🅶🅴🅽🆁🅴—𝑀𝓎𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓎 / 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝒾𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓇
🗓ℙ𝕦𝕓 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖—𝕁𝕒𝕟𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕪 𝟡, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟜

"𝓕𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓵𝔂" 𝓲𝓼 𝓪 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓭--𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓪 𝓵𝓸𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮, 𝓘'𝓭 𝓰𝓾𝓮𝓼𝓼. 𝓘'𝓿𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓼𝓸 𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝔂 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓽𝓻𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓯𝓲𝓰𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓭 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓶𝓮𝓪𝓷𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓮.”

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Ruby McTavish is an intriguing lady, kidnapped at a young age, has four husbands who died, and is the richest women in North Carolina. When Ruby dies, she leaves her fortune behind for her adopted son, Cameron. Cam wants nothing to do with his inheritance or his crazy family. Ten years after Ruby’s death, Cam is summoned back to his hometown and forced to deal with the family drama that he has worked so hard to leave behind. Told in multiple perspectives by Cam and his wife Jules, we slowly uncover who the real Ruby was and the secrets that have been kept by each and every character in this book. A deep dark look on how far people will go in blurring the boundaries between black and white when money is involved. Is money really the root of all evil?

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
I binged this book so fast! I really enjoyed the writing style of this book with the multiple perspectives and the letters and interviews intertwined within the chapters. This story keeps you on your toes with all of the twists and turns. I found all the characters to be intriguing and complex. You are all in for a treat once you meet Ruby!! This is my 3rd book my Rachel Hawkins and definitely my favorite. Who doesn’t love reading about rich people and all their crazy family drama?? 😜

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💫Multiple perspectives (wife and husband)
💫Family drama
💫Fast paced binge worthy reads
💫Fun dark and twisted stories
💫Variety of story telling styles: Interviews, articles and letters distributed within the story
💫Reading about the wealthy

💰𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾💰
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

💕Q U O T E: “𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓈𝓃’𝓉 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒾𝓉’𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒸𝒽𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒.”

🙏 Thank you NetGalley, St. Martins Press, and Rachel Hawkins for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts 💕

I really enjoyed this thriller. There are 3 character points of view we hear throughout the book- Jules, Camden, and Ruby. I'm so glad that we got to see inside each of their minds. It really helped propel the story. The McTavish family is truly awful, and I was so curious about how things would end up for Camden. I was surprised by many things in this book, and it really kept me engaged at every point. Definitely recommend for fans of twisted family stories.
Thanks to Net Galley for the book to review.

Glad I got to read this early. What a family! Liked the different POVs and twists. Will recommend to patrons. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

This is Rachel Hawkins best book yet!
Read if you like:
•The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
•Verity
•The Only One Left

It’s such a great mix of letters admitting the past, current and past family drama unfolding, an inheritance, a mansion, love story lines, missing little girl, and most of all karma.

Nothing was super shocking to me because it was a perfectly well drawn plot and unfolding where I saw it coming but not in a way where I didn’t want to keep reading! I couldn’t put it down and flew through it🙌🏼

The Heiress is Rachel Hawkins at her best! The twists, turns, and last minute revelations are absolute genius and I would be shocked if a reader figures out the McTavish family secrets before the final words of the epilogue. I can’t recommend this book enough!

Love everything by Rachel Hawkins and this is no different! Loved all the various POVs and also different ways of revealing past secrets through letters from the now dead matriarch. Had a little trouble connecting with any of the main characters - they're all pretty much awful - but lots of revelations at the end made it worth it.

4.5 ⭐ Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for an ARC of this copy!

I flew through this book! I loved how the author weaved the present-day story with letters from the past with alternating perspectives. It kept me turning the page for more. There were so many mysteries to sort through. Hawkins will keep you guessing up until the very last page. Highly recommend this book!

Read if you love:
Rich people drama
Southern gothic atmosphere
Questionable narrators
Multiple perspectives

The Heiress is another enjoyable and twisty book from Rachel Hawkins. Once you get into it, it's hard to put down. In true Hawkins fashion, the characters are both likable and hateable all at the same time. It's fast-paced, twisty, atmospheric, and tense. Part thriller and part family drama - what's not to love?

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

Really enjoyed this one and the twists and turns it took. I haven't read many of Rachel Hawkins' books, but I definitely will be reading more after this one!

I enjoyed this book. It was good and twisty and involved dark family secrets. It wasn’t quite as much of a guilty pleasure beach read as her others (The Villa and Reckless Girls) but I still enjoyed it.

