When I started this book I assumed a lot more thriller/mystery, but it ended up being more of a drama with the look at friendship from childhood to adulthood and the things that bind those relationships. Cassie and Billie had become best friends as children and due to situations during their youth it created a strong bond between the two. Until Cassie begins to strive for a life as a social media persona and their relationship starts to break apart.

Cassie is a character that was hard to like due to how stuck-up and privileged she continues to think about herself. It felt like a lot of the story was her fighting the initial meeting between her and Billie, where she defended her against rude comments from another friend. They immediately became friends and then Cassie started to show her need for all things expensive and a life that she wanted to have by any cost at all. Honestly, Billie has her own issues and makes mistakes throughout the novel, but I felt like she was more personable and her issues were understandable.

This was an interesting read but left me feeling like there should have been a little more mystery to the storyline. As well as the first thing written in the description for the book on Goodreads being " A missing baby." and that portion of the book didn't seem as dire as it was meant to be. I am curious about her other books and hope knowing her writing style will allow me to enjoy her books even more.

Thank you for the early review copy!

First I will say, I read this in one sitting. I was thoroughly entertained and invested in this entire storyline. I did however feel like it was more of a suspense drama versus a thriller. Billie and Cassie’s friendship was quite the tumultuous one. I enjoyed getting a first hand account through all of the stages of their relationship throughout the years. One storyline involving Billie was rather hard to read and I would suggest checking trigger warnings, but I understood the purpose of this storyline as it really demonstrated the lengths these two would go to to protect themselves and each other. I loved the New York setting as well. I felt like the story concluded in a satisfying way and overall I would definitely recommend!
Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for this #gifted ARC!

Do you remember the obsessive friendships we had growing up? I know I had one. Where we were always together and the times we had to be apart we were talking on the phone. Imagine that, with the addition of some trauma bonding and you have the relationship between Billie and Cassie. This was a fast-paced, entertaining read. The writing is good and the drama filled plot held my interest through out. I was hoping the ending would have a twist. It ended way too neatly and nicely for my liking. It really felt like it should have ended differently in my eyes, but some may appreciate the nice ending. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This story line was done so well and kept me right on the edge of my seat! It was full of so many twists and turns that I had to know how it ended. This book screamed movie or series material!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Read this if you like books with…
• BFF drama/longterm friendships
• family dynamics
• influencers/social media
• secrets
• dual POV
• multiple timelines
• suspense

Billie & Cassie are longtime BBFs with a deadly secret between them, keeping them tied together in their thirties despite their differences — Cassie married wealthy, is a social media influencer, and new mom; Billie is dating, doesn’t want kids, and doesn’t care as much about the latest trends. Billie is nostalgic for the closeness she once shared with Cassie, as it currently feels they’re drifting further and further apart… until something unthinkable happens that has Cassie turning to Billie, just like old times. But things can’t stay this way forever, and Billie needs to find a way out of the mess she created.

This was an interesting read! I’ve read books with kidnappings, but the dynamic between Billie and Cassie is what made this story unique. The story started strong, but as it went on the things started feeling more and more unrealistic, which is where it began to fall flat for me.

TW: sexual assault

Love the set up that begins in the first pages and the dual timelines with alternating points of view from the two characters, Cassie and Billie. The pages were turning effortlessly for me until things got a little eye-rolley for me. Plot lines turned a bit silly for me and the multiple twists and turns added to the eye rolling. It was all too much. Relationships are complicated enough without all of the backstory. I'm sure I'm going to be in the minority feeling this way. It read very quickly which is always a good thing.

Finished this book today and it is a 4 for me! I loved the characters but didn’t like how Billie was treated most of the book. I also wanted a different ending but I am glad Alex and Billie were able to talk about things and work it out!

This thriller was exactly what I expected in the sense that I was intrigued from page one and could not put it down!
Great book characters were intriguing ! Highly recommend !

