I liked The Last Wife! It was a quick and easy read. It wasn't groundbreaking or incredibly suspenseful but it certainly did hold my attention.

I found myself very invested in all the characters. Ria's husband walked out 5 years ago without a word. She's still involved with his family, the wealthy Parker's, who have lots of secrets and now someone is threatening to release them. Ria receives emails with scandalous details about her in laws, some of which she likes more than others. As she searches for the mysterious sender she uncovers more than she ever imagined.

Thank you to #Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader's copy.

The description sounded good but sadly I found the book didn't live up to it. Sorry I can't recommend this one.

This book wasn’t great for me.. I didn’t really click with the characters or the story. I liked Marsh’s book The Scandal and you would never know it was written by the same author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

2.5/5

This book draws you in and keeps you gripped right until the very last page. Set in Chicago Illinois the story centres around May the matriarch, her 4 children, their partners and her granddaughters. It’s a story of messed up family relationships, buried secrets and murky histories.

Ria Parker grew up in the system, moving from foster home to foster home. Now as a Parker, even a divorced one. She is a member of one of the richest families. Her mother in law May is a strong matriarch running the Parker business with a firm hand. Five years ago her husband abandoned her and their daughter. May helped her get a good lawyer for the divorce. Even though Ria makes a good living on her own as an investigative reporter, May insists on helping her financially.
When Ria received incriminating emails that can put the family in the public eye, she know that only the best computer hacker can help her solve the case. That person is her ex-husband.
Personalities clash and push comes to shove. The ending filled with twists and turns will leave you reeling in your seat.
Great psychological thriller!

Smooth writing makes for enjoyable reading! Nicola Marsh can spin a domestic drama like few others. This one involves members of a very wealthy family in Chicago and their spouses and children. Within every family lie secrets and dysfunction, however the Parker family may take the cake. Very good read all the way though and I was thoroughly entertained!

Spoilers.....


This held me to the end. I would read another book just to find out how this crazy ends up. Does Ash and Justin divorce? Is there someone out there still that helped May wanting to finish something off because they are not getting paid due to her dying? Do Ria and Grayson get back together? Does Trent and his wife stay together? Does her past bring problems to the Parkers?

This could be a Netflix Original!

Great, Great Thriller!
Being a part of the rich and powerful Parker family may not be all it is cracked up to be. Their public persona is of a loving, close family, wealthy beyond any local family and powerful enough to get away with anything.
The adult Parker children know their family is anything but functional,. But, their mother, May, holds the company and the family's purse strings, and all the children seem to just follow along. But, their lives are about to be shattered, lies thought to be well hidden are brought to light, affairs are exposed, and betrayal is around every corner.
Ria married into the family, only to have her husband, Grayson, abandon her and their daughter five years into the marriage. One day she receives an email containing evidence of wrong doings of several members of the Parker family. Unsure who she can trust, and what it all means, she hunts for the one person she knows can help her understand, her long lost ex husband. But the answers he provides are anything but comforting and danger now lurks everywhere. No one knows who can be trusted, and who wants the woman all dead.
Captivated me from page one. Kept me guessing till the last page.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Meant to be a thriller, unfortunately, I did not find myself thrilled. The characters were all pretty one-dimensional, and described their motivation of every action and piece of dialogue with incredible self-awareness. I wish the author had left some of the character building up to the reader's imagination, rather than spoon-feeding us every intricacy of thought. I also prefer a few more twists, but after introducing us to the entire cast of characters, and carefully removing each one from suspicion, you're left with one (maybe two) people who could be the dastardly antagonist. So, unfortunately, I can't recommend this one.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review -
A shocking story of how far one woman would go -
Rea marries into the rich Parker family. Each family member harbors secrets.
Who do you trust when one day your husband doesn't come home? and Why?
And then strange, scary incidents begin to happen.
Rea is determined to find out who and why -
And what she discovers will shock everyone

I found it really hard to keep my interest in this book. I really didn’t like the characters in this book. They needed developing further
A disappointing read

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read and review this book.

For fans of Dallas and Dynasty you’ll love this!

Lies, deception, affairs, murder plots, a rich family with a multi million dollar business empire and a mother overseeing the fortune and controlling her 4 children:

Grayson - disappeared 5 years ago without a trace leaving his wife, Ria, and young daughter behind.

Trent - married to Shamira, a girl from a poor background who created a rich past and target Trent and his money to become her husband . Her secrets of her life before they met could end her marriage.

Justin - married to Ashlin with two daughters. His wife is hiding her own secrets of her past which could devastate their marriage.

Christine - unmarried, drug addict.


May is the matriarch mother. Percy, her husband, died from a heart attach a number of years ago leaving the company and its fortune to her to control. She also likes to control her family and insists on regular get-together at her home.

Ria, a journalist, receives some emails from an unknown sender revealing secrets of some of the family members. She begins to try to uncover the truth of why they were sent to her, what they mean for the family and who could have sent them.

At May’s request, the family gather at one of her regular get-togethers in which she makes a devastating announcement concerning the family’s fortune.

