Daphne Parrish had everything. She was beautiful and married to one of Bishops Harbor’s most eligible men, the drop-dead gorgeous Jackson. Wealthy beyond her wildest imagination, he doted on her and gave her two loving daughters and a fabulous home overlooking the water.

To everyone on the outside, Daphne was living the dream life. But beneath the surface, her life was a nightmare. Jackson controlled every aspect of it, right down to the food she put in her mouth. If she tried to fight back, he punished her in unspeakable ways. As soon as she possibly could, Daphne took the girls and fled, promising never to step foot in Bishops Harbor again.

When she met Jackson, he swept her off her feet with his charm and over-the-top romance. Jackson knew exactly how to make a woman desire him, and he worked his magic on Daphne. But once he had her under his spell, he no longer hid the monster behind the façade. After years of suffering and a hard-won battle, Daphne escaped with sole custody of Tallulah and Bella, and they moved to the other side of the country. It hasn’t been easy, but with the help of her trusted therapist, she’s slowly regaining confidence.

"Watching [Daphne] problem-solve and hoping she ultimately can win the battle between good and evil is edge-of-your-seat stuff and is wonderful to experience."

So why is Daphne going back to Bishops Harbor this summer, the hellish home she fought so hard to get away from? Everyone she knows warns against it. But her teenage daughter, Tallulah, wants so desperately to see her father that she seemingly will stop at nothing. She already has made one attempt at running away. Next time, she could get seriously hurt --- or worse.

Daphne has always shielded her girls from the whole truth about Jackson, so they don’t understand who he really is. But she is stronger now and believes she has the upper hand here. Oh, poor Daphne. Time may have dulled her memory about just how devious and underhanded her ex-husband can be. He claims he’s a changed man after a short stint in prison for tax evasion. It's possible but unlikely. Okay, even if it’s true, does Daphne remember Amber, the woman Jackson cheated with? The woman who hated her with a burning passion? The woman who used every trick in the book to take her place?

Amber is now Jackson’s wife. Has Daphne thought of that? Yes, but nothing can dissuade her. She has to allow her daughters to spend time --- under her strict supervision --- with their father this summer. Otherwise, Tallulah may never forgive her. She will proceed with great caution, despite Jackson’s insistence that he has changed and his apologies about how he treated her before.

Daphne has set strict rules for the visit and plans to remain on high alert at all times. Her therapist has set her up with a contact in Bishops Harbor, and she has a friend who will be standing close by her side. What could go wrong? A lot, it turns out. The saving grace is Meredith, Daphne’s faithful friend. She’s the one who found the rental a short way up the beach from Jackson’s house, just steps from her own home.

Meredith, a wise and savvy woman, vows to be the guard dog whenever Daphne’s ex visits. That sounds perfect. But Meredith can’t be there 24/7. As soon as she isn’t, Jackson pounces. It seems he had his own plan all along, and this time he won’t let himself lose. What happened to the changed man he claimed to be?

THE NEXT MRS. PARRISH, the long-awaited sequel to Liv Constantine’s THE LAST MRS. PARRISH, is a classic story of the perfect storm. What can go wrong does go wrong. The best-laid plans and all that. Daphne Parrish is a woman who did everything right, and still bad things happened to her. Watching her problem-solve and hoping she ultimately can win the battle between good and evil is edge-of-your-seat stuff and is wonderful to experience.