The Same Backward as Forward

Brought to you by Penguin.

A TRAGIC, ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS STORY FULL OF DANGER, SECRETS AND EPIC ROMANCE . . . AND WHERE THE PHENOMENAL, NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING INHERITANCE GAMES SAGA BEGAN . . .

You've fallen in love with the Hawthorne brothers, now discover the love story of the lost heir of Hawthorne House.

Hannah Rooney knows how to be invisible. At twenty, she keeps her head down and so far, she's managed to avoid the dealings of her notorious criminal family. Hannah is biding her time in nursing school as she waits for her beloved sister, Kaylie, to turn eighteen so Hannah can get them both far, far away to start a new life.

Tobias Hawthorne II acts every inch the entitled heir that he is. As the only son of one of the country's richest men, there isn't a door that isn't open to him. Yet behind his razor-sharp cheekbones and devil-may-care attitude, Toby is guarding a nest of deadly secrets and a fiery anger fierce enough to burn everything in his path.

Their lives collide in one tragic, stormy night, where an act of arson and nature leave Kaylie and two others dead and Toby just barely alive - with no memory of who he is. The fisherman who pulls him from the ocean enlists Hannah to help save the very person who she knows took away her sister. Fuelled by her hatred, Hannah is determined to deny Toby's death wish by keeping him alive. He is the last person that she should ever develop feelings for, and she is the first thing he ever remembers seeing.

Some things cannot happen - and some things cannot be stopped.

*NB HANNAH'S SIDE OF THE STORY WAS PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AS A NOVELLA IN GAMES UNTOLD

*Reading the whole series? The ideal reading order is: The Inheritance Games, The Hawthorne Legacy, The Final Gambit, The Brothers Hawthorne, Games Untold, The Grandest Game, and Glorious Rivals.

*Looking for more unputdownable reads from Jennifer Lynn Barnes? Check out The Debutantes duet (Little White Lies, Deadly Little Scandals), and The Lovely and the Lost.

© Jennifer Lynn Barnes 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025