The Inheritance Games By Jennifer Lynn Barnes Novels & Stories

The first book to read is obviously 'The Inheritance Games' itself, which sets up the whole premise with Avery inheriting that insane fortune from Tobias Hawthorne. You need that foundation. Then it's straight into 'The Hawthorne Legacy'—that's book two. Things get way more complicated with the family history and the search for Toby. Don't skip ahead; the puzzles build on each other.

After that, it's 'The Final Gambit'. This one really pushes Avery and the Hawthorne brothers to their limits with the new challenger. The fourth book is 'The Brothers Hawthorne', which shifts focus a bit to Jameson and Grayson's POVs, dealing with their own pasts. I'd say publication order is totally the way to go for the main story arc.

I've seen some people ask if they should read the novella 'The Final Gambit' bonus chapters or 'The Brothers Hawthorne' first, but the novella stuff is extra flavor, not required for sequence. Stick with the core four in order. You'll be flipping pages trying to solve the riddles right along with them.

I'm not big on spoilers usually, but since you asked... The ending ties up the main mystery of who Tobias Hawthorne really was and why he chose Avery. The biggest twist is that Toby, the 'dead' grandson, is actually alive. He'd been living as Grayson's friend, Jameson's rival, and the groundskeeper, Xander's buddy, this whole time. He faked his death because he believed his grandfather killed his mother. The will's real purpose was to bring him home and force the family to confront their past.

Avery doesn't get the money, not all of it anyway. She decides to split the inheritance with the four Hawthorne brothers, which I thought was a fitting choice for her character. She gets the Hawthorne House, but more importantly, she chooses Jameson. The last few pages have them racing off in his car for another game, which sets up the sequel perfectly. The whole 'alive grandson' thing felt a little rushed to me, but it does make you rethink every interaction Toby had with the brothers while he was in disguise.

Honestly, the part that stuck with me was Avery's final decision about the money. It showed she was never really in it for the wealth; she was solving the puzzle for the truth and for a place to belong. The book ends with more puzzles hinted at, obviously leading into 'The Hawthorne Legacy'.

So, I was actually searching for this yesterday because my book club just finished the first novel. The movie rights were optioned by Disney’s Onyx Collective back in 2022, I think? But it seems like it’s still in development, stuck in that Hollywood limbo. No casting news or a director announced as far as I can tell.

There is a pretty solid official audiobook adaptation though, narrated by Christie Moreau. She does a great job with all the Hawthorne brothers’ distinct voices, especially Jameson’s mischievous tone. It’s on Audible and Libby. Beyond that, I haven’t seen any TV series or graphic novel versions pop up. Fingers crossed someone picks up the project soon; the puzzle-box nature of the plot feels perfect for a limited series.