Daphne and Amber Parrish are thrust back into one another’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 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 she’s had it easy 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 her daughter, Tallulah, 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 Jackson 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.

Autorentext

Liv Constantine

Klappentext

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE SILVER FALCHION AWARD • The thrilling sequel to the million-copy-bestselling Reese’s Book Club pick The Last Mrs. Parrish!

“Delicious and shocking.”—Jeneva Rose
“A brilliant page-turner.”—Lisa Gardner
“One hell of a ride!”—Andrea Bartz

CBS NEW YORK BOOK CLUB PICK • 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.

Amber Patterson Parrish has come a long way. Hard work and immaculate planning turned her from invisible wallflower to prominent socialite, though there have been bumps along the way. Less than a year after her husband Jackson’s tax-evasion scandal, Amber reigns supreme over the Bishops Harbor community. But with Jackson being released from prison, Amber’s free time—and money—is vanishing.

Meanwhile, Daphne Parrish left Bishops Harbor after her divorce from Jackson, 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 for their daughters’ sake. 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, these three figures 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.

Leseprobe
**– 1 –

Amber**

Amber Patterson Parrish hated visiting her husband at Camp Fed. Jackson had been living at the correctional facility for the past seven months. Fortunately for her, he didn’t expect her to stay long, just long enough to give him the maximum allowable cash, thirty dollars, and time to bitch to her about the conditions he was forced to endure—the crap food, the flooding and ceiling leaks every time it rained, and the unending noise boomeranging off metal and concrete inside the grimy old building. Sometimes the visits went smoothly, other times the guards did something to screw with you.

Last week, she’d been sent home. Told that her outfit was too revealing. It was bullshit. She was proud of how great her toned abs and long legs looked in her Alex Perry jumpsuit, but what did the guards know about fashion? The only thing revealing about her outfit was what it brought out in their character. One of the other inmates’ wives suggested Amber run over to Walmart and get a sweater to wear on top. Please. At least it had given her a chance to skip the visit that week. She despised sitting in the overcrowded room with the masses; unkempt, rude women who elbowed their way past her to grab seats first. The smells of cheap perfume and sweat that made her want to hold her breath. Everything about it was disgusting—the long rows of hard plastic chairs bolted together, the cold linoleum floor and stark white walls with prison regulations posted everywhere, the random pat searches that weren’t at all random. She was pretty sure Jackson hated the visits as much as she did because he couldn’t stand for Amber to witness him being vulnerable—wearing orange instead of his normal designer attire, at the mercy of the prison guards barking orders at him. He was no longer the all-powerful mogul, now just another inmate, no more special than anyone else. Thankfully it was only a forty-five-minute drive to Danbury, Connecticut, so she didn’t have to waste her entire day.

Amber had worried at first that the scandal would make her persona non grata in Bishops Harbor, but apparently tax evasion was a crime that didn’t garner much antipathy among the one-percenters. They were likely counting their blessings that they had avoided getting caught themselves. Besides, anyone who knew Jackson knew that he’d soon be back on top and didn’t want to risk alienating him by shunning his wife. Thus, Amber was still able to enjoy her days at the country club, her weekly tennis matches, and a board position with the Bishops Harbor Historical Society.

Her days passed pleasantly enough, especially with no demanding husband at home to please. There were a few, the old guard, who turned up their noses at her, but then again, they’d rebuffed her from the beginning. She’d get them back when the time was right. The one fly in the ointment was that funds were running very low, and she’d had to let some of the household staff go. For the past month, she’d had to cook her own meals and drive herself everywhere. Plus, she hadn’t bought a new outfit in over two months. If she didn’t get an influx of cash soon, the nanny and housekeeper would have to be let go, she would have to forgo her salon visits and even let their club membership lapse. There were no secrets in Bishops Harbor. Word at the club would spread like wildfire. She wasn’t about to let that happen.

Amber had a plan, though. She’d sell the boat. She knew the sixty-five-foot Hatteras was worth at least a million and a half, maybe more, so she’d put an ad in Boat Trader and on Boats.com. She already had three interested parties. Pretty soon their bank account would be overflowing once more, and she could go back to the life she’d become accustomed to.

Well, almost. Jackson would be home in a month, but she wasn’t afraid of him anymore—not since she had laid the trap that gave her something to hold over his head. A few months after their marriage, when he’d found out that there was an outstanding warrant for her arrest in Missouri, he’d used that as leverage and became verbally abusive and debasing in the bedroom. She could have left him and owned up to what she’d been ar…