Ok, wow. I normally do not read mystery/thriller novels, they just aren't my thing (usually). But I got the chance to read an advanced copy of The Heiress, and my preferences might need to be updated. Dysfunctional family drama, scandals, lies, and secrets. This gothic style mystery was gripping. This was my first Rachel Hawkins novel, and I'm definitely going to check out some of her other books in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4/5 stars

I loved this book! I am a new Rachel Hawkins reader and LOVED The Villa - so i was so excited to pick up the Heiress. And what twists and turns. Surprise after surprise. I am excited for more people to read this one! Its a quick read and fun!

THE HEIRESS review

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5

🖼️The year just started and I’m ready to dive head first into 2024 releases. 👏 I read THE HEIRESS in just over a day and found it to be a quick, family drama. I didn’t love Hawkins’s 2023 release (THE VILLA) but this one was better imo!

🖼️Here’s a summary of the plot:👇
A notorious North Carolina heiress passes away and leaves behind her fortune and a looooot of family secrets for her only child. Surviving a kidnapping and having multiple spouses die of mysterious circumstances are only scratching the surface of the secrets this heiress has left behind. But secrets aren’t only for the dead and her surviving family have plenty of secrets of their own…

🖼️I went into this one expecting a thriller but it was definitely a family drama. Not necessarily a bad thing, it just wasn’t what I was expecting. I saw a couple of the twists coming but several of them took me by surprise. I loooooove this cover! Rachel Hawkins always has some of the best thriller covers and this one might just be my favorite. Especially after reading the book and truly understanding the significance of the cover. 👀 Overall, I enjoyed this one and would recommend checking it out if you enjoy family dramas!

🖼️Thanks @macmillan.audio and @stmartinspress for the advanced digital copies! THE HEIRESS publishes January 9th!

This was a very interesting read! Jules and Cam seem to be a typical couple who don't talk about their pasts. They met in their early 20s in CA, where they had both moved from their respective homes. We find out that Cam is the heir to a large fortune and house in North Carolina. He was the adopted son of the town's founding heiress, who lost all of her husbands in mysterious ways. The story goes between Ruby (the Heiress), Cam and Jules' point of view and you slowly find out all of the back story and what led to the situation of Cam running away. There are many twists and turns and the ending leaves you feeling unsure if all turns out well in the end. A great read!

This was FUN. Rachel Hawkins does not miss and The Heiress will have you staying up way too late to finish it. At times, it felt there were a few too many sub plots, but overall, I loved this.

The Heiress follows letters from Ruby McTavish and her adoptive son's POV with his wife Jules. He goes back to the house after his cousin asks for his help on the estate.

This is my second book by Rachel Hawkins, and I like this one more than Reckless Girls. It had me guessing till about 75% way in and then I saw how this book was going to go. The ending was a *bit* of a surprise but there was some that was left unresolved.

3 stars due to the predictability of it at the end and the unresolved parts between Camden and Jules.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me the ARC of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and did not put it down until the final conclusion. Everyone had secrets and it was a fun ride. I gave it 4.5 stars (rounded to 5) and would recommend to people who like their mystery with a side of gray characters.

4.5 stars rounded up

This twisted family drama was fun and fast paced, with multiple POVs from present day and through letters from the past, where you are not sure who, if anyone, you can trust. It was definitely my favorite book from Rachel Hawkins so far.

Camden McTavish is the adopted son and sole heir to Ruby McTavish, a North Carolina socialite, equally famous for getting lost in the woods and kidnapped as a toddler as she is for being widowed four times. Upon her death, he is finally free to escape his life and the extended family who resent him and move to California for school, where he meets his future wife, Jules. After the death of one of his cousins, 10 years later, he is summoned back to Ashby House for one final fight over his inheritance. Camden is willing to let his bitter aunt and vapid cousins have it all, just to finally be rid of them, but Jules isn't so willing to give up the estate and role of Lady of the Manor. As more of Ruby's letters are revealed, the pieces fall into place that she was not writing a confession to her son, but to someone else entirely. Unfortunately I had my suspicions where this was going, and wish I was wrong and would have been more shocked by the plot twist than I was. That being said, it didn't impact my ability to enjoy the story, but kept it from being a full 5 star read for me. This was an intricately woven tale that makes you reflect on whether it is nature or nurture that makes a person, and that in the end, science comes for us all.

Jules and Camden live a simple life in Colorado and are happy. After word reaches them that Camden’s uncle has died, they are thrusted into the life Camden was trying to escape. When he was young, Camden was adopted by Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore, the richest woman in North Carolina, also the most infamous. As a toddler, Ruby was kidnapped and thrust into the spotlight. Her life after was filled with husbands who all died under mysterious circumstances. She doted on Camden though and after her death left it all to him, but he wanted nothing to do with it and left. Now back at Ashby House, the family estate, Camden and Jules find out family can be deadly.

