I devoured this book. I wouldn’t change a thing. Loved how the chapters were laid out. I was rooting for all of the characters—maybe not Sabrina though. Was perfection!

Going into this I was expecting super thriller vibes and what I got was a big dose of romance/chick lit with a suspense on the side. And this was a-okay for me because I was hooked from page one. Aptly titled, Can’t Look Away, this book drew me in from the get-go and I could.not.look.away until the very end.

Molly locked eyes with Jake Danner in a bar when he was a rising rock star. Their love was one songs are written about. But life as a rock star’s girlfriend isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, and Molly finds herself falling for stable, dependable Hunter.

Fast-forward several years to a quiet community in Connecticut where we find Molly, Hunter and their daughter living a quaint life. Enter Sabrina. Molly and Sabrina quickly become friends, but Sabrina has an agenda and Molly’s world will never be the same.

Angsty, heartbreaking and over-the-top obsession make for a quick, suspenseful read. It was so well-written and the flawed, realistic characters made this one stick with me for days after I finished.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and Carola Lovering for an advance copy of this book. Go out and grab yours today. You won’t regret it!

𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦!

All I can say is that I wasn’t expecting this book at all, a twisty, tense thriller mixed with a second chance romance that kept me at the edge of my seat. I mixed reading and listening to the audio and loved them both. A fantastic read that you need to add to your tbr.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this gifted copy.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦!

All I can say is that I wasn’t expecting this book at all, a twisty, tense thriller mixed with a second chance romance that kept me at the edge of my seat. I mixed reading and listening to the audio and loved them both. A fantastic read that you need to add to your tbr.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this gifted copy.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

Lovering once again delivers what longing and obsessive love looks like. I loved Sabrina’s POV because it added to her obsession and showed her motivations even if you didn’t believe in them. I appreciated how flawed all three MCs were and how their youth was portrayed because it was very realistic. There definitely were some bombs I did not see coming and while this is billed as a thriller, I would say it’s more romantic/domestic suspense - either way you should read it!

Can't Look Away is a good read that straddles multiple genres. It focuses on Jake Danner, his first love Molly Diamond, his ex Sabrina. Sabrina is obsessed with revenge after Jake leaves her for Molly and sets out to learn everything about Molly and Jake's relationship, a plot that ends up spanning years. After low key stalking Molly for years, Sabrina is able to win Jake back but in the end doesn't get the result she'd hoped for.
This book feels more like a suspenseful romance. It didn't grab me right away but the different points of view and the back and forth between the past and present kept me interested until the climactic finale. None of the main characters are likeable due to the poor choices they all make. And yet you can't help but hope they find their happy endings, especially as they all come to terms with their past mistakes and traumas and learn to be better.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Can't Look Away by Carola Lovering is an entertaining page turner about first love and its consequences. Molly and Jake make eye contact and instantly connect when he is singing with his up and coming band at a bar in Brooklyn. Their love blossoms as Jake's career takes off. Unfortunately,their romance can't be sustained and they go their separate ways. Six years later Molly is living with her husband and daughter in Connecticut. Molly is excited to meet Sabrina and the women quickly bond and become best friends. Molly doesn't suspect that Sabrina has intentionally sought Molly out and plans to ruin her life. Can't Look Away is a fantastic story with interesting characters.

Molly Diamond meets an up-and-coming musician named Jake and they fall in love. They have a rocky relationship that peaks with him writing a hit song that has her name in it. Years later, Molly is married and raising a daughter in Connecticut. She has avoided thinking of her ex by staying mostly off of social media. She befriends Sabrina, a new woman in town, and their separate secrets bring a new layer of chaos to Molly’s carefully crafted world. Can’t Look Away is a sly suburban suspense story that will take the reader into the post-college years, following along as young artists try to balance their romantic and career ambitions.
Carola Lovering has the ability to remind me of the big feelings of my twenties and also make me so glad that time is behind me. I felt like this book brought together the best elements of Tell Me Lies and Too Good to be True, The messy young dramatic relationships and the domestic suspense bits. I was so worried for everyone’s safety as they made these really reckless decisions at every turn. I won’t tell you how it works out, but I appreciated the ending that delivering without compromising on anything that came before it.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
“…I want to be with someone I love the way I love you. That’s all I know.”

