Who hasn’t wanted to throw in the towel, to start over with a new life when the old one crashes and burns? For Lee Gulliver, her new life is hardly glamorous however. Her restaurant has failed and she’s living in her car. but as bad as her current state is, it pales in comparison when she witnesses a woman throw herself into the ocean. She pulls the woman to safety only to learn that Hazel had chosen to end her life to escape an abusive marriage. Hazel goes back to her toxic, but very luxurious life but soon runs into Lee again and the two women become friends. And that’s when Hazel asks Lee to help her disappear, for real this time. Harding presents a thrilling story where no one is what they seem

Lee Gulliver finds herself in an impossible situation when her restaurant fails and she is left with a crushing pile of debt and not much else. With just her clothes and her car, Lee leaves everything behind and has no home to go to. Then one early morning she is parked by the beach and sees a hysterical woman literally throw herself in to the ocean. Lee promptly saves her and the woman, Hazel, does not thank her for it. In fact, she gets an ear full about how she is in an abusive relationship and a prisoner in her own home. And she just wants the pain to end. Somehow Lee and Hazel end up becoming friends and when Hazel asks Lee to help her disappear, she has no idea what she is getting involved with.

I am a Robyn Harding superfan and her latest book, THE DROWNING WOMAN, is absolutely outstanding! I really enjoyed it and would put it in my top 3 books for 2022 so far. The twists were all perfectly executed and I found myself slowing down my reading pace just to enjoy the story for a little bit longer. This book deserves each and every star, it is really that good!

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

Holy shir Harding has done it again a complete masterpiece told in two perspectives
Lee who has run away from her past looking to rebuild her life working at a restaurant while living out of her car. While one day she saves a woman's life. That is hazel who was about to coming suicide tired of living under her controlling husbands actions. As their two stories unravel and intertwine we get twist after twist as you are trying to decide who to believe and who you can trust. An addictively compulsive read you just can't look away from

Lee has lost everything during the pandemic and is now homeless, living out of her car in Seattle. One morning while parked by a secluded section of the beach, she is woken by the sounds of a woman crying. Unable to ignore the it, she gets out of her car and sees the woman going into the water but not coming back up. She manages to rescue the woman, whose name is Hazel and claims she is trapped in an abusive marriage and wanted to die. After forming a friendship, Hazel asks for Lee's help in disappearing from her life and starting over.

I honestly loved almost everything about this one. I read a few not so great books before this and found myself slowly going into another slump. This one pulled me right out of it within the first few pages. I related in a lot of ways with both women in this so maybe I'm biased because of that. The description of Lee's homelessness is heartbreaking and honestly spot-on. Hazel feeling trapped in an abusive relationship and being lonely and on her own is just as bad. This story was so engrossing and flips on you in so many ways. I can see this being another big hit. I'm going to disregard the one inconsistency I found towards the end and give this the full Five Stars. This author has just earned a new fan.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for this ARC.

𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬.

Robyn Harding is among a handful of authors that I will drop everything for. When my NetGalley approval came through, I was reading a book I was thoroughly enjoying, but it was shoved aside like an afterthought while I devoured her newest tale. Waiting until June to have a finished copy to place near her other works seems unimaginable, but wait, I will!

It's been said that no good deed goes unpunished, and that proverb is certainly true in Lee Gulliver's case. The pandemic has decimated her once thriving restaurant, and owing money to a violent investor that she can't repay, she goes on the run, ending up in Seattle. Demoted to living in her car and existing on the fringes of the same society that she used to be a contributing member of, Lee's life is changed forever when she sees a crying woman walk into the frigid ocean. After hauling the woman out of the clutches of death, she is met with fury instead of appreciation. The would-be victim, Hazel, tells Lee this was her one chance to escape the domineering clutches of her sadistic, abusive husband, and Lee has ruined everything.

Dejected, Hazel returns home, and Lee returns to the confines of her Toyota, but Hazel returns the next day, and before long, a friendship begins. For Lee, this human connection is exactly what she needed, but are Hazel's intentions genuine? What unfolds in the second part of the novel, which is Hazel's point of view, is genuinely shocking and unexpected, and I wanted to both savor and tear through the pages until I got to the end.

