I really wanted to love this one but sadly it was a miss for me.

I don’t know if it was reading it at the wrong time and a me thing, or if it’s the book itself.

It was a slow burn, but I almost felt like it was too slow and it was struggling to keep my attention.

I like a good dual or multiple POV, but this felt a bit too much between Camden and Jules’s POV, Ruby’s letters and news articles.

In the end I felt this was more of a domestic family drama then a thriller and it just wasn’t for me.

I listened to the audiobook and I did really like the multiple narrators.

Thanks Netgalley and St Martins Press for an advanced audio copy for an honest review.

I want to tell you all about this thriller and yet I don’t want you to know anything before you start this fast paced mystery thriller.

This is told from multiple povs and in the audiobook has multiple narrators which helps create the atmosphere as well!

I love the info from the past and the letter that are written it adds another dynamic to the story. This is full of twists and turns so be ready to be blown away. Most of the characters are unlikable and you’ll like being able to hate them. It makes the book even better!

This is my fav book from Hawkins yet!

The rich behaving badly sums this one up. I like the setup for this one. Ruby has passed away and her story is told through letters and newspaper articles, while the present is told through multiple POVs.

There is definitely disfunction in the family as they try and keep up with the work needed on the family estate. It seems as they all are together under one roof, everyone has their own secrets and lies. It is twisty, soapy and a little campy. Exactly what I've come to expect from the authors.

I always love listening to the author's books and I love they choose to have a full cast for this one since there are so many characters. Dan Bittner, Eliza Foss, John Pirhalla, and Patti Murin expertly bring all the family drama of this one to life. I never wanted to stop listening.

I am already a fan of Rachel Hawkins but there was just something about this one that I just could not put down. I knew I would like this one just from the synopsis but it took me by surprise how much I loved this. Maybe it was the audio? The narration was outstanding and the story was perfectly paced. I just all around love this one!

Wow! This book was twisty and oh so readable. I love that the family home, Ashby House, felt like its own character. Who to trust - no one? I loved this fun ride.

"The Heiress" by Rachel Hawkins delves into the mysterious legacy left behind by Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore, North Carolina's wealthiest and most infamous woman. After Ruby's death, her adopted son Camden, uninterested in the family's fortune or history, leads a quiet life as a teacher in Colorado with his wife Jules. However, when Camden's uncle passes away, they are drawn back to Ashby House, the family estate nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Despite its beauty, Ashby House holds dark secrets tied to Ruby's past: a notorious kidnapping, four suspicious husband deaths, and lingering questions about her motives for adopting Camden. As Cam and Jules confront the enigmatic legacy of Ruby McTavish, they uncover that family ties can be as haunting as they are binding, with mysteries that extend far beyond the grave.

This was the only book by Rachel Hawkins that I can whole heartedly recommend so far. I'm not sure what she did differently, usually she does a great job with settings but the writing and characters fall flat for me. I liked the characters in this story and she always nails the setting.

Ruby dies and she was the richest women. She leaves everything to her adopted son but he wants no part of it until his uncle dies and it draws him back in to deal with everything his mom left before her death. This was a good and interesting story. I really enjoyed it and the audiobook and narration made it more enjoyable. I loved everything about it.

LOVED this book. Like, obsessed. Ruby McTavish, etc is my new favorite character. I loved the use of epistolary pieces and because I read this immersively I really got the gist of her gumption.

I was dumbfounded st the end. I usually have some idea of what is going to happen but I never expected this one.

The audiobook, with a full cast, was perfection. Fabulous narration and characterization.

This was my first Rachel Hawkins book but you can be sure it won’t be my last.

Thanks to SMP and Macmillan Audio for the review copies.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the free copy of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins in exchange for my review.

I didn't dislike this book and there were points that ai really enjoyed but for the most part, found it very difficult to follow. You were pulled out of the story for stories about Colorado and the characters could have been developed much more.

I wanted to love this book, and for the most part the premise was intriguing, but ultimately I was pulled too far out of the story by all of the references to Colorado that felt really inauthentic to me (as a Coloradan). I liked the story, but I couldn't get past the way Jules left so many questions unasked and made so many poor decisions. I also felt Ruby could have been more well-developed and been more present in the story - she was one of my favorite characters so it was disappointing that she was already dead. It's a good story and ultimately quite the page-turner, but it wasn't my favorite this time.

While this novel was okay, I had a hard time keeping up with what was happening. I found that I was often lost while trying to follow along. 3 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the free copy of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins in exchange for my honest and free review.

The first third of this felt so slow that I almost considered giving up. But I am glad I persevered, because suddenly, a few twists revealed, it really hooked me and I sped through the last half in a day. I liked the multiple POVs and time jumps, which felt fairly smooth, even though there were quite a few of them, and added different perspectives - all unreliable - which I enjoy in thrillers. Recommended!

