Could it be? Have I found my favorite Rachel Hawkins book and my first 5-star read of the year??

I'm not going to lie, it took me a second to get into this because of other books I was reading, but this morning I was only a third of the way through the book and I devoured the rest of it since then.

This book is told from Camden and, his wife, Jules' POV, but Ruby's letters and some articles are sprinkled throughout the story. Camden, along with Jules, begrudgingly returns to Ashby House, a decade after rejecting his inheritance and the rest of his terrible family. As he's there dealing with the estate, secrets are revealed and I just could not put this down!

Ruby's letters were fascinating! Ruby was kidnapped, and later returned, when she was just a toddler. She had four husbands who died under mysterious circumstances. She later adopted Camden, and left him Ashby House and all of the money, which added even more tension between the remaining family members.

I know I said way too much about the plot but I promise there are so many juicy secrets in this story.

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

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

I really truly enjoyed this. I really liked the characters and the idea that a heiress hates her family so much she screws them all over for her favorite person. And while I am not always the biggest fan of epistolary use in novels, this was done really well. I know we aren't supposed to love all the characters, but I found them actually worthwhile to the story where in some books they are just there to be the worst person you have ever heard of.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for sending me the pre-approved widget of The Heiress! This review is entirely my own and is based off an advance copy of The Heiress.

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The Heiress is the story of a family, a family that comes from money and lots of it. It's a story of secrets, the kind the ridiculously wealthy are able to keep. Cam is the sole heir to the Ashby House and McTavish fortune, and he has absolutely no desire to claim the inheritance his adoptive mother left him. But a summons brings him and his wife of ten years, Jules, back to North Carolina, where truths start coming out.

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OVERALL: 5/5🌟
STORY: 4.5/5🌟
WRITING: 5/5🌟
CHARACTERS: 5/5🌟
ENJOYMENT: 10/10🌟

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STORY:
Humanity is a complicated thing, isn't it? What makes a person, themselves? What makes our actions good or bad? Do the circumstances of our births pre-determine who will we turn out to be?
In a delightfully, morally grey and thrilling way, Hawkins tackles these questions in her thriller, The Heiress. She tells the story in the most delightful of ways. While the primary point of views are Cam and Jules, the story is also weaved through a series of letters from Ruby, Cam's adoptive mother, and a series of newspaper, magazine, and tabloid articles.

It is through the letters that we learn a significant amount about Ruby. And its through the article clippings that we learn even more about the McTavishes and the public's reactions to the scandals and news that surrounded the family. I greatly enjoyed this creative use of storytelling. So much so, this was a one day read for me. I sat down and i didnt' come up for air until I hit 100% on my kindle.

This story kept me on my toes. While I did certainly guess a couple of the reveals, they always happened in a way that I didn't expect. This book's plot weaved up and down, dropping hints and red herrings, it truely was a fantastic ride.

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WRITING:
Hawkin's writing is incredibly addictive to read. It really did not take me long to get sucked into her story, in her ability to change her writer's voice depending on whose POV we are reading, or whether its a Ruby letter or article clipping. And don't get me started on the way Hawkins keeps you hooked, with cliff hanging chapters that hint at questions being answered, only to be thwarted by a change in POV or another Ruby letter appearing (which is always, ALWAYS a tantalizing read). Through all the different POVs and deliveries, Hawkin's writer's voice maintained a simple elegance that was easy and comforting to read, while also having me diving for the dictionary only a couple times. (Now I know the fancy long word for someone in their 70s)

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CHARACTERS:
There was no in between. I either loved or despised the characters. And I feel that was the intention of the author. Cam and Jules were easily likable, same with Ruby. Even with all the grey morality that surrounded them, they were easy to love and easy to feel for.
Cam's extended family tho... ooo they were pieces of works. Ben and Libby were written to be someone we all knew growing up. Those rich kids at your school who had too much money and not enough humanity in them. Disliking them was easy. Very easy. Nelle was even easier to dislike from what Ruby had written about her in her letters.
All in all, these characters were incredibly well written to have been able to draw such black and white reactions from me. There was no wishy washy-ness from me. I knew exactly how I felt about each character.

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ENJOYMENT:
All in all, I quite enjoyed this book. It took me for loops I never expected and kept me on my toes. I hungered for more with every page turn. Even the epilogue kept the surprises coming. Fantastic read.

This was such an Addictive and Captivating Book! I just could not put it down. I started it last night and just finished it tonight. It is definitely filled with tons of family drama. I just had to find out what would happen next. It has many twists and turns and often I was left wondering if anyone could be trusted. Excellent Thriller! Definitely worth Reading and you will be turning the pages fast.

Thank you NetGalley, Rachel Hawkins, and St. Martin’s Press for granting me a copy of this book. I always leave reviews of books I read.

From the beginning this book sucked me in. I caught myself wanting to Google to learn more about the characters, and then reminding myself that it is fiction. It felt so real and so interesting, that I was ready to go down a wormhole!