Loved this! Dual perspectives plus flashbacks. Ruby gave me an Evelyn Hugo vibes (but not nearly as likeable!) Another great one by Rachel Hawkins

I loved this book! It was my third by Hawkins, and probably my favorite. I got so drawn into the characters, and could not put it down. I highly recommend this if you want to escape for a while. Also, it got me out of a reading slump. I loved the setting of the Appalachian Mountains, and I loved the family drama!

I loved this book! Not only was it a page turner, it was completely original. I didn't know how it was going to unfold. I highly recommend this and other Hawkins novels such as Reckless Girls and The Wife Upstairs.
When one of North Carolina's wealthiest women dies, everything is left to her adopted son. This creates a bit of drama within the family and sets up a twisty and satisfying story!
Thank you to the publisher for this copy, my opinions are my own.
Lana Cole

This book kept me on the edge of my seat! I couldn’t put it down! There were so many twists I couldn’t predict.

This one kept me guessing with many twists and turns of events. An ominous and engaging thriller kept me turning pages. Money really does make people do crazy things!

This was a slow burn for me. I took me until about 30% to really become invested. After that I really enjoyed it. Loved reading the letters from Ruby. It definitely had Evelyn Hugo vibes. Had a good twist!

3.5 ⭐️


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC !

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins was a fast-paced and gripping read. I enjoyed it, but felt that it was too much like a horror version of "Evelyn Hugo." The book just did not have enough of its own tone or unique qualities to make it stand out in the long term. A good summer read, but not one I would include in my top books of 2023 list,. I will say, however, the ending is very strong and leaves the reader thinking about what is to become of its main characters and if they will ever escape the grip of their past and who they are to their core as they step into their futures.

Book Review: The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins by St. Martin’s Press


Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this entertaining book in exchange for an honest review.

The primary character, Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore, is depicted as a series of letters in flashback format – a confessional, if you will – on things that transpired during her life and her multiple marriages – all of which ended with Ruby a widow four times over. Ruby was famous (and as we learn, infamous) for having been a kidnapping victim when she was a child. The family was astoundingly wealthy and the mystery of her kidnapping and ultimate return to the family is a key and subtle plot point. Although she never had any children of her own despite multiple marriages, she adopted a young boy, Camden. Upon her death, Ruby leaves her entire estate and wealth to Camden which greatly impacted and annoyed the other surviving McTavish family members who felt the estate – and Ashby House -- should have been distributed to them as the “blood” relatives.

Camden left the area for many reasons, but principally because the McTavish family members were a complicated lot, and unpleasant, competitive, calculating and downright mean to him. Although he was still the heir, he didn’t return until summoned 10 years later by an attorney representing his uncle, who had just passed. When he returns, it is with his wife Jules who feels Cam should return to North Carolina and take possession of what is rightfully his.

So many questions remain, the answers to which are slowly revealed as the story unfolds. Although Cam is not a McTavish by birth, he is Ruby’s heir – and with that comes a lot of responsibility and having to put up with the McTavish relatives – none of which harbor any good feelings towards him, nor he for them. As we learn, money makes people do unthinkable things.

Rachel Hawkins knows how to write a thriller. In THE HEIRESS, the spotlight is on a massive mansion in the Blue Ridge mountains instead of a villa in the Italian countryside. Cam and his wife Jules live a simple, quiet life in Colorado until they return to Cam's home town in North Carolina to face his estranged family and his inheritance of Ashby House and the McTavish family money. Lots of twists and turns in this story, where everyone is an unreliable narrator and everyone is playing the long game. A modern Gothic tale featuring an old house frozen in time, family secrets, backstabbing relatives, a changeling, and more!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early! This may be my favorite Rachel Hawkins yet.
This story about the impact of money and wealth on the human condition is told from mulitple POVS and timelines: Camden, an adopted heir to a fortune he doesn't want, Jules, his wife who wants to see what money could bring to their family, and confessional letters written by Ruby, an heiress, Camden's mother, and a 'husband-killer'.
Typically I am not a fan of the 'unreliable narrator' but this book did such a good job telling you the narrator was lying to the other characters, not to you, for motivations beyond the page. It worked really well to set up suspense and secrets as we learned if Ruby was really a killer, why Camden so desperately wanted nothing to do with his inheritance, and if Jules had a bigger part to play in than just devoted wife. The twists were compelling and I did not see most of them coming!
Overall, this is an excellent read that I did not want to put down: a twisty tale of the human condition and a real introspection into money, morals, and what we'll do for independence.