I could not put this down. I loved this author’s writing style and her depiction of a complex female friendship over the years. While the ending fell a tiny bit flat for me, this was still a well-paced page-turner that I highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 stars

Main Characters:
-- Billie West – 35-year-old luxury travel consultant, lives and works in New York, has just recently started dating Alex, best friends with Cassie since they were 12 until recently
-- Cassie Adler – 35-year-old influencer and owner of a curated clothing boutique branded Cassidy Adler, new mom to Ella, married for a year to the very wealthy Grant Adler
-- McKay Adler Morris – Cassie’s current best friend, she and Cassie met in college, Grant’s cousin, married to Tom, also a new mom
-- Jane Falkenberg – Billie’s friend and boss, married to Sasha, owns the travel company where Billie works
-- Alex Jensen – recently started dating Billie, a New York City police officer, working to make detective

Trigger Warning: child sexual assault

Billie West and Cassie Barnwell met when they were 12, and a traumatic event, something they kept secret their entire lives, binds them. But as they got older, Cassie drifted, spending more time with the rich kids at Harvard in search of a rich man to marry. Now adults living in New York, Billie is happily childless and traveling the world as a luxury travel consultant, and Cassie is a new mom, happily married to a wealthy man, and running her own clothing boutique.

The story unfolds in alternating chapters between Billie and Cassie and with flashbacks to their childhood as well as their high school and college years. Their lives have been intertwined for a long time, but we as readers know long before Billie does that she is more invested in Cassie’s life than Cassie is in hers. But when Cassie discovers her newborn missing, Billie is the only person she believes can understand the trauma she’s experiencing.

There were a number of reveals over the course of the book—some unexpected, some predictable, some that I thought I guessed but was wrong about. But the reason for 3.5 instead of 4 or even 5 stars was that many of them took a long time to get to. Billie talked a lot about her ex, Remy, and a bad breakup that has influenced all of her relationships since, but we don’t get to the details of the breakup until three=quarters of the way through the book. By that time, I was kind of tired of waiting for what sounded like it was going to be a big reveal.

***SPOILERS*** SPOILERS***SPOILERS***

On top of that, both Cassie and Billie became so unlikeable. Cassie is completely obsessed with money and clicks and likes (she’s an “influencer,” after all, with 40,000 followers) but especially money. Billie is completely obsessed with Cassie. But once Cassie’s baby goes missing, suddenly all of the influencing doesn’t matter. She realizes how important the baby is and doesn’t care about Instagram or her boutique. Billie is elated by that because Cassie suddenly needs her again.

But when Billie admits to her friend and boss Jane that she is the one who took and returned Cassie’s baby, Jane covers for her! She just continues on with her life, saying that she doesn’t understand Billie’s friendship with Cassie but, of course, she has Billie’s back.

And when Billie is finally forced to come clean to both her boyfriend Alex and Cassie, Alex is angry at first but forgives her because the Barnwells aren’t pressing charges. Cassie tells Alex to tell Billie that she wants nothing to do with Billie (understandably) and that now they’re even. And then Cassie immediately goes back to her normal influencing life and her own obsession with being accepted by McKay, who couldn’t have cared less about Cassie until Cassie married McKay’s cousin.

The ending became so convoluted because there was so much detail packed into the end that could have been scattered throughout the story. And, honestly, the book could probably be shorter without losing anything. Overall, a little above average and could have been better.

3.5 stars
Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering is billed as a mystery/thriller, but reads as dramatic women’s fiction about old friendships, childhood secrets, and the effects of both on the lives of two now adult women, Billie West and Cassie Barnwell, after 20 years.
The story plays out in dual POV and dual timelines. As adults, the friendship is strained, as Cassie has become a wealthy social influencer and wife with a newborn, with similar friends, and Billie is single, childless, and seemingly obsessed with hanging on to an unrequited relationship with Cassie. No spoilers here—there are some suspenseful incidents, past and present, and decent plot twists. But there are also a lot of head-scratching moments, especially involving Billie’s actions. Be prepared to suspend disbelief a few times.
Billie is a somewhat sympathetic character, but I could not become invested in her complicated circular mental wrangling and behavior. Cassie and her crew were less interesting and superficial stereotypes of wealthy, vapid women.
The writing is solid and the author is a good storyteller. I have enjoyed her previous novels, and I know there are many readers who liked this book and its observations about 35 year-olds with lots of baggage in their friendship. It just did not resonate with me.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

Well this wasn’t at all what I expected. I thought it was going to be a thriller, but it’s not. It’s really about toxic mean girl friendships and what happens when we can’t stop comparing ourselves to others.

