Addictive, Heartbreaking, and Fast-paced

Can't Look Away by Carola Lovering is a suspenseful domestic drama that I couldn't put down. This novel is in multiple POVs and timelines. The protagonist Molly, a yoga instructor and writer, can't look away when she lays eyes on Jake, the lead singer of Danner Lane. They begin dating after he breaks up with the antagonist Sabrina. Rich and obsessive, she starts stalking Molly. 10 years in the future, Molly has a family, but not with Jake and is struggling with infertility. I appreciated this representation immensely. The real mystery is what happened between Molly and Jake, and why is Sabrina still consumed with following Molly? I was expecting the novel to be more thrilling, but it was more of a compelling drama. Even though the bulk of the plot was predictable, I couldn't put it down. It was a quick read with a build up that made it impossible not to finish in one sitting. However, I was not a fan of Molly's character. I couldn't connect with her or her choices, and don't even get me started on how she treats her husband Henry when Jake comes back into the picture. There is character development all around especially for Molly, Sabrina, and Jake. I found the end to be emotional and satisfying. The writing itself was intense and descriptive. Once I started I couldn't stop until I confirmed my suspicions. I recommend this one if you want a fast paced drama with a touch of romance that leaves you at the edge of your seat.

I wanted so badly to love this book. Carola Lovering has two other novels—Tell Me Lies & Too Good to Be True. Tell Me Lies was a major disappointment, but Too Good to Be True was a top book of 2021 for me. This one fell somewhere in the middle. I didn’t love it, and I didn’t hate it, but I was a little bored by it.

One of my favorite book features is a story told in multiple POVs, which this one had. My opinion, though…if you are telling a story from a person’s perspective, I feel like it should be told in first person. Of the three POVs, only one was in first person. It made it a little confusing to read at times.

We have three main characters (you could argue four)—Molly, Jake, Sabrina, and Hunter. The story is told from the POVs of Molly, Jake, & Sabrina. You know going in that Sabrina is “out for blood,” attempting to avenge the wrong she felt Molly has done. All three of our main characters were incredibly flawed. Hunter seemed to be the saving grace of the story line. He was just what the story needed. I just wanted to hug him, though, and tell him he deserves better!

Unfortunately, it didn’t read as suspenseful. It read more as a domestic drama. The “suspense” was very obvious from very early in the book. You don’t know the details of how it’s all going to play out, but I did find it very easy to predict. I also found the ending wrapped up a little too neatly for these characters who had been so incredibly flawed through the whole book.

Overall, I felt a little letdown by it. It wasn’t bad, by any stretch of the imagination. I just wanted to be wowed like I was with Too Good to Be True, which sucked me in from page one and didn’t let go until the last page.

Huge amount of thanks to NetGalley and st. Martin’s press for an advanced copy of this book.
Molly is your typical college student. She dreams of being a writer and works as a barista. At a concert she meets Jake and her life changes forever. They fall for each other quick and hard. Jake becomes famous and one of his biggest hits is a song he wrote for Molly.
Flash forward to a decade later, and Molly is married with a daughter, but she isn’t married to Jake. As we find out the reasons why they fell apart, we’re also introduced to Molly’s new friend Sabrina, who isn’t what she seems. Sabrina has secrets and so does Molly, which makes Molly confront the painful past.
I really like Carola Lovering! This is currently my favorite of her books and I look forward to reading more. Publication day is June 14!

This was a fun read and a crazy domestic drama. Molly Diamond is a 30 year mother, wife, yoga teacher, and former writer. She is married to her husband, Hunter.

Molly lives in a Connecticut suburb and hears a song her ex-boyfriend wrote about her playing on the radio. This is around the time she meets a new friend, Sabrina. They start a new, but close friendship. Sabrina invites Molly over for dinner and that is when things get VERY WEIRD. Sabrina’s been hiding secrets.

Fast-paced, suspenseful, and unputdownable. You’ll be on a wild ride.

In 2013, Molly and Jake meet and fall in love. Molly is an aspiring writer and Jake is the front man of an up and coming band.
Fast forward to 2022, Molly is married to Hunter and they live a perfect life in Connecticut with their beautiful daughter. Molly has a hard time making friends with the women in their neighborhood until she meets Sabrina, a newlywed with some secrets.
This is less a thriller and more just domestic drama, but I was very much sucked into the story. I loved the dual timeline, and learning about Molly’s past and how it connects to her present.
Overall, this was a solid story and I was pleased with the conclusion. I will definitely read more of Carola Lovering’s writing.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for the e-ARC!

