The primary characters of "Bye, Baby" are Cassie and Billie. Billie and Cassie were best friends growing up and always supported one another. Nevertheless, it is evident via flashbacks and the switching points of view between the two ladies that Billie was always the more devoted, caring friend. Cassie, on the other hand, has always been the shallow, conceited friend who prioritized herself and her demands over those of others. It would be an understatement to say that I wasn't a big admirer of Cassie. Throughout the entire novel, I considered her to be pretty repulsive, and my heart ached for Billie.

Growing up, Billie didn't have the nicest existence. The only family Billie had was her mother, who regrettably married a local drinker and suffered from early onset dementia. Billie had a difficult childhood. Billie's mother, who sadly suffered from early onset dementia and married a drinker in the neighborhood, was the only relative she had. Billie had always wanted someone to stand by her side and be her confidante; she believed she had found Cassie, but Cassie naturally moved on to more exciting and fulfilling endeavors.

Indeed, in this book, Billie made a terrible choice. However, I couldn't help but feel bad for her because of how wounded and devastated she was. Did Cassie earn her misfortune? Absolutely she did.

Thank you net galley for this arc.

Friendship. Life change. Motherhood.

There are so many things that can change a friendship and sometimes it’s hard when that happens if you aren’t the one making the decision.

That’s where this story begins. Cassie and Billie have been friends for most of their lives. They have been bonded by past trauma, shared experience, hometown loyalty. But, Cassie’s life changed. She changed - married and a new mother - and part of that was moving past her friendship with Billie.

Billie, on the other hand, doesn’t have much going on. And as her best friend leaves her in her dust, she becomes fixated on that. So much so that she does the unspeakable - kidnapping Cassie’s baby.

Now, SPOILER, one of my biggest problems with this whole thing is how no one actually discusses how it was even possible for Billie to take the baby. I mean… who leaves their new born on a TERRACE in NY in WINTER?! Honestly, I think it wasn’t Billie’s best idea, but I completely understand.

Bye, Baby - while it is suspenseful at times and has an interesting Plot, feels more like a commentary on what it feels like to out grow a friendship in exchange for family and a different life.

It is told in a Duel timeline POV - which I do enjoy! I hope to read more from this author soon!

This was a great read. It wasn't what I would describe as a thriller, but it had some suspenseful elements.

I initially found both Cassie and Billie to be highly annoying, but as the book went on and I learned more about each of them, they became more relatable, and their mindsets made more sense. I found myself going back and forth with whose side I was on.

I loved the way the dual timelines were written to give readers the current day happenings, as well as deep insight into their relationship as it developed in their youth. I also found the main theme of the book to be relatable in centering around people growing up and apart, regardless of how close and connected they were in a prior phase of life.

I'd recommend this book if looking for a read on friendship, obsession, and growing apart. I wouldn't recommend this if just looking for a page turning thriller.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Billie and Cassie were childhood friends, who have a dark secret. Billie feels like it still bonds them, but Cassie wants to put Billie and their history in the past. Cassie is an influencer and a new mom, using an excuse to avoid seeing Billie these days. One night, Billie’s feelings of being left behind take over a bit too much, when she briefly kidnaps Cassie’s baby.

The premise of this book immediately gripped me, starting with the kidnapping and then taking us back to how we got there. I appreciated the learning backstory and family drama that bonded the women, as well as learning how they became friends. It was easy to relate and empathize with Billie, despite her actions. I also think it was interesting how the story rounded out, with closure and no loose ends.

Bye, baby centers around two friends who have been close most of their lives but have started to grow apart in recent years. Billie is struggling with the feeling of losing her oldest friend while Cassie seems nonchalant about the whole situation. There are secrets and lies, of course. I felt that neither of the main characters was especially likeable. In fact, I would even say I didn’t care for any of the side characters either! But the plot and storyline really kept my interest. Would recommend to fans of suspense novels.

This was such a great book! We follow the complicated friendship of two women who have known each other from childhood to adulthood. They share a dark secret from their past and as they grow older there relationship becomes even more complicated and toxic. This book kept me on the each of my seat! Great read. Thank you, NetGalley.

A story of friendship from childhood to adulthood - a friendship that is toxic at times.

Billie and Cassie were inseparable as children, and Cassie helped as Billie dealt with a lot of difficult life events. But over time, they have grown apart. Cassie is determined to leave her early life behind, and Billie with it. A gold -digger or social climber as they used to be called, Cassie is now a social media influencer married to a very wealthy man, with a thriving business and a young baby.

Billie has been desperate to maintain the friendship with Cassie, despite how one-sided it has become. She is deeply hurt as it becomes apparent that Cassie has lied to her on several occasions. When Billie goes to Cassie's apartment building to feed another friend's cat, she hears Cassie's baby crying on the balcony above her. She decides to take the baby...

