⚠️‼️Warning :: this is not a psycho-thriller - for some reason I thought it was so I went all 352 pages waiting for the giant , whiplash twist - oops , my bad 🤦🏼‍♀️. When I view this novel through its rightful lens (women’s fiction with a flare of drama) , it’s a beautiful story of friendship & change & and how we sometimes grow apart as we grow up . The dynamic between the two main female characters reminded me of my own teenage friendships in comparison to my adult friendships and how we grow into different people as we move through life . Overall , a great read - it kept me entertained and wanting to see how the story unfolded . ⭐️⭐️⭐️ This gem is set to publish in March 2024 so add it to your booklist and TBR pile !
Thank you @netgalley & @stmartinspress for the ARC & thank you @carolatlovering for reminding me that friendships come and go - sometimes they are meant to span into geriatric years and sometimes they are meant to end .
#friendship #womensliterature #womensfiction #arc #goodreads #netgalley #stmartinspress #byebaby #bookstagram #booktok #reading #booklist #amazonreviewer #netgalleyreads #bookreviewer #bookreview

I believe the "thriller" tag threw off my perception of this book. It allowed me to be underwhelmed because I was reading for something that wasn't there. As a women's fiction book, I think it's very good. It tells a realistic story about friendship, motherhood and relationships. appreciated how the dual pov allowed us to really gain insight on the characters.

This book shows friendship breakups can be even harder than romantic break ups. I had a best friend from 6th grade to 12th grade that I was inseparable with. We hung out all the time and we knew everything about each other. Then one day she made a different friend and stopped hanging out with me. She would say she was grounded, but then I would see her on social media hanging out with this other friend. Eventually we grew apart no matter how much I tried to keep the friendship going, but at the end of the day you can't force people to stay in your life and make effort if they don't want to, even if you have a big history. And it hurts so bad to lose a friend that way! That's exactly the feeling this book depicts.

This book was so relatable on so many levels. I could understand and agree with the POVs of both characters. They felt so layered and real and deep, and after reading two of Lovering's books it is safe to say she knows how to write characters really well. They felt like real people.

This book also made me feel similar to how I did while reading You by Caroline Kepnes. You feel yourself rooting for the bad guy. Im a sucker for an underdog! You start to justify the character's actions and feel sympathy even as they do horrible things. I was questioning my sanity more than once while reading this book.

I think this book can be considered a masterpiece simply for the characterization, but the plot itself and the way this book is written with alternating POVs and timelines really held my interest. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a thrilling contemporary book. Just check the TWs before delving into this because this book was dark in some parts. Happy reading!

Received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was really suspenseful and engaging. Billie and Cassie are characters you loathe and empathize with at different parts of the book. The book goes from the present, when Cassie's baby goes missing, to the past when the girls meet as teens and are best friends. It's a dysfunctional relationship (mostly because Cassie is a narcissist), but it's an interesting exploration of how people change and drift apart.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy in exchange for a review.

2.5 stars

I want to firstly start off by saying that this is not a thriller/mystery, this is a women's fiction book. Bye, Baby focuses primarily on friendship and trauma, the kidnapping is exactly as it happens in the description of the book. The genre was very misleading and had me looking for a plot twist that never arrived up until the last page.

Bye, Baby is told through multiple POVs and alternating timelines, which I loved. I thought it gave a lot of depth and background to the characters and helped you to connect with them or try to understand them. I enjoyed the writing style of the author as well. For what the book was, a fiction book, it was nice. It was a bit long and got to be repetitive at times, but I thought it was a nice read. This book can be heavy at some points so please be cautious with TWs.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book. Any opinions are 100% my own.

Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering is a twisty page-turner. It is rare that I find a find a book that balances plot and character so well. I think the author does an excellent job of making the reader want to turn the page, while developing the characters fully.

Cassie and Billie have been friends since middle school. They are the kind of besties that share everything and would do anything for one another. The are irrevocably linked by an event that happens when they are just 18. Though they continue to be close through and after college, Billie sees the writing on the wall when Cassie gets married to a wealthy man and soon after has a baby. The friendship has become toxic, or maybe it always was...two different women both wanting and caring about vastly different things. The story is divided into two parts: before Cassie's infant gets kidnapped, and after the kidnapping.

