Thank you Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for an eARC of Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering! When I got the approval for this in 2023, I dropped everything I was doing to read this one, and I'm so glad I did. This was one of my favorite reads of the year, and I'm sure it's going to be a major hit with thriller and suspense lovers upon hitting shelves and Kindles. It's one of those books that's truly addictive - Once you start, you need to keep turning the pages to figure out what the hell is going to happen next!?

One night during a party, Cassie Barnwell's infant has gone missing. Bille West, her best friend, hears Cassie's screams from the floor above. Who would do something? Oh, no one other than Billie herself. The two friends have drifted apart in recent years, but were once inseparable and are bonded by their secrets of their pasts. The two are so different from one another, but Billie knows everything about Cassie and will do anything it takes to bring the two girls back together.

Read this one if you love plot lines with the following aspects -
-Shocking, secret pass
-Alternative POVs and timelines
-Twists, suspense and toxic friendships
-Childhood trauma
-Books that make you think "what would I do?" and moral dilemmas

As always, can't wait to see what Lovering comes up with next! This is a book I'd re-read.

Bye, Baby
by Carola Lovering
Pub Date: 05 Mar 2024

Bye, Baby is my first book by author Carola Lovering. The book is rated as a thriller but in my opinion it wasn't.

The story is about toxic relationships and obsessions, a friendship between two woman. Also areas such as but not limited to prejudice, discrimination, sexual abuse and Alzheimers.

I found this book hard to rate at first, after thinking about it I decided it to be a thought-provoking and well written book.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an E-ARC of this book.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. When I tell you I screamed when I got it, I mean, I screamed. I love this author and this one is very different from her past books. This story follows two besties who have grown apart with time. But there is a big secret that keeps them from losing touch 100%. I couldn't put this one down and really enjoyed it.

This book was pretty good. There was a lot of drama, lies, and secrets. It was a little slow at first, but the last half of the book made up for it.

💔 Bye, Baby - Carola Lovering

3 ⭐️ - Oh man, I wanted to love this more. Really, I did. Maybe it’s me? It was engaging. I was interested. I just didn’t love it. This is a suspense, rich people drama and not really the thriller I was hoping for.

On a fall night in NYC, Billie West hears terrifying screams. Only to find out it’s coming from her childhood bestie’s apartment. Cassie Barnwell has just found out that her infant daughter has gone missing. Here unfolds the story of Cassie and Billie’s friendship from childhood into adulthood and how changes in life, love, and circumstance can change us whether we like it or not.

This had some good aspects. Changing point of views and short chapters are always winners for me. I was definitely invested in the changes and growth of Cassie and Billie together and separately. I was engaged and wanted to know the outcome. The ending and outcome just fell so flat after such a slow burn. I wanted more and I wanted it to end differently. I did this one on audio, which I definitely recommend because if Karissa Vacker. If you’re into slow burn snd rich people drama, this one’s for you!

Thank you Netgalley, St Martin Press, and Macmillan audio for the early reader and listener copies! This one’s out now!

After reading Tell Me Lies by this author I was really eager to read Bye Baby after reading the synopsis. Taking your friend’s baby in the night?! What?! I had to read this to get the whole story, and I’m glad I did! This book interested me the whole time. Cassie was so unlikeable and I just couldn’t wait to find out how Cassie and Billie’s relationship turned out. I would recommend this to others!

3.5/4 rounded up to 4.

This definitely wasn’t your typical thriller, or really a thriller at all. This was more of a drama.

Cassie Adler and Billie West were the best of friends. Cassie’s baby goes missing for the evening and is returned safely in the middle of the night. Despite their current strained relationship, Billie was Cassie’s first call.

Told in 2 POV’s from present and past.

Cassie was pretty unlikeable but we all have had that friend - you keep strictly based on longevity, loyalty to your childhood etc.

Thanks to netgalley for an ARC!

★ ★ ★ ★

enjoyed!!!! this book was more of a drama than thriller but it had some of my favorite things: new york city backdrop, rich people doing bad things, and incredibly relatable characters!! carola does it again with this great book full of drama, emotions and unexpected endings!

I was expecting this to be more of a thriller, but to me it read more like women's fiction. It's about the toxic and dependent relationship that Billie has with her beautiful and wealthy influencer friend Cassie. Lovering does a great job of portraying Cassie's desperation as she spirals down after her baby is snatched during a party in her and her husbands luxurious apartment.

The writing was well done, but it was a little slow getting into the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance reader's copy.

This was just like a mid thriller. Didn't get any anticipation from it. There was no aspect of it possibly being any other way and that just was irritating. prefer when there is more "ifs"

Estranged best friends are reunited by a terrifying event. It seems like a friendship reset, except one doesn’t know the other is responsible for her horror. Author Carola Lovering builds characters and her plot with nuance and deft in her latest thriller, Bye, Baby.

