I loved this book. I really like when books have multiple POV’s and everytime the character changed you got a new shock. 5 stars!!!

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for an e-copy of this book that published in June, 2023. I loved it and have been a fan of Harding since reading The Party.

Lee Gulliver’s restaurant failed during the pandemic so she gathered her belongings and drove her Toyota Corolla to Seattle where she lived out of her car. She did have a restaurant job, but the pay wasn’t enough to get an apartment. She found a lovely spot near the water to sleep at night and it was calm until she saw another woman trying to drown herself. Lee saved Hazel, who was defiant about killing herself, but soon they became friends. Hazel brought her coffee and baked goods in the morning and told Lee about her abusive husband.

Now, it’s your turn to read what happens next. Plot twists galore flood this story. It will keep you up at night trying to figure out what happens next. But you will thoroughly enjoy every moment of this read. It’s a thrill ride, for sure, and I highly recommend it.

Don't start this book unless you have time to devour it in one sitting. It is just that good!

A homeless woman, Lee, who is on the run from some bad folks encounters a wealthy woman, Hazel. Hazel has attempted to drown herself when Lee pulls her out.
Hazel is angry at Lee because she says this was her one chance to escape an abusive relationship. Hazel goes back to her privileged life but soon approaches Lee to help her disappear.
The relationship between the two women in fascinating. The mystery and tangled web that is woven as Lee gets deeply involved is jaw dropping in it's plot twists that I didn't see coming.

I loved this book and it was an exciting way to spend my Saturday,

A must read

Another great thriller from Harding. The pace is so fast and the story just take you in at the first page and never let you go. Really good read!

Welp, that was disappointing! This is a page-turner that got increasingly implausible, unoriginal and underwhelming the further I read, saved slightly by important themes and a solid epilogue.

The book had a good start and I liked that it highlighted less-talked about issues such as how the pandemic has upended lives, with businesses forced to shutter and people losing their homes. It also sheds light on women trapped in abusive relationships + their lack of resources and recourse. I particularly enjoyed the friendship between the two main female characters.

However, the book never did fulfill its potential and nor was it the strong girlboss story I wanted it to be. The characters are naive and make decisions so foolish to the point that I find them hard to believe. Hazel's chapters felt lazy and relied on 'tell-all' storytelling.

Also, I would have sued the crap out of the care facility. Regardless of whether foul play was involved, they were clearly negligent! Yet, Hazel just accepts things?? Greta asking her, "Are you okay?" after breaking terrible news is just... laughable.

This is my 5th Robyn Harding novel but also sadly my least favorite. Nevertheless, she remains an auto-read author for me and I will continue to look forward to her books.

Notably compelling despite the presence of "super obvious bad guy #1" and "marginally less obvious sinister fellow."

Talk about a Russian doll of lies, deceit, betrayals and madness, this book ticks all the check boxes of a thrill ride you don’t want to miss!

Lee had it all, her own restaurant, the high life, security, and then -like lots of business- Covid happened and her restaurant shuts down. Just like that she has become homeless and living in her car. Parked out in a well to do neighborhood by the beach, Lee is awoken to crying and gets out to investigate. What she finds is a well off woman that is drowning. Lee reacts and rushes in to save her life. Saving Hazel turns out to be one of the worst decisions she could make.

Hazel explains about her abusive husband and how she just needs to disappear like Lee has done and asks Lee to help her. Thinking Lee has finally found a friend, she agrees to help Hazel, but things start getting dicey. Is Hazel really her friend? Is there more to this escape plan than Hazel has shard with Lee? How much danger are they truly in?

This thriller takes off with a bang and shoots you ever toward the dark and twisted ending you won’t see coming. This novel set to be released in June of 2023 should be on every thrill lovers radar to scoop up and dive into!

A huge thank you to #NetGalley, #GrandCentralPublishing, and the amazingly talented author #RobynHarding for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

My full review will be available on all my social media platforms, blog sites and retail upon release day.

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 is how I have to start my review! Harding has really outdone herself! With twists that keep coming and coming from the very beginning, she literally destroyed any book I’m going to read for awhile! I love the alternating first person perspectives between the two main characters. I love how it tells us the same situations from each of their POV. This book NEEDS to be made into a movie! And that ending!!! 🤯 Perfection!!!

Another SLAM DUNK by Robyn Harding.

Once I picked this up I absolutely could not put it down. The changes in narratives were perfectly timed, and the twists were phenomenal. The pacing and tension were so well done, and there was a bit more action than we'd see in a typical psychological thriller. The female MC's were so different, but I found both their POV's extremely readable.

