The Swap

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“No list of thrillers is complete without Robyn Harding,” proclaims Real Simple. Now the USA TODAY bestselling author of The Party delivers a riveting tale about the toxic relationship between two couples after a night of sexual shenanigans, and the manipulative teenager with an explosive secret at the center of it all.

Low Morrison is not your average teen. You could blame her hippie parents or her looming height or her dreary, isolated hometown on an island in the Pacific Northwest. But whatever the reason, Low just doesn’t fit in—and neither does Freya, an ethereal beauty and once-famous social media influencer who now owns the local pottery studio.

After signing up for a class, Low quickly falls under Freya’s spell. And Freya, buoyed by Low’s adoration, is compelled to share her darkest secrets and deepest desires. Finally, both feel a sense of belonging...that is, until Jamie walks through the studio door. Desperate for a baby, she and her husband have moved to the island hoping that the healthy environment will result in a pregnancy. Freya and Jamie become fast friends, as do their husbands, leaving Low alone once again.

Then one night, after a boozy dinner party, Freya suggests swapping partners. It should have been a harmless fling between consenting adults, one night of debauchery that they would put behind them, but instead, it upends their lives. And provides Low the perfect opportunity to unleash her growing resentment.

Robyn Harding brings her acclaimed storytelling, lauded as “fast-paced, thrilling, gut-wrenching” by Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six, to this dark and suspenseful thriller for fans of Megan Miranda and Lisa Jewell.

Praise for The Arrangement


“An insider's look into the world of sugar daddies . . . full of shocking revelations, volatile characters, and vice. Look out: The Arrangement will blow your mind.”
— MARY KUBICA, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl

"A nightmarish deep dive into the underbelly of a secret world. Rivetingly dark, The Arrangement delivers on every level - a shocking premise, a forbidden obsession, and a plot that builds slowly and masterfully escalates to a chilling end. Prepare to be blindsided."
— HEATHER GUDENKAUF, New York Times bestselling author of The Weight of Silence and Not a Sound

"The most compelling, gripping, and entertaining book I’ve read in a long time. Nobody writes about young people and their obsessions as authentically as Robyn. The Arrangement is her best yet. I absolutely loved this book."
— LIZ NUGENT, author of Lying in Wait

“Pretty Woman meets Fatal Attraction, with a twist . . . or three. A riveting look into the world of sugar dating, Robyn Harding’s The Arrangement is deliciously seductive from start to finish. Hang on for the ride, because this tantalizing thriller will knock you sideways.”
— JENNIFER HILLIER, author of Jar of Hearts

“A fast-paced, thrilling, gut-wrenching novel with sharp teeth and daring observations about the inner lives of women. I flew through the pages, desperate to get hold of what was going on beneath the surface but Robyn Harding was always one step ahead. Positively exhilarating.”
— TAYLOR JENKINS REID, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six

-National print and online media campaign
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-Goodreads giveaway
-Book club materials available at ReadingGroups.SimonandSchuster.com
-Online promotion and features
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Robyn Harding is the author of several books, including the international bestseller, The Party, and wrote and executive produced an independent film. She lives in Vancouver, BC, with her husband and children. Visit her at RobynHarding.com or follow her on Instagram @RHardingRriter or Facebook @AuthorRobynHarding.

“No list of thrillers is complete without Robyn Harding.”

—Real Simple

“A master of domestic suspense.”

—Kathleen Barber, author of Are You Sleeping

PRAISE FOR THE WORKS OF ROBYN HARDING

The Party

“Tense and riveting . . . I was hooked from the opening scene and could not look away until I reached the very last page.”

—Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls

“Cleverly constructed and brilliantly paced, The Party is a raw telling of a family coming apart at the seams. . . . Impossible to put down.”

—Bill Clegg, New York Times bestselling author of Did You Ever Have a Family

“Everyone is flawed in this contemporary tale of mothers and daughters. Everyone behaves badly. And the story is a pure delight.”

—Lucy Ferriss, author of A Sister to Honor

“Fast-paced and tension-filled, The Party explodes the myth of the perfect family and is one invitation you can’t turn down.”

—Rebecca Drake, author of Only Ever You

“An innocent sweet-sixteen sleepover goes terribly awry when a wealthy San Francisco couple awakes to find their daughter crying and covered in blood. . . . Shades of The Dinner and Big Little Lies.”

—New York Post

“With teenagers worthy of Mean Girls, and a healthy dose of suspense, The Party reads like a cross between Megan Abbott and Jodi Picoult by way of James Patterson.”

—Booklist

Her Pretty Face

“A fast-paced, thrilling, gut-wrenching novel.”

—Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six

“A haunting tale of friendship and loyalty, secrets and betrayal—a book that will grab your insides and give them a twist.”

