The Book:
The Next Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
Published June 18, 2024 by Bantam
Date read: May 31, 2024
Find more June 2024 new releases here.
The Next Mrs. Parrish spoilers can be found below, but they’re hidden under a spoiler tag so you’re safe to keep scrolling if you’d just like to read my review.
The Characters:
Ethan
His missing childhood friend Billy
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The Mrs. Parrish Series:
The First Shot
The Last Mrs. Parrish (read my spoiler post)
The Next Mrs. Parrish
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Daphne and Amber Parrish are thrust back into each other’s lives upon the resurgence of a long-forgotten threat, forcing a vicious game of cat and mouse where everything is on the line, in this thrilling sequel to the million-copy-bestselling Reese’s Book Club pick The Last Mrs. Parrish.
Amber Patterson Parrish has come a long way from being an invisible wallflower. Her hard work and immaculate planning have paid off now that she’s a prominent socialite, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been bumps along the way. Less than a year since her husband Jackson’s tax-evasion scandal, Amber is still at the top of the Bishops Harbor community pecking order, free to do as she wishes while Jackson sits in prison. But that freedom is quickly coming to an end. With Jackson getting released from prison, Amber’s time—and money—is vanishing.
Meanwhile, Daphne Parrish left Bishops Harbor after her divorce from Jackson Parrish, swearing she would never go back. But when one of her daughters runs away from home, desperate to see her father, Daphne agrees to return for the summer to allow him supervised visits. Once out of prison, Jackson swears he’s a changed man, but Daphne knows all too well that he can’t be trusted.
When a ghost from Amber’s past emerges looking for revenge, the three of them find unlikely allies in one another, but who is playing who? When all is said and done, they’ll have to fight tooth and nail for everything they have left in this zero-sum game.
With shocking turns and entertaining characters, The Next Mrs. Parrish will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about duplicity and betrayal.
The Next Mrs. Parrish Spoilers
The Reveal:
Jackson was released from prison early and foiled Amber’s attempt to escape to Europe with the money from his stolen jewels. He took her passport and forced her to stay and help him win Daphne back.
Daphne brought the girls to Connecticut for the summer. Jackson drugged Daphne to make it look like she was neglecting the children and addicted to pills and alcohol. He filed for custody of the girls to force Daphne to stay, and repeatedly foiled her attempts to escape.
Daisy Ann was the daughter of Amber’s husband before Jackson. Amber had grifted her father as well, but wasn’t successful. They both held grudges against each other, so Amber hatched a plan to steal Daisy Ann’s company from her while Daisy Ann investigated Amber’s death to try to prove that she killed Daisy Ann’s father Jake on purpose. Jake had allegedly died in a hunting accident, but the reader knows that Amber shot him on purpose.
As Daisy Ann investigates Amber, the reader learns that her name used to be Lana Crump. She got pregnant in high school and falsely accused the father of rape before skipping town and abandoning her first son.
Eventually her friend Meredith helped Daphne and the girls escape from Jackson.
Jackson double-crossed Amber in regards to stealing Daisy Ann’s company. He teamed up with Daisy Ann to sell Amber fake stock certificates. Then Daisy Ann double-crossed Jackson as he tried to use her to trap Daphne. Jackson was arrested. Daisy Ann also finally got enough evidence to get Amber arrested for her father’s death. She put Jackson’s money in a trust for his son.
The Ending:
The DCFS charges against Daphne were dropped and they go back to California.
Jackson called Daphne to say the charges against him had been dropped and that he was pursuing custody of the children. But then he woke up in the hospital – he had been attacked by the man he stole the diamonds from. The attack left him unresponsive. Jackson could hear and comprehend what was going on around him, but couldn’t communicate.
Amber is in prison in her final chapter. The men that Jackson had stolen the diamonds from posted her bail, and the book ends with her sitting in the back of his car as he says “you have something of mine”.
The ending leaves room for a possible third book.
I hope these The Next Mrs. Parrish spoilers were helpful.
The Review:
I was very pleasantly surprised by THE NEXT MRS. PARRISH! Sequels can be hard, especially when the authors have to unravel situations that were previously solved.
I thought THE LAST MRS. PARRISH was such a fun beach read when I read it years ago. I love rich people behaving badly, I love a grifter story, and I especially loved how all of the reveals unraveled. (If you need a refresher before you pick up this book, make sure you check out my THE LAST MRS. PARRISH spoilers)
THE NEXT MRS. PARRISH features all of our favorite love-to-hate characters from the first book as well as a new face: Daisy Ann. As with the first book, the reader can’t really decide who they should be rooting for. There’s backstabbing, gaslighting, manipulation, and reveals you won’t see coming.
Anyone who loved TLMP should definitely read TNMP. I recommend reading them in order for the best experience, but the authors do a good job of reminding you what happened in Book 1.
Keep an eye on the trigger warnings: this book contains mental/physical abuse and gaslighting.
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