I love Rachel Hawkins books and this is another one that was fantastic. I liked the different viewpoints and also the letters that are written. I didn't know who I liked or who to trust as I read. I liked Ruby McTavish and her letters, but she promised not to lie, but I didn't know if I was getting the whole story with her parts. Camden, the adopted son, hasn't wanted anything to do with his family for years, but now is back at his huge childhood home, but I wondered if he was telling us everything and Jules, the wife of Camden. She also made me wonder. I don't want to give anything else away except once I started reading I couldn't stop!
Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the early digital copy of this book!

I really enjoyed Hawkins' latest gothic novel and all the twists and turns that surprise even the most seasoned mystery enthusiasts. Overall, a solid read.

Edge of your seat suspense! This book was brilliant.

Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore has many secrets. She was kidnapped as a small child and found eight months later, all four of her husbands died, she was wealthy and the heir to the McTavish fortune and Ashby house. When Ruby died, her adopted son, Camden inherited and walk away from the family. Camden returns with his wife Jules when his uncle dies and the secrets of this family begin to be uncovered.

The story is told from the perspectives of Camden and Jules. We also learned about Ruby’s life through letters she has written and these reveal the secrets she has been keeping. The twists and turns in this book were phenomenal. I was drawn into the story trying to figure out how Camden, Jules and Ruby’s secrets were intertwined.

This is a great thriller. I would recommend this book and put it on your TBR. The book will be published January 9, 2024 so preorder it today

Thank you @netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author, Rachel Hawkins for the e-ARC.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for this ARC!

This was an addictive, page turner of a thriller that I could not get enough of! There were so many twists and turns from beginning to end, I loved the different POVs, it added so much to the story, especially Ruby's. Hearing her story was my favourite part.

This book is definitely going in the favourites pile!

4.5/5 ⭐️ rounded up

This story is about Ruby McTavish, a wealthy little girl who was lost in the woods near her home in North Carolina at only three years old. Ruby was found eight months later in another state and returned home. As Ruby grows up in her mansion known as the Ashby House, she often feels that some things about her aren’t quite right. Ashby House created a creepy atmosphere that really set the mood. If those walls could speak, they would have a story to tell and in a way they do. Expect rumors, whispers, secrets/scheming and a truly twisted house of unexpected happenings! I enjoyed this authors first book The Wife Upstairs! #netgalley #theheiress

Rachel Hawkins writes such interesting, twisty suspense books. This one did not disappoint. This isn't new and groundbreaking, but if you love this type of book, definitely pick it up. It is a quick and fun read.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy for review.

In my honest opinion, I was extremely let down by this book. It had hardly anything thrilling about it, very slow, and overall not what I am used to by Hawkins.

4.5-5 Stars! This is my first Rachel Hawkins novel and I absolutely loved it! Her writing is spectacular. I was addicted from the very beginning!

Ruby McTavish is a wealthy heiress that has lived an interesting life (kidnapped at a very young age, married four times, lives in a massive estate in North Carolina with her horrifyingly awful family members). She adopts a baby boy, Camden. Camden feels like an outsider and can't stand the McTavish family so he cuts all ties with the them and lives a quite life with his wife Jules in Colorado. Events unfold that bring Camden and Jules back to North Carolina and lets just say its a roller coaster ride of twists and turns from there up until the very end!

This story is told from multiple character POV which really adds to the story. Definitely pick this one up in January when it comes out!

Big thank you to the author, Rachel Hawkins, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC of The Heiress in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NegGalley, St. Martin's Press and the author for an ARC of The Heiress for an honest review.

Anticipated Publish Date: 1/9/2024

The Heiress is told from three POV, Cam, Jules and letters from Ruby McTavish. I went into this blind and was shocked at first when I learned what Cam was hiding from his wife Jules. Soon Cam and Jules are on their way across country to the Ashby House where Cam grew up.

We learn about Ruby and a shocking event that happened to her as a young child. Cam, who is adopted and always felt he was not a part of the McTavish family. Jules encouraged Cam to return after his uncle died to see the house, his remaining family and see what repairs needed to be done to the house. Once there you can see why Cam left.