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an advanced copy of this new thriller, to review prior to its June 14th release date.

I have heard a lot of good things about this author’s previous works, so I was intrigued when I saw this one coming out. I love me a good thriller and this one did not disappoint.

This story goes between past and present as we follow a slew of main characters. We also follow Sabrina, an ex of THE Jake Danner, who has never quite let him go to the point of obsession, as she tries to make him see how great she is and how terrible Molly, his true love, is.

Sabrina was creepy but I couldn’t look away (haha see what I did there?). This story absolutely caught my attention and had me immersed. The chapters flew by and then I was near the end and surprised and upset that it was almost over. The twist at the end was pretty good. I predicted part of it, but that doesn’t mean it was bad.

My only issue with these types of thrillers is that they a big focus on cheating. I get that it makes for a good storyline, but it gets to the point where it’s just too much.

I needed a good thriller to get me back into reading as I’m starting to descend into a slump, and this book delivered. I have her other book ‘Too Good to be True’ that I will definitely plan to pick up sooner rather than later.

“Maybe happiness is what you surrender to, not what you fight for.”

“And it’s never too late to chase your dreams. Even the ones you abandoned.”

TW: Infertility, miscarriage (on page), infidelity

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I think I need to resign myself to the fact that Lovering's books aren't for me. I always get sucked into the hype around them and then find myself disappointed. This book is marketed as a "sexy suspense novel" about "addictive, obsessive love" and there is absolutely nothing sexy or suspenseful about any of it. There is zero chemistry between the two main characters who are supposedly so obsessed with each other and I figured out every single plot "twist" before I was even 20% into the book. None of the characters were particularly likable and the whole situation was just absurd. There was maybe some potential for at least Sabrina's plot line, but then even she fell completely flat by the end of the book. I know a lot of people really enjoy Lovering's books, I am just not one of them.

Can’t Look Away was a great book to dive into while enjoying the Boston Harborfront on Sunday! This book is part suspense, part romance, and 100% hard to set down - even with an amazing view behind it!
Told through three different POV, Can’t Look Away alternates between chapters in the past and chapters in the present, about six years later. The chapters set in the past take place in Brooklyn as Molly and Jake fall in love at first sight at a concert. Jake is the lead singer of a rock trio and stares at Molly in the crowd, then finds a way to get her number and take her out. Their love story is fast and furious and all-consuming, as Jake attempts to balance his touring with his relationship and Molly works on turning her MFA thesis into a novel.
On the other hand, the chapters in the present take place in suburban, oceanfront Connecticut, where Molly is now married to Hunter and struggling to get pregnant again to give their daughter Stella a sibling.
The pacing was great, and I just had to keep reading to find out more about the story that connected the past with the present. I was sucked into this one and couldn’t look away (get it?) until the end.
Many thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This was my first read by @carolatlovering and I look forward to enjoying her backlist. Can’t Look Away comes out tomorrow (6/14) and I definitely recommend checking it out - especially if you like to switch up genres, since it combines suspense and romance.

Complicated love, failure to communicate, and some desperate lies get in the way of happiness for the main characters. I did not feel connected to or sympathetic toward any of them. No big surprises as I’d hoped.

Thank you to St. Martins Press,Netgalley, and the author Carola Loverling for early access to this book.

This multiple POV novel is about two women who are in love with the same man and are in relationships at different times. It had a slower start but it really picked up later in the book. A wonderful read that will keep you reading.

