This was gifted by Netgalley & the publisher for my honest opinions.

In this book, we are following the aftermath of a very rich woman passing away, potentially murdered? In her youth, she was known, mostly for a kidnapping that happened when she was a child now that she is dead, her family estate, along with her wealth is being passed to her son, in which she adopted. Nobody expects it when he doesn’t want the house, or the money that his mother left him. He moves on with his life and marries a woman who is also running from a past that she doesn’t like. However, years later they come back to the estate and Cam, the woman’s son quickly remembers why he wanted nothing to do with the house. However, his wife has other ideas.

I feel like this was a little bit different for Rachel. I read all of her other books, and this one felt like it leaned a little bit more whore and some of the other books. Her other books seem to fall more within the mystery category and this one definitely was thriller/horror. It was fun to see her step out just a little bit and I enjoyed the story but I feel like I’ve read things that were done better than this. It is a fun time if you’re looking for a quick and easy read.

The Heiress delivered a propulsive, fast paced, and twisted thriller featuring a truly devious family. There are lots of twists and surprises here -- almost too many to be believable, but still it was an entertaining story to start the new year. Very satisfying read as always from Rachel Hawkins!

Money, betrayal, and murder. LOVED this book!! The author did a phenomenal job capturing Ruby’s past and the present situation simultaneously. Ruby has a history full of mystery and suspense, but was it all true? You’ll have to read to find out!

I listened to this one as an audiobook and the reader was great.

If you liked The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, then you need to read this book next!

4/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Heiress
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was really great with lots of twist. I enjoyed the characters. It kept me guessing till the end.

As much as I love reading Rachel Hawkins's books, I might like listening to them more because she always gets the best narrators to tell her stories. THE HEIRESS wasn't any different. The narration was absolute perfection, with Dan Bittner, Eliza Foss, John Pirhalia, and Patti Murin bringing the characters to life. I don't think I could have imagined a better group of voices that would have been better. It truly felt like when I shut my eyes, the story was vividly playing like a movie in front of me.

I've loved all of Hawkins' gothic thrillers, but I think this is my favorite. The intrigue. The ambiance. The players of the game. Plus, the way history affects the present and vice versa. It's a story I see myself enjoying time and time again.

Content Warnings: kidnapping, murder, alcoholism, domestic abuse, suicide, gun violence, gaslighting,

We follow the McTavish family in this book. Told from three points of view, we hear from Ruby, the wealthy and notorious woman who leaves her fortune to her adopted son Camden, Camden, and his wife Jules.

After Ruby's death, Camden moves away from the family estate and fortune in the Blue Ridge mountains, and settles into a normal life in Colorado as an English Teacher, with his wife Jules. After the death of his uncle, he returns home to sort out the estate.

Jules is interested in inheriting the wealth and privilege of the McTavish family, but Camden is not. The family despise him, and all of them are unlikable characters with secrets.

As we hear from Ruby, we realize that there are a lot of complications in her life. From her disappearance as a child, the death of her four husbands, and her adoption of Camden, there are plenty of secrets to uncover.

While the plot had lots of twists and turns, I never really connected well to the characters. I listened to the audiobook, and while the narrator did a good job, I didn't find all the voices to be very distinct. This was certainly a good read, just not the best from my point of view.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest thriller by Rachel Hawkins, with the audio perfectly narrated by Dan Bittner; Eliza Foss; John Pirhalla; Patti Murin - 5 stars!

Toddler Ruby McTavish was lost as a child and returned back from another family. Her life has continued to be quite an adventure ever since. She writes letters telling about those adventures and all her husbands before she dies at an elderly age. Her adopted son, Cam, and his wife, Jules, leave their home in CO to go back to NC after being summoned by a cousin. Cam is the rightful heir to Ashby House, a decision that has made the rest of the family upset. Cam never wanted anything to do with his greedy family, but Jules convinced him to go back.

Told from the viewpoints of Cam, Jules and Ruby (through her letters), this is such a wild and twisty ride. Hawkins takes so many different events and time periods and seamlessly weaves them together into such a tale of family, greed, jealousy, power. You will love to hate these characters! And just when I thought the last twist was over, the ending blew me away. Highly recommended!

Reading Between the Wines book review #144/115(met goal in Sept!) for 2023:
Rating: 3 ½ 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book: The Heiress
Author: Rachel Hawkins
RELEASES on January 9, 2024!!!

Sipping thoughts: I love Rachel Hawkins and have been able to read a new release from her in December every year. I did not realize it until I looked back but I read The Woman Upstairs in Dec 2020 (4⭐), Reckless Girls in Dec 2021 (4⭐), The Villa in Dec 2022 (3⭐), and now The Heiress in Dec 2023. I enjoyed this book and almost gave it 4 stars but something stopped me but it doesn’t take away the fact that I enjoyed it. I did figure out the twist after reading the first few chapters. So, I enjoyed pushing through to see how it would come out.

Cheers and thank you to @MacMillanAudio and @Netgalley for an advanced copy of @TheHeiress.