The Heiress is definitely a slow burn but had enough twists and turns throughout to keep you interested and say what outloud!

This latest suspense thriller from Rachel Hawkins has so many twists and turns! The plot: the McTavish family of Tavistock, NC, is extremely wealthy from inherited lumber baron money. Their 20,000 square foot mansion called Ashby House sits on a mountain top, just miles from the Biltmore, the Vanderbilt mansion in Asheville. But all that wealth hasn't made them happy or kept tragedy from their door.

In 1943, while picnicking in the mountains with her mother and nanny, three-year-old Ruby McTavish wanders off. No trace of her is found for eight months until a family in Alabama admits to having taken her. Later in her life, poor Ruby is involved in more tragedies as all four of her husbands die young and in freakish ways. She eventually adopts a son she names Cameron who is dubbed 'the luckiest boy in North Carolina' in the press. When Ruby dies, he is the heir to the entire estate--much to the chagrin of his great-aunt and cousins, Ben and Libby.

Surprisingly, Cam wants no part of that house or the money. He is married now and living in a small house in California, teaching English. So when his cousin Ben contacts him requesting he return to deal with family matters, Cam is at first reluctant to return 'home' but is talked into it by his wife Jules who would love to see the estate.

Of course nothing has changed. The remaining McTavishes are still cruel and bitter, treating Cam as an interloper. As the plot unfolds, Ruby's story is revealed in letters she wrote before her death and it's one shock after another. But wait: Hawkins has much more in store. A real page turner!

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc of this suspense thriller via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

Rachel Hawkins never disappoints and delivers twists and turns in her latest novel. "The Heiress" is a gothic family drama with plenty of suspense to keep the pages turning. The perfect late night read to help set the mood as readers enter into the Ashby House where death lingers and a life is forever linked to a kidnapping that is shrouded in mystery. With the multiple POVs, I cannot wait to listen to the audio and delve in again. Definitely read with a book club; you'll want to discuss!

Ruby McTavish is North Carolina’s most-wealthy and famous woman. The Heiress of the legendary Ashby House in small town Tavistock, her connection to that home is not the only reason she has so much fame and fortune. Ruby was involved in a famous kidnapping as a child and is a four-time widower. She quickly became the prized child in the family due to the kidnapping and landed herself a hefty inheritance when her father passed. This created some problems within the McTavish family and they only got worse when Ruby adopted her son, Camden, and left all her riches to him.

When his mother passed, Camden couldn’t escape the Ashby House fast enough. Not wanting anything to do with the house or the fortune, he moved to California, become a teacher and met his wife, Jules. Escaping Ashby House couldn’t last forever and shortly after his uncle died he was summoned to the Ashby House. While Camden couldn’t be less enthused about the situation, Jules could not wait to enter the gates of the Ashby House and immediately fell in love with it.

During their time staying at Ashby House, Cam and Jules find themselves unlocking pieces of Ruby’s history both together and individually. Was there any truth to anything Ruby has done and who she really is?

I personally love when books have more than one POV and Hawkins executed this one perfectly. The perfect amount of twists and turns and mysterious factors from all 3 perspectives will keep you guessing the entire time, right to the end.

The Heiress tells the story of a Hallmark movie town ruled by a family that's ruled by its own secrets. Ruby was a widow many times over, filthy rich, and her husbands' bodies aren't the only skeletons in her closet. Cam is the prodigal son who fled the family home, detests the money and the family's obsession with it. For decades, it was Ruby and Cam against the entire family in a battle for the money (and truth).

It's a great read that I would've powered straight through if my schedule allowed. The multiple perspectives are effective, the secrets are juicy, and the gossip is compelling. There are some abandoned plot points, and I flipped back a few times to see if i missed something. Overall, however, the author gives us is delicious family drama/mystery. The Heiress weaves a strong commentary on the power of the rich, the weakness of the poor, and the danger of each side.