—Janelle Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Watch Me Disappear

“Harding expertly builds subtle menace. . . . Creepy and compelling.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“A fierce and blazing one-sitting read that will make you question even your closest friendships. . . . Will undoubtedly spike paranoia levels in school car lines everywhere.”

—Carter Wilson, USA Today bestselling author of Mister Tender’s Girl

“A powerhouse of twists and turns.”

—Roz Nay, internationally bestselling author of Hurry Home and Our Little Secret

“A smart, darkly witty, and perfectly constructed thriller.”

—David Bell, USA Today bestselling author of Since She Went Away

“This one might be the thriller of the summer.”

—Toronto Star

“The tony setting and the slowly revealed secrets make this a good read-alike for Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies.”

—Booklist

“Robyn Harding knows exactly what she’s doing, and she did not come to play.”

—Hello Giggles

The Arrangement

“An insider’s look into the world of sugar daddies . . . full of shocking revelations, volatile characters, and vice. Look out: The Arrangement will blow your mind.”

—Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl

“A nightmarish deep dive into the underbelly of a secret world. Rivetingly dark, The Arrangement delivers on every level—a shocking premise, a forbidden obsession, and a plot that builds slowly and masterfully escalates to a chilling end. Prepare to be blindsided.”

—Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Weight of Silence

“The most compelling, gripping, and entertaining book I’ve read in a long time. Nobody writes about young people and their obsessions as authentically as Robyn.”

—Liz Nugent, bestselling author of Unraveling Oliver

“Pretty Woman meets Fatal Attraction, with a twist . . . or three. . . . Deliciously seductive from start to finish. Hang on for the ride, because this tantalizing thriller will knock you sideways.”

—Jennifer Hillier, author of Jar of Hearts

“Welcome to the sugar bowl. . . . The world of sugar babies and their daddies is fascinating.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Pretty Woman’s creepy counterpart. . . . Throw a little murder in there, and you have yourself a page-turner.”

—29Secrets

“A must-read novel.”

—Real Simple

ALSO AVAILABLE FROM ROBYN HARDING AND SCOUT PRESS

The Party

Her Pretty Face

The Arrangement

Dedication TK

Men, some to business, some to pleasure take;

But every woman is at heart a rake:

Men, some to quiet, some to public strife;

But every lady would be queen for life.

—Alexander Pope

Epistle II: To a Lady, of the Characters of Women

1743

spring 2019

1

low morrison

I first saw Freya at my high school. I hated school, found the classes as dull and simple as my fellow students. This attitude did not endear me to my teachers nor my classmates, so I was alone, as usual, when she walked through the double front doors. No one noticed her, which seemed to be her intent. She wore a ball cap and aviator sunglasses that she did not remove under the fluorescent lights. Her shoulder-length blond hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, her heart-shaped face free of makeup. She was petite but curvaceous in her faded jeans and plain white T, with the kind of figure rarely seen outside of comic books. I had a comic-book figure, too . . . Popeye’s girlfriend Olive Oyl.

Even through the crowd in the hallway, I could tell she was somebody. There was no way I could have known then that she would come into my life and change it, change me, but I felt a magnetic pull toward her, like I had to meet her. It was destiny. The other kids were immune to her presence. It was lunch break, so they were all wrapped up in their pathetic social jockeying—gossiping, flirting, or roughhousing. We would graduate in less than three months, and everyone was already obsessing about prom, pre-parties, after-parties, and college. Everyone but me, that is.

I watched the woman head to the office as Morrissey warbled through my earbuds (unlike my pop- and rap-loving peers, I preferred to listen to angsty classics: the Smiths, Nirvana, R.E.M.). She was too old to be a student, too young to be a parent, too cool to be a teacher. As she disappeared into the principal’s domain, I wondered: Who was this woman? What was she doing at Bayview High? And why was she dressed like an incognito celebrity?

A few minutes later, she emerged from the office with Principal Graph beside her. He was enamored with her; it was obvious in his attentive posture, his fawning mannerisms, the color in his meaty cheeks. The portly administrator led Freya (who had removed her shades but not her hat) to the bulletin board in the main hall. As always, it was covered in ignored bills: school-play announcements, lost-phone notices, guest-speaker posters . . . Mr. Graph cleared a space for her, handed her a pushpin, and she posted a piece of paper on the board. They chatted for a few seconds, the principal clearly trying to bask in her aura for as long as possible, before she donned her sunglasses and left.

I hurried to the vacated bulletin board, eyes trained on the standard white sheet she had put up. It was a typewritten advertisement in Times New Roman font.

Pottery Classes

Learn to throw, glaze, and fire in a cozy home studio. Make beautiful mugs, bowls, and vases.

