Once again Robyn has written the perfect page turner and a completely addictive must-read. The Drowning Woman is a five star and a definite recommendation for any thriller lovers out there.

Robyn Harding is back! This was such a twisted read! I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. I loved how the story started off slow and innocent and then gained momentum as plot twist after plot twist was revealed. It is clever, it is twisty and it is addictive. This book deserves each and every star, it is really that good!

A massive thanks to NetGalley + Grand Central Publishing for the gifted copy!

Lee saves a drowning women who didn’t want to be saved. This book switches back and forth between characters which seems to work. Lots of twist and turns. Great read.

It was another great Sunday afternoon with my book club friends and wow, what a fun read we picked for August! Talk about a fast paced thriller!

This book is sure to be a hit with the masses. I had a day to finish this and I can assure you, this was not a problem.

I admit that things started out a little slow for me and I found one of the main characters, Lee, to be incredibly annoying. However, right when the book turned to the second voice in the story, Hazel, it was all 🚗🚗🚗 from there!!

I love a bingeworthy thriller that pulls you in for the long hall and this book did just that for me and most of our group.

There were a couple times throughout the plot where things were a little too convenient, but this was a definite hit with my book loving friends.

This story begins following Lee, who is down on her luck and running from a dangerous past. We hear Lee's POV as she navigates homeless life and one day saves a drowning woman, Hazel. As Lee and Hazel build a friendship, Hazel confides in Lee that she is in an abusive marriage that she desperately wants to escape. Hazel develops a plan to escape her marriage with Lee's help, reluctant at first, Lee eventually agrees. As Lee follows Hazel's plan, things quickly go terribly wrong and Lee is afraid for her both her freedom and her safety.
As soon as we finish hearing Lee's POV, the story shifts to Hazel's POV and the pieces begin to fall into place. I love how we heard the first part of the story from Lee's POV and then the second part puts us in Hazel's POV. This was such a great way to to build the story and keep the reader engaged. Filled with twists and turns, this story did just that, it kept me completely engaged.

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 (4.5)

Thank you to @netgalley and @grandcentralpub for the gifted copy of this book.

The Drowning Woman
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Robyn Harding

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and PUB and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: This story grips you from the opening. There was times I was screaming at the characters as blow after blow is delivered. It is brilliantly crafted with twist after twist until the ending, now that blew my mind! We follow this homeless woman and high society woman. Lee lost her restaurant as a result of the pandemic and got in with some shady people, mixed with some bad decisions, so in addition to being homeless, she is also on the run. Hazel is a wealthily societal lady married to an insanely rich and controlling husband; a husband who manipulated her into signing a master/slavery contract. Hazel is at the end of her rope until Lee rescues her from drowning. The two form a friendship, of sorts. Hazel needs to disappear and asks for Lee’s help, and in return, will reward Lee generously, enough for Lee to become a productive member of society.

The story is narrated in a dual timeline that meets up with Lee and Hazel and also provides some flashbacks on Lee. Lee is a broken woman but also a strong fighter. Hazel’s only saving grace is that her husband takes care of her mother but in exchange, she is under his total control, including the ability to gaslight her. We have two heroines in this story, both with different challenges. The characters were well developed with depth, mystery, were creative, and the heroines were just brilliant. I connected more with Lee, although I understood the challenges of both of our heroines and why they went to the lengths that they did. The author’s writing style was complex, multifaceted, suspenseful, twisty, and absolutely brilliant. The plot was delivered in twisty layers, while there were some plot holes, overall, the flow and the pace of the story was excellent.

This is a dark, disturbing, gripping, compelling psychological thriller that you will NOT be able to put down. The story, while heart wrenching, carried a strong message of strong female relationships. Trigger warnings of slavery contract, gaslighting, and emotional abuse. This is my first Harding book, but it will not be my last. This is available on Kindle, Physical, and Audiobook. Since I was behind in my reviews, I did listen to the audiobook and the narrators did a phenomenal job at voice variation and creating additional layers to the characters. I HIGHLY recommend picking up this book!