I LOVED this book!! Rachel Hawkins has always been one of my favorite authors but this - this is her best work yet! I was obsessed with the storyline from the very beginning. This gave Evelyn Hugo meets mystery and I was HERE. FOR. IT! Every time I thought I had this one figured out another huge twist would come taking me right back to square one. It’s rare that a mystery book actually keeps me guessing but this one was a breath of fresh air. This story had twists coming out all the way through the epilogue! I cannot say enough good things about this book - HIGH recommend when it comes out January 9th!

Wow! What an insane, twisting ride of a book. I have to say, most of the turns and surprises, I didn’t see coming until I was right on top of them. I love Rachel Hawkins writing, and she’s written another best seller for sure!

She’s filthy rich and notorious yet, Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies. Set in the North Carolina mountains, Ruby was the victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and has been widowed four times.
four dead husbands, hmmm….

Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge mountains. After her death, the estate, along with a nine-figure fortune and the complicated legacy of being a McTavish, is passed on to her adopted son, Camden.

Surprisingly, Cam wants little to do with the house or the money and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. He rejects his inheritance, and settles into an ordinary life as an English teacher in Colorado and marries Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.

Jump forward 10 years when Camden receives a summons in the wake of his uncle’s death. This event brings him and Jules back into the family drama at Ashby House. The views are just as impressive as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but coming home reminds Cam why he was so quick to leave in the first place.

Jules, however, has other ideas, and the more she learns about Cam’s estranged family and the bizarre secrets they keep, the more determined she is for her husband to claim everything Ruby once intended for him to have.

Just by being there, Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, and questions about the infamous heiress come to light. What’s behind the persistent rumors concerning her disappearance as a child? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And most if all, why did she adopt Cam in the first place?

The book us another well written work of Rachel Hawkins, and quite dramatic. While entertaining, I didn’t find it suspenseful.

How far would you go for your independence?

That’s a main question that comes into play for our main characters. Being adopted into a wealthy family sounds extremely lucky, but Camden McTavish wants nothing to do with his family or his inheritance once his adoptive mother passes away. It’s not until years later, after his uncle passes, that he dares to brave a return to Ashby House. This time he has his faithful wife on his side and isn’t alone.

This had some twists and turns that made it fun and made you pay attention to the little details all the way up until the end. This story was like an onion, with each chapter peeling away another layer of the mystery.

What I found quite enjoyable were the different points of view/timelines as well as writing style (a character speaking to you, but then a letter, and back and forth); this really helped to develop each of the characters and their motivations. It made you want to know their backgrounds and what they would do.

I also liked the backdrop of the house and other small town it was located in because I could picture it clearly in my minds eye.

I’m always curious to read what Rachel Hawkins writes and I can’t wait to read what she comes out with next!

Thank you so much to the author, Rachel Hawkins, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the arc ebook of The Heiress in exchange for my thoughts!

5 ⭐️

This book had me at the book cover. I was completely immersed in Jules & camdens quaint little like in CO…. Until you foresee that the ish is about to hit the fan.

There were several other narratives happening synonymously, ruby had quite a bit to say through her letters. This is the part where you are completely engrossed in this tragic story of someone who has lived a mostly privileged life. The details start to seep out and there is just no stopping them.

We find out Camden left for college and wasn’t supported bc he didn’t do all the things ruby preferred so she cut him off until he was at the point he was forced to go home to hopefully reckon with her. I will leave this for you to find out in the book.

All in all, be prepared for a very juicy, convoluted familial story. Just when you think you’ve reached the Pennicle you likely have only touched the tip of the iceberg.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a psychological thriller esp around family drama.

"New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins returns with a twisted new gothic suspense about an infamous heiress and the complicated inheritance she left behind.

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.

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.

And as Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? 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."

The best part of the new year is that we get a new Rachel Hawkins book.

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins is the master of gothic suspense!
This is definitely a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Hawkins has filled the pages with mystery, suspense and plot twists to make this impossible to predict.
This is definitely an intriguing read which has kept me hooked, been impossible to work out and I’ve devoured in just one sitting.
Brimming with eerie mystery and hair-raising details. Rachel Hawkins does not disappoint! A unique and suspenseful thriller that will leave you wanting more.

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!