Jameson shot me one of those devastating, crooked Jameson Winchester Hawthorne grins. “What are you saying, Heiress?”
I tossed the coin into the air, and as it turned, I thought about everything that had happened. All of it.
I’d found Toby.
I knew my mother’s secret.
I understood, more than ever, why my name had caught the attention of a billionaire who’d only met me once. Maybe that was all there was to it. Or maybe I was one stone meant for twelve birds, most of them still undiscovered.
Like Jameson had said, this was Hawthorne House. There would always be another mystery. Like me, Jameson would always be driven to solve them.
The coin landed. “Tails,” I said. “I kiss you.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. I pressed my lips to his. And this time, the joke was on me—because I wasn’t playing.
This wasn’t nothing.
This was the beginning—and I was ready to be bold.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book was written and revised in the spring and summer of 2020, largely while I was locked down at home with my husband and small children; The Inheritance Games came out in September 2020, mid-pandemic. Due to the tireless work and incredible support of my amazing publishing team, the book somehow managed to find its audience during this tumultuous time. More than any other book or series I have written, this one owes an incredible debt of gratitude toward the people without whom it simply could not have happened.
First, I would like to thank my incredible team at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. What you have done for the Inheritance Games series and for me as an author astounds and humbles me. I have no idea how I got so lucky as to work with a group of people whose enthusiasm, work ethic, generosity, and just all-around brilliance are so far off the charts that the chart isn’t even visible anymore. What all of you have done for these books—in unprecedented and incredibly challenging times, no less!—is more amazing than I could possibly say. I get tears in my eyes just thinking of all that this team has put into getting The Inheritance Games and The Hawthorne Legacy into the hands of readers.
Thank you to my incredible editor, Lisa Yoskowitz, whose brilliant editorial mind is only matched by the kindness and grace she extends to those she works with. Getting to work together again has been a dream come true.
Thank you to Megan Tingley and Jackie Engel; I cannot begin to express what an absolute joy it has been to be published by LBYR under your leadership.
Huge thanks to cover designer Karina Granda and artist Katt Phatt; the covers you have given The Inheritance Games and The Hawthorne Legacy are nothing short of perfection. I smile literally every time I see them!
To my incredible marketing and publicity teams, thank you, thank you, thank you for helping The Inheritance Games and The Hawthorne Legacy find so many readers. Thank you to Emilie Polster, who has been an incredible champion for these books from day one, and to Bill Grace, Savannah Kennelly, Christie Michel, Victoria Stapleton, Amber Mercado, and Cheryl Lew, for your tremendous work on The Hawthorne Legacy, as well as to Katharine McAnarney and Tanya Farrell, for your help with book one! Huge thanks also go out to the wonderful LBYR sales team: Shawn Foster, Danielle Cantarella, Celeste Risko, Anna Herling, Katie Tucker, Claire Gamble, Naomi Kennedy, and Karen Torres.
I am also incredibly grateful to the production team, who went out of their way to configure our schedule so that I could go on maternity leave with a new baby mid-process. Thank you, Marisa Finkelstein, Barbara Bakowski, Virginia Lawther, and Olivia Davis. Thank you also to Lisa Cahn, Janelle DeLuise, and Hannah Koerner, for helping bring this series to life in audio and overseas.
In addition to my publishing team in the United States, I would also like to thank my wonderful UK publishing team, including Anthea Townsend, Phoebe Williams, Ruth Knowles, Sara Jafari, Jane Griffiths, Kat McKenna, Rowan Ellis, and everyone else at Penguin Random House UK!
Thank you also to Josh Berman, who is developing The Inheritance Games for television. Josh, you were one of the first people to read The Inheritance Games, and your belief in this project means the world. To the rest of the team hard at work on this project, including Grainne Godfree, Jeffrey Frost, Jennifer Robinson, Alec Durkheimer, and Sam Lion—thank you!
This is my twenty-second book, and I have been incredibly lucky to have had Curtis Brown as my agency home since I was pretty much a kid myself! Thank you, Elizabeth Harding, for fighting for me for all these years. Holly Frederick, thank you not only for finding these books a wonderful Hollywood home but also for your insightful feedback on the early stages of book one. Thank you, Sarah Perillo, for your incredible work advocating for this series all over the globe. And thank you to the rest of my Curtis Brown team, including Nicole Eisenbraun, Sarah Gerton, Michaela Glover, Madeline Tavis, and Jazmia Young.