Probably my favourite of Rachel Hawkins’ works! I really enjoyed The Heiress. It felt like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo but as a thriller. I love the way she exposes twists and turns in her work, and this one was delightful. I wasn’t necessarily surprised by the outcome, but it didn’t make me enjoy the book any less. A wonderful narrator, compelling plot, and characters so easy to enjoy!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fabulous audiobook. I couldn't stop listening, and all the narrators did a superb job!
Captivating plot and very fast paced. The intrigue was constant, and I was suspicious of everyone!

"THERE’S NOTHING AS GOOD AS THE RICH GONE BAD.
When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains."

One thing that I enjoy almost as much as a mystery/thriller is rich people drama..... and this book had both!
This story is told with multiple POV's that reach into the past through the letters that Ruby left behind for her adoptive son, Camden. When arriving at Ashby House Camden and his wife, Jules, are forced to interact with family that want to get their hands on Ruby's inheritance, and the rich people drama begins. With some twists and turns - some I guessed, others I didn't see coming - and a great cast of morally grey characters, I couldn't get enough.
If you're looking for an engaging, quick read that's sure to deliver a fun reading experience - this ones for you!

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 (4.5)

Thank you to @netgalley @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for the gifted copy of this book.

In “The Heiress,” by Rachel Hawkins (Macmillan Audio, 8 hours and 20 minutes), four narrators speak for the characters, with uneven results.

The plot finds young marrieds Jules and Camden moving from their simple life in Colorado back to his home in North Carolina, where he grew up wealthy and bullied by the family into which he was adopted.

The structure of “The Heiress” is chaotic, including flashbacks in the form of multiple news clippings and magazine articles about Cam’s adoptive mother, Ruby, who disappeared as a child and was later found living with another family — or was she? We also hear letters Ruby left, explaining her history with three husbands.

“The Heiress” takes too long to get to the point, but maybe you’ll call that building suspense. In any case, the plot is worth sticking with.

(Ran in print as part of a roundup of audiobooks.)

Title: The Heiress
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: January 9, 2024

I received a complimentary ALC from Macmillan Audio via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted #Ad

T H R E E • W O R D S

Ominous • Entertaining • Predictable

📖 S Y N O P S I S

When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she's not only North Carolina's richest woman, she's also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family's estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

But in the aftermath of her death, her adopted son, Camden, wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.

Ten years later, his uncle's death pulls Cam and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but the legacy of Ruby is inescapable.
Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what's written in a will––and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I have certainly seen all of the hype and love for Rachel Hawkins, yet I had never been inclined to pick one up for myself, until now. Why now? There was an intense discussion about her books at one of my in-person book club meetings that piqued my curiosity. Not really knowing where to start I decided to go with her most recent The Heiress.

Told in multiple POVs, this novel read like it was trying to be The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo's (a book I loved) suspenseful cousin. Because of this fact nothing felt original and it was easy to predict the twists and turns. The characters were all kind of icky and engaged in questionable behaviour.

My favourite aspect of the book were the letter from Ruby. This element allowed me to get a glimpse into Ruby's mind, despite her being dead. Additionally, the audiobook narrated by a full cast of Dan Bittner, Eliza Fossn John Pirhallan and Patti Murin, added so much personality to the characters. The standout in the narration was Ruby's voice. I will say the pacing of the narration is very slow and one that will likely need to be sped up.

In my opinion, The Heiress was yet another run-of-the-mill domestic suspense that was entertaining while reading, yet nothing really shocking happens and it's not something I will remember a week or two from now. I would definitely give this author another chance and can understand why there is so much love for her books.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• isolated settings
• gothic elements
• inheritance plot lines

⚠️ CW: kidnapping, toxic relationship, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, alcohol, death, death of parent, violence, gun violence, murder, fire/fire injury, adoption, cursing, suicide, classism, mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse, injury/injury detail, pregnancy

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"There should be some kind of warning when your life is about to change forever."

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance reader audio copy of this book. This book is a twisted tale of a wealthy lady who has a great background story and her death and subsequent will and the passing of her things to her heir (her adopted son). The telling of the story thru the two points of view is incredibly addictive. This is a book that cannon be put down. The only downfall was some of the characters were not fully developed and I didn't care for them, so thus, didn't care what happened to them. 4 stars

This book is very clearly targetted toward people who enjoyed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It's a similar writing style and, honestly, a similar plot. I think that's what this book felt like to me - The Seven Husbands. I loved that book, and this kind of felt like a generic copy of it. The story is different enough that I'm not saying it's the same story or anything like that, but inspiration was clearly taken.

No matter what, it's still a good book.