#TheHeiress #RachelHawkins #MacmillanAudio #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

Holy smokes! This book was excellent!! Rachel Hawkins did it again, another home run. I devoured this audiobook in a day because I just could not stop listening to it! It literally had it all - there was kidnapping, murder, lies, secrets, and just a whole lot of twists.

This is a fast moving, wild ride that will suck you in and keep you hooked until the very end! The audio version was excellent with multiple narrators making the story easy to follow and just an overall enjoyable listen.

I highly recommend this one! You will not be sorry!

While a bit predictable, this book delivered with it's fast-paced storyline, and interesting characters. I enjoyed the tale of Ruby and her life, through her letters, as well as the storyline of Cam and Jules, and the terrible McTavish descendents. I would recommend this book for a quick, fun read.

This novel quickly put me in the mind of The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo with mystery and thriller crammed in. There are four narrators who do a wonderful job and the audiobook has an easy flow with chapters being announced.

For me, this novel was not my favorite since it was hard to seperate it from the other novel I compared it to. It was heavy on cursing & no gore. I felt there was a lot of time spent explaining the twists. I rated three stars but I will recommend to those who love mystery & thrillers.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this digital advance copy. This is my personal opinion. I have received no compensation for my review.

My new favourite of Rachel Hawkins! This book was dark, twisty, and even though I had figured out a lot of it, it still gave me the shock factor. It was a slow burn, but it was a really great build up slow burn. I really enjoyed the multiple POVs and how they changed throughout the story to give us the full picture.

It was almost addictive, I couldn't put it down. I read most of it, but I found myself listening to bits when I didn't have the time to physically read because I just couldn't get enough and I needed to keep going to find out what happened next.

An intricately woven mystery centering around a notorious black widow, Ruby McTavish. Ruby is the wealthy heiress that resides at Ashby House in Tavistock North Carolina. and is one of the wealthiest residents of the state. Her notoriety stems from being kidnapped as a small child and her marriages that have all ended with each of her husbands sudden and unexpected death. When she dies she leaves her estate to her adopted son, Camden. Cam has managed to live a life away from the McTavish fortune and all of his remaining family. When his uncle dies Cam and his wife Jules return to Ashby House and a family full of secrets and hidden agendas.

This was a solid story that is told through multiple POVs and had me riveted. I figured out some of the twists but there were still plenty left that I hadn’t expected. Definitely my favorite book by the author so far. I cannot wait to see what she in store for us next.

The audiobook was narrated fantastically!!

4 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I have grown to love audio books in the last couple of years and it has expanded my reading ability. Admittedly, many are better than others and good narrators make all the difference. Rachel Hawkin’s upcoming thriller, The Heiress was my most recent listen and it was amazing!

This thriller was so much fun. Set in the mountains of N.C. This is southern Grand Guignol at its best. Over the top, with despicable characters and a bit of camp this book came to life on audio, I could not stop listening. This is a book where all the characters are unreliable and what you think is happening can turn on a dime and I LOVED IT! Did it all make sense? Not really, but who cares when a book is so much fun. It delighted and surprised me at every turn.

The audio was so well crafted that it added another level of enjoyment to the novel. The characters were brought to life by the narration giving it a cinematic quality. When an audiobook is this well executed there is nothing better in the book world. Many of the characters are horrible and capable of all kinds of despicable things and it made for a great mystery. Anyone could do ANYTHING and I could t wait to see what would be revealed next. That is all I’m going to say because I don’t want to give anything away. You have to experience this book. The book comes out Jan. 4 and the audio on Jan. 9. Thanks to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the audiobook.

Refusing the inheritance left to him, adopted son, Cam is determined to keep his hands off anything remotely connected to the family. However, forced to return home to tie up loose ends, "The Heiress" rotates from present day to letters written from Cam's adoptive mother.

Shocking and sudden, this is an ending readers won't see coming!

If you love rich people behaving badly, then this book is for you.

I struggle with an entire cast of unlikable characters, and everyone in this story tested my patience and tolerance. Even Cam, whom I was initially rooting for, became a disappointment. I would have been happy if they’d all died at the end.

That being said, the writing is strong. Hawkins weaves an intriguing tale.

I loved the full cast of narrators! They embodied the characters, infusing personality and life into the story.

*Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the free download!*

3.75/5

Thank you for the advanced copy!

It’s been awhile since I’ve enjoyed a thriller, and this is my favorite by Hawkins to-date. Audiobooks can be tricky with my attention span, but the storyline and narration held me throughout. Great casting and great pacing and a great cover.

4/5 stars. To be released January 2024.

I’m a huge fan of Rachel Hawkins latest novels. They provide a sense of escapism into a world where you can’t trust anyone and the twists and turns are abundant. The Heiress is no different. If you’ve enjoyed any of her previous books, you’ll like this one too.

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.

I listened to this audiobook and absolutely loved the full cast reading. I definitely enjoyed that each major character had their own chapters and their own narrators and truly brought this story to life!

This was the best book by this author! I enjoyed the story and the pacing. It flowed naturally and kept me wanting more. All the characters are easy to keep up with and the twists near the end were spectacular. Keep it up, Rachel Hawkins! I'll read whatever this author puts out!
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.