Synopsis: The story follows Molly in two alternating time periods, in her early 20s and early 30s. It encompasses the wild and crazy tale of her meeting her love with a growing rock star as well as her current life living in a quiet town with her current husband. There’s some drama woven in that escalates into the climactic final scenes where some underlying secrets are exposed.

I started off very hesitant that I would enjoy this book but quickly got hooked, though more from the romance stand point. Although I didn’t really feel connected to Molly, I did enjoy reading into what led her life to change so dramatically between the two timelines. I really enjoyed the reckless love that existed between her and Jake though I felt some of the characters were very cliched (the “country club judgy rich white woman”, her “smarter than beyond her years” daughter, and the “best husband ever”).

Honestly, I could have done without the entire suspense aspect of this book and had it kept as a good romance novel. My biggest critique is that picking up this book based on the cover (because honestly I NEVER read any synapse or summaries), you will be very disappointed going into this thinking it’s a thriller. In my opinion, it’s a romantic suspense at best.

Big thanks to netgalley and stmartinspress for this digital ARC.

Book releases June 14 2022

Summary:
4 stars
Overall, and enjoyable and quick read. It was fun, with a touch of suspense, though I would be disappointed going into it assuming it’s a thriller. I absolutely loved how the story tied up and found myself pretty invested in finishing. I would recommend this to others if you enjoy a good family or romantic suspense.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and provide my honest feedback on this arc.

This is the second book I've read by this author, and although I liked the other better, it was mainly because it was more thriller. This book seemed more like family drama, women's fiction with a little suspense tied in. I was wholly invested with the characters though and felt like I was a part of their world. The book felt like it was a little too long but I stayed invested and didn't lose interest, so that's saying something. Overall I would recommend for others. Trigger warnings below, please skip if want to avoid any possible spoilers.

Trigger warnings: miscarriages, fertility issues,

I adored this book. It navigates first loves, friendships, betrayals. following your dreams, and then reconciling the difference when life didn’t turn out the way you expected. The characters where engaging and relatable. This story kept me engaged all the way through and I was genuinely sad when it ended. I cannot wait to read more from this author.

This was just okay for me. I was expecting a thriller and it is more of a woman's fiction/domestic/romance type. It was a quick read and I would try this author again.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I’m a bit torn! I went into this expecting a suspenseful story and while I definitely don’t think that’s the case for this book, I still really enjoyed reading young Molly and Jake’s love story and I even became quite invested in them. Basically, this is a good drama—not a thriller.

Can't Look Away was hard to put down, but I wouldn't categorize it as a thriller. It's definitely more of a romance with a touch of domestic suspense, but I really enjoyed reading it! This story about young love and an obsessed stalker unfolds through multiple viewpoints and timelines. In the earlier timeline, Molly Diamond is a student, pursuing an MBA in creative writing, when she meets and falls in love with the musician, Jake Danner. In the current timeline, Molly is married and living with her husband, Hunter, and their daughter in a wealthy Connecticut suburb. Molly doesn't connect with the women in her town, until she meets Sabrina at the yoga studio. The two become close friends and start spending every day together, until Molly wonders if something is just a little bit off with her new friend. Who exactly is Sabrina and does she have a secret she's keeping from Molly? Read Can't Look Away to find out! Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the librarian preview copy.

I liked the story overall in that I wanted to know what happened and to see it all come together but I found myself struggling with the writing. It fell flat in really conveying any feeling from the characters … I did give it a fair shot and finished though!

If you don’t like endings that tie up perfectly, this may not be for you but I do like perfect/happy endings so that part was good for me.

4.25. I was so excited to get this book so a huge thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I enjoyed this author's previous book, Too Good to Be True, so Can't Look Away was on my list of upcoming books I was anxious to read. This book has it all, young love, rock star, and a whole bunch of "WTH?" The chapters are laid out by 3 characters all telling their side of each event that happens so it was really fun to see what happened and then read how each character interpreted what just happened. At times I felt sympathy for each of them, but I was also mad at each of them too at different times. Such a great twisty turny novel that I couldn't put down. Another big hit for Lovering.

