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.

I really enjoyed [book:The Heiress|126919284] by [author:Rachel Hawkins|2261547]! It's a book that has a great mystery and two POVs that allow you to see the same story from two different viewpoints.

Camden (Cam) McTavish is the adopted son of Ruby McTavish, the richest woman in the town of Tavistock and beyond. She is also its most notorious having been returned as a child after being kidnapped, and growing up into a woman who was widowed four times (why!?). She passes her huge monetary legacy (Ashby House the family estate, money and more) to her adopted son Cam - who wants nothing to do with it.

Cam would rather eke out a living as a school teacher miles away from his family home with his lovely wife Jules.

But - a letter prompts Cam to go home with his wife (who wants him to embrace the riches he has been given). However, once home, the house and his relatives who still live there bring back a suffocating feeling, questions about Ruby's disappearance and her husbands start haunting them.

It was all so good - a fun mystery to read and wonder. I loved both POVs and the watching the mystery unfold.

It was quick fun read and the perfect mystery to escape into!

Thank you to @stmartinspress for the ARC.

Fantastic thriller! I loved it. It has all the twists and turns needed for a good read. Loved the letters and multiple POVs. Highly recommend.

Thanks NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advanced copy!

Obsessed with this book!!! I loved the story, the mystery, and all the twists and turns. This book kept me hooked the entire time and wanting to read more. I loved learning Ruby’s story!

Captivating, mysterious, family drama, need I say more?

Rachel Hawkins has done it again. She has created this amazing story told through the eyes of 3 different characters: Camden, Ruby’s adopted heir and most hated of the McTavish family, his wife Jules, the charismatic, beautiful wife who has ulterior motives, and the infamous Ruby McTavish. The three POVs form a puzzle that keeps you wanting to read more so you can put all the pieces together. You think you figured it out and then there’s a twist that you won’t see coming (no matter how much you think you’ll see it)

Ruby’s POV gives the reader access to the history behind her nickname of “Ruby Kill-more” especially with 4 husbands dying of suspicious circumstances. Ruby is so sarcastic and snarky that her POV is amazing to read.

Camden gives a look into the current family dynamic of the McTavish’s and how much his family hates him for being Ruby’s chosen heir.

And finally, Jules. The loving and supportive wife of Camden. Her POV allows the reader an “outside” perspective. She wasn’t raised with the family and she doesn’t know the history of the family. She doesn’t know all the nitty gritty family drama and we learn about it with her (or do we).

The McTavish family is full of secrets and we all now the truth has a way of coming out, one way or another. There’s bertryal, scandal, and mystery all combined into this amazing story.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. This is my honest and voluntary review

"A haunted house where the ghosts hadn’t had the courtesy to die yet."

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins was an absolutely dazzling Southern Gothic tale! It had great prose, an exciting pace, and characters that were witty and mysterious. There was no filler. Every part felt important. The book just flew right by!

Camden and Jules are 10 years married- happily, but somewhat unfilled. This is surprising because Camden doesn't have to struggle to make ends meet. He's a McTavish, which is basically a royal family in the Southern US.

Camden always knew he'd have to go home eventually. His adoptive mom passed years ago and the family mansion is in disrepair, and since he is the rightful owner, he needs to go get it sorted and Jules wants to see the place anyway.

Jules is trying to act natural but she's ecstatic to be going to this amazing pile of bricks. It's rightfully theirs after all, and she can imagine herself as the lady of this manor. If only she could rid it of pests he calls his extended family. They've always resented him for not being blood so you can imagine how they feel about him having power over the family home.

Along the way we meet the relatives but we also hear from Ruby, the late matriarch and Cam's adoptive mother in letters. She's finally decided to lay it all bare and none of them will be the same after this visit.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read, listen, and review! The narration was fantastic.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 by Rachel Hawkins
Published: January 9, 2023 by @stmartinspress
Reviewed by: Mel
Format: eARC [thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley]

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆
✽ Domestic Thriller / Mystery
✽ Mansions & Old Money
✽ Characters you love to hate
✽ Twists and turns


𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
This book was highly anticipated for me — I love all of Rachel Hawkins’ books — and it certainly did not disappoint! I can’t believe how early I got my hands on the ARC; I devoured it pretty quickly at the end of the Summer of 2023.

While it does have a bit of the same “recipe” as other thrillers, I enjoyed the setting of North Carolina — and the weaving of the characters and their stories. It was very interesting to me to have the story revolve around a “main character” (aka Ruby) who dies before the story even starts. It was incredibly entertaining to see how Hawkins retells the story through letters and — without giving away too much — the interactions between the rest of the characters.

I despised some of the characters for all of the right reasons - and enjoyed the others. While the backstory is a bit twisty-turny, it wasn’t hard to keep up with all of the connections.

I look forward to seeing what everyone else thinks on January 9th!

What a ride! This book gets off to a slow start, but when things pick up, they PICK UP! I really enjoyed reading Ruby’s letters, and learning her whole backstory. And just when I thought the story couldn’t get twistier, it did just that. The author painted such a vivid picture of Ashby House and the town of Tavistock, and the characters were easy to envision without being stereotypes. This is more of a domestic drama than a true thriller, but the reveals towards the end of the book will blow your mind. Despite reading only one other book by Rachel Hawkins, I’m fully committed to reading everything she writes from here on out. (And of course, checking out her backlist.) The perfect book to cozy up with on a cold winter night!

Another great read from @ladyhawkins !

Hooked right from the start. I needed to know all of the secrets in this family. I needed to know the connections. I needed to know the truth.

❤️ Ruby’s letters
❤️ the news articles
❤️ the writing - kept me completely hooked
❤️ Ruby’s dark humour
❤️ multiple POVs - you got to know three different characters

Publishing Date January 9th!! Pre order it now :)

his was a pretty enjoyable tale of dark family secrets taking place in a musty old Southern mansion! So much that I'm still thinking about it days later. When Ruby McTavish passes away, she's well-known for many things: being a McTavish, a wealthy family that lives in the Ashby house in North Carolina; being kidnapped as a child and then found nearly a year later; marrying four times--and losing all four husbands in strange circumstances; and adopting her son, Cameron and leaving the entire McTavish fortune to him.

We find Cam estranged from the family for nearly 10 years, but finally returning to Ashby House at the urge of his wife, Jules. THE HEIRESS is an engaging page turner, filled with shifty characters hiding secrets and tidbits and lots of weird Southern charm and horrifying terrors. It's interspersed with fascinating letters from Ruby along with articles and Internet pieces on the McTavish family. This is a great technique--interesting, informative, but surprisingly suspenseful.

I don't want to say much to give things away, but this is a quick read filled with lots of twists and turns. A few are predictable, but some are quite unexpected. The family dynamics are excellent (albeit terrifying) and I quite enjoyed all the dark goings on in Ashby House.

Let me start by saying that I really enjoyed reading this! I'm a sucker for flawed characters, and this book delivered messy, flawed characters ten-fold.

The story was told in 3 points of view, spanning the present and past and was done beautifully. This thriller by Rachel Hawkins was eerie and a definite page turner. I couldn't wait to get to the end to see if my inner ramblings about what was going on were correct.

If you want a page turning, character driven thriller, then grab this novel!

Thank you, NetGalley and St Martin's press for this ARC.