The book’s main themes are toxic female friendships and the messy reality of an influencer. The discrepancies between the online personas and and their real life interactions are well developed in this novel.
Billie and Cassie have been best friends since they met in high school. After college, they moved together in a small New York apartment, happily starting their careers. But once Cassie meets her husband Grant the two women, who were once inseparable, start drifting apart.
The plot is centered around a couple of events that shaped the two friends’ lives. Told from both of their perspectives, I liked the way the author laid out the story and wrapped it up at the end. A well-written, highly entertaining novel that will get anyone out of a reading funk. A solid four stars from me!
Thank you St. Martin’s Press, Carola Lovering, and Netgalley for my advanced readers copy.

Billie and Cassie grew up as best friends and there were many flashbacks to take us back to their past. Then the now, we had secrets, lies, a kidnapping, I loved it! This is my 2nd book by this author and I love her style of writing. Looking forward to more from Carola. I was glued from the very first page. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. To be published March 2024.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to review this novel.

Carola Lovering is back with another compulsive read. I finished this in one day; I couldn’t put it down if that says anything.
The POVs added to the story, not to mention the character development of the MCs. Lovering always writes in modern contexts and flawless settings. Her characters are always fleshed out (even minor side characters). Since "Tell Me Lies" Loverings books are an immediate "want to read" for me.
This story is about two best friends who meet as youths and spend the better part of their teens and twenties together, losing touch rather harshly in their thirties. Do they grow apart? Does something happen to make their bond snap? The book starts with one of the MCs baby being kidnapped…by the other MC. Should I say more? That alone drew me in!
The alternating timeline of their present state and the past is excellent. It adds meat to the story and has the reader picking a side in this friendship. Lovering also adds well-done real-life issues within the novel. This had me constantly reflecting on my reactions to social and personal conflicts. I love a book with so many layers that I am thinking about it long after the final page.
This was a win, and I can't wait for the next Carola Lovering book!

Billie and Cassie have been friends since they were teens. Old friendships can be comforting and easy, but they can also become strained as both people grow and change through the years. Once Cassie is engaged to a rich guy, she starts edging Billie out of her life. Things take a turn one night when Cassie’s baby goes missing. A twisted road begins unwinding as the characters navigate the aftermath of this traumatic event. A great read about relationships!

I was so excited to get an ARC of a Carola Lovering book. I loved Can't Look Away. I buddy-read this with someone who also enjoyed that book. We schemed all the way through the first half expecting some giant twist that would make sense of the events in the book and significance of characters who played very minor roles. Given we both read thrillers regularly we expected a big reveal. And that's not what happened. There was no giant twist. I absolutely respect the messaging the book set out to share but the thriller aspect was not well enough developed.

Wow, what a story! I can always count on Carola Lovering to sweep me away to a captivating and compelling place where I can escape the world for a time. I wouldn’t call this a thriller necessarily since nothing was really a shock, but I was never bored as I was drawn into the world of Billie and Cassie, two childhood friends, now navigating their adult lives. This story is about so many things; friendship, coming of age, starting a career after college, trying to find someone to marry, having children, social media and the world of influencers. It’s also about obsession, jealousy and finding peace. Well done Ms. Lovering, can’t wait for your next book! Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on March 5, 2024

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I had read one of Lovering's books before and didn't love it, but the premise of the book Bye, Baby was so interesting, I asked for it.

Cassie and Billie meet at 11 years old and become best friends. However, from the beginning, we see Cassie is the alpha girl. Billie's upbringing from a loving, single mom changes when her mother brings in a new stepfather for her and gets diagnosed with early dementia.

As adults, Cassie and Billie are no longer friends. Billie is still trying to make an effort, but Cassie married 'f u rich ' and has a 4 month old daughter with her husband, Grant. Cassie is an influencer and owner of a clothing boutique. She ignores Billie's texts and decides not to invite her to her 35th birthday party. The book starts off on a bang with the missing baby. Then we go back and see what leads to that night and what happens afterward. The format does a great job of adding suspense. Even though this book can't be totally classified as a thriller as it's about 2 best friends. We find out a lot of things about their past friendship as teenagers and the toxic nature of friendship. They loved the movie Dirty Dancing and called each other baby.

TW for teenage sexual abuse /molestation, kidnapping, a sick parent. The book is out 3/5/24. Sorry, my thoughts are a little scattered right now as I was interrupted while writing this review by a very condescending person. Too bad they don't have a baby to steal away. JK. Obviously.
Unfortunately the characters weren't that likeable - particularly Cassie but there are so many issues that are popular in this book it took away from the plot and action as well as pacing. Trigger warning for sexual abuse in the past and trauma bonding.