I tried reading this one, but I could not finish it. The writing style wasn’t for me and I just could not get into it. Other people may like this one though

I really enjoyed reading "Can't Look Away" by Carola Lovering. This is the second novel of hers that I have read and it far exceeded expectations! This story flashes between the past and present and introduces us to Molly and her new friend Sabrina in the small, but definitely not boring town of Flynn Cove. Secrets, lies, and love fill the pages of this book and it will keep you guessing until the very end!

Can't Look Away is a compelling story of young aspiring writer and barista, Molly, who is swept into a romance with a charismatic rock musician that alters the course of her life. Fast forward to the present, and Molly is now a houswife in Conneticut, married to Hunter, having left her writer dreams behind. Molly's past starts to collide with her present, as a new friend and a song re-release bring the past back to life.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this title.
#CantLookAway #NetGalley

I loved reading this book! I found the writing to be very insightful and interesting. I was intrigued by the premise and I enjoyed reading it from start to finish.

review ✨

I am a hugeeee Carola Lovering fan and this was such an entertaining read — it reminded me of both of her books, the toxic first love found in TELL ME LIES and the page-turner essence of TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. This is marketed as a thriller, but it’s more domestic drama with thriller/suspense aspects!

Read if you like:
* multiple POVs and time jumps, we jump back from 2013 when Jake and Molly first meet to 2022 when Molly is a mother in the suburbs

* Female friendships! Loved Molly’s friendship with Nina 👯‍♀️

* Instant love trope yet toxic ! Molly & Jake fall FAST & book really captures the angst and tumultuous emotions of a toxic love

* Heavy dose of OTT drama 🎭

* Characters that are very dimensional; Lovering really knows how to make characters true to life — one minute you’re rooting for them and the next you’re like 🤨 ???? But that’s what I love about her writing, her characters are flawed and feel like real humans who are lovable yet make decisions you don’t agree with

* You will need to suspend reality for some of the plot lines, but if you can let the book take you for a ride it is very entertaining

This comes out June 14, 2022! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review

📖 320 pages
✨ my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TW: graphic depictions of miscarriage and fertility struggles

I enjoyed reading this book and could barely put it down, but reflecting on it afterward I didn't enjoy it was much. Molly was unrelatable in the way that she was put on such a pedestal by her friends and lovers. Jake was represented as some kind of god on earth which is just ridiculous. Hunter was unrealistically forgiving. And the whole book seemed to be a justification for cheating on a serious partner. While represented as evil, Sabrina was the most relatable character in the book! I do still enjoy this author's writing style so will look forward to more of her work but hopefully with more likeable/believable characters.

**Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read**

DNF-- I tried getting through this, picked it up multiple times but the story just never drew me in. I was under the impression that this would be a psychological thriller sort of like The Girl on the Train , but this is much more of a familial drama. Some people might enough that type of story, but I went into it thinking it would be something way different.
Additionally, the writing style just wasn't for me but again some people might enjoy it.
The 'twists' really weren't anything shocking, and for me they were just way too predictable and the story just felt drawn out and long.
I really think if this is marketed correctly (NOT AS A THRILLER) that it would have been a different reading experience, but alas I had different expectations.

Wow, bring on the crazy!

I read this book in a day because I literally couldn't put it down. Perfect escape book for me. A blend of thriller meet family drama meets obsession meets Lifetime movie. I gave it 4 stars because it really got melodramatic by the last quarter of the book. I'm not sorry I read it though. Not at all. Like I said, it was the perfect escape. And more often than not, I need books like Can't Look Away. So much fun if you don't take it too seriously. I really enjoyed the author's previous book, Too Good To Be True as well.

4.25 stars
I want to first say I went into this book blind. I hadn’t read the synopsis first but I loved Carola Lovering’s last book so I figured this would be a safe bet and I was right.
I enjoy the multiple perspectives over various timelines and how they all linked together or overlapped to give you a better overall storyline with complete imagery. For me, I found it very relatable since the story is based in a fictional Connecticut town.
Molly is so likable and so relatable. Jake is your favorite bad boy you love to fall for and always hope he’ll change. And Sabrina, well you’ll just have to read and find out what chaos Sabrina brings to the table.
I wouldn’t necessarily categorize this as your typical thriller/mystery. It was more of general fiction. I enjoyed the pace and the various reveals throughout. I wasn’t ever bored and was happy with the ending. Overall, I would definitely recommend.