I'm already recommending this to anyone I know who loves thrillers. This will make an awesome summer beach read.

WOW. This book was absolutely phenomenal and quickly became one of my favorite books of the year. This gave me serious Gone, Girl vibes and I have yet to find a thriller that has pulled me in since that one did when I read it in 2015.

Lee is homeless. She is on the run from her former life as a restaurant owner who suffered from the pandemic. Seeking a fresh start, she heads to Seattle where she tries to get back on her feet, but not without struggle. Lee has no friends, no family, and no home--she lives out of her car. After a particularly scary night where she is robbed, Lee decides to start parking her car in a wealthier community where she doesn't need to worry about being attacked while she sleeps.

One night, Lee hears the terrified sobs of a woman on the beach just beyond her car. She feels compelled to help and when she notices the woman slip under the cold water, she follows her and saves her life. The woman, Hazel Laval, discloses that her husband is abusive and she wanted to commit suicide. While Lee saved her life, we learn there is far more to Hazel's story.

What follows is a phenomenal book full of endless twists leading to a satisfying ending. I really loved Robyn Harding's writing. It was compelling. The short chapters made it so easy for me to tell myself "just one more" until I finally finished the book--less than 24 hours after I started it.

If you are in the mood for a twisty, surprising book that will keep you on your toes--and not really sure who to root for at times--then pick this book up! I have since ordered copies of all of Robyn Harding's thrillers and cannot wait to read them!

Seriously--order this book! You won't regret it!

What an exciting book! I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review-
Lees restaurant fails during the pandemic and she finds herself living in her car, When some areas aren’t safe she moves to a spot on the beach, she is awakened one morning with a woman crying and running into the ocean. She jumps in to save her and then becomes a friendship as Hazel starts. bringing her food, but when Hazel asks he to help her disappear Lee wonders if it can work? Also. Is Hazel really a friend? What an ending!

Lee Gulliver lives an incredibly stressful life. Due to circumstances and choices she has made she lives in her car, working dead end jobs and sleeping with one eye open waiting for the shoe to drop. When she spies a woman drowning in the sea, she doesn't think twice before she dives in to save her. The woman shares that she is trying to escape her very manipulative and violent husband. Lee wants to help - but how can she, and should she?

A double cross twisty story sure to keep you up all night! If you love domestic thrillers, twisty stories and interesting premises then the Drowning Woman is for you! #GrandCentralPublishing

Talk about twist after twist!! Once you start you wont be able to put down til your done.

If your a thriller fan. This is a must read. Thriller friends, do whatever you can to get your hands on this book.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for my early copy. Publishes June 13, 2023!

All thoughts and opinions are my own and aren't influenced by anyone else

Lee is on the run. She’s moving from city to city, from one end of the country to the other. She’s escaping her past, escaping the man she owes a lot of money to. Being on the run means she’s cut ties with her family and sister, but she’s hurt them too much to try and reconcile their relationship.

She’s putting her life on the line when she sleeps in her car. Drug addicts are roaming the street at night and she’s so afraid to close her eyes. She finds a nice beach with wealthy homes nearby, it’s thirty minutes from her place of work but it’s safe.

One morning, Lee wakes up to the sound of a woman crying and she thinks nothing of it until she hears a splash. She rushes to the woman and pulls her lifeless body from the ocean but instead of being thankful for Lee, she’s furious!

Hazel was ready to end her life to escape her abusive husband. She asks Lee if she’ll help her disappear; and in return, she’ll pay Lee and help her disappear as well.

Lee and Hazel have become close but after their disappearing act goes wiry, Lee realizes that Hazel isn’t a friend after all.

I loved the multiple POV’s between Hazel and Lee. Just when you think you’ve figured out the first twist, BAM 💥, you’re hit with another one that completely blindsides you. So many twists, so many lies and deception that it kept me glued to the pages. I highly recommend this book, it’s one of my top 3 of the year!

This was a great thriller that kept me guessing until the end! Hazel is a rich woman, married to an abusive dominant man named Benjamin. She lives a privileged life but is a prisoner in her own home, her every move watched and monitored. She starts having an affair with her trainer at the gym, Jesse, and they hatch a plan to kill her husband. However, Jesse is not who he seems. Lee is a woman that has fallen on hard times, and is living out of her car at the time she and Hazel meet. Lee saves Hazel from a life threatening situation and their relationship evolves from there.
This book was a quick read, suspenseful, and a great story about female bonding against dangerous circumstances. When Benjamin finds out about the murder plot, the action is kicked up a notch, and the twist that comes took me off guard. I did have some suspicions though.