Thriller friends, do whatever you can to get your hands on an early copy of this book. Order takeout for the family, call in sick to work (I almost did!) and let this twisty story shock and delight. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for my early copy. Publishes June 13, 2023!

Drowning Woman is definitely gripping, riveting and surprising reading! There are so many twists, jaw dropping moments that make you scream! I personally banged my head against the wall when I got unexpected sucker punch after finding out the biggest twist! It was freaking good!

There are two heroines in this book! I personally connected with Lee a little easier. Because she was paying a little harder for the bad choices she’s made. And I think her family members were morons! She lost her restaurant during the pandemic and she made the biggest mistake by taking money from very dangerous people. Now she’s on the run, living her life in NYC where she owned a restaurant and active life. She’s homeless, jobless, penniless, sleeping in her car. One day her life changes when she saves the life of Hazel who tried to commit suicide by drowning herself in the water.

Hazel is a victim of abusive relationship. She signed a master/ slave contract with her rich and also very dangerous husband who is also powerful criminal defense lawyer. Their agreement not only includes the sexual slavery but also entitles to verbal, psychological abuse. She turns into his property in exchange of putting her mother to a facility for dementia treatment.

Hazel needs help to disappear and she offers Lee a way out, too. But when Lee involves into Hazel’s escape plan, she realizes nothing as it seems and she gets herself into more dangerous position than sleeping in her car as she’s holding a knife into her hand.

I honestly attached with Lee more and when I start to read Hazel’s POV, I keep asking myself where the hell Lee is! I couldn’t connect with Hazel as much as I did with Lee. I understand Hazel wanted to help her mother and found herself as a prey of dangerous monster but the red flags were so obvious from the beginning. She could find another way to support herself. Lee was the victim of the worst circumstances and tried to too hard to survive. She didn’t have much choice but Hazel had way out at the beginning but she didn’t accept to take it! I still enjoy to read her POV because it was truly action packed, heart throbbing and it absolutely kept me on my toes! I kept asking myself what’s gonna happen next!

It was still heart wrenching and girl power story even though there are some plot holes left behind. ( I cannot tell more I already gave too much away) Everybody deserves a second chance message was well served.

I’m giving my four action packed, exciting, mind bending stars! Absolutely recommended to the thriller lovers and fans of Robyn Harding like me!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for sharing this amazing reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Holy plot twists! The Drowning Woman by @rhardingwriter had me on the edge of my seat the entire time! I finished it in one sitting and devoured every page. I loved how the story started off slow and innocent and then gained momentum as plot twist after plot twist was revealed. I found my jaw on the floor multiple times while reading it. @rhardingwriter cleverly weaved a shocking thriller that will leave you wanting more!

Lee Gulliver is down on her luck living in her car as a result of the pandemic and her failed restaurant. Hustling the only way she knows how, Lee gets by showering at the gym and waitressing at a diner full of shady characters. While parked in a secluded spot near the beach, she rescues a drowning woman named Hazel. Hazel tells Lee about her abusive, controlling husband and how she wanted to die. Lee ruined her one chance at freedom.

This chance encounter changes everything for Lee and the pair strike up an unconventional friendship. Eventually Hazel pleas for Lees help to disappear for good. She lays out her meticulous plan and Lee can’t help but accept. Not long after their agreed upon arrangement Lee realizes that things are not the way they seem and that Hazel is not the friend she appeared to be.

The Drowning Woman is available June 13,2023.

Thank you to netgalley and grandcentralpublishing for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

It takes some buy-in but not so much that it takes away from the story.

The twists and turns are whiplash inducing, keeping the thrill factor Turned way up

In fact I was approved for this today, could not put it down and finished it in roughly 4 hours.

Robyn Harding has a gift for writing unlikable characters and it shines here. While, there is definitely a spectrum of unethical to monstrous, no one is truly innocent.

She also doesn't shy away from tough truths. The things some don't even say in private but deep down know that is what they think.

It would have been easier to write the main character as more sympathetic to the homeless, or even show growth of becoming that way. But she always shows a smug I'm above you, still, attitude.

It isn't pretty to read but there are people who believe these things, if even unconsciously.