Billie and Cassie have been best friends since childhood, but as adults in New York they’ve grown apart. Or at least, Cassie has grown apart – Billie is determined to hold on to what is increasingly a one-sided friendship. For Cassie, her old friend doesn’t fit in with her new mommy-influencer lifestyle, rich husband and jet setting friends. But the two are forever bonded by a shared traumatic past, and Billie doesn't know how to exist without that friendship - she becomes increasingly obsessed with Cassie's life, and regaining what they once had.

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say I was hooked in the first couple of pages. Lovering really sets the hook in immediately, and I just had to keep reading to find out how the characters get to this point. We get POV chapters from both women and the entire time I was reading this, I found myself relating to both of them, and also yelling in disbelief at both of them. Groaning as they made one awful, painful decision after another, but also nodding along with some of their thoughts and feelings. Cassie’s obsession with social media, growing her audience, and letting them into her life to a disturbing degree was especially hard to watch and it's easy to see how it could really ruin someone’s life and relationships. And wow, do some relationships get ruined. This friendship is so incredibly toxic and co-dependent, the perfect breeding ground for disaster.

I wouldn't necessarily classify this as a thriller, but it’s a story about how lies, obsessions and secrets can twist lives into knots. As for the ending, I feel like half of it was believable, and half of it wasn’t. Half of it was satisfying in a karmic way, and half wasn’t. I’ll let you decide for yourself which was which! This was a fast and entertaining read that I don't think you'll quickly forget. Bye, Baby is out on March 5, check it out, and thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy!

Carola Lovering's latest novel is a lot of things, but a suspense, mystery, or thriller is not one of them. I have read two other books from this author, Too Good To Be True and Can't Look Away and enjoyed them both. This book was no different, it was a very satisfying read, though I just wanted it to be clear that if you are looking for a mystery/thriller/suspense, like this book is presented as, then you might look elsewhere.

There are trigger warnings that should come with this book including sexual abuse, severe end stage Alzheimer's, and toxic relationships.

This is told in alternating perspectives and we are also given glimpses into Billie and Cassie's past relationship. It was interesting to see the stark difference of how Cassie and Billie barely speak to one another in modern day compared to how they once were each other's everything.

There are parts of this story that are VERY unbelievable. Instances that honestly barely worked but had to or the plot wouldn't move along like it was supposed to. There are many characters introduced and I can honestly say that I didn't actually like a single one, including the main characters. Despite not liking the characters I really did like the book. My disdain for the characters is what kept me reading.

The plot was a bit slow at first and I was wondering, at times, where it planned to go. There seemed to be so many side stories to fill the pages. Too many topics to cover- sexual abuse, Alzheimer's, friendships, social media influencers, motherhood, and more. The little side topics were an annoying distraction from the big, main incident.

The ending I did enjoy and it was satisfying.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me an advanced e-copy to read and give my honest review.

Bye, Baby is set to be released on March 5, 2024 in the U.S. so pre-order now! It was a 4 star read for me!

Happy Reading!

I enjoyed this story. It's billed as a psychological thriller, but to me it was more a woman's fiction. It dealt with friendship from school to adulthood and how that whole concept changes things. It's written in dual timelines, as well as multiple POV's.

Billie and Cassie met at the age of 12 and became best friends. As adults, one drifts from the other one, which happens in all friendships. Then one night, one does something that is unforgivable to the other.

There are trigger warnings in this book. Child Abuse, Sexual Abuse, and a crime ( I don't want to say which crime bc I don't want to give anything away).

While, I didn't always like Billie or Cassie, I could relate to them. How many of us still talk to their best friend in school, even once a month? I'm sure some do, but for most of us, you grow apart. Rather it's distance, children or just life getting in the way. I will say that their was good character development in the book. The story moved along at a good pace. But, I just didn't think the ending as a whole was believable. That's just my opinion though. Others may think that that would actually happen, but I'm not so sure.