Billie West knows that most people would probably envy her life. As an employee at a boutique luxury travel agency, she zooms around the world with her boss and good friend, Jane. They live and work in New York City, but Billie has seen enough Instagram-worthy sites to make any influencer drool.

Except the influencer who matters most to her: her one-time best friend, Cassie Adler. Ever since Cassie married her hedge fund-manager husband, Grant, she dropped her maiden name and Billie as a friend too. Now Cassie has a gorgeous husband and home and a brand new baby to boot. She’s also a lifestyle influencer with nearly 50,000 followers, and Billie is one of them. It’s the only way Billie can stay current on Cassie’s life, because Cassie is the type of person to share everything with the internet: how many times she had to get up with her baby; the brands she wears and, therefore, endorses; and updates on her chic boutique where it costs $600 to buy a blouse.

Cassie is well aware of Billie’s desire to reboot their friendship, but she’s over it. Why doesn’t Billie get the hint? Cassie has ignored enough texts and calls that anyone would have figured it out. But Billie keeps calling, keeps texting, keeps asking to get together.

That includes for her birthday, and Cassie doesn’t want to deal with the secondhand embarrassment she feels in front of her friends when Billie’s around. So she lies when Billie asks if she has anything planned and then goes ahead with the birthday bash Grant wants to throw her. Except she gets so involved in the party that she forgets that Billie will see her constant updates on Instagram.

By one of life’s cruelest coincidences, Billie ends up in Cassie’s swanky building on the night of her birthday. She discovers there’s a huge party in full swing and is furious. She’s also in a position to change Cassie’s entire life with a single impulsive move: Billie takes Cassie’s baby right from her balcony.

When Cassie gets word that her baby is missing, she’s frantic and reaches out to the one person who she knows will be there for her the way she needs: Billie. She needs the one person who knew her before she was Cassie Adler, before she had all this money and this rich life. Because Cassie knows that, thanks to the secret they share from when they were teenagers, Billie will be the one person to fight the hardest to get her child back—never guessing Billie might be responsible for her greatest pain.

Author Carola Lovering balances chapters between the friends with ease, giving readers the opportunity to get to know both of them. As the story unfolds in real time along with how the women became friends in their tween years, Lovering will keep readers engaged as to what happens after Cassie’s baby goes missing. Unlike some books, Lovering surprises readers with the choices both Billie and Cassie make.

Although Billie is the clear protagonist, at times it’s hard not to wince at her neediness. Lovering carefully puts Billie in a position where even readers will roll their eyes at her and occasionally sympathize with Cassie. Despite Cassie’s shallowness, there’s no doubt she loves her child and wants to take care of her. The element of groundedness is a masterstroke on Lovering’s behalf, leaving readers wondering whether Billie really does deserve sympathy all the way through the story.

If the book can be faulted anywhere, it’s for the slight lack of backstory development on Cassie. Readers will learn firsthand what binds the two friends to one another with Billie’s experiences taking the lead. Cassie’s backstory is shared but needed more in order to feel as lived in as Billie’s story does.

Still, for the most part the book is an immensely satisfying read both as an analysis of friendship and as a sometimes-thriller. Readers who enjoy clever back-and-forth between characters, particularly those in forced proximity will enjoy this one.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 3.75⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: contemporary fiction📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
I know this one was labeled as a thriller but I wouldn’t call it a thriller, there is no mystery or suspense for most of the book so I would keep them in mind when going into this one. If I had known that I think my expectations would have been a little lower.

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Domestic drama
Dual POV/ timeline
Flashbacks
Women friendship/ motherhood
Heavy topics
Character driven stories
Social media influencer
Thought provoking reads
Unlikable characters
NYC setting

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
I’m always here for all the drama

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
I’m not really of fan of reading about influencers I find it kinda boring

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this whole story! There are lots of memorable moments I won’t soon forget! The only thing I wish was changed is the spoiler at the beginning so you go into the book knowing right off the bat who kidnapped the baby. Other than that, it was written very well and I found myself relating to much of the parts about children changing friendships. If you like psychological thrillers and drama, be sure to check this book out!

Bye, Baby is a slow burn psychological thriller about 2 best friends who grew apart in recent years - one is an influencer and other feels pushed aside. Oh, this book was so bingeable. It opened with a missing baby and it sucked me in from there. The way it slowly unfolded created so many doubts and so much stress and I ate it up. I love how the characters had so many layers that were peeled back, I loved how the flashbacks to their childhoods really showed how the past shaped them and I loved the little digs into the world of social media and influencers.

Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering is a story of obsession, toxic friendships, trauma bonding, and codependency. How far can someone go to get back a relationship?

Billie and Cassie were best friends as teenagers and in their twenties as well. But they start drifting apart because both of them have different life goals. One starts a family, and the other still misses their bonding. Set in the past and present, this story is a slow burn drama.

