This book is a little over the top. You get a two for one with this book, thriller and romance. Some of the characters came off as juvenile at times and could be hard to identify with their motives. Overall a decent read. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Carola Lovering is a drop everything author for me. This book has a little bit of everything — domestic drama + romance + suspense/thriller/mystery. I am obsessed with the way Lovering writes. I loved the alternating chapters and nonlinear timeline in this book. It was so well written, and the character development is on point. I also loved how the chapters went from the past to present. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a romance with a touch of domestic suspense! Thank you to St. Martins Press + NetGalley for my gifted e-copy!

I liked this novel! I really loved Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering so was really excited to read this novel!

I was not disappointed. It's got a few twists that will leave you wondering how the heck you missed it in the first place!

One thing, I wasn't sure if this was a thriller. I would have billed it as a domestic suspense / women's fiction more than a thriller.

Otherwise really liked this book!

3.5

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher/author for the ARC copy!

I was looking forward to reading this book, however, I was disappointed in the execution of the story. I found it repetitive and at times. I just didn't care about the characters and all their angsts.
By the end of the book, I just needed to know why Sabrina and /or Molly) would want a man like Jake in their lives..
Obviously not the book for me, but thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced digital copy

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!

This was a fast-paced, thrilling read and there were some twists that I definitely didn't see coming! I can't say it is my favorite of the genre simply because I really didn't enjoy any of the characters. I'm not sure if that was on purpose or not, but it put a damper on the whole story for me. However, if your interested in this read, I would definitely say give it a go! Happy reading!

I literally couldn’t put this book down from the moment I picked it up. Everything was perfect. A love story between a lead singer in a band and a girl in a bar. And then. One day. They break up. Fast forwards and flashbacks through the book show us the truth. And the truth is more astonishing than I ever imagined. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Jake is a musician and in love with Molly but the life of the musician tears them apart. Years later Molly is married to a different man and has a kid. She meets a woman named Sabrina who has a few secrets of her own and makes Molly's past catch up to her.

This book combined two of my favorite genres which are contemporary with a bit of romance and thriller. The story is a slower build with dual timelines and multiple points of view with characters that were well defined, relatable and had a lot of growth throughout the story. While the story wasn't a jaw dropping or fast paced I still couldn't put it down. I love stories that span multiple genres and if you do too then you'll really enjoy this one.

Can’t Look Away was a great contemporary novel. The drama of a vengeful ex is all too real in this society, which gave the book such a sinister undertone. I loved watching the story play out as Molly slowly discovered the truth about her new friend.
I docked a star because the climax of the story (at the birthday party) was just unbelievable to me.

Another solid read from Carola Lovering, though not quite as good as Too Good to Be True. I expect a lot of dark and twisty from this author, and this one was maybe a little twisty light.

Molly, fresh out of grad school, meets Jake, budding rock star, and instantly they fall in love. They quickly move in together, but the world has different plans for them, and eventually they go their separate ways. Fast forward a few years, and Molly is now living the quiet suburban life with her husband and young daughter. She meets Sabrina at one of her yoga classes, and they become friends. But there is more to Sabrina than meets the eye; she has specially targeted Molly and has plans for her for something Molly did to her in the past.

This story is told across multiple timelines and multiple narrators, taking the reader back to when Molly and Jake first fell in love, and the obstacles that came between them. It was fast paced and easy to read. I had high expectations for the great reveal and was slightly let down in the end.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review.

I REALLY wanted to love this especially since it was like a TJR novel (like Malibu Rising with all of the rock star drama) and You (with the obsession and manipulation of the of the key characters by an outside force). With how much I was hooked to reading this one I am surprised by the ending. There was no real outcome of all of the stalking/manipulation done by one character. It all came to a boiling point and something very predictable happened to the main character, and then in the end it was just one very long conversation with everyone clearing up loose ends. The fact that the last chapter was just dialogue discussing the previous events and what got them there… it was just very lackluster.

This is marketed as a thriller, but it is 100% just a drama. This book hooked me, invested me, and I couldn’t put it down, but ultimately I kind of waste my time. Where was the big ending? What was the point to all of this? There wasn’t more to the obsessive character’s goal? There wasn’t some big scheme in the end? I’m left feeling very unsatisfied with this story. The plot also, truly did not make any sense if you really think about it. I’d be hard pressed to believe anyone in real life would take the actions the villain in this story took because it directly put her own happiness at risk. The actions were a gamble and unrealistic.

However, I did enjoy the writing and the story was interesting as it was building up. The development of the characters was lovely to read, and there were a twist or two that I didn’t expect (but they were also just not very exciting twists). I really thought there was going to be more. I liked the dual POVs, but this was just a big build up of a book to have everything resolved via dialogue in the end.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This book is being published on 6/14/22 for all who are interested.

While Can’t Look Away isn’t a page turning, on the edge of your seat thriller… it still sucks you know from page 1! This one has a perfect pace, and all the right combinations to make it a must read for 2022.