Tentative Publication Date: March 5, 2024

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

😊 Happy Reading 😊

#netgalley #stmartinspress #carolalovering #byebaby

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Carola Lovering for this ARC!

I was honestly really nervous about picking this one up because being a mom, anything with kidnapping puts me on edge even if I’m reading it! But in this aspect, the kidnapping didn’t make me nervous! It was the lead up and the aftermath that made me uneasy! Which honestly thinking about it now and writing this makes sense because it puts us as the reader into the shoes of the MC and her emotions and anxieties on life, etc..

While there is a TW for this, the sexual assault aspect of this can be hard to read for some readers and while it does make sense to the story.. the detail isn’t all that necessary either.

The storyline and how it ended? Great. But the nervousness throughout the book and more just made me only give it 3 stars.

I hate it when a main character does something stupid, then compounds it with more and more dumb moves to try to cover it up. In these situations, it's hard for an author to find a way to resolve things that doesn't leave me really dissatisfied, but Carola Lovering pulls it off in Bye, Baby! Billie West and her best friend since age 11, Cassie, have grown apart. Cassie has a new baby, new friends, a new lifestyle and Billie doesn't really fit in any more. Billie finds herself semi-stalking her friend on Cassie's Instagram page, desperate for any attention her old friend bestows upon her. But then Billie "accidentally" -and only briefly!- kidnaps Cassie's baby, nobody knows she is the one who took the infant and she was returned unharmed, and to Billie's surprise, she is the one Cassie turns to for solace afterwards. The story is told from the alternating perspectives of both women in the present and Billie's POV during their childhood, chronicling the ups and downs of their friendship. More of a character-driven drama/suspense than a mystery/thriller, with insightful perspectives on the lifelong impact of early trauma and the addiction of social media.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review Bye, Baby on NetGalley.

Published: 03/05/24

Stars: 4.5

Thoroughly enjoyed. I was in hook, line and sinker. While I didn't like all the characters, I understood their position in the story.

The synopsis is available. All I will say is I loved the hat.

I felt bad for the main character and I could relate to some of her choices. I was cheering for her when I probably shouldn't have. As for some of the other characters -- you reap what you sow.

As for the ending, I liked it.

This is tricky I don't want to say too much, it will ruin the story.

This is a steady moving mystery.

Wow! Loved Bye, Baby! The character development, the thrills, the plot that just kept coming! It was overall a great read and I really enjoyed it. If you enjoy books with similar themes, then I highly recommend!

This was my first Carola Lovering read but will definitely not be my last! Thank you for allowing me to read this book early.

Billie West grew up in Red Hook, in the Hudson Valley. The summer before seventh grade, Cassie Barnwell shows up and Billie's whole world changed--Billie did everything in her power for them to become best friends. Fast forward twenty-plus years, and the two women have grown apart, despite Billie's almost unhealthy inability to move on, though Cassie did not have the same problem.

One night in October, Billie makes a decision she can't undo--she takes Cassie's crying baby to console it. Minutes later, Cassie realizes that her baby is gone and lets out a bloodcurdling scream. Billie happens to be in the apartment one floor below, and realizes the mistake she's made, but it's too late and the police have been called. After a brief panic, Billie decides to run upstairs and leave baby Ella on the doorstep of Cassie's apartment, then flee. Although they had been growing apart, this dramatic event caused Cassie to bring Billie close because she was scared. This is all Billie ever wanted, and she is doing her best to mend and rebuild their friendship, while trying to gloss over her involvement in taking baby Ella.

This is told in dual POV and in dual timelines.

4 out of 5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of "Bye, Baby" by Carole Lovering. This was my first reading of work by this author. I went into the story blind, without any pre-read looks. I liked the dual timelines and multiple narrators. I struggled with the second half of the story, after the plot twist, partly because we knew it was coming from the very beginning and the first half seemed to be just waiting for it to happen, and then the second half was just waiting for her to be found out. I liked the mystery of the tweet from the hometown to spook things up. It was a good read but not something that will stick with me.

