Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering is a tautly written thriller that captures the nuances of "toxic" female friendships. There are so many twists and turns, jaw-dropping scenes, and moments that leave you with whiplash. You'll have a difficult time forgetting Cassie and Billie! This was a five-star read for me!

Bye Baby centers around two lifelong friends Cassie and Billie.

Cassie and Billie the summer before 7th grade. Growing up they were inseparable and closely bonded by a deadly secret; as so often happens, they grew and changed, growing apart.

Bye Baby was an engrossing character-driven novel that I couldn’t put down. The book explores toxic friendships and how all consuming they can be.

This was my second Carola Lovering novel and I eagerly anticipate the next.

This ARC was provided b the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book had me on the edge of my seat! I sped through reading this and really enjoyed the plot. I felt so anxious towards the end, but the ending of the book is satisfying. I will recommend this to friends upon release!

I loved this book! I loved reading both perspectives. It kept me engaged and wanting more. This was a page turner for me.

I have sat on this review all day because I’m just not sure what to rate it. It is NOT a thriller at all. It’s not a mystery. It’s more like a high school friend drama that translates to adulthood… kind of?

Clearly, I don’t know what genre this is or is supposed to be, but it did keep me engaged - albeit mostly because I thought it was going to turn into a thriller at one point. It just didn’t.

I hated the characters, but I enjoyed the story. Even though I didn’t like her, I did feel for Billie. She goes through A LOT as a teen and it definitely messes up her outlook on life. I hated Cassie all the way through, but her motherly love redeemed her a bit.

All in all, it was engaging and kept me turning pages. It just wasn’t what I thought it was going to be (and what I wanted it to be).

This was a good read - I really enjoyed this book. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

Well this was a wild ride. First, despite going in expecting some really strong thriller vibes from this one, it really didn't read as one. What Bye, Baby does bring to the table is a story of how friendships change, warp and fizzle out in complex ways.

I heavily related to both Billie and Cassie in several ways, though I really didn't like Cassie for a large portion of the book. She's got some redeeming moments and at the end I was pretty satisfied with her character arc but man she is a tough cookie to appreciate. The complexities of friendship, especially those that stem from childhood or school years is really hard to navigate and while I understood both sides of the relationship this was a read that easily frustrates the reader in a good way. I equally wanted to call Cassie out for being so shallow and yell at Billie to get a grip and move on- friendships aren't always made to last forever and it's ok to outgrow them!

The pacing of build-up and tension was great and we peaked at the 'oh my gosh' moment of here's the baby but honestly after that it went so slow. We're lead along this high tension walk of trying to remedy the situation and it just kind of ends? I wasn't satisfied with the ending, it was ok. I liked Billie so while I was sort of rooting for her in a specific sense it almost leaves the story feeling wrapped up too nicely, too neatly.

Overall, I still really enjoyed this one. I couldn't put it down and had to know what would happen next which speaks for something on this read despite the few downfalls I faced with it. It's an easy read with high drama and relatable moments and I'll be checking out what else the author has to offer.

A great book by Carola Lovering. This was my first thriller by this author and I am excited to read more.

Didn’t see this one coming! A refreshing take on friendship breakups that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.
A strong 4/5 stars!

This book follows two adult women (Billie and Cassie) whose friendship spans from childhood. They’ve started growing apart recently because they’re in different stages of life. Until Cassie’s baby goes missing and the only person she thinks she can rely on is Billie. Billie isn’t being honest though. This book was told in alternating viewpoints, with some flashbacks sprinkled in, which I thought worked well for this book. The characters were pretty well developed, and this book kept me anxious with how it was going to resolve! Carola Lovering did a great job with this one, I’d definitely recommend!

The plot has several twists and turns. It is a story of long time friendships and the secrets close friends keep for each other. It is a mystery and a romance book all overlapping each other. I found this to be a slow read but one that is one you want to finish.

I couldn’t put this book down! As a woman in my mid thirties, the story of Billie and Cassie really resonated with me - from navigating complicated friendships, friends growing up and apart, and the need for women to feel like they have to defend their choice whether to bear children or not. This friendship that once felt so promising and all consuming was ultimately so toxic on both ends.

This was my first book by this author and while i enjoyed where the story was going, i felt it was extremely drawn out and almost had too many story lines and themes/tropes for any of them to be completely thought out. I really couldn’t relate to the characters enough. I felt like more light needed to be shed to Billie’s issues and Cassie was honestly just not a likable character. I also didn’t really feel like it was much of a thriller. Yes, the overall context was finding out who took Ella, but the reader knew the entire time which in my opinion removed the thriller aspect of the book.

Overall it wasn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t for me!

