a combination between a Gothic and a family secrets story, which worked perfectly, Like The Only One Left by Riley Sager, The Heiress has a past/present element and a bunch of scheming characters in a rich family.

The Heiress will keep you guessing! I did figure out one aspect but it was a fun story, perfect for winter reading.


My full review of The Heiress will be published on Jen Ryland Reviews on January 9, 2024 and is linked below.

Cam McTavish and his wife, Jules return to his family homeplace in the mountains of North Carolina. Cam is the sole heir to Ashby Place and the fortune attached to it.; He hasn't been back home in ten years since the death of his adoptive mother, Ruby. Cam doesn't have many fond memories of growing up there as the rest of the family resents him and made it more than clear throughout his entire childhood.

Ruby survived four husbands and has a story all her own that is told in increments throughout the book. It's interspersed into the remaining storyline. This plot is clever and has twists in all the right places. This is probably my new favorite by this author. The setting is spectacular and she does a wonderful job and depicting a house on a mountain. Ms. Hawkins makes it beautiful but also deadly. It's all very ominous. And the character development is really well done on all counts. Each character is so fleshed out that you truly feel as if you can reach out and touch them.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The narration was excellent and made my reading and listening enjoyment even better. 5 stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC and Macmillan Audio for the early copy of the audiobook. I greatly enjoyed listening to the audio and being able to switch over and read the book as well.

An enormous estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a nine-figure inheritance, and a recently deceased heiress with an infamous past…

THE HEIRESS is a slow-burn filled with twists and secrets that continue to unfold. When I started reading this, I didn’t think I was going to like it. I want to be gripped right at the beginning of mystery/thrillers and that didn’t happen here. But the more I read, the more invested I became — making it difficult for me to stop.

I found myself looking forward to Ruby’s letters and the secrets she would reveal. I wasn’t sure who I could trust and the author kept me guessing for the majority of the book.

I have read all of Rachel Hawkins’ books and this is one of my favorites!

Rachel Hawkins does it again! I love her thrillers, and the Heiress might be one of my favorites. Reason #1: the pacing of the suspense and reveals was perfect. I got just enough information to keep intrigued without giving too much away too quickly. This book is a page turner, I could not put it down. Reason #2: I loved the characters, and they had a depth that can sometimes be lacking in such fast-paced thrillers. Reason #3: The twist! While I suspected, the way everything played out was so satisfying to me. Reason #4: The ending. Not much more can be said without spoiling it, but this is a must-read for those that love a good thriller/mystery. A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book for my honest review!