Most people have not heard of the tiny town of Tavistock, North Carolina. But if you were from these parts you most certainly knew the McTavish family. When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore passes away, her long lost son Camden returns after a decade of living his life withdrawn from the family drama. Ruby was North Carolina’s richest woman. She was famous for being kidnapped as a small child and later for being widowed four separate times. Her adopted son Camden is sole heir to her estate leaving some family members very unhappy. The clan resides in Ashby House, Ruby’s family estate - one that does not hold many good memories for Camden. When he was finally old enough Camden moved as far as possible to the west coast. He got married young and lives a quiet existence as a teacher in Colorado. His pretty wife Jules encourages him to return when the family begs for his intervention in repairing the crumbling estate and ironing out details that hold the fortune in his hands. Jules is a little too eager to meet this conniving bunch and she quickly appears in control of the twisted secrets that come to light with each passing day. Narrated by Cam, Jules and letters written by Ruby, this suspenseful thriller is simply unputdownable.

This book... what a way to start my 2024 reads!

This book follows multiple POVs: Ruby's letters, Camden, & Jules. I was a little confused at first about who is who (naturally) but it did NOT take long to get it sorted. Once I figured it out, I was hooked in for the ride. I've seen this one called a thriller, but I personally would say it is more of just suspense.

This book is fast paced, but in the best kind of way. I remember listening to the audio and thinking I was only a little ways on, only to check and see I was actually 44%! It was that good.

One thing I really enjoyed about this one is the sass and quips in Hawkins' writing. "Hugh was the saltines and tomato soup of men" LOL.

Overall, this one was fast, entertaining, and full of family drama! The characters are morally grey but not the most unlikeable. There is secrets, backstabbing, and multiple plot twists.

Thank you to @netgalley and @Stmartinspress for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @macmillian.audio for a free download of the audiobook.

Rachel Hawkins wins again with another great suspense novel. This is a classic story of a rich family that has an entire estate left to only one family member, and the rest of the family isn’t happy. As expected, nothing is as it seems. Cam brings his wife Jules to the Ashby Estate to hash out the issues once and for all. But there’s death, there’s deceit, there’s twists and turns I never saw coming.

Grab a copy of the book or the audiobook. You won’t be disappointed! This is my favorite by @ladyhawkins

5 stars

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #stmartinspress #macmillianaudio #ltbreaderteam #theheiress #rachelhawkins #smpinfluencers

You need to read this book. The twists and turns it takes will consistently keep you guessing about who and who and what's going to happen to the will of an heiress. Hawkings channels some elements of Seven Husbands by leaving letters of previous lovers, while adding in some drama with different POVs throughout the book.
Everytime I put down this book, I couldn't wait to pick it back up again. It was very well paced, and although it wasn't the biggest "thriller" thriller per say, it will keep you thinking about it!

This may be one of the best Rachel Hawkins books I've read! I absolutely loved the black widow story of Ruby McTavish and the web of lies she and her family lived in. As the web of lies started to unravel through letters that Ruby had written before her death this book continued kept me guessing about Ruby's motivation and past until the very end.

If you liked the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo but was hoping it would be more twisty then this is the book for you!

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins is one of those dark, twisty thrillers that pulls you in within the first few pages and has you dying to know how it all ends. Camden McTavish, adopted son to the infamous Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore (that's the name you carry when all four of your husbands die under mysterious circumstances), became the sole heir to the McTavish fortune over a decade ago after Ruby's passing. But Cam, an English teacher in Colorado, doesn't want anything to do with the massive wealth, or with his remaining McTavish relatives. Upon the death of his uncle, Cam and wife Jules are summoned back to the grand Ashby house, the family's great estate, to reckon with twisted secrets, shocking revelations of violence, deception and malice, and a insatiable thirst for money, power and status. The writing of this story was well executed, and the characters were well developed-- I was thirsty for the ending (did not disappoint!) and devoured this story over only a couple of days.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a good book! This book had so much going but it was great. It kept my mind thinking about all the stuff. I love Rachel's work, I look forward to reading more from her in the future. It will keep you on your toes. What happened to all the husbands was what kept me going.