The tension builds slowly in the beginning, as the reader is introduced to a happily married couple who are about to go through something life changing. The circumstances seem normal enough, the husband was adopted into a wealthy family, full of tension, and his adoptive mom has some untimely deaths in her past. But nothing that seems absolutely horrifying, which leaves me wondering why I am filled with dread as I get deeper into the story?

I love the setting in the Appalachian mountains (as a Georgia girl) and how wonderfully they are described.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ the kind of book that you wish you could keep on reading. A satisfying end, and at the same time an unfinished story.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins

What a rollercoaster! Hidden behind the huge beautiful Ashby house lies layers of lies and secrets! I did not want to put this book down and I didn’t guess any of the twists! So good. Preorder this one and start your 2024 out right! Pub date: January 9th

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This was like a mix between The seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and The Thirteen Tale. It was super fun to read, my favorite part were the Ruby letters, this is my first time reading this author and I’m sure it won’t be my last.

The synopsis of this sounded so good, I was excited to get to it! I love reading about rich people problems, that it included letters from the deceased, and that it had articles from the deaths and kidnappings. It made it all the more fun!

I DNF’d her book last year, so I didn’t really know what to expect, but I ended up really liking this one!

I loved that there were sooo many mysteries. From the past and the present! I was continually shocked and stayed up late cause I could not put it down!

This book is told from the perspective of three people: First, there’s Camden, an orphan who was adopted by a very wealthy widow with a very scandalous past. While there are those who think he was a lucky boy, his new life is not without its drawbacks, so when he enters college, he leaves his family and their fortune behind to strike out on his own, eventually getting married and becoming a teacher.

Second, there’s Camden’s supportive wife, Jules, who works a dead-end job as a historical figure churning butter for tourists at a local historical attraction. After years without contact, Camden’s estranged family finally convinces him to return to the family estate to settle the family’s financial problems, and Jules secretly could not be more excited at the prospect of moving into the family estate and finally living the life they deserve.

The third perspective is Camden’s adoptive mother, Ruby, revealed through a series of letters she wrote prior to her death. These by far are the most interesting, full of secrets and unexpected twists, adding to the suspenseful plot that already kept me guessing til the end.

St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley kindly provided me an ARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Rachel Hawkins does it again! loved the use of mixed media and using flashbacks to the past. it was such a fun read.

thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I just reading "The Heiress" by Rachel Hawkins. Thank to NetGalley and St Martins Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. This a book with an interesting in intriguing plot damaged characters and exposed secrets...and they all come together to create a wonderfully written story with a bang up ending.

The story centers around wealth status narcicism and of course love. Jules and her husband Cambden return to his childhood home to deal with his inheritance which he doesn't want because it is tainted with lies an deceit. He was adopted into the wealthy world of the McTavish family and his mother Ruby who had a storied past.
Camden has secrets that he is keeping from Jules and...Jules has. bigger secrets that she is keeping from Camden. When they return to the "Ashby House" slowly the secrets start to unravel and reveal themselves in a delicious and twisted way. Let's just say that no-one is innocent in this story.

What I liked about this book was the way the author crafted this mystery. She told the story through different narrators: Jules, Camden and a series of letters from Ruby McTavish which are written to who we don't know until the very end. I loved the character of Ruby McTavish and her story was fascinating: POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL! I liked how she tried to make ammends at the end of the novel

What I didn't like about the story was some of the characters were a bit cartoonish and some of the sub-plots were unecessary. But the story revealed perfectly the impact of money, wealth and power and how the rich can get away with way too much.

I read this book quickly and it was hard to put down, A great pace and a great mystery that was perfectly ended with a final perfect reveal.

Happy Reading

I received this eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

2.5

This is the second book I’ve read by Rachel Hawkins–I read The Villa last year and it was a page turner. I found The Heiress less thrilling–it had the potential (the people in this family were truly messed up and amoral) but switching between first person narration to letters to emails to articles made for choppy storytelling and too fast pacing and clustered reveals. And I anticipated many of the twists anyways. Misdirects about who was being addressed weren’t thrilling enough to overcome the overall too fast pacing.

Not gonna lie: I highly recommend starting the year with a twisty, juicy domestic thriller. And Rachel Hawkins’s “The Heiress” not only delivers fun plot twists in her Southern-tinged tale, but a huge dose of toxic family dynamics and women behaving badly in this multi-POV, dual timeline story.

The book follows Camden and Jules, a happily married couple living in Colorado who travel to Cam’s family’s North Carolina home for the first time together to settle some matters – because though he was adopted, he is the heir to the vast family fortune and holds the pursestrings.

As Cam navigates his estranged family and Jules’s own motivations emerge, so too does the story of the titular heiress: Ruby McTavish, a woman wrapped in scandal after being kidnapped as a child and growing up to survive four husbands.

Though I didn’t think I was in the right ~mood~ for this book when I started it, I was quickly won over by Hawkins’s storytelling, her lively characters, and her ability to weave in irreverant humor. Though I saw one of the twists coming, there were others that took me by surprise, and the story kept me on my toes as I turned the pages.

