Family drama, manipulation, secrets, threats and lies. “The Last Wife”has it all.
And there is plenty of it. No scandal must ever touch this rich family, but a threat is looming and no one knows from where. An engrossing read and twisted end.
Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for an AdVanced Reader Copy. The comments and review are my honest opinion.

I will definitely be reading more from this author! Plot that throw you out of your seat. I could not hear myself away wow absolutely wonderful !

Wrong marketing is partially in fault for a low rating as this is not a mystery/thriller. While there are mystery elements, I had predicted every twist and guessed the exact ending way before the so-called action began about halfway into the story. I would say the book is soap opera style family drama and for that it did its job. Another thing that's wrong with marketing is that the premise is made to seem like the readers get to follow the main character right after her husband disappears when in fact the story starts 5 years after he left. Marketing creates readers' expectation of some sort and when big contradictions are found, disappointment is inevitable.
What is more, the writing was repetitive and I didn't think that telling instead of showing approach worked well with this kind of book. Basically, the reader gets told exactly what each character is thinking and doing and every reason behind it while to my mind, in mystery novels giving hints and letting readers understand things themselves is more rewarding.
One more thing I wanted to mention are a couple problematic parts. I will be very vague because no spoilers, but there are BDSM demonization elements and implications that having an abortion is not only a woman's but also a man's that she's with choice. These were not called out/explained in the book and added nothing to the story/character development also simply why spread messages like that I do not understand.

It's true you can't choose your family and when you marry it's mabye even worse. They are there and sometimes you have to meet up even if you wish you would not have to see them at all. Some resent you, some tolerate you (barely), some come a bit too close and phieuw there is even one person that seems to really welcome you.

When those people are your in-laws, breaking up with them might be a lot easier, but when there are children involved you feel obliged to stay in touch.

But life works in mysterious ways and some dangerous events might be real eye openers. Who are the right people to trust and who are those you should keep the largest distance from?

This story made me realise, once again, that people are not often showing their true colours. They might hide them to protect themselves, a loved one or just because they are pure evil.

You are warned! ;)

A book about family and love and about coming clean dosed in a delicous mysterious sauce.

Thank you, Nicola Marsh and Bookouture (via Netgalley)

I appreciate Bookouture and Netgalley letting me read this title before it goes on sale later this month.

Ria Parker, a reporter, married into the dysfunctional and wealthy Parker family. Then five years ago, her husband, Grayson, disappeared. She’s just received some emails that could easily damage the entire clan so she’s trying to find out where they came from and if any of the other Parker’s got the same emails. May, the matriarch, Christine, and brothers Justin and Trent could all be affected negatively as could Justin and Trent’s wives.

The story takes some interesting directions as it’s told by multiple points of view. I dare you to guess who is at the helm of the trouble. I didn’t get it right.

Each female character is drawn in 3D with warts and all. Not especially likeable people, they each have their reasons for the things they’ve done. It’s a good read, if a little slow at times.

As a writer myself, I didn’t think having Ria file three stories at the beginning was enough for her to keep her job. She should have been writing all the time a long with her investigations. I do recommend this book to any thriller aficionado.

This was so boring. I'm sorry, but this book was one big repetition. If I had a dollar for every time a sentence was repeated the exact same way, I'd be a millionaire by now. It's one thing to characterize a character at the beginning as something, but if you have to have the character state at the 90% mark that she is selfish and cold because she does not want to be seen as vulnerable (for the dozenth time), that just isn't good writing.
The mystery aspect was ridiculous and the resolution nonexistent. The revealing of the bad guy was hurried, unrealistic and overall made absolutely no sense. So much information was added in one chapter just for the perpetrator to make sense - which they still didn't. The story could have been cut down at least by half.

A typical family drama mystery novel!
Prestige, zero trust, plotting and weird alliances.
I did find it hard to build a connection to each character and keep up with who was who or how they all linked together though. The story felt a bit tedious to me by the end, but overall I enjoyed the premise and it was an easy enough read. Points for it's mystery and suspicion points in there too!

The Last Wife by Nicola Marsh: an absolutely gripping and emotional page-turner with a brilliant twist. Or so this book is advertised. I wish I could find something good to say about this story but really neither the characters nor the storyline held my attention for any length of time. And honestly the book was so repetitious that it could have been fifty percent shorter. I know this author has written in excess of fifty books and has sold millions of copies so I am assuming that she and I just don’t click because I see that she has plenty of good reviews for this book.
Thanks to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review

The Parker's are a mega-rich Chicago family. But beneath the shiny veneer of money lies the ugliness - the secrets they are all keeping from each other.
Three brothers - one who has abandoned his family, three sister-in-laws, a sister, three granddaughters and May, the matriarch who controls the money.
Secrets three of the four women that they try keep hidden are revealed via an anonymous email to the fourth woman just before May reveals major changes that shake everyone up and threaten their privileged lives of money.
I really enjoyed the multi-person narration as each character's world is revealed and unraveled - hearing it both from her viewpoint and that of the other women as spectators.
Suspense is gradually built up as everything starts to spiral out of control and we learn how far back the danger goes.
The ending is one I honestly never saw coming.
Brilliant.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me the chance to read this book.

I enjoyed this book, I did not love it. It reminded me of Dynasty family drama, which I enjoy, but some of the characters were just so unlikeable, they were all hiding so many secrets. I did like the amount of main characters there were and how it was a day to day plot. I guessed wrong on who the villian was, so I do like that it kept you guessing the whole time on what was going on, there were just too many secrets to remember who and what. I would recommend it as an enjoyable beach read.

