DID I LIKE IT?

I love this book so much I read it in just one day! I don't remember the last time I did that for a book that wasn't a) a Readathon book or b) written in a different format (Several People Are Typing, Technically You Started It, etc.)! I really loved the writing style, and the mysteries were just so enticing I couldn't stop reading. I absolutely LOVE this book!

FAVORITE CHARACTER?

Xander is still my favorite, but Max comes in at a close second! And Xander and Max together? AMAZING!!!

WHY DID I READ IT?

I fell in love with Jennifer Lynn Barnes' writing when I read Little White Lies back in 2018, and I've been reading all of her books since!

WILL I RE-READ IT?

DEFINITELY YES!

THREE WORDS TO DESCRIBE THE BOOK

puzzles, suspense, WHAT

GOODREADS REVIEW

 just WHOA

I have never read a more exciting and heart racing second book before.

The Hawthorne Legacy continues Avery’s story of becoming the Hawthorne Heiress but this time Avery and the Hawthorne brothers are on the hunt for a ghost…who isn’t at all who everyone thinks he is.

There were twist and turns, riddles and puzzles, mysteries on top of mysteries- and the tension between Avery and two of the Hawthorne brothers is *chefs kiss*.

This book constantly had my brain firing off, my heart skipping beats and there was squealing from my lips a time or two.

The Inheritance Game was a fun and thrilling book- The Hawthorne Legacy is daring and dangerous and absolutely a MUST READ!!!

Having to wait a whole year for the third and final book is going to be my villain origin story. I need answers and I need them now!!

4.5 stars

”I’ve spent my entire life not running toward anyone. I know what’s it like to just stand there—to not be able to do anything else. I know what it’s like to lose someone.”

a big thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

trust me when I say that this was so much better than the first book. Obviously we don’t see that a lot here so The Hawthorne Legacy was definitely a pleasant surprise for me!

I have to admit, I missed these characters. All of them were just as I remembered and I loved reading about them again!! Avery, Grayson, Jameson, Xander, Nash, they all brought something to this book and I enjoyed seeing them working together.

The plot twists though, oh my god. My jaw dropped so many times throughout this whole book, at this point I just think it’s fixed hanging in place. I didn’t see any of those coming from miles away.

I’m now mad that I have to wait for another whole year for the third book even though I have little to no idea what it’s going to entail.

Also minor spoilers (?) but for those of you wondering if the love triangle is solved...consider your wish 80% granted :D (you’ll understand why i left out the other twenty percent when you read it)

Book of the summer! Amazing follow up to the first. Unbelievable twists and turns in every chapter. Can't wait to get my pre-ordered copy!

What I wouldn’t GIVE to be a long lost Hawthorne minus the threats for my safety, it would be amazing! Ahah but I’m not surprised, and neither is anyone who listens to me talk about this series, I LOVED this book and adore this series so much!

The Hawthorne Legacy is book two in what I believe will be a trilogy and did it feel somewhat like a building block for the perfect book three? Yes. But did I still love every single twist, turn, life threat and swoon worthy scene?! HECK YES.

Every single character in this series is intriguing and unique and always has me guessing what will happen, I literally can’t handle it lol but for real, the Hawthorne brothers *chefs kiss*, Barnes sure knows how to write up a bunch of millionaires worthy of swooning over! But Max by far is my favorite support character for this series and she’s totally underrated!

There’s just one tiny thing that’s been bothering me and it’s the FAXING (yes, if you know max, it’s totally what she would say) LOVE TRIANGLE. I despise them in the nicest way possible lol my part of the triangle never gets picked and it always makes me sad. But no matter what happens, I will remain #teamGrayson.

With The Inheritance Games being in my top 3 reads of 2020, and one of the books I raved about most on my TikTok, The Hawthorne Legacy was a bit of a letdown.

I went in chasing that jaw-dropping feeling that came with many of the plot twists in the first book. I was expecting the same for this book, but the "reveals" were set up in a way that made no sense to the plot. I ended the book wondering the reasoning for half of them and still asking myself what questions we had answered and what ones we still needed.

The pacing of this book was all over the place. The only time it picked up was in the last 3/4, but the events happened so fast and with no prior setup leaving me with more frustrating confusion.

Now, let's discuss this love triangle situation we had going on. I am not a huge love triangle fan, but this was one of the only books that I did not mind it in because I loved both Jameson and Grayson. But this book flipped that narrative upside down and tried to paint one of them out to be bad? It was like certain characters had completely different motives and personalities than they did in the first book. I thought the whole point of the "game" was to bring the boys closer, not pit the reader against ******.

The ending was meh, and the only reason I'll be reading the third book is to HOPEFULLY see some redemption of a certain character. I went into this book hoping for the best and am really disappointed I did not like it.