2 Stars

One Liner: Duh!

2013: Molly, a 23-year-old MFA student, and Jake Danner, the lead singer and guitarist of the Danner Lane band, meet and fall in love. Their relationship is intense, draining, and explosive, with the two of them wanting forever.
A Decade Later: Molly is married to Hunter and has a six-year-old daughter Stella. She and Hunter are trying for another child through embryo transplantation. Molly is lonely and unable to fit into the wealthy lifestyle of Flynn Cove.
She meets Sabrina, who seems to be just like her. The two hit off instantly and become good friends. As Sabrina spins her web, Molly can’t help but feel torn between her past and present. Sabrina won’t stop until she gets what she wants.
Can Molly deal with the aftermath? What will her past cost her?

My Observations:
• First 33% - Not sure if I was too tired or bored to not care about the characters
• Next 33% - Hmm… can the plot move ahead, please
• Last 33% - At least, it’s over
The story comes in installments of past and present from Molly and Jake's limited third-person POVs and Sabrina’s first-person POV.
There’s a lot of story (info dump) despite the segregation of the plot into different segments. Sabrina’s present chapters were interesting of all.
Sadly, none of the characters made me feel anything for them. Not even dislike. I didn’t care for any of them for the majority of the book. Stella was the bright spot whenever she appeared.
There’s so much drama, but it felt so distanced that I was bored rather than feeling sad for either character. The writing is too much YA-ish, but I enjoyed some YA books way better than one.
And no! This is NOT a thriller. It is a drama. I didn’t find anything remotely ‘thrilling’ in the book. The twists can’t even be called twists, IMO.
It’s kind of ironic that the book has scenes about multiple edits required to polish and fine-tune a manuscript. If only…
I can’t say who the right audiences for the book are, but it’s not me. I was bored more than half the time. (I'm repeating myself. Can't help it).
The pacing is super slow. I finished it in 3 days only because I started to speed-read from the first day. No way I would spend more than 3 days on a 320-page book that claims to be a thriller.

To sum up, Can’t Look Away is a drama that reads a lot like a YA book with NA characters. However, read other reviews before you decide.

Thank you, NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press and Carola Lovering for an E-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I started reading this one but I was thinking I was getting myself into an intense thriller. It definitely wasn't a thriller in my opinion but almost a love story with elements of suspense and some twists like you would find in your "normal thriller". I enjoyed the plot of this story and following through the past and the current with the different characters. The author did a great job telling the characters stories and I felt like I knew them. Ultimately, I wanted a little more thrill from this one but this would be a great start for someone who wants to read more suspenseful novels! This one is available on 6/14/22!

3.5 stars- rounded up to 4 for GR

I guess we should get the big note out of the way right away and say that this book was not a thriller and I was confused as to why it was marketed as such? It was a good read that had its fun, surprising and intriguing moments but this was best described in my opinion as women fiction. The main characters were all pretty selfish in their own ways and it was hard to find any of them relatable and they pivoted in their emotions/realizations super quickly. I finished the book because I think that overall the writing and pacing were good, and because it was labeled a thriller I was expecting a twist I guess that never came.

Review - Can’t Look Away
By - Carola Lovering
5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and then some!

Can’t Look Away was a fabulous read! I could not put it down. I was hooked from the very beginning. This was my first book by Carola Lovering & I must say I loved her style of writing. The alternating chapters from each main character’s perspective was intriguing… making you want to quickly find out what was next. The characters were also well developed & relatable. I loved them all! Molly, & Jake’s story is one of young first love that spirals out of control. A roller coaster of emotion & heartbreak. Add in Sabrina the conniving obsessed “ex” & hang on tight! Lots of twists, turns, & OMG’s! A well done psychological love story drama.
Can’t Look Away is one of my favorite books of 2022. I cannot wait to read other books by this author. Thank you #NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press & Carola Lovering for this ARC. My review is strictly voluntary.

I was absolutely OBSESSED with this book! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and devoured it. Just as good if not better than her previous two books. I will be recommending this to everyone I know!!

Last year I read and devoured Carola Lovering's Too Good to Be True and was hoping that her latest book, Can't Look Away would pull me in just as much. Yeah, not so much. I'm still not sure if I even liked this one though to be fair, I did read it almost compulsively but not in a "Woah, I LOVE this kinda way" but in an "I can't look away because it's a trainwreck" kinda way!