This book goes into several issues of toxic relationships, trauma bonding, sexual abuse, social media influence, motherhood, and alzheimers. I was invested in the story because it did keep my interest till almost 60% when I wanted to put it down. But I prodded on, and it tied up well at the end. Since this is fiction, these morally gray characters make sense, but in real life, I would say that both Billie and Cassie need major therapy.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press @stmartinspress , for this book.

CW: Postpartum challenges, talk of motherhood, trauma bonding, gaslighting, sexual abuse, kidnapping, toxic relationships, Alzheimer

Billie and Cassie have been best friends since the summer before 7th grade, brought even closer by a tragic, unspeakable event in high school. But now they’re 35, living very different lives. Cassie has married rich, owns an upscale boutique clothing store in New York, is a new mother, and is rapidly gaining a following as an influencer. Billie is single and childless, feeling more and more like an outcast in Cassie’s life. It all comes to a head when Cassie’s daughter goes missing during a party, and Billie is responsible. After feeling hurt and rejected for so long by Cassie’s changing priorities, Billie is now the one Cassie is turning to again. She’ll do anything to restore their fractured friendship, while hiding what really happened the night of the kidnapping.
This story is written in alternating perspectives of Cassie and Billie, as well as flashbacks from their friendship, starting with their first meeting and building into how they became so close and then slowly drifted apart. I think Lovering did an excellent job of making the reader empathize with these characters even when they were doing really messed up things to each other. I really felt for Billie even though we know going into the story she’s literally a kidnapper. (Not a spoiler, it’s in the book description.)

I also felt this was unique in that the assumed climax comes pretty early, but you just know there’s more to come. That suspense felt like watching a car crash in slow motion. Even though I mostly predicted how it would end, the anxiety propelled me through and I couldn’t look away.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

Told in alternating perspectives in Lovering’s signature suspenseful style, Bye, Baby confronts the myriad ways friendships change and evolve over time, the lingering echoes of childhood trauma, and the impact of women’s choices on their lifelong relationships.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review an advanced readers copy of this book. This in no way affects my review, all opinions are my own.

First off, I would not call this book a thriller. This is more of a suspenseful drama but I think going into it thinking this is a thriller sets you up to be disappointed. However, the beginning starts off with a bang and I'm immediately interested in what's going to happen. This story goes back and forth between Cassie and Billie's POVs, two semi-estranged best friends and all of the events that lead up to a kidnapping case that turns both of their worlds upside down. Sounds like a thriller right? Again, it's really not so I'd keep that in mind.

I had a hard time connecting with this book because both main characters are frankly very annoying. Not even just unlikeable but instead unrelateable to the point where I just didn't get their motives? Billie is obsessive and offputting and Cassie is incredibly shallow. I understand the concept that they were connected through their pasts but the dynamic just didn't flow very well. I was waiting for either of them to be redeemed throughout the story and unfortunately the ending was just not very satisfying. (Semi-Spoiler) but I've noticed that Lovering's books tend to have a lack of consequences for the severity of her character's actions. I feel like I'm still trying to understand her writing style but based on this and other books I've read they might not be for me.

As others who have read this book will say, this book is NOT a thriller, but rather a retrospective on the lives of 2 women, once childhood friends, whose lives are forever entwined but have drifted apart over the years. Billie and Cassie have both endured hard years of their childhood and young adult lives, albeit in very different ways. As their adulthoods take shape in wildly different ways, Billie feels threatened by others who have taken her place as Cassie's "best friend." She struggles with the thought of not having Cassie in her life as much, and with her own feelings as she attempts to move on in the world. Grappling with the unspeakable act she's committed, we learn of the girls' shared past and try to identify how they can exist together in the future.

While it's not a thriller, it certainly read as one, and as such it is highly readable. You're kept on the edge of your seat as you seek to find out what happened to each of the girls together and separately as the juice in the book is squeezed. I haven't read any other books by Lovering, but after reading this one, I'm adding to my list.

This was my first read by Lovering and wow I had a difficult time guessing where the story was headed! That's a great sign! The premise was unique, the characters' joined backstory was murky & unexpected, and their present emotional state left everything a possibility. I especially loved the portrayal of both characters and how realistic most of their actions were. My attention never waned, and I clung to hope that the story would have a good ending for these former best friends.

Bye, Baby starts with the kidnapping of an infant by one friend, while the other friend panics from the loss. Going back two months it's clear Billie and Cassie have a strained relationship (mostly nonexistent) as their lives went in different directions after high school. They both have found success in their respective careers but Cassie has the additional adoration of tens of thousands of Instagram followers. When Cassie's baby disappears, the only person she wants by her side is Billie. The one person that knows what happened in high school. The one person that can tame her paranoia. And the one person that can ruin everything.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an E-ARC

I really enjoyed this one! Definitely not a thriller but it reads almost as fast paced and propulsive as one and I loved Billie and resonated with her feelings towards Cassie. Carola Lovering writes and gets inside her characters heads so well and I can’t wait to read Can’t Look Away as well! Absolutely now a must read author for me.