Told from multiple points of view, we hear from Cassie and Billie at various stages of their lives. Dramatic events that happened when they were younger, help to explain some of the details of their friendship. The ending didn't leave me feeling very satisfied, but I liked the way the plot explored the turns that the women's lives took.

A very good, if not thriller, psychological friendship drama. The stakes were high enough, the characters believable enough and the plot moved fast enough for a great engagement. I really enjoyed the friendship dynamic between the two women, as relationships are complicated and the author did a great job of describing the nuances of friendship as people grow up and apart.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in return for an honest review! This one will be short and sweet for now - to expand later. In classic Lovering fashion, this book was filled with real, relatable emotion. It examines the messy and complicated nature of love and allows the reader to truly feel that they’re in the minds and hearts of the characters.

This book is not a fast-paced drama but a winding road with many welcome stops. I often don’t enjoy character-driven novels yet somehow Lovering always makes them worth it. If you are looking for a read into the complicated friendship and past of two friends with a little bit of mystery and love thrown in, this is your book. 4 stars! The 5th would have been granted had it been slightly faster paced and for the trigger content. Major trigger warnings for sexual assault.

Bye, Baby centers around the friendship of two women. One has moved on and the other can’t let go. Without the unrealistic coincidences this story could not have moved forward. However, the ups and downs of their friendship did keep me engaged.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published March 5, 2024.

This book drew me in from the opening chapter and I couldn’t put it down.

Billie and Cassie have been best friends since grade school. They share a secret.

Fast forward into adulthood. Cassie has married into a wealthy family and is a social influencer. She has cut Billie out of her life, ignoring her texts and not calling her back.

Billie wants her best friend back and is extremely hurt that she’s been ignored…until the night of Cassie’s 35th birthday party when Cassie reaches out to Billie.
She needs her now.

This book is a fun and juicy read. It’s easy to hate superficial Cassidy who is all about her followers. It’s easy to berate Billie for being so needy. But these two share secrets and now they are even.

Trigger warnings for Alzheimer’s and sexual abuse.

I requested this book before finding out that I am pregnant. I now find this content too upsetting and triggering to read. Perhaps I will be able to read it in the future, although I’m not sure I’ll be able to read about kidnapped babies anytime soon! But the description does sound good and I know people are very much enjoying this book.

Billie & Cassie became best friends when they were 11. Now they're in their 30's and have drifted apart. We begin on the day the baby was taken then head back 50 days before and then we're slowly coming forward to the present. And we also head back to where the toxic friendship began in 2000 and move forward to the present. I didn't find it as confusing as I just made it sound. We learn that jealously can lead to a spur of the moment decision that can change the course of what you thought you wanted.
You're just on the edge of your seat right along with Billie waiting to see when she'll get caught. They share a secret from the past, that while it is predictable I still enjoyed the suspense leading up to it being revealed.

Bye, Baby was an enjoyable read with complex character relationships, an interesting & dynamic narrative, and relevant subject matter. I really disliked Cassie's character, and appreciated the accurate way in which Carola Lovering portrayed her. Sometimes I forget that there really are people as shallow and vapid as Cassie, and her presence in the novel - as well as her relationships with those around her - was a harsh reminder of that reality. Billie, on the other hand, was an interesting look at the other end of the spectrum; someone who is preoccupied with the consumption of someone's social media content. Whereas Cassie obsessed with creating content and updating her followers about anything and everything, Billie is obsessed with spitefully keeping up to date with her 'best-friend'.

While I appreciated the dynamic between Billie and Cassie, and how their friendship evolved and dissolve overtime, I found the book to be a bit lacking in the suspense department. From the synopsis itself, the reader knows the primary plot point of the story; its just the lead-up and aftermath that are unknown. While this format of suspense novel is usually still enjoyable, the lead-up was contextually underwhelming, and the resolution was almost too smooth. I still enjoyed the book, but I feel like Bye, Baby could be a better book club book for its social and cultural relevance than it is a suspenseful mystery.

Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for providing me with an electronic advanced copy of Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and are not influenced by any third parties.