At the centre of this story is the very prominent powerful Paker family.

The main character of the story Ria receives several emails about the Parker woman's secrets that if revealed could destroy the reputation of this well known prestige family, the story follows Ria's journey as she try's to identify the sender before her family is destroyed.

A family drama with scandal and secrets wasn't surprised by the ending didn't really feel connected to this book a bit of a predictable read for me.

3.5 Stars - Rounded up! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Last Wife was the first Nicola Marsh book I’ve read. While it wasn’t completely awesome, it was an entertaining thriller!

Slow burns really aren’t my thing, but the suspense building just worked for me while reading this one. I loved the alternating POV chapters and watching this soapy family drama unfold before my eyes!

The book is filled with shady characters that all have secrets. The final twist was satisfying and one that I did not see coming.

If you like slow burn, family drama then this book might be for you!

Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and Nicola Marsh for the advanced copy to read in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed the story. I didn't feel much for the characters. Maybe they could have been fleshed out a bit more. The "big reveal" at the end was predicted but thats okay. I was a good solid read.

This book was about a new mother who trusts the wrong people. It's got lots of twists and turns. Give it a try!

Nicola Marsh has a way of drawing you into a book. she develops really interesting characters and you are then taken on a journey of discovery.
The last wife is told from the point of view of women. May, the head of the Parker family and mother of Grayson, Justin, Trent and Christine. Ria, the ex-wife of Grayson. Grayson divorced her and disappeared five years ago. Ashlin, Justin's money hungry wife. Shamira, the hippy wife of Trent.
Through the book you are able to understand the characters more and see why they are they way they are.
A belter of a book and would highly recommend everyone reads it. Its even better than Scandal

I really liked the cover. It is very appealing designed. The writing style is pleasant and very fluently to read. The characters are very well described and look well thought out and consistently interesting. The tension is always present. The descriptions of surroundings, feelings and scenes were also very good. The story is told pleasant and it succeeds from the first pages to dive directly into the story. The storyline as a whole is very coherent and it seems very understandable and authentic. A very fascinating story that you won't like to stop reading.

The Last Wife centers around a powerful, rich family, the Parkers, whose members are suddenly threatened as deadly secrets are revealed. Ria, one of the narrators, receives a menacing e-mail, threatening to reveal heavy secrets hidden by different family members. Ria becomes determined to get to the bottom of these threatening e-mails before anybody is hurt.

To be honest, I was a bit confused when I started reading The Last Wife: it seemed to have nothing to do with the synopsis that I had read. The synopsis made it sound like Ria’s husband suddenly disappears and she has to deal with the aftermath and the deadly plot. However, the story is actually set 5 years after Grayson’s (Ria’s husband) disappearance. Things have had time to settle down since her husband walked out of her life.

Once I got over this, I did enjoy The Last Wife. The family drama, the array of characters, their secrets: I thought the story was well written out. I did think it was more a family drama story than a suspense novel, but I read it in good time.

Maybe because I have read a lot of thrillers, but I found the big reveal at the end to not be so surprising. I could see it coming, though some twists kept me on my toes. Though some easy-going readers may get a shock at the ending!

All in all, I give The Last Wife three stars! I enjoyed the characters and the family drama, but I wish it had been more “thrilling”. I also wish the synopsis was more in tune with the setting of the novel.

I received this book "The Last Wife" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. I thought the storyline was okay. It took me a while to get into it and I really didn't look forward to reading it. Characters were a bit annoying.

The Last Wife isn't the fastest paced book, but it really held my attention all the same. I think it was because the characters seemed real and they were engaging and developed as the story unfolded. I'd certainly read more by Nicola Marsh in the future!

The Last Wife is a story about a rich and prominent family in Chicago who runs a big corporate business that is worth millions. The head of the family May is always gathering her children and their spouses and her grand daughters for family gatherings, even though they really don’t want to. Ria a stand-alone at the gatherings and has been since Grayson her husband left her an her daughter 5 years ago. But May has been there for since the day her son left Ria. But things start to change the way Ria thinks of her husbands side of the family when she receives a strange email spilling secrets about her in-laws. Then strange “accidents” start to happen to them and Ria sets out to uncover the source of who is behind it all before someone seriously gets hurt or worse.

The story alternates between Ria, her mother in-law May and her sister-in-laws Ashlin and Shamira and start five years after Ria’s husband Grayson left her all alone. I enjoyed the different perspectives between theses four women. I think it was a good way to learn a little about each of them and see how each other felt about each other and the things that were going on in their lives. However, I will say that some weren’t all that likable at times. Each had their own personalities, some a little nicer than the others and some felt like they had an agenda of some kind, I mean they had their secrets to keep hidden after all. Trying to figure them out was actually pretty interesting to say the least. I did feel bad for Ria though, she seemed to be a pretty nice woman, who just happened to be part of a family with lots of secrets.

The mystery behind the emails and the sudden “accidents” that start happening to the family was pretty well thought out. The clues are here and there right from the start, but it was the piecing them together as the story progressed that was the best part. And with a family that doesn’t know how to be truthful with each other, let alone those around them, it wasn’t any wonder why someone wouldn’t be after their family and fortune. This is one seriously dysfunctional family. There is a lot that goes on throughout the book and I wish I could tell you more but I don’t want to give any more away and spoil it, so I will stop here. But I will say that as I started to reach the end and found out the truth behind it all, I was surprised with the who-dunnit and the why as well. Not what I was expecting!

The Last Life was a story that centered around family dynamics, family drama and a mystery that would turn their worlds upside down, and was well worth the read.