Another slam dunk by Rachel Hawkins! I’ve read all her books and they all are fantastic. This book pulls you in from the very beginning and keeps it thrilling throughout. It is told from Jules and Camden’s POV and intertwined with letters written by Ruby. So many twists right up to the very end! This book will start your 2024 reading journey off with a bang!

I went into this book knowing just a little about what it was about but what I didn't see coming was all the twists and turns this book took. It had me guessing throughout the whole books which is what I love about a good mystery/triller.

Pick this book up if you love Rich People drama and some good solid twists.

Rachel Hawkins did it again! The Heiress is a book you will want to read and will not be able to put down until the very end. Hawkin’s choice of words, development of characters, and her ability to create a unique storyline is outstanding. I would definitely recommend this book to friends!

4.5 incredible stars! This is one of those books that you stay up all night reading, the one more chapter and then I’ll stop. Jumping between a husband and wife narrating the story while also looping in his wealthy mother’s life story right, this story sped along. This is by far Rachel Hawkins best book to date! What a way to start my reading year!

THIS is THE thriller of 2024! Rachel Hawkins so perfectly executes a perfectly paced thriller with the best plot twists I’ve encountered in a thriller in a while! This story had my attention from beginning to end. It’s like season 4 of You added with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo(make it thriller). With both the pov of the mmc and fmc it was easy to follow our characters every emotion. I truly loved our two leads in this! It’s so fantastically done. Rachel Hawkins is the queen of plot twists.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!

If you have read anything by Rachel Hawkins, you know you are in for a twisty road. This was a great thriller to kick off my year of reading. We have multiple POV and letters detailing a life of choices made. It was so great!

I have never travelled to North Carolina, but it sounds beautiful as described in this book. The family we are reading about is rich beyond any of our wildest dreams (or lucky you if you have an inkling of that kind of wealth) But of course, we see that with that kind of money comes the feeling that you are above everything and everyone around you.

The characters are flawed, manipulative and sometimes downright evil! There are moments of goodness you cheer for and moments of absolute awfulness that you weirdly, also cheer for.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the early copy. I thoroughly enjoyed piecing together the puzzle that is Ashby House. Quick, gothic thriller read with multiple POV's. Following Cam and Jules and Cam's return to Ashby House to claim his inheritance, a place where everyone has secrets... even the dead. And how far are people willing to go to keep those secrets.

A dark family drama told through three POVs that keep you trying to grasp all their secrets and how they fit together. The more you read the more you realize no one is innocent. This is my first novel by this author, and I look forward to reading more.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book! I was lucky enough to receive an ARC and I think this is my new favorite book by Hawkins. This was not a thriller to me but more of a family drama which I love. It had me hooked from the beginning. I thought the writing was fantastic and was very engaging.

This story follows Cam and Jules as they return to Cam’s childhood home/mansion. Cam is adopted by an heiress at a young age and is returning to his home for the first time since her death. Jules, Cam’s wife, is excited to be at this house for the first time and is hoping to live there permanently. Lots goes down in this book and no one is as innocent as they seem 🤭

This book was such a intriguing mystery of secrets, stories, and characters. It took a little bit to figure out all the different pieces but once I did and then the pieces started falling into place I really loved the story.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book! This was my first novel by the author! At times, I couldn’t put it down but at times I was bored. I will still give her other books a try!

This was my first book by Rachel Hawkins (although I've read this author under her pen name Erin Sterling). The Heiress follows Camden McTavish, the adopted son of famed Ruby McTavish, the richest woman in North Carolina and famous for her kidnapping as a child. Camden wants nothing to do with the estate he's inherited but is forced back to his childhood home to wrap up business regarding Ruby's will that involves other family members.

Camden brings his wife Jules with him to Ashby House and Jules is immediately determined for her husband (and therefore, her) to keep and inherit everything Ruby intended for him. The more time Jules and Camden spend at Ashby House, the more questions arise about Ruby and the family as a whole.

I thought this book was well paced and the characters were all perfectly unlikable. The farther along in the book you get, the more you discover about Ruby's history, with the appropriate twists and turns sprinkled throughout. The story was told through three perspectives: Camden, Jules, and Ruby (through letters written shortly before her death). I enjoy multiple POV stories and I thought this really enhanced the plot.

I'm looking forward to reading more of Hawkins's work.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital copy. My review is honest and voluntary.