The novel begins on a l night in a New York apartment, where 35-year-old Billie West is responsible for the kidnapping of her best friend’s (former) Cassie Barnwell's infant daughter. It is told in alternating narratives and explores friendships and how they change over the years and how they may be shaped by past trauma. The story was good and held my interest. However I did not find the two main characters likeable at all.

the fact that I binged this in one night tells you everything you need to know about carola lovering’s novels - they’re so addicting! the fast-paced, heart-pounding scenarios are BACK 🫡

what I’ve noticed a lot about her books is that they’re often mis-marketed as thrillers due to one “thrilling” element (in this case, a child kidnapping), when really they’re more on the family drama side 🥲 I would definitely characterize this as a lit fic book with a side of mystery

knowing that, however, I really enjoyed this twisty cat and mouse story!! I loved how it showcased the toxicity of friendship rather than relationships this time around, specifically how a friendship breakup can be almost worse than a romantic breakup at times (I know I’ve been there 🥲🥲)

the characters were super unlikable and each had their moments where I wanted to scream - because I swear no one would ever do anything like this in real life… but from the way I was invested, I enjoyed the back and forth time skips and backstories of billie and cassie!!

thank you to netgalley and st martins press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

rating: 3.5 stars
wine pairing: sonoma coast chardonnay

This book hooked me and did not let go. I couldn’t put it down. The domestic thriller follows the decades-long friendship of Billie and Cassie from adolescence, when they are inseparable, to adulthood, where they have grown apart. But secrets from their past keep them eternally tied and crisis brings them back together.

This isn’t a traditional thriller because there is no real mystery. The “twist” is laid out in the prologue and the secret in their past is almost immediately obvious. However, the tension in building to those moments is riveting. Lovering has created characters so real and complex, you know these women. You have been these women.

I also appreciated the dual POV. A lesser author would have made Cassie a caricature, but in Lovering’s hands, she’s humanized even if she is also often insufferable.

Thank you St. Martins Press for a copy.
3.5⭐️
Bye, Baby is a drama more than thriller.
We follow two childhood friends, Billie and Cassie, who have grown apart. I like that if is Dual POV so we get both sides and it also switches timelines so we find out what lead up to this moment.
It starts off with Billie holding a baby girl and hearing the mom screaming from the apartment above her that someone took her baby.
It was an attention grabbing beginning that has readers wanting to know how it came to this.
I will say that I wish it was more of a thriller than it was. It is definitely more drama and suspense. But it was still a great story full of secrets, tension, and toxic friendships.

Rating: 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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I went into this one completely blind and I really enjoyed this story. Bye, Baby is told in a dual POV and through a dual timeline. The two POV’s are two best friends - Billie and Cassie and the timelines are obviously the past when they met and their friendship growing up and through the present.
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This is more of a slow burn that deals very much with motherhood, social media influences on peoples lives and the ups and downs of friendships (even toxic ones). I was so drawn to the dynamics of Cassie and Billie’s friendship, their past experiences and how they were navigating through life. When reading this you get such a glimpse into both characters past and how they grew up being who they were.
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Lovering really spoke to me with everything she said about motherhood, with breast feeding, with the bond a mother has to her baby. I found myself shaking my head yes to so many of Cassie’s feelings (in regards to her child) throughout the story. I also really felt so drawn to the whole social media aspect as well, the addiction to the phone and how life can be portrayed so differently.
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I think all of these different topics combined made this such an interesting and addicting read. I ended up devouring this one within a day and I really enjoyed it.
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I listened to this one via audio while read ing my eARC and Helen Laser and Karissa Vacker did a phenomenal job at narrating the voices of Billie and Cassie. I loved the audio and will be recommending it to all of my audiobook friends.
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Bye, Baby will be releasing on 3/5 - be sure to check this one out! Huge thank you to NetGalley, Carola Lovering, MacMillan Audio and St. Martins Press for the ALC and eARC in exchange for my honest review!

honestly this book isn't something i would consider a thriller. it really was just reading about a friendship between cassie and billie, both past and present.

cassie is an influencer who is obsessed with posting every single moment of her life. she recently had a baby and is trying to navigate parenthood and entrepreneurship. she's posting every moment of the day. she's trying to forget her past but billie reminds her of just that...

billie is obsessed with checking cassie's insta story. she misses her best friend and she is desperate to have her attention. she's constantly texting her and trying to insert herself back into her life, even though they are on completely different paths. she feels like she owes cassie everything for helping her when they were young. she's very trauma bonded to her and once you find out why it makes sense but god.. she needs therapy asap.

cassie from the START is a shitty friend and it honestly never gets better. she's self absorbed and manipulative. she treats billie like absolute shiiiit and then when it's convenient for her, she makes billie drop everything and be with her. it was honestly insufferable (i'm sure it's meant to be like that, so it's fine!).

& billie!! she knows cassie doesn't give a shit about her, yet she drops everything for cassie. even ditching her boyfriend on the day of their date, multiple times. it was so annoying. like i said, she needs therapy. the book talks about cassie needing therapy (she does) but it's never mentioned that billie might need it, but she 100% could use it (more than cassie) lol.

there were some "thrilling" moments when it came to the baby being kidnapped & stuff. but it wasn't THAT thrilling. just a novel about growth and friends with some f’d up stuff that happens


thank you so much to netgalley for this arc!!