I'm a fan of Robyn Harding - and that will continue! I felt such sympathy for Lee - she's just a good person who is down on her luck. At first I also felt sympathy for Hazel. I felt the mood shift though and from there, the book really picked up. It felt like an emotional rollercoaster with these women. I enjoyed the writing and the twists more than the women themselves.

As usual, Robyn Harding has knocked it out of the park. Her books are always so compulsive and I really should plan to have off work when I start them! I don't want to do anything else once I open her books. This one was a really interesting way to tie in COVID-19 and how it affected people other than just illness. I thought it was carefully done without being too over the top and could be realistic for many. Just when I thought I had things figured out, the book took a different turn and I loved it! Auto-buy author for me!

I absolutely loved this book! Both main characters were tough and brave women, doing what they needed to do survive their agonizing situations. Lee is a talented chef, but when her restaurant fails due to circumstances beyond her control, she ends up homeless and living out of her car. By chance she saves a drowning woman, but as the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. Hazel is the abused wife of a wealthy man looking for a way out, and things get twisty and complicated when Lee agrees to help her.

This was such a fast-paced, cleverly written book with one surprise after another. The tension had my stomach in knots, and I had no idea how things would play out in this wild rollercoaster ride. Definitely five stars to this bingeable nerve-racking thriller. Chef's kiss ending!

Twisty!

Now here is a book that came along at the right time. As Matt said below, it's ridiculous, but it was bingeable and kept my interest throughout.

Basically it's the story of Lee, who used to own her own restaurant in NYC until the pandemic caused it to go under. She owes a bunch of money to a shady investor, so she went on the run and has ended up homeless, living in her car in Seattle. One day while parked near the water, she ends up rescuing a woman from drowning. The woman's name is Hazel and she wants to die because she is stuck in an abusive marriage with a wealthy powerful man. Lee and Hazel forge a sort of friendship and begin to make plans for how they can both disappear and create new lives for themselves.

What seemed to be a straightforward setup twists around itself many times. No one is who they seem, everyone has secrets, and there are surprises around every corner. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll leave it at that. This is told from both Lee's and Hazel's perspectives, alternating in sections so the reader can follow each of their stories in detail (rather than just alternating chapters which wouldn't have worked as well.)

Is this book totally beyond the realm of believability? Oh, for sure.
But it is entertaining? Yes, it definitely was for me.

I thought the twists were skillfully presented and the misdirection was done really well. I started off listening to the audiobook, which is narrated by two narrators for the two main characters and it really kept my interest. Then I switched to the print version so I could finish reading more quickly because I really wanted to know what was going to happen.

Some other reviewers said that this one was too repetitive, because we get the same incidents from the two different points of view. However, I really liked that, because it was like getting to peek behind the curtain in order to get the full picture rather than just one side of the story.

Recommended for those who like super twisty suspense novels and are in the right mood to suspend some disbelief.

So good! I read it in 48 hours! The book switched back and forth between two POVs and each section ended with a major cliffhanger. I couldn't stop reading to find out what happened.

I struggled with this one. The characters were hard to like and somewhat clueless. The pacing was awkward. Twist upon twist, but they didn't make sense and were just unbelievable. I just didn't click with the writing style.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance reader copy of this book. Being saved from drowning was just the beginning of a tragic and twisty story. Harding does a great job weaving a story different than many novels of the same genre. Never would have guessed the ending. 4.5 stars

<b>The Short of It:</b>

Harding does it again.

<b>The Rest of It:</b>

"Lee Gulliver never thought she’d find herself living on the streets–no one ever does–but when her restaurant fails, and she falls deeper into debt, she leaves her old life behind with nothing but her clothes and her Toyota Corolla. In Seattle, she parks in a secluded spot by the beach to lay low and plan her next move–until early one morning, she sees a sobbing woman throw herself into the ocean. Lee hauls the woman back to the surface, but instead of appreciation, she is met with fury." ~ Indiebound

I’ve read a few Harding books and they never fail to pull me right in. I mean, to the point where everything is pushed aside so I can be left to read. The Drowning Woman was no exception.