Will Ria get to the bottom of who sent the emails? And why her husband walked out without trace? Will the secrets being kept be revealed?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Having read and enjoyed The Scandal a few months ago I was excited to start the new novel. Throwing us right into the action it was a great start with all the best plot lines - betrayal, lies, mistrust, secrets and greed and held my attention to the last surprising twist. I didnt really connect with the main character Ria the way I have with other protagonists but it was a good fast read.

The Last Wife by Nicola Marsh is the second novel that I've read from this author, but I must say that this one fell a little short for me. While the premise is intriguing, I found that it was difficult to either empathize or connect with any of the characters, most of whom are drawn as spoiled and entitled. As such, the novel reads as more of a soap opera, with the players portrayed as mere caricatures and lacking in any real depth or dimension. Kudos, however, to the author for a final twist that caught me completely by surprise. I remain a fan of Ms Marsh's writing, and will certainly seek out her work in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC

Ria is very much an 'outsider' in the world of extravagant wealth inhabited by her in-laws, the Parkers - following the disappearance of her husband, Grayson, she is left to raise the couple's daughter alone and rely on support from her mother-in-law, while tolerating the hostility of her sisters-in-law. When Ria begins to discover some very explosive family secrets, she unwittingly places herself and her young daughter in danger, and realises that the Parker family secrets may have been better left buried.

While this was a fun and suspenseful read, I found that the relationship between Ria and her brother-in-law took up a lot of narrative space, and the story tended to drift into 'romance' territory more often than I would have expected. I also found some of the characterisation a little flat.

Nicola Marsh is quickly becoming a new favourite author of mine. I loved The Scandal and her latest, The Last Wife, did not disappoint. She delivers great plot twists, family drama to the max, explores multiple POVs and gives lots of clues to keep you guessing throughout the book. She does great job creating the Parker family environment with all of its wealth, secrets, infidelity and family clashes.

Recommended to read this after a long day with a glass of wine and relax and escape into the crazy world of the Parker family.

Look forward to reaching Marsh's next thriller!

Thank you to #netgalley, #Bookouture and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Found this book amazing! Would love to read more of her books.
5**** from me
Would definitely recommend this to others

This book was really interesting and I loved the way it was written. Instead of starting the reader out slow it threw the reader almost into the middle of the story and let things play out in both directions. So you get to see what happened to lead the characters to where they are but you also see what those actions caused and see the ripples that they created. It was an interesting way to write a book and I've never read anything like that before. It also was told through different perspectives which I normally don't like to much however I was pleasantly surprised with how much I did like this. I got to see what was unfolding through different sets of eyes and see things that the other would never had noticed. The characters were very compelling and even the ones you did like you loved to hate them. Also the choice of words created such beautiful pictures that this book just took you away and placed you in a completely different world. While the plot was amazing its very hard to describe without spoiling major secrets the book hides beneath its pages. It was however filled with betrayal, secrets and everyone pretending to be something their not. The book is all about our main character
leaning on her husbands family after he unexpectedly leaves her and her child alone with no explanation. Trying to come to terms with what happened to her marriage she starts to learn a little bit more than expected about her husband as well as his picture perfect family, and sometimes looks can be deceiving. While there were a lot of characters in this story they were all written very well and each one left you wanting to know more about who they were and their actions. Very nice read and I'm glad that I got the opportunity to check it out.

Oh my days. I never saw that coming!! Wow what a cruel vile nasty woman May turns out to be. Ria always wanted to fit in too,but she didn't need to as she was better than the rich and powerful for sure.

The Last Wife by Nicola Marsh is a thriller about the Parker family. A family living on the Parker wealth pretends to be tolerant of Mia, the controlling matriarch of the Parker family, and each other. Ria always felt like an outsider, even before her ex-hsuband Grayson, left her and their daughter Shelley and disappeared five years ago.

On her birthday, Mia announces she will be restricting everyone's share of the family funds, and everyone is on edge. Not to add, Ria receives explicit photos on her email which will jeopardize the reputation of daughters-in-law and the Parker household name. Who is behind the emails? and why?

I was first introduced to Nicola Marsh's writing with her first book, The Scandal, and thoroughly enjoyed her writing style. Nicola's writing is easy to read and flows nicely. Reading her books is like watching a drama-filled show on Lifetime. Her typical plot usually consists of rich families, scandal, and drama.

While I thoroughly enjoyed her first book, I felt like The Last Wife was a bit lacking. I started with really enjoying the plot. But as the drama and mystery unfolded, I felt like it wasn't realistic and there were plot holes. The biggest flaw I find with Nicola's writing is the lack of a shocking twist. She attempts, but falls short. Also, the characters lack depth in this book, especially when I'm reading from the POVs of several of the characters. However, the inner-voices are sound similar, with a lack of distinctiveness.

I do recommend giving Nicola's books a try if you're interested in drama and family scandal with the upper-class. However, this book was not as well-written as her other works.

Thank you to Netgalley, Nicola Marsh, and the publisher Bookouture, for providing me with an ARC, in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.