Inheritance Games, The Hawthorne Legacy, and The Final Gambit: the books of a terrifically twisted and tricky trilogy filled with love, mystery, games, and risk. 

Jennifer Lynn Barnes does an exceptional job keeping the plot entertaining and engaging. She intertwines subplots of romance, friendship, and family values to give the trilogy immense depth. As well, she allows the reader to feel fully immersed in the lives of the Hawthornes. 

The Trilogy follows the protagonist, Avery Grambs, as she is left as the heir to a $46.2 billion after the death of Texas billionaire, Tobias Hawthorne. Avery has never met Tobias Hawthorne, but to keep the money, the terms of the will has her live in the Hawthorne House where she is surrounded by the entire Hawthorne family, who was just disinherited.

She is introduced to the whole family, including the grandsons Tobias Hawthorne had been prepping to take over the Hawthorne legacy, Nash was the oldest, then Grayson who was a year older than Avery, Jameson, who is Avery’s age, and Xander, the youngest. The grandsons are around her age, and they help her navigate the crazy family and bring her into a family that is otherwise trying to push her away.

While the books build off each other, the stories aren’t repetitive and each book introduces a new antagonist with a strong plot. Each rival reveals old Hawthorne family secrets and new unexpected worries for the new heir to face as the fortune comes closer to becoming hers.

The books are very fast-paced and easy to understand while developing a complex and exciting plot. I flew through the first book in a matter of hours, and the second and third in the same fashion. In roughly 400 pages a piece, there is a perfect amount of description to create a picturesque vision of the fantastic house and scenery that the reader gets to explore.

The late heir was infamous for the riddles and puzzles he made for his grandsons to build their strategic thinking and prepare them for the real world. As Avery adjusts to her new life, the reader can see the immense change from Avery’s old life, to her new life filled with glitz, glamor, and unfortunate danger.

The family dynamics and drama were a big part of what kept the series engaging and turned the pages for the reader, anxious to uncover the next clue and become entranced by the next puzzle, the next riddle, and the next adventure. This book exemplifies how family can be complicated, especially when a massive sum of money enters the picture. This book is a window into the lives of a family built off riddles and games.  As each book ended it felt like I had just left the best escape room experience of my life. I yearned to go back to the Hawthorne House with games around every corner and the intense drama and romance between the characters.

Recommending this series to anyone would be the opposite of a very risky gamble. I would rate this series a 9.5/10 due to its easy readability, and interesting plotlines. Anyone who likes adventure, mystery, and drama would enjoy these books as it does an incredible job of creating an interesting quick read with a deep plot and stories that intertwine to create a complex masterpiece worthy of one of Tobias Hawthorne’s games.