Ten classes for $100.

Contact Freya Light.

Casually, I snapped a photo of her contact details just as the bell rang to signal the end of lunch.

I waited two days to text her. I didn’t want her to know that I’d watched her pin the notice on the board, that I’d recorded the information directly, that I had been thinking about her ever since. It’s not as creepy as it sounds. My life was exceptionally boring. I had no friends, no hobbies, no extracurricular activities. I did, however, have a lot of chores. My family had a small hobby farm with chickens, a couple of goats, and a pig. There were always animals to feed, eggs to collect, kindling to be chopped for the woodstove. Whenever I escaped to my room to watch Netflix, my mom would insist she needed help with something. She worked from home as a bookkeeper, but she was obsessed with canning: peaches, green beans, dill pickles, kimchi, applesauce . . . As if we had to prepare for a nuclear war.

Sometimes, I’d escape to the beach or into the forest to take photographs of seals, driftwood, birds, and trees. My photography teacher, Mr. Pelman, said I had a good eye. He even let me sign out the school cameras, a privilege usually reserved for yearbook club members. Other times, I used my phone. I liked viewing the world through a smaller, more intimate lens. I liked the solitude. And my singular hobby gave me time to think. For the past two days, about little other than Freya.

She fascinated me, this woman who looked like she’d walked off the set of some Beverly Hills reality show. The town of Hawking, where my high school was located, had some wealthy residents. There were the bankers, the real-estate moguls, the captains of industry who summered in the waterfront mansions set along the island’s rugged coastline. Year-round, the town housed a handful of professionals—doctors and lawyers and accountants. But mostly, our island was populated with organic farmers, beekeepers, or artisan candle/soap/pickle makers and those who ran the shops and restaurants servicing the seasonal tourist trade. We had the occasional celebrity pass through town, usually some washed-up old actor en route to the fishing lodge on the island’s northern tip. But Freya was different. She exuded glamour, significance, and a palpable sense of cool.

After deliberating over my words for several hours, I texted:

I’d like to sign up for pottery classes

With a trembling finger, I sent the message.

When she didn’t respond, I fretted. Were my carefully chosen words somehow off-putting? Or had she seen me in the school hallway watching her with barely concealed wonder? Could she read my thoughts—which, while harmless, were perhaps a little . . . much? It was possible that she had reconsidered offering classes to teens. Why had she wanted to in the first place? Kids my age were assholes. They wouldn’t take learning pottery seriously. They’d joke around, make a mess, show up stoned. Except me. I would treat it like surgery.

Finally, a week later, she texted back.

Hi. Classes start next Monday at 4. Bring a friend!

Ha.

I had one more problem. Or should I say, I had sixty-two more problems.

I decided to steal the shortfall from my younger brothers. I didn’t feel guilty as I rifled under their twin beds for their piggy banks. They were nine and eleven; they had significant birthday money and no expenses. When I got a summer job, I would pay them back . . . if the little brats even noticed the money was missing. And I would have held up a bank to get the cash I needed. I would have rolled an old lady. These pottery classes, my meeting with Freya, had to happen. It was fated.

• • •

That Monday, I drove my battered 1997 Ford F-150 SuperCab pickup truck from school to the address Freya had texted me. I hadn’t fussed with my appearance; there wasn’t much point. But my hair was washed, my lips were coated in enough cherry ChapStick to give them some sheen, and I’d doubled up on deodorant . . . which was a good thing. My anticipation had me sweating like a hog.

Freya’s isolated home was stunning—a cedar-and-glass structure perched on a rocky cliff above the ocean. It was surrounded by arbutus trees, their naked limbs straining toward the water, and seaside juniper perfuming the air with the tangy scent of gin. The building wasn’t large, but it was sleek, modern, and expensive. The opulence of Freya’s home did not surprise me. She was clearly a somebody, her effortless glamour indicative of wealth. This house, with its ocean view and modern architectural design, would be worth millions. My curiosity about her was further piqued.

I parked in the drive and headed toward the pottery studio. It was a small cottage nestled in the trees about fifty yards to the right of the main house. With its clapboard siding, multipaned windows, and wood-shingled roof, it must have been a remnant of the home’s previous iteration. A chalkboard sign mounted next to the door read: Welcome to the Studio, in a swirly script.

My height allowed me to view her through the window at the top of the door. Freya wore black tights and a loose denim shirt—her pottery smock—her blond hair pulled back in a stylishly messy bun. I watched her plunk a heavy bag of gray clay onto a slab table, arrange her various tools into plastic containers. She was preparing for my arrival, and I found it oddly touching. Before I became mesmerized by my observations, I knocked briefly and entered.