I really enjoyed this one, but felt the ending was a bit rushed. If Hazel had the means to escape Benjamin, why didn't she do so earlier. It seemed like her actions at the end were an afterthought.

All in all, I would recommend this one, my first Robyn Harding book!

As soon as I saw The Drowning Woman up for request, I hit the button as quickly as I could. This was my 6th Robyn Harding book (The Arrangement was a favorite read of 2021 for me), and just like the others, I absolutely loved it! She is an expert at crafting a story that will leave your head spinning even after the fact.

What’s it about?
Lee never thought she’d find herself homeless, but when her restaurant falls and she falls into debt, she’s living in her Corolla in Seattle. Early one morning, she sees a sobbing woman throw herself into the sea. She helps the woman and expects to find gratefulness - But she’s actually furious with Lee. Hazel, the drowning woman, wanted to die, she says. She’s a prisoner in her own home and trapped in abusive marriage - The drowning the only way to escape. The drowning woman returns the next morning - and keeps returning - which quickly turns into a friendship between the two women. Hazel wants Lee to help her disappear. But is she really her friend? Is everything as it seems?

DAMN. This is a GREAT book. You get to hear the perspectives of both Hazel and Lee - And each time the POV changed, I found myself upset because I wanted the prior one to keep going. Then, I was thrilled because each POV change just keeps getting better and better. I love a deliciously twisty story that really gets you wondering who you can trust, and Harding is a master of doing that and more in The Drowning Woman. Also, how stunning is that cover? This one kept me up into the late hours of the night - Rooting for MC Lee and then also at times screaming at her to RUN! Thank you Netgalley & Grand Central Publishing for an eARC of this book!

The Drowning Woman. First of all, let's take a moment and appreciate how apt that title is. While yes, there's a literal drowning woman, both of the main characters could be defined as being drowning women as well. There's Lee, the former high-end restaurant owner from New York who lost everything in the pandemic. Including, apparently, her morals. After a series of increasingly poor choices, she ends up homeless in Seattle. Living in her car when she witnesses what looks like a suicide attempt. Enter Hazel, a kept woman in a seemingly gilded cage. The wife of a wealthy and powerful man, Hazel can't take his abuse and control anymore- so she takes the easy way out and tries to drown herself. After Lee saves Hazel, their lives change, and not necessarily for the better.
The twists and turns in The Drowning woman keep.on.coming. You absolutely won't be able to put it down, and for very good reason. I've read over 100 books this year and Drowning Woman will easily go down as being one of the best.

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding is a propulsive, compelling thriller that is extremely difficult to put down. The story follows two women, Lee Gulliver and Hazel Laval, as their lives intersect in unexpected and dangerous ways. Lee is a woman experiencing homelessness, newly arrived in Seattle after running from her dark past. One morning, she saves a woman from drowning--and that woman is Hazel, a rich, privileged housewife who also happens to be trapped in an abusive marriage. As their unlikely friendship develops, they both come to learn exactly how far they're willing to go to help someone with no other options.

This story is twisty and dark, with believable characters and a plot that feels fresh. The story alternates between Lee's and Hazel's points of view, which is an effective strategy to heighten the tension. That being said, the two characters have almost identical voices, which makes it difficult to discern at a glance which one is narrating. For two characters with such different backgrounds and life stories, I would have liked to have seen a more clear-cut switch between the two voices. I also wasn't enamored with the ending--after all the buildup of the climax, it felt a bit like a letdown. Despite that, I still love this book and would highly recommend it. Overall, the plot, characters, and pacing are fantastic.

I love Robyn Harding’s books and this one was no exception! I couldn’t put it down. When I wasn’t reading it I was dying to!

Lee and Hazel meet under weird circumstances and their friendship seems to grow naturally. Seems being the operative word. The story is told from both Lee’s perspective and Hazel’s and as we learn both sides of the story we see that their friendship has benefits to both of them for very different reasons. As the story moves on things get darker and more sinister.

I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait for Ms. Harding’s next work!

"A deliciously twisted story of friendship, retribution, and betrayal about a homeless woman fleeing a dangerous past—and the wealthy society wife she saves from drowning, who pulls her into a dark web of secrets and lies."

Definitely a gripping twisty tale with multiple POV and clever plotting. Tbh, the twists were a bit whiplash inducing and I felt a little like I'd been on a road trip and was getting a bit car sick. I found myself constantly turning another page to find out what was going to happen but the ending felt unrealistic and rushed to me. Enjoyed this read nonetheless - it's a solid suspenseful mystery.

Thank you kindly to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the gifted copy! The Drowning Woman hits shelves 6/13/23!