Bye, Baby is a domestic drama novel that follows two childhood best friends who have grown apart in recent years. One of them kidnaps the other's child, and the first half of the book is what leads to the kidnapping, while the second half deals with the aftermath. It alternates between the two women's perspectives and there are also chapters that tell us the story of their friendship in the past. It has influencer culture, toxic female friendships, and rich people behaving badly.
I really enjoyed this book, it was honestly so juicy, like watching your favorite drama show. It isn't a thriller, but it does have the pacing of one, and I found it to be so engaging that I didn't want to put it down. I thought the author did such a good job of writing the experience of being the friend who is dumped, and making a character who normally would've been villianized pretty relatable and sympathetic. I was slightly disappointed by the ending but the first 95% of the book was so great, and its not technically a thriller, so I can overlook it.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.
ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Bye, Baby review:

Admittedly, the first half of this book was a little repetitive and slow-moving. For some reason the first half felt SO LONG. I felt like I had been reading and reading and then realized I was only at 25%. I enjoyed the dual POV and the flashbacks to learn more about Cassie and Billie's past. Billie's past was definitely dark and troubling and anybody in her situation would've been traumatized for a long, long time. I felt like I couldn't really connect/understand Billie's obsession with Cassie. It started to get on my nerves because I loved her life outside of Cassie -- her new beau, her cool job, where she lived, etc.

I'm sure it was the author's intention to make Cassie SO unlikeable but my goodness, so much cringe between her and her friends I almost couldn't stand it. I've also started to figure out that I'm not a fan of the "catty girl trope" where these girls are just awful to each other. Even all the "motherhood" talk grated my nerves.

Lovering obviously organized this book where right off the bat in the prologue you read that something bad has happened. And then it back tracks and we slowly get the build up to what went wrong. I liked how she did that but then when we get to the climax again where we find out exactly what went down, we were still at 50% and I didn't know where it would go from there. But, surprisingly I think I liked the second half of this book more so than the first. I felt like some things came together and it didn't drag as much as the first half.

I was happy to see that Alex was working to forgive Billy and move forward at the end because I loved his character!

3.5/5 stars

Cassie and Billie were the very best of friends growing up. As they grew up, they drifted apart. Billie still wants to be friends but Cassie doesn't. Billie kidnaps Cassie's baby but why? This book was more drama than thriller but it definitely kept me reading! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book, but not as well as her last one I read. As a woman and mom I definitely identified with the very codependent, messed up female relationship that was central to the plot. At times it seemed even a bit too farfetched. But, overall, very enjoyable.

// 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 - 𝐁𝐲𝐞, 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲 //

Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Genre: Thriller

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑰𝒇 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆:
🥴 Complicated Friendships
↔️ Then and Now Timelines
👀 Stalker Vibes
✌🏻Dual Perspectives

𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔
This book opens up with a glimpse of what normally would be a major twist. It hooks you immediately into reading the rest of the novel. The author then takes us on a journey of what lead up to that moment…because honestly you’re wondering how the heck did the main character get there. It was a fun way to start the book, and I was invested quickly.

Billie and Cassie have a rather unique and toxic relationship. I initially couldn’t understand the very weird obsession that Billie had with a friend who clearly didn’t reciprocate the relationship. It was very unhealthy. However as we become privy to the past between them, things start to become more understandable and clear. Billie’s character starts to make more sense. We grow to see that Billie is actually a very is a loyal person - to her friends and family, often to a fault and at the expense of herself. So the mistake she makes is devastating and her choices are out of desperation to rekindle and protect her most valued friendship. Cassie is completely the opposite - her choices and choices of who keeps in her orbit are completely self-serving. Her friends are snobby, she posts on social media constantly for attention, and she pushes away the one person who loves her despite it all. I still don’t understand Cassie, and was a little disappointed by her lack of character growth. I have many more thoughts but don’t want to spoil anything on accident.

⚠️: Kidnapping, Sexual Assault/Harassment, Pedophilia, Parent with Dementia