Though this is not a sequel in any way to The Villa, it was reading that book which made me so incredibly eager to pick up another work by Rachel Hawkins.

Within the pages of The Heiress, the reader is presented with multiple people and perspectives, though intriguing, did get a bit confusing at times. However, the story was riveting from start to finish. From the disappearance and reappearance of a young child, murder, mystery, marriages, and so much more. The web of intrigue Ms. Hawkins weaves keeps the reader on the edge of their seat and looking forward to the next revealed piece of information.

The McTavish family is rich and always gets their way. Ruby, the oldest daughter, is The Heiress and throughout these pages, we are presented letters to an anonymous recipient about all the tragedies and mysteries surrounding her life. Camden is Ruby’s only child. Though he is adopted, he is Ruby’s sole heir to the McTavish fortune, which he doesn’t want.

After Camden’s uncle passes away, he and his wife, Jules, are drawn out to the McTavish estate to settle some family drama and back into complicated questions about what really happened.

I definitely enjoyed this one. It was a story of old money and what you would do to keep that fortune in the family. Of being rich and what you would do if you could get away with it. I loved how this one was written considering you knew very early on what Ruby did and the story is really just the aftermath of that. I also loved the kidnapping aspect and the twisted family bonds throughout. I really liked both Cam and Jules. Their relationship was cute and you knew there were secrets being kept from each other. As those secrets unfolded, I couldn’t help but continually turning pages. I had an idea of one of the twists around 50% in, as for the other twists… I didn’t see most of those coming.

I loved this as a quick, bingeable first read of the year!

4 stars!

Lies, secrets, tension, and family drama: who can you trust? This is definitely a mystery and not so much a thriller!

What I enjoyed:
• multiple POVs
• entertaining and puzzle like
• unreliable narrators
• cozy gothic atmosphere

What could have been better?
• I think the first 1/3 of the book was quite slow and didn’t match the rest of the book. I wouldn’t characterize this as fast paced but it was entertaining enough to move through it.

I’d recommend!

Thank You to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for an early copy of The Heiress to give my honest feedback.

This was truly such a fantastic read. I'm not always a thriller reader, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. It had just the right amount of intrigue and deception, plus a great plot with good storylines and characters! I really enjoyed the multiple POV and the narrators for each character were really great! I was so engrossed in this story and I truly couldn't put it down. This was a really fun early read to kick off my 2024 reading year!

Rachel Hawkins has become an auto-pick author for me. I loved this southern gothic novel and its explorations of family and the secrets we all keep. I totally binged this book in a day - I felt that it was paced well and I just couldn't put it down! I love how each page revealed how complicated each character was, and left you empathetic towards each of them at the same time as well. I so hope we start to see Hawkins' novels translated to screen - this one felt like watching a movie unfold.

Also, loved the small nod to The Villa - always fun to see easter eggs from authors :)

Rachel Hawkins does it again! Another amazing twisty novel to devour!

Camden was adopted by the imfamous Ruby McTavish. Now with her death he must return home to repair Ashby House. But none of the remaining family members want anything to do with him. They just want the fortune and house she left to him. As the story unfolds, we realize every person has a secret or two or several....will they all come tumbling out or some remain hidden?

I devoured this book in one night. Hawkins leaves no stone unturned. She delivers this masterpiece by releasing a little bit at a time so your turning the pages so fast to get to the truth. Best thriller I have read in a while!!

As a big fan of The Wife Upstairs (top book of the year that year) and let down by Reckless Girls I was very unsure how this would go. I'd say the formula is back for sure. Once I started reading it, I had a hard time putting it down and found myself trying to figure out the relationships and the connections and the story whenever I wasn't reading it. While the layers were in some ways predictable (I've read a few thrillers in my day), I was never disappointed by them, and in fact was happy the story went the way it did. It never got into outlandish or goofy territory (the land of disbelief) which I so so so so personally appreciate. The multiple perspectives, and the multimedia throughout made this an absolute gem and an absolute banger to start my year on!