Huge thank you to St Martin’s press for being my first Netgalley ARC approval.

Spoiler warnings.

Ugh. This one did not do it for me. First of all. I hated Molly. I didn't make it more than a couple of chapters in before I just really disliked her. She seemed self-centered to me through the whole thing. She couldn't go a couple of weeks without her boyfriend, really? Then that's not his fault, he's not the person she should be with. He was at a point in his career where the kind of support she needed wasn't realistic. She couldn't have lasted at all before smartphones were a thing. I realize she was young, but it doesn't feel like she grows out of it.

I literally laughed out loud in the last chapter of the book where she and Hunter are discussing what happened and she is upset with Hunter because he didn't acknowledge this "huge earth-shattering thing" that was her seeing Jake again. Yes, you got it - it's Hunter's fault for not making a big enough deal out of supporting her when Jake comes back into her life and she kind of forgets she's married. There were other moments in the book where she makes everything all about her, but I've blocked the rest out.

I didn't like her friends either. Nina maybe. Everly didn't seem to have much of a character and Liz wasn't really much of a friend. I couldn't stand all the perfect shallow, sorority girl-esque thing going on with all of them. It was kind of like Despearate Housewives (which I love) but without any comedy or irony to it and it didn't work for me.

I didn't think the bandmates were terribly realistic either. One part that stuck out to me is one of the brothers giving Jake relationship advice. It felt like a woman writing what she wants a man to say rather than something authentic from a man in his early 20s.

I saw where the whole thing was going pretty quickly. Stella's age was mentioned about five too many times for it to not be extremely important. I actually didn't think Molly knew though, so that was a bit of a surprise and I thought the other baby was the same story. I was surprised at how Jake came back into the story. I didn't expect him to be that stupid.

Oh and then, by the way, Hunter is a bit of a stalker too. But it's supposed to be endearing when it's him. He was the only likable character for me and although that was not shocking he was following her around a bit, it still seemed wrong given how Sisi is portrayed.

I kept reading to see how the author would end it. If Molly and Jake ended up together, I might have thrown something but I also didn't see how the "good guy" Hunter was going to be ok with being second fiddle.

I thought the epilogue was the best part of the book. If I hadn't read the rest of the book and known how screwed up Sisi (psycho) and Molly (self-absorbed) were, it would have been a perfectly lovely ending.

I think what could be relatable in this book for a lot of people is the idea of the one that got away and what would happen if they reappeared in their life. Spoiler - Molly didn't handle it well.

So in summary, not for me, but I could see how others would like it. It felt more romance than thriller to me. Someone who might find Jake and Molly more romantic than I did or who loves the idea of dating a lead singer of a hot band might really enjoy this.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this advance copy!

Can't Look Away by Carola Lovering is great book! It has a nice start and then gets into a bit of a psychological drama. I could not look away from this book and avoided any interruptions to my reading! You will enjoy the development of the characters and the intertwined storytelling. I am recommending this to friends for summer reading! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is my second read by this author, and just like with her first one, the genre defies description. It is most definitely not a thriller, and I think this book may be mislabeled as one; HOWEVER, it is a tightly woven story of desperation, deception, and the unforgettable nostalgia of first love.

In 2013 and Molly is a barista dreaming of becoming a writer, and Jake is the charismatic lead singer of a band. One look, and they were smitten. Their love was not to be, and nearly a decade later, Molly is living in Connecticut with her husband Hunter and their young daughter. She's teaching yoga and struggling with infertility issues. After meeting Sabrina at her yoga class, the two instantly click, and Molly finally has the friend she's longed for...except Sabrina is no friend. She has a shocking connection to Molly's past that will force Molly to confront the life she's built for herself and ask herself the age-old questions: 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦?

Publishes June 14, 2022, from St. Martin's Press.