3.5 stars

This book was difficult to review. The story itself wasn’t bad, I enjoyed reading it. My biggest gripe is the way it is being marketed. It’s labeled a thriller, but it reads more like a domestic drama. Had I had different expectations, I might have enjoyed this more. While reading, I kept expecting something super suspenseful to happen, but it never did.

The story is told in alternating timelines between Molly, Sabrina, and Jake. At the beginning of the book, I was rooting for Molly. But as the story progressed, I became disappointed in her actions and she became unlikable. The same could be said for Jake and Sabrina. The emotional rollercoaster of having a love/hate relationship with the three main characters became a bit draining.

While I was hooked at the beginning of the book, the middle seemed to drag. The story took too long to get to any action and unveiled secrets very slowly.

I still enjoyed the author’s writing style and look forward to reading her future novels as I really enjoyed the author's previous book, ‘Too Good to Be True’.

If you enjoy domestic dramas, give this one a shot. Having the proper expectations will greatly shape how you enjoy the story.

I was very excited to read the next part domestic drama, part mystery and part thriller book by Carole Lovering. While the premise is extremely enticing, the whole story’s mystery falls flat. The story is mainly a domestic drama/womens fiction. If i went into the book expecting little to mo mystery, I would have enjoyed it more overall. Considering that fact, I would rate the book 3 stars. engaging.

Finished this late last night and I just did not care for it. At first, the book had me intrigued and I was hopeful it would be a promising book, but it was hard for me at times to push through to finish once I started. I guess it is because of the writing style, but to me it dragged on too long and could have been shortened to make it more enjoyable.

I'm really sad it didn't work out for me, because the premise and the synopsis made it seem like something I would enjoy. However, it's not a domestic thriller so much as a domestic drama. There's lots of drama and I enjoy drama, but this was more cheesy drama and not so much shock and awe. I mean these people are cray. I'm seeing others compare it to a Lifetime movie and I would have to agree with them. It's mindless and not hard to follow, but I wouldn't even tell someone that wants to read an easy book to read this one because I didn't fly through it and finish it in one sitting like I would expect from a book like that. I know of other better books to read that would fall into that category.

TW: infertility, cheating, miscarriages

**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

The difficulty in reviewing this book lies in that it was marketed as a "thriller and suspense" and it most certainly is not. I kept waiting for the twist, the other shoe to drop, or something thrilling to occur. Turns out, it is simply a romance/domestic drama story. Anyone looking for a thriller or suspense will be disappointed. I think that description should be removed from the marketing because when you are looking for a thriller and it does not appear, you will be disappointed no matter how good the story.

I will add that the beginning of the book had me hooked, the middle drags on and the end was sort of a "what the heck was that?", but not in a good way. Molly annoys me to death, and the author writes her as a saint, the protagonist to whom all these bad things happen. But she herself is a pretty terrible, self-involved person and I did not like Molly at all. It is clear that the author WANTS you to like Molly, but I did not, and that threw me off as well.

Finally, there is one character who would have been charged/prosecuted/jailed in real life, but that is not even mentioned as a possibility and it is silly how her story line ends. I won't divulge any spoilers but suffice it to say that the end was unrealistic from a legal standpoint.

This is a domestic drama with 3 wholly unlikable main characters. The book drags and could also use some editing as well. We are supposed to believe that Molly and Jake are so in love, but most of the book is them fighting and not getting along. I never saw any love there. And again, we are supposed to feel bad for poor Molly, but I could not stand her.

This was a cute book about first love, regrets and the progression of time. Made you go hmmm. Loved the writing style.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

While this book was enjoyable, it was far from a thriller. Though there are points of suspense, overall I would describe the book as more of an angsty romance. It was definitely a slow burn. I appreciated the growth that the characters had throughout the novel but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have to push myself to finish it. It does read a bit like a shallow Lifetime movie. So if you're someone who loves family drama (think; Real Housewives of Beverly Hills but with slightly more plot), this may be the book for you. (3.5 stars, rounded to 4).

This novel is the story of Molly, a struggling writer; Jake, a musician whose rock band eventually makes it to the big time; and Sabrina, who dated Jake before he met Molly. It conveys the not only the star-crossed romance that Molly and Jake have but also the heartaches that went with it over the years.

I got wrapped up in this story, even though what might have been designed as twists and turns seemed pretty predictable and expected to me, so I keep reading to see what would happen next . . . . until I eventually reached the end. So, the story sucked me but I found myself disappointed as I reached the finish. Perhaps because the adult characters were pretty sophomoric and acted for the most part as though they were in high school. Perhaps because I could not really relate to the characters, especially Sabrina (whose motivations for all she does totally escape me). Perhaps because I wouldn’t classify this novel as a mystery/thriller but more of a romance of sorts akin to a Lifetime movie. Yet, I kept reading and turning pages, so I would classify the read was a good one, and I look forward to reading other works by Carola Lovering.

3.5 ⭐️
This was a good book but seemed more of a romance book with little suspense. I was expecting a full on thriller, which is why I rate it 3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and give my honest review.

A wildly entertaining, suspenseful domestic drama about the one that got away. Readers who enjoy dual timelines, crazy MCs, and small town settings rampant with soon-to-be exposed secrets will really enjoy this book!