TITLE: The Heiress
AUTHOR: Rachel Hawkins
PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Press
PUBLISHING DATE: January 9, 2024/span>
PAGES: 304
SOURCE: ARC
FROM GOODREADS: 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. In the aftermath of her death, that estate—along with a nine-figure fortune and the complicated legacy of being a McTavish—pass to her adopted son, Camden.
But to everyone’s surprise, Cam 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, Camden is a McTavish in name only, but a summons in the wake of his uncle’s death brings him and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning 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 twisted secrets they keep—the more determined she is for her husband to claim everything Ruby once intended for him to have.
But Ruby’s plans were always more complicated than they appeared. 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.
MY THOUGHTS: I have read all of Rachel Hawkins' recent adult releases and find that they can be hit or miss for me (however, when she writes as Erin Sterling, I find I almost ALWAYS love everything she does). I really liked The Villa and Reckless Girls, but The Wife Upstairs was a miss for me. One thing remains constant, I find her books to be very quick reads and even when they don't knock it out of the park for me, I still enjoy something about them. Sadly though, The Heiress falls into The Wife Upstairs category.
Ashby House has always been inhabited by the McTavish family. Cam and his wife of ten years, Jules, lives a quiet life in Colorado. Very few people know that when Cam's adopted mother Ruby passed away, she left the entire McTavish fortune to her so. However, Cam wanted nothing to do with his past and only when he receives a plea from his cousin to come help make (and fund) some needed repairs to Ashby House, does Cam decide it's time to deal with the demons in the Ashby House closet. Along with Jules, who has some ulterior motives of her own for wanting to visit Ashby House, the two embark on a trip that is sure to change their lives forever.
I really liked Cam and felt that for such a crappy and high-profile life, he turned out pretty good. Jules remained questionable in my head and although it took me a while, I eventually discovered why. Yet the real villains of the tale are the McTavish's, especially Ruby, Cam's mother. Through alternating POVs and letters written to a mysterious someone by Ruby herself, the reader learns just how twisted money has made the McTavish clan. Or better yet, where they twisted all along despite their lineage.
My main complaint with the book is that I found it extremely predictable. I guess each twist and turn before they were revealed and nothing about the ending really caught me off guard. I think this is a book people are either going to love of find mediocre. There is nothing really to dislike and it was an easy read and a good way to pass a few hours on a cold, blustery and sometimes snowy day.
MY RATING: 3 PAWS