Wow, what a page turner… At the age of 3, Ruby McTavish disappears in the woods behind her family home, Ashby House, in North Carolina. From a wealthy, well known family, she is later found in another state and returned to her family. That’s just the beginning of the puzzle.

Fast forward,.. Ruby is a tabloid dream. After several questionable marriages, she is labeled Lady Kill-More. Is Ruby a cold blooded killer or just unlucky in love?
With no children resulting from those marriages, Ruby decides to adopt a son, Camden, an heir to the McTavish fortune. Add another piece to the puzzle.

As an adult, Camden makes the choice to leave Ashby House and all the wealth, clipping ties with the McTavish family. He is happily married, living in another state with his wife Jules. Camden receives word, he needs return to Ashby House to take care of business after his uncles death. With hesitation, he is persuaded by his wife to return to North Carolina. With the remaining McTavish family that remains at Ashby House, let the puzzle begin to take shape.

This book will take you through twist and turns that have you wondering, what was the motive in having Camden return to Ashby House? Who can you trust and who knows the truth?

With Ruby’s letters, written before her death, but whom is she writing these too? And the story told from Cam and Jules points of view, you will not want to put this book down.

A BIG thank you to Net Galley, St. Martin’s Press and the author for this ARC copy to read. It was thrilling, and hard to put down.

I always do wind up liking Rachel Hawkins’ thrillers. They’re such page turners and super dark and twisty. I do love all of the secrets in this book which I think made it such a quick read for me. I really like the tone she writes with it hooks me in.

Parts of the details around families involved were a lot to keep track of but I managed. And while I feel like none of the twists made my jaw absolutely drop it was still plenty engaging and twisty.

I also loved the themes of nature vs nurture - will definitely continue to read more of her thrillers.

Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore is an heiress, but is she a murderer? When she passes away as North Carolina’s richest woman, the truth about her four dead husbands go with her… or do they? Ruby has lived a charmed life in her family’s estate in the NC mountains, Ashby House, and after her death, she lives her fortune and home to her adopted son, Camden. Camden appears to want nothing to do with the money, the house, or the remaining McTavishes, but why? Camden is pulled back to Ashby House after a request from his cousin, Ben, to help settle things with the property. Camden’s wife, Jules, is incredibly excited to see the stunning mansion where Camden grew up, but also seems to have an ulterior motive for bringing Camden back to his childhood home.

This book is hard to put down and I loved the alternating narration between Camden, Jules and letters written by Ruby. I will say I thought I figured the whole thing out at around 80% through, but I’ll give the author, Rachel Hawkins, credit for providing a twist up until the last chapter. The Heiress will grab your attention and will pull you further and further in with each chapter. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC.

The Heiress is the third book I've read by Rachel Hawkins, and I really just think I'm not her ideal reader. I haven't liked any of her books. The characters are aggravating, annoying, and the voices juvenile. I think this one might be the worst. It's not a bad story; I liked Ruby's letters woven in, but even she was obnoxious. I'm not looking for "likeable" characters, especially in thrillers, but they have to not be so annoying *I* want to come after them.

Tangled web of deceit, murder and lies, amazing! First of all, this very loosely reminded me about The Only One Left by Riley Sager, with an older, wealthy woman and the gothic, creepy vibes. I really enjoyed the gothic feel and I am amazed at Hawkins ability to write so brilliantly and differently from her previous books.

The Heiress, Ruby McTavish is actually dead, but her story lives on, her life was intense, she was kidnapped as toddler, had several husbands, who all mysteriously died and of course the wealth. Ruby did not have any children, but as the richest woman in North Carolina, when she died, she left everything to her adopted son Cam. However, he wants no part in the McTavish fortune or family and hasn’t touched the money, he has stayed from Ashby House but he has to return as they all do eventually.

This was really clever and there were several surprises in here that really kept me captivated, I could not put this down. The McTavish family is really messed up and money ruined all their lives, they used it to get what they wanted and to get out of trouble. It all caught up to them eventually…

I loved the setting (where I live!) and the plot aspect of a kidnapped baby in the 1940s. I enjoyed Ruby's letters the most in the book. It was written well in that I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened. There were a few twists at the end!