Synopsis: Avery Grambs isn’t your typical High School student. She gets good grades while occasionally living in her car, and her best and only friend lives thousands of miles away. Her only dream is to study actuary science, make a bunch of money, and travel the world. Her entire life changes the moment she meets Grayson Hawthorne, the heir-apparent of the Hawthorne family fortune. He informs Avery she has been named in his grandfather, Tobias’ Hawthorne’s, will and must travel to Texas immediately so the will  can be read. Avery is named inheritor of Tobias Hawthorne’s multi-billion dollar legacy and all Avery must do to inherit the billions is live in Hawthorne House for one year with the rest of the Hawthorne family. A family who has been cheated out of a billion dollar inheritance. Not everyone is happy about this twist of fortunes and Avery must solve the puzzle of why she was named the inheritor of a man she’s never met before its too late.

My Thoughts: Not many books can grab my attention and hold it straight through for 400 pages. The Inheritance Games accomplished this and more. I was so hooked that I read the last 200 pages in a single sitting because I HAD to know how this story ended. Jennifer Lynn Barnes did a great job of introducing a large cast of characters and making each one unique enough that I never got confused which Hawthorne was talking; and there are a lot of Hawthornes. From the first page the author begins introducing clues and layering the story. Numbers that seem random are suddenly essential to finding the next clue, and a casual line from one hundred pages before comes back to clarify a clue. This is a very well written mystery that had me guessing wild theories every chapter. I also appreciate the author laying the groundwork for new mysteries in subsequent titles. 

I’m going to address the only negative, and qualify it, because it isn’t a universal negative. I’m a married man in his mid-30’s with two amazing daughters. This means I am far, far removed from the time in my life when every person of the opposite sex was a distraction. But Avery Grambs is 17 and obsessed with boys. She notices their chiseled abs, their sharp features, their silver eyes, and the way it feels when one stands a bit closer to her than anyone has before. As I read The Inheritance Games I found myself wishing Avery would stop pining and just get on with solving the mystery. I was trying to get my Scooby Doo on! If teenage love is your thing though, this is going to be a perfect book for you. 

This is one of my favorite, fun books and I’m excited to begin the next books in the series.