Shelf Life

Tag: Liv Constantine

  • The Next Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

    The Next Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

    “’You’ll never own any White Orchard designs, you murderer!’ Her voice cut through the room and there was dead silence. Everyone was staring at them.

    “Remi gasped, and Rory’s brows knitted in a frown. ‘Daisy Ann, what’s going on?’

    “Amber froze, her heart banging in her chest, as her eyes darted around the room, desperate for a way to disappear before things went any further.

    “A bitter laugh escaped Daisy Ann.

    “’This, this . . . gold digger, she’s the one who tricked my father into marrying her and then shot him point-blank. She got away with murder.’”

    From the The Next Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine.

    Amber Patterson lied and seduced her way to displace Jackson Parrish’s wife Daphne, snagging the rich and ruthless millionaire to become his wife. But the passion that fueled their relationship barely lasted past the birth of their son Jax and by the time Jackson is sent to prison for tax evasion, and the money needed to fund their ultra-glamorous lifestyle has almost run out, Amber is plotting the next phase of her life. And it doesn’t include either Jackson or Jax, who she finds adorably cute but rather obnoxious in all his demands for her time and attention. But then what are live-in nannies for?

    When Amber discovers the valuable diamonds Jackson had hidden away she thinks all her problems are solved. Even with an unknown provenance—these very rare stones net Amber $14 million and she still has a few secreted away for a rainy day.

    That day may be coming sooner than she expects. She has her ticket to Paris booked and is planning on leaving the country before Jackson is released from prison. Unfortunately for her, Jackson gets home days early and discovering her plans, blackmails her into staying and helping him win back Daphne who has moved across country to protect their two daughters from their father.

    But Jackson isn’t Amber’s only problem. She has risen from her blue-collar roots by guile and murder. She tried to trick a wealthy local man to marry her by getting pregnant and when he refused, she sets him up for a rape charge and sends him to prison. Stealing money from her parents, she jettisons the care of her young son (yes, her maternal instincts are nil) and finagles her way into marrying a rich older man who dies shortly afterward in a mysterious hunting accident. “I thought he was a deer,” she told the authorities. They believe her, but the man’s daughter, Daisy Ann, is on the hunt for evidence that it was no accident.

    As if that wasn’t enough to fuel bad blood between the two women, Daisy Ann had her father change his will to protect the family fortune from his new wife. All that plotting for nothing. So when she snags Jackson, her next step is break into the high society of Bishop’s Harbor where Daphne reigned as queen. But when she is publicly humiliated by Daisy Ann who owns an exclusive line of handcrafted jewelry based upon her mother’s artistic designs, Amber becomes determined to acquire the business.  

    As if all this conniving isn’t enough, Amber and Jackson have set Daphne up to look like an addict who can’t adequately care for her children. When Jackson wins temporary custody, he forces Daphne to move back into the home they once shared. When she refuses to sleep with him, he makes it clear that her life depends upon her changing her mind.

    Though The Next Mrs. Parrish is a sequel to the million-copy, bestselling Reese’s Book Club pick The Last Mrs. Parrish (also available on Audible), it also is a stand-alone novel. Full of the plot twists and turns that fans of Liv Constantine, the pen name of sisters Lynne Constantine and Valerie Constantine, have come to expect and they deliver.

    The two sisters have produced a plethora of bestselling novels like The Stranger in the Mirror and The Wife Stalker. And like those, this is a page turner and immensely readable.

    This article previously ran in the New York Journal of Books.

  • The Wife Stalker by Liv Constantine

    The Wife Stalker by Liv Constantine

    Lynne and Valerie Constantine

    Well, I have to admit that “The Wife Stalker,” the latest book from Lynne Constantine and Valerie Constantine, two sisters writing under the pen name of Liv Constantine, certainly fooled me. The story is told from two points of view — Piper Reynard, a beautiful and somewhat predatory holistic therapist, and Joanna Drakos, the wife of successful attorney Leo Drakos and mother of the couple’s two young children.

    When Piper meets Leo, she almost immediately decides to snag him. It’s a task made simpler because he’s willing to be snagged. Soon she’s living in the family home, playing parent to his children.

    Joanna, relegated to living with her tiresome and cantankerous mother, is astounded to learn that not only is Piper not her rival’s real name but that she has been married not once but twice before. Both husbands died in accidents when she was with them, and so did her stepdaughter. “Stalking” may be too strong a word, so let’s just say as Joanna gathers information, she quickly learns that husband number two’s ex-wife believes Piper killed both her husband and her daughter while on a sailing trip. And the mother of her first husband has a few concerns about her son’s death as well. Oh, and did we mention that each time a hubby died, Piper inherited a ton of money?

    While Joanna is sleuthing, their youngest son begins complaining of feeling ill while being forced to eat the “wholesome” foods his new stepmother forces on him.

    Is Piper a black widow working on her next set of victims?

    The answer is much trickier than you’d think. I ask the authors how they came up with their surprise ending. It started as a joke during their many brainstorming sessions.

    “But then we immediately looked at each other and said, ‘That’s it,’” said Val, adding that to say more would ruin the ending. “Once that was decided, we discussed who the characters were and began to draw them out together. We do a deep dive into their backgrounds, trauma, difficulties, family relationships, and let them develop organically from there. Lynne has a degree in human development and we both do extensive reading and research on psychology. Additionally, we consult with a friend who is a clinical psychologist to vet our psychological profiles.”

    Though they don’t live close together, the sisters use social media, such as Facebook, to talk every morning about what scenes are next and agree on who is writing what.

    They describe themselves not as plotters or strict pantsers (a writers’ term describing an author who flies by the seat of their pants and who doesn’t plan out much, if anything, beforehand), but instead say they’re plantsers—a combination of plotter and pantsers.

    “So we know the twist, the beginning and the end, but we figure out how to get there along the way,” Lynne said. “The resolution for certain characters is also up in the air, and we wait to see how things are going to play out as the book develops. We both write all characters and we edit each other’s scenes so that by the time the book is finished it isn’t unusual for us to each have written one half of a sentence.”

    Learning how they go about writing their best-selling books is intriguing, but so is how they work together. I asked them if they were the type of sisters who always got along or whether they fought a lot when younger.

    “There are 13 years between us, so we didn’t grow up together, however, when Lynne was around 13, we got very close and have remained so ever since,” Val said. “We have a great time working together as we have very similar senses of humor and truly enjoy each other’s company. Over the past three books, our process has evolved, and it’s almost like a well-oiled machine where we’ve figured out the most efficient and productive way to write together. “