Lee, forced to live in her car and desperate for human interaction can’t help but fall under Hazel’s spell. What is this woman’s story? Why is she trying to kill herself? Outward appearances will tell you that Hazel has everything. A gorgeous beach house, money at her disposal and a handsome husband. But Hazel’s life is a mess and she wants out. Is Lee desperate enough to get tangled up in this web of lies if it means a chance to improve her life?

There are plenty of plot twists to keep the story moving. I eagerly picked the book up in-between work assignments, chores, and the like. I enjoyed it!! Recommend.

For more reviews, visit my blog: <a href="http://bookchatter.net">Book Chatter</a>.

When I go to start a book by Robyn Harding, I know that I need to clear out a good chunk of my schedule, because once I start, I won’t want to stop. THE DROWNING WOMAN was no different, and I’m always in awe of Harding’s ability to weave these twisty little tales for us. I’ve loved all of her books since picking up THE PARTY (way back when I started my little Bookstagram account), and I try to not go into each book with such high expectations, but it’s so hard!

In this new tale, we meet Lee and Hazel. Two very different women whose lives become intertwined after a chance encounter. Lee is now homeless after fleeing from her troubles – she is living in her car and had parked for the night in a park near the beach. When she wakes up she hears a woman yelling from the water and she jumps in to save her. Hazel is the wife of an incredibly powerful and wealthy criminal defense lawyer. They have a unique arrangement within their marriage that has created a miserable existence for Hazel and she wants out. Lee and Hazel have agreed to help each other start new lives for themselves and escape whatever they’re running from, but of course, things end up a little more complicated than we would have originally believed.

Review of The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding

Wow. I’ve put off writing this review because I love this book so much. It’s hard to find the words. I have never been let down by a Robyn Harding book but this one is my favorite with the arrangement being a close second. This book had it all. I never saw a lot of the twists coming. I absolutely loved the two main female characters . They were a great example of strong women. I could barely put this down to do my daily activities. I gasped, teared up and cheered all during this book. It’s definitely a bona fide thriller, but it has a lot more to offer than just chills and thrills. Definitely do yourself a favor and get it today. It’s already out.

Synopsis:

Lee Gulliver never thought she’d find herself living on the streets—no one ever does—but when her restaurant fails, and she falls deeper into debt, she leaves her old life behind with nothing but her clothes and her Toyota Corolla. In Seattle, she parks in a secluded spot by the beach to lay low and plan her next move—until early one morning, she sees a sobbing woman throw herself into the ocean. Lee hauls the woman back to the surface, but instead of appreciation, she is met with fury. The drowning woman, Hazel, tells her that she wanted to die, that she’s trapped in a toxic, abusive marriage, that she’s a prisoner in her own home. Lee has thwarted her one chance to escape her life.

Out of options, Hazel retreats to her gilded cage, and Lee thinks she’s seen the last of her, until her unexpected return the next morning. Bonded by disparate but difficult circumstances, the women soon strike up a close and unlikely friendship. And then one day, Hazel makes a shocking request: she wants Lee to help her disappear. It’ll be easy, Hazel assures her, but Lee soon learns that nothing is as it seems, and that Hazel may not be the friend Lee thought she was.

If you haven't read The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding what are you waiting for? This book is one of the best. I love this Author and all her books. The Drowning Woman is about Lee and Hazel two women who meet and become friends in dire circumstances. I use the word friends very loosely. There are so many twists and turns I couldn't put it down. Thrilling. All the Stars!

This tale of toxic friendship and total surprises is a thrill a minute which is what you come to expect from this author.

I loved this book! It kept me on the edge of my seat and had just enough twists and turns to make this a page turner. Highly recommend!

Oh my goodness! This has got to be THE summer thriller of the year. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book, but it was completely unputdownable. Two women from totally different backgrounds come together, in a story filled with secrets and surprises everywhere you turn. I just loved it and can’t wait to discuss it with someone! I’ll definitely be reading more of this author.