The book is marketed as a "sexy suspense" but I personally didn't think it was sexy or very suspenseful. It was dramatic, yes. There was obsession, obsessed love, but it was more angsty than anything, and I couldn't understand the motivations that fueled one of the characters. Maybe my expectations were too high, but it just fell flat.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

-Review posted to Goodreads and Twitter on 6/1/22 and on major retail outlets on publication

If you're into books that are a bit over the top, a bit crazy, a bit saccharine, that are like reading a Lifetime movie, or if you are looking to escape reality for a while, this novel just might meet your needs.

Can't Look Away is a domestic drama centering on the lovestruck, can't get enough of you, can't deal with you, I'm out of here, I can't forget about you, (read and repeat, read and repeat...) relationship of Jake and Molly.

Since any relationship affects others, we also have Sisi, Sabrina, and Hunter to add some extra dimensions to the story. The author titled this book perfectly, because like a train wreck or accident you know is coming, you can't look away. What does that say about us?

A 2.5 star rating rounded up to 3 because you're not permitted to give 1/2 stars and I was interested enough in the story to want to finish the book.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press for permitting me to read an ARC of the book via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given. The book is scheduled for publication 6/14/22.

I really enjoyed this one. I went in blind, expecting a thriller and was pleasantly surprised with a romantic suspense novel!

You know I love me some romance, throw in some darkness or suspense and I’m sold.

This was a quick read, that had me biting my nails at times, with twists and turns I wasn’t quite expecting. The characters seemed real and flawed, which I always enjoy. The villainess; is that the term for a female villain? Definitely gave Joe from You vibes in female form.

Stella was cute as pie and a feisty little thing!


Molly was torn between two lovely but so different men Jake and Hunter. I also got a little bit of Daisy Jones and The Six vibes from Jake which I really enjoyed !

Would you choose the stable, handsome business man who adores you or the sexy rockstar, who was so in love with you, you were his muse but he consumed you, and it wasn’t always for the best?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I went back and forth between reading and listening because I let this story consume me and the narration was fantastic too!

Thank you @stmartinspress for an ARC for my honest review.

Can't Look Away by Carola Lovering-

What a fantastic story about life and love in your twenties and the true hardships and triumphs that come with life. I loved how the writing was done in multiple perspectives over an alternating time line because the story revealed itself completely through the different narrators and time frames. It was a very easy to read but addicting story that I couldn't wait to finish so I could find out what happened in the past and how that affected the present! I found it to be quite the page-turner, not your typical mystery type but also not a romance; it was something more in the middle of both of those categories. The core of the story deals with never ending love and how it truly saturates your entire life, affecting future relationships and passions. I enjoyed this advanced reader copy of this novel and look forward to reading more from this author!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

4.25

The multiple narrators really made this story come alive, each portraying their characters perfectly. I would definitely recommend this for anyone who enjoys reading about suspenseful and intense relationship.

I went into this believing it was a thriller but it’s really more of a domestic suspense. I think it’s important to go into this expecting a slow burn suspense and not a fast paced thriller. Doing that will definitely help the enjoyment of this very one.

All the characters were really well developed and there’s a love story in the midst of this that really had me feeling so much for the characters. It was such a testament to relationships that I had in it 20s. Oh the drama! 😂

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

When you get obsessed with a book about obsession ....
⁣
Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for a gifted eARC of “Can’t Look Away” by Carola Lovering. It doesn’t come out until 6/18 so I’m breaking my own rule of sharing a bit far from the publication date. I needed a new Kindle book (I always have a physical book and an ebook going) and this one just grabbed me, as I knew it would. I liked “Tell Me Lies” by this author and LOVED “Too Good to Be True.” This is my favorite of hers!⁣
⁣
⭐️ rating: 4.5⁣
📚genre: suspense ⁣
#️⃣ length: 320 pages ⁣
🗓 pub date: 6/18⁣
⏳pace: fast ⁣
🫣 the vibe: obsession and the #firstworldproblems of rich white women⁣
⁣
If you liked this author’s others books, you’ll love this one. It needs a trigger warning for what I know is a sensitive subject but I feel like it would be a spoiler in this case. ⁣
⁣
Laura Dave, who wrote “The Last Thing He Told Me,” blurbed this one. I think if you liked that book, you’ll be into this one as well. ⁣
⁣
From the publisher: “In 2013, twenty-three-year old Molly Diamond is a barista, dreaming of becoming a writer. One night at a concert in Brooklyn, she locks eyes with the lead singer, Jake Danner, and can’t look away.
⁣
“Nearly a decade later, Molly has given up writing and is living in Flynn Cove, Connecticut with her young daughter and her husband Hunter—who is decidedly not Jake Danner. Their life looks picture-perfect, but Molly is lonely; she feels out of place with the other women in their wealthy suburb and is struggling to conceive their second child. When Sabrina, a newcomer in town, walks into the yoga studio where Molly teaches and confesses her own fertility struggles, Molly believes she's finally found a friend.⁣
⁣
“But Sabrina has her own reasons for moving to Flynn Cove and befriending Molly. And as Sabrina’s secrets are slowly unspooled, her connection to Molly becomes clearer––as do secrets of Molly's own, which she’s worked hard to keep buried.⁣”