I’ve been reading Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s books for some 8 years now (don’t think about it, I tell myself…), so I was really happy to be a part of this tour! After the cliffhanger in the first book, I also couldn’t wait to dive deeper into this mystery. The Hawthorne Legacy explores the unsolved pieces of the Hawthorne puzzle and discovers new ones alone the way.

This review contains spoilers for book one.

After discovering that Toby Hawthorne is alive—and that she knows him—Avery finds her inheritance of the Hawthorne fortune even more confusing. She must untangle the clues left behind with the Hawthorne grandsons, Jameson, Grayson, and Xander. Along the way, they uncover more family secrets until they reach mysteries that would have been better left untouched.

Barnes always gets me invested in her characters! I was especially into Avery’s scenes with Jameson; what can I say, I’m always drawn to the bad boy characters who just want to be loved…But anyways, it was very fascinating delving more into the Hawthorne family secrets, as well as how these have affected the Hawthorne boys in the long term. Avery also begins to take more of an active role in this investigation; she no longer wants to be a pawn in the game, but rather be the player.

I really enjoyed getting to see more of the Hawthorne grandsons’ dynamics. They’ve always been pitted against each other, but they also clearly care for each other. Having more Xander scenes, with him talking about more childhood memories, was really nice!

I also found the plot to be intriguing. It was easier for me to follow the way everything unfolded in this book as opposed to the mysteries laid out in the first book. I think this was because I had prior knowledge and also the secrets were a little more straightforward and linear here.

The romances were promising; it’s hard to tell if we’re still pursuing the love triangle or not, but I’m not particularly opposed to either of them. Again, though, I’m leaning more toward Jameson because of the aforementioned penchant for his character archetype.

I had previously thought this series was only a duology. This book didn’t end on as much of a cliffhanger as the first book, but there are many secrets to uncover so I can’t wait to read the last book. You’ll definitely enjoy The Hawthorne Legacy if you’ve enjoyed this author’s previous works!

I loved that this felt like it jumped right back into the world and where things left off from the first book. Sometimes with sequels, there is so much recapping and takes away from the book itself.

The pacing seemed a bit off; the first part was captivating, and I was flipping pages very quickly. There was so much jam packed in the last 10% or so of the book, seemed like too many things to wrap up/too convenient. I am very excited to see there is a third coming out next year to hopefully tie together some remaining pieces and loose ends!

I had to sit with this for a few days before I could put my thoughts into words.

I devoured this book in less than 2 days. The secrets kept me pushing forward, but the true appeal of this story is the characters. I loved every single character in this duology. They all had so much depth that I could not help but want to know more. Each of the Hawthorne boys was magnetic and I loved that Avery was tough and stood up for herself. Their dynamic together was perfect as well.

I was sad that there weren't as many puzzles in this one as the first. And there wasn't so much a mystery as secrets to be unearthed. I would have enjoyed it more if this was going to be a longer series in all honesty. The ending for this installment left me with questions and wanting to know more. While the main theme is resolved, there were so many more questions brought to light that I felt weren't answered satisfactorily. Even an epilogue would have had the potential to satisfy the questions that I was left with.

All in all, I enjoyed this series. I just wish that the second book had been as engrossing as the first. I would also truly enjoy a book for each brother. (If that was ever a thought.)

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Little Brown Books for this early copy.

AHHHHH I LOVED IT! I’ve been eagerly waiting for this sequel! I was soooo ready to find out more mysteries, and couldn’t wait for everything to unravel. Jameson and Grayson… ugh swoon… AGAIN! Everybody loves a good ole love triangle!! This book picks right back up where the inheritance games left off and I appreciate that because wow I couldn’t remember some people at first 🤣

This was such a fun read and I had a blast continuing to try and guess the riddles, puzzles and clues to get more answers! I really like this author, and I think she does such a great job of throwing plot twists in and making you think one thing, and then BAM, something completely different reveals itself!

Definitely one I was excited to read and would recommend!! And it definitely got me out of a reading slump! YAY!!! Thanks to netgalley and little brown books for young readers for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I was SO excited when I saw the email about this one. I can’t tell you how much I loved the first book. As soon as I got this I put everything else to the side and dove in. This book was just as good if not better than the first. I love all these characters so so so much!! I love the mysteries and games that they have to solve throughout the book. A perfect balance of mystery and romance! There’s so many little twists and secrets in this one, I literally could not put it down. Please please please give this a read when it comes out. I cannot recommend this series enough!!

THE HAWTHORNE LEGACY is my most anticipated release of the year, and I am so lucky to have received an early copy of it! I loved reading this book so much. It’s a strong sequel full of action, mystery, and romance. This series is so fun and fast-paced—it’s easy to fly through the story. I would love to stay with these characters longer and read a third book! Fans are going to love this follow up to THE INHERITANCE GAMES!