Bye, Baby (love the nod to Dirty Dancing because I too remember watching it on repeat with a best friend growing up) centers around two women, Billie and Cassie, who have been friends since childhood and bonded through trauma. This story, told from their alternating perspectives, gives us a glimpse of their strained present day friendship as well as the past that led them to where they are today. As adults their lives head in different directions and while Cassie tries to distance herself from her past self, Billie clings to it. This is an intriguing book that explores friendship, motherhood, the pressure to become a mother, as well as the role social media can play in relationships.
I was hooked right from the start, although I agree with some other reviewers, that reading the synopsis of the book made me think it was going to be more of a thriller. Overall I would recommend but don’t go into it expecting a thriller with a lot of twists.

ARC was provided by NetGalley and the publisher.

Carola does it again! I highly recomend Bye, Baby. A great read that I quickly devoured. A toxic relationship that left me wanting more. The book nicely tied together the heavy subjects of toxic friendships, dark secrets, sexual abuse, influencers, NYC and Alzheimers.

Cassie and Billie are bffs from childhood. A secret ties them together for years, but Cassie moves on in NYC and became an influencer. She is a social climber, always looking for the next best thing. Billie cannot move forward, and the relationship is one-sided. The book switches between the point of view of both women. I found myself sympathizing with Billie and understood her point of view. Sadly, I could relate to Billie as I had friendships slip away. Yet, I was rooting for Cassie to move on and grow. Cassie had it all: NYC, friends, money, and an influencer status. The author's theme is toxic relationships, and I am here for it.

Whoa! This book gave me all the feels!

What an amazing story of friendship, motherhood and womanhood with a little bit of thriller mixed in. Cassie and Billie met when both were 11 years old and became friends instantly, regardless of coming from different backgrounds. As both women get older, they start drifting away from each other. Cassie marries a wealthy man, has a child and becomes an Instagram influencer – perfect life you would say, but is it?
Billie, on the other hand, is single but dating, has no children on her own (and doesn’t want any) and is obsessed with watching Cassie’s life on social media. Then tragedy strikes. Will that bring both women closer again or just the opposite?

I was hooked right from the first page. Different POVs and flashbacks to both women past gave insights to their childhood and what shaped them to be who they are as adults. The author did an amazing job with writing their story and as I was reading it I could feel all their emotions – the heartaches, pain of losing a loved one, betrayal, disappointment…you feel it all here. This book will stay with me for a very long time. It comes out on March 5th and I highly recommend adding it to your 2024 reading list.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering.
This narrative follows the friendship between Cassie and Billie as they experience setbacks and transformative experiences. Although I wouldn't really classify this book as a thriller, there were definitely some suspenseful moments. I was interested from the start because the author wrote so well in descriptions. The way the story developed from two points of view—past and present—was also interesting to me. I prefer to approach books with no prior knowledge, so I won't give away too much about the plot of this one.

I have just read Bye, Baby By Author Carola Lovering.

This is the first book that I have read by this Author, and have to admit it was just not my kind of book.

It took me longer than usual to read this, as it just did not keep my interest as a whole.

This thriller takes place in New York, and the two main characters Cassie and Billie have been friends since school age.

They are a couple of flawed ladies with lots of secrets and lies amongst them.

Cassie has married into money, and has a young baby. She is an Instagram influencer, and is quite frankly addicted to posting her life online for everyone to view.

Just not a book really for me. The characters were not ones you could warm up too, and just really a luke warm storyline in my opinion

I am sure there will however be a good audience for this novel.

2.5 Stars

Thank You to NetGalley, Author Carola Lovering, and St. Martin's Press for my advance copy to read and review.
#netgalley
#stmartinspress

HOLY MOLY, this will be on the Best Suspense/Thriller Novel List of the YEAR! Fast-paced and so well-crafted. The pages fly by - each with captivating secrets of how Cassie and Billie’s friendship has evolved over the years. The character-driven story is detailed and the perfect amount of thoroughness to keep you guessing. I found myself surprised throughout the book - just when I thought I fully understood something, another element came into play. The settings of NYC were well crafted. This domestic drama/thriller/suspense novel is going to be hard to beat this year. You don’t want to miss this one!

Special thanks to St Martin’s & NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked it, but I didn’t love it. I went in thinking it would be a mystery/thriller, which it was not. You knew from the very beginning what happened. What came next was an unfolding of the present and past of a complicated friendship held together by a secret they share in the past. I found both main characters were unlikable, but in different ways —Billie was clingy and stuck in the past and Cassie was self-absorbed and unkind. The author did a good job of creating a story about the complicated friendship between them, but something was lacking for me.

I appreciate NetGalley, St Martins Press, and Carola Lovering for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.