It's 2013 in New York City, and Molly Diamond is a 23-year-old barista and wannabe writer when she meets Jake Danner, the lead singer of an up-and-coming band. They fall fast and hard for each other. Molly fuels his songwriting as he becomes the inspiration for her first novel. Their love for each other is all-encompassing, but trust issues and time apart as Jake's band grows in popularity start to crumble the foundation which was shaky to begin with.

Interspersed with chapters from 2013, we learn what's happening in the present. Molly now lives in an uptight Connecticut suburb, married to a man who is decidedly not Jake Danner, with a 5-year old daughter named Stella. She’s given up writing entirely and teaches yoga to help cover the cost of the IVF treatments they've been trying for years. When she hears a new acoustic version of “Molly’s Song”, the breakout hit from the band back in 2013, on the radio, she can’t help but remember him, not that she ever really forgot.

Coincidentally, Molly makes a new friend in town, something she's been hard-pressed to do in the years they've lived there. Sabrina and her husband have recently moved to Flynn Cove, and after she attends one of Molly's yoga classes they become fast friends. But nothing is as coincidentally as it seems to Molly. Sabrina has an agenda all her own, and Molly is her unwitting target.

This is certainly not what I would call a thriller, so get that notion out of your head before you start the first chapter. It’s a domestic drama with the barest hint of suspense, but that doesn't mean it isn't an engrossing story. It's not particularly twisty, and yet I wanted to know what was going to happen next. If you enjoyed Carola Lovering's past books, you'll probably enjoy this one. It felt very similar to Too Good to Be True - the setting, the back and forth narrative, the rich people.

This is a quick, fun, easy listen - but it’s a drama, not a thriller. I really enjoyed the dual timelines and multiple point of views. The characters and the narrators were great, and I really like this author.

Can't Look Away, by Carola Lovering is being marketed as a thriller. I absolutely disagree with that genre for this book. Can't Look Away seemed much more like a family drama/women's fiction novel to me. So, if I ignore the marketing, I will say I really enjoyed this book for what I thought it was.

Molly fell hard for Jake in her early twenties while she was trying to be an author and he was a rising music star. It was apparently love at first site for both of them and they made a go of the relationship in NYC. Cut to the future and Molly is married to someone other than Jake, Hunter. Hunter and Molly are raising a precocious little girl together outside the city in an affluent suburb where Hunter grew up.

The novel unfolds non-sequentially, jumping back and forth between when Molly and Jake were together and current day where Molly is a part-time yoga teacher seemingly having given up writing for some reason. A new woman attends Molly's yoga class, Sabrina. Sabrina has reasons for hunting Molly down and the reader finds out fairly early on what those reasons are.

I am giving this book 4 stars because I found it to be incredibly relatable and believable how relationships were described and how they played out. The only weak point in the book was Sabrina. It seems like Sabrina was a device used to make the book seem like more of a thriller than a straight up romance/women's fiction novel, but her motives were completely bizarre unless she was full-on crazy, which she was not ever portrayed to be. Jake and Hunter were pretty standard male leads, with Jake being portrayed absolutely realistic given his age and career. Hunter was a tad too unrealistically perfect, but not enough to complain about.

I read one reviewer compare this novel to a Colleen Hoover novel and that is 100% accurate. This one had a lot of her 'Can True Love overcome personal demons?"-vibe. Can't Look away is a quick, thought-provoking novel that keeps the reader wondering how it will all turn out for Molly all the way to the end.

The story is told from several points of view and different times. The story moves slowly revealing a little at a time from the past and the current settings. The secrets that are finally revealed are a bit shocking. The book did a good job showing young love and adult love. The twists in the stories were done well. I received an advance copy and am voluntarily leaving a review.