Overall, The Heiress is the kind of thriller that is so much addicting fun it will likely keep you up at night so that you can finish it – and not because it’s given you nightmares.

4.25🌟

I don't read many thrillers, but I will always read a new Rachel Hawkins. The Heiress was incredibly fast-paced with delightful twists and turns.

Is there any better way to start off a new reading year than with the latest book from an author you love?

My pick was THE HEIRESS by RACHEL HAWKINS and let me skip to the best part - I loved it!

I always know I’m in great hands with RACHEL HAWKINS. Hands that are often dark + diabolical + surprising + twisty. Her characters are snarky and sometimes a little evil — and always in the best ways. All of her books are pure delight and totally page turning and while I hesitate to play favorites this might be my fave of her books yet.

I’m an advocate of the-less-you-know-the-better when it comes to thrillers, but I’ll set a bit of a scene in case you need some more enticement:

Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore is not only the richest woman in North Carolina, but when she dies, she’s also its most notorious.

Ruby’s adopted son, Cam, wants little to do with the family estate, Ashby House, with his massive inheritance or with the surviving McTavishes. But after ten years away from Ashby & another death in the family, Cam reluctantly returns home, this time with his wife Jules at his side.

The legacy of Ruby is inescapable, as are the rumors that surrounded her for her entire life. And the McTavish blood heirs are still beyond bitter that Cam is the sole inheritor of the fortune they believe they are entitled to, making this one very complicated homecoming.

This book delivers on so many things that I love: We mix past & present timeline and multiple POVs. We get a reluctant return home. Some 4th wall breaking. And a mixed storytelling style of narrative + epistolary + magazine & news articles. And so much rich family behaving badly + the outsider coming in. Secrets and mysteries and seriously so much goodness packed into a tight story. I devoured it. And for the jewel on top - can we talk about this cover?

I had the great fortune of receiving both the eARC and Audiobook ARC of the THE HEIRESS so sending huge thanks to St. Martins Press & Macmillan Audio for giving me the opportunity to enjoy the book prior to its January 9th Pub Day. It’s the perfect addition to all the reading lists!

This story about a North Carolina family, its inheritance, a bunch of murders with (in)direct linkages was the perfect read to kick off the new year, especially during darker, gloomy days. It had me guessing what would happen (sometimes right, sometimes not) and not wanting to put it down!

Multiple viewpoints, multiple timelines, and characters you love to hate.... what's not to love?!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC.

This dual timeline story is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains at a sprawling, secluded mountain estate. The present-day story features the heir’s return with his wife to the town and the dysfunctional, toxic family he left behind to put his late mother’s affairs in order and repair the house.

Interspersed throughout the story are letters written by his mother, Ruby. Widowed 4 times over, she was known as Mrs. Kill-More by the end of her life. Within the pages of the letters, she reveals the courtship, marriage, and deaths of each of her husbands, as well as multiple family secrets. It’s glamorous and dark all at the same time.

Hawkins weaves a masterful story with twisted, flawed characters that I couldn’t put down. The secrets kept unfurling until the very last page. This is my favorite book of hers yet!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-ARC of THE HEIRESS by Rachel Hawkins in exchange for my review.

THE GOOD: The best part of this story comes after the 70% mark. I did not see the twist coming and loved everything after that point.

THE BAD: I think I might stick to this author's romances under her pen name, Erin Sterling, if I decide to keep reading books by her. I found the writing in this to be pretentious, even for a book called THE HEIRESS. It was a *very* slow-burn for a book just over 300 pages. The multiple husbands trope was giving Evelyn Hugo vibes, but sinister, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Ruby was also an unlikeable MC and I think that made reading this a bit daunting at times.

Kidnapping, possible baby switch, murders. Rich family mystery/drama reminiscent of prime time soaps. The ugly lives of the privileged. I liked the darkness of it and how nobody could trust each other. You never knew what was going to happen when 2 people were alone. And you sure should never turn your back on anyone in that house. A slow burn with a really good twist at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this eARC.

Camden is called back to Tavistock, NC to deal with his inheritance from the richest woman in NC aka his adoptive mom who has been widowed 4 times. She’s also known as “Mrs. Killmore” due to the mysterious circumstances surrounding each husbands death. This time he’s not going back to his childhood home, Ashby House, alone, he’s bringing his wife Jules who has her own ideas of how to handle the inheritance.

If you’re looking for a thriller that’s told in a unique format, I think you would really enjoy this. You get two POVs, plus news articles and letters written by Ruby.

I got sucked into this one pretty early on, once I read the first letter by Ruby I was hooked. Although I don’t think this is really a “thriller”, more so a juicy, rich people family drama.

I really enjoyed Ruby as a character and loved the setting of the Blue Ridge Mountains in NC. Ashby house felt like another character in the book and I felt I could picture it perfectly.

The only thing I disliked was that it was pretty predictable and none of the twists or reveals blew me away, but I’d still recommend if you’re looking for a quick read about uncovering family secrets.