Bye, Baby follows Cassie and Billie, best friends from childhood, who are now in their mid-thirties. Cassie, with her wealthy husband, new baby, and large social media following, begins to pull away from Billie, who is desperately trying to hold on to their friendship. One night, a hurt Billie takes Cassie's baby from the terrace of her apartment, setting our story in motion.

This is told from both Cassie and Billie's perspectives in the present day, and Billie's perspective in the past. The present day timelines allow the reader to see how each woman perceives various events in their lives, and the flashbacks give a glimpse into how their friendship has evolved over time. Although I would not classify this as a thriller, it was a compulsive read and after the first chapter, I could not wait to see where the story would go.

3.5 rounded up

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy of this book.

This book follows childhood best friends Cassie and Billie, now adults, navigating life and how friendship changes over the years. While reading, I enjoyed the story as well as the dual POV and dual timelines. The story kept my attention and I kept reading wanting to know what happened next. That being said, this wasn’t my favorite from this author, and it fell short for me as a thriller. I still would recommend this read, but with the mindset of being a women’s fiction story, not a thriller.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Billie and Cassie were besties growing up. Then college rolls around. Cassie heads to Harvard where she meets a whole new group of friends who really don't get the relationship she has with Billie. Cassie also finds herself a wealthy husband there, which only distances her more from Billie.

Cassie is now an influencer and a new mom to baby, Ella. Long periods of time go by where Billie has no communication with Cassie, and she feels lost without here. Thankfully Billie has met a new man and thing seem to be going well, so that helps ease the pain of her Cassie situation.

Cassie has a party to celebrate her birthday, all of it playing out on social media. Billie realizes she is isn't invited and is so hurt.

That night, Ella, Cassie's baby, goes missing, and all Cassie wants is Billie.

Where is Ella? Who took her? Will she be returned? It's a wild ride to find out!

Many thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for an ARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an electronic Advanced Readers Copy of this novel.

Billie West has felt that Cassie Barnwell, her best friend since they were 12, has been pulling away from her. Cassie was always a social climber, determined to win a wealthy and prestigious husband after her family was forced to move after her dad wasted his family money. Billie and Cassie have drifted apart once adulthood set out and have very different views on life and what being a success is. Billie can't seem to shake her loyalty to Cassie, even when it's clear that Cassie doesn't consider her a friend anymore.

One fateful night, Cassie's baby is missing, and Billie is horrified to look down and see herself holding the missing child - how did it get to be like this?

Bye, Baby is an unflinching tale of social media influencers, growing up and letting go of the past. It was well written and entertaining and alternated viewpoints between the two main characters. I didn't really like either of them but understood where they were coming from and enjoyed it even though it was tough to read at times.

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for a copy of this e-arc and audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I think that the first issue with this book is that it's marketed as a mystery or thriller and it is not that. There is suspense, but no big twist or surprise. It's more of a story of toxic friendships and family drama. The book follows Billie and Cassie who have been best friends since their traumatic childhood. As they've grown older, their friendship has drifted apart much to the disappointment of Billie. She is willing to do just about anything to get their friendship back together, even if it means risking it all.

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narrators, Helen Laser and Karissa Vacker. They did such a good job with each of the characters. I love listening to Karissa Vacker, especially.

While I wouldn't recommend this to mystery lovers, I think it's a good read as long as the readers are aware of the genre of the book.

I have loved all of this author’s books. This one is so good! The author is so great at writing complex relationships. It’s about the friendship of two women and things that happen and change over years. I don’t want to say too much about it, but there is tension pulled tighter and tighter throughout the whole book.

I'll start by saying I did really enjoy this book. However, it was not as good as I was expecting it to be from reading the summary, nor was it as good as her previous books. Throughout the story, I found myself getting extremely annoyed with both the main characters. Cassie is a stuck up princess who gets everything handed to her on a silver platter. Meanwhile, her "oldest friend", Billie (who she now treats like scum on her shoe by the way) is just annoying and clingy and whiny. I said it.

The whole premise of the book relies on Cassie's baby going missing during a party (because she wasn't paying any attention to it because #DoItForTheGram) and surprise, guess who has the baby? (This isn't a spoiler -- It happens super early on and it's also in the summary) You'd think with that kind of lead in, it would be super interesting and twisty and a thriller. Nah. It got pretty boring after that. It was still a 4 star read, but definitely not as exciting as you'd think.