I absolutely loved this book! I could not put it down. The way the timeline and different points of view were written kept me invested in the storyline. I never truly never was able to guess the twists before they were revealed. It was so well done – though I do wish there would have been a POV from Hunter. Given the history that is revealed later in the book it was hard to imagine he didn’t have his own scheme or at least dialogue when Jake reappeared in 2022.

I would recommend this book to everyone! It pulled me out of a reading slump and I just know I’ll still be thinking of this book days from now.

Can't Look Away is a well-written and well-executed read that is more romance than a thriller or suspense. The storyline was fantastic, super interesting, and it kept me flipping the pages. The character development in this book was superb!

This isn't my first Lovering novel. I loved reading her book, "Too Good To Be True", that was published last year. It was full of twists and turns and was so well written. I was very excited for this read!

I will let you know from the start that this is a thriller with a twist of romance. I wasn't expecting to have my heart strings pulled, and I think that it's only fair to warn the reader that there might be tears of sadness/happiness shed.

The story is told through different perspectives and different timelines. We get bits and pieces of past and present and the overall picture starts to become much clearer with every turn of the page. Just when I thought I had figured it out an even bigger twist is thrown in!

This was such a fun read and I enjoyed every chapter. It is a perfect summer read for the beach, the pool, or on the couch while enjoying your a/c!

Thanks to Netgalley, and St. Martin's Press for allowing me an advanced digital copy to read and give my honest review. It was a 4 star read for me! I look forward to Carola Lovering's next book!

"Can't Look Away" is set to be released on June 14, 2022 here in the U.S. so pre-order now!

Happy Reading!

I first want to thank the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book! Overall I would give this book 3 stars. It was a decent read, and had a decent twist, but it both dragged on and left me wanting more at the same time. I loved the premise and the role of manipulative Sabrina, but it took too long for Sabrina's motive/plan to be revealed. And then at the end, Sabrina just kind of faded away, I really wanted more of her craziness. I'm not sure how I felt about Jake- he was meant to be the original love interest but he just drove me insane. I liked the end of the book okay, but I think the crazy that Sabrina revealed in the beginning of the book could have been built on so much more; I think those first few Sabrina chapters made me think this would be more of a thriller than it was. But overall, it was a decent read. Not usually my genre of choice (as I mentioned, expected a thriller after those first couple Sabrina chapters), but I didn't hate the book.

DNF @ 12%. This book was just all over the place and after reading some reviews, I'm not the only one to think so. As excited as I was for this one, I don't think I'll be continuing. Thanks for the opportunity!

I was simply blown away by this book. After the first chapter I was hooked. It was like watching a soap opera with all the requisite characters. Meet Molly: budding author and questionable taste in men. Meet Hunter: the stoic paragon of sacrifice and my favorite. Meet Jake: selfish rock star who is careless with his love. Meet Sabrina: the manipulator.
I read hungrily trying to figure out how all the chips would fall. I couldn’t warm up to Molly. Sabrina was malicious and evil and although I love to read about devious women I’m glad no one like her is around me. I wasn’t impressed with Jake, it was all about him. Now I was Team Hunter from the beginning.
If any of these descriptions pique your interest, my review has served its purpose.

Molly seems to be living an idyllic life in an affluent Connecticut suburb with her handsome husband and young daughter, save for trouble trying to conceive their second child, until Molly's ex-boyfriend, and not just any ex-boyfriend, perhaps The One Who Got Away, moves into the 'hood with his new wife, Sabrina. Molly and Sabrina strike up a friendship before Molly realizes the conflict of interest and Sabrina might just have ulterior motives for becoming bosom buddies with her husband's ex.

A domestic drama with a thriller-y twist Can't Look Away alternates between present day and a decade previous exploring past relationships, old wounds, buried secrets, and toxic love that threatens to upend everything.

I've enjoyed author Carola Lovering in the past, I loved Tell Me Lies and liked Too Good to Be True. Unfortunately I found <i>Can't Look Away</i> to be just okay; readable but bland.