Lovering masterfully weaves a story that dives deep into the several themes surrounding friendship, abuse, grief, motherhood, and marriage, but doesn't bore the reader. I found myself surprised how much I was rooting for Billie. The ending was satisfying. This is my first Carola Lovering book, but I am sure I will read more! Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first introduction to this Author and I really liked her writing style. the story is interesting, some characters were unlikable but it added to the story and it made it impossible to put down.

Overall, 4 out 5. I will definitely recommend.

Good read, intriguing, page turner .Cast if characters were good, friendship with secrets , Friends grow apart , .

This is my very first book by Carola Lovering and it most definitely will not be my last! I became immersed from the first chapter and could not put it down until I knew what was going to happen next!

Billie and Cassie are best friends since they were teenagers. Their friendship has become lackluster as adults, but Billie cannot let go of her best friend nor how close they used to be. Both perspectives of Billie and Cassie throughout the chapters, leave you not knowing whose side you're on, what could possibly happen next, and what each character is hiding.

Throughout different lifestyles, separation, and betrayal, can friendships withstand the test of time when they share a dark secret?

Save the date and take the day off as you won't be able to put this thriller down!

#netgalley #review #byebaby #carolalovering #thriller #review #honestreview #goodreads #womensfiction #fiction #amazon

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"Bye, Baby" holds a lot of promising elements that I find so intriguing in a suspense novel; the best friends-revenge trope, the title being a one-liner catch phrase sprinkled throughout, and a strong character development navigating through double narration. There were also some key differences to really set this novel apart from the typical baby kidnapping mystery for me; including the unique travel job that Billie holds and the exploration of a woman in her thirties not wanting children and that being okay. I really enjoyed Lovering's way of bringing this topic to light. However, I feel that the level 0f the crime at hand being more on the minimal side the book kind of drug on a little more than necessary so I would rate this a 3.5-4 star. It has been one of the better first looks I've received from NetGalley and I would definitely recommend giving it a try when it's released in March 2024.

4.5 rounded up
Grabbed me right away snd I couldn't put it down. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Carola Lovering did an amazing job portraying the changes in a person's character made by the person's environment, home life, and relationships. In this novel, Billie and Cassie experience just that as their relationship as inseparable friends start to drift as they grow up and the difference in their values change. Cassie is the friend who went down the popular route and becomes obsessed with how she looks in the eyes of others whereas Billie is obsessed with her friendship with Cassie. The pages practically turned themselves as readers are left to slowly put the puzzle pieces together as chapters alternate from the present to the past.

I always love a good dual timeline! I will admit I was really frustrated with both main characters off and on the entire book and there wasn't one that I was truly rooting for. However, it was a fast read and I had to know what happened! Plus...a thriller with a satisfying end. Sign me up.

Thank you for the ARC!
This book had me hooked from the beginning ! Definitely a good story and kept me engaged. I recommend this book!

“A missing baby. A fraught friendship. A secret that can never be told.”

Bye, Baby, told from dual points of view and alternating timelines, tells the story about a legitimately jacked up “friendship”.

Listen. Women just be bitches sometimes🥴

I don’t know if I found this book thrilling at all, but it definitely held my interest with all the toxicity between two women who were once besties growing up.

As adults though, they’ve turned into something else entirely.

You have one friend, Cassie, who’s so self-absorbed and pretentious, ya just wana slap her face right off🥴😂
And then you have the other one, Billie, who clearly has obsession issues along with some ugly trauma from her past.

Regardless, we’d all be better off if we steered clear of both of these women.

It was fun to read though!

Thanks to NetGalley and SMP for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: 3.5.2024.

Two friends. Billie and Cassie. Best friends since childhood and bonded by secrets. Some bad. Once as close as sisters, now they have their own adult lives and they have drifted apart.

Cassie is the wife of a wealthy man and has started a successful business and has a large social media following. She is busy and has a new baby and would love to forget about Billie and all they share.

Billie is still single with no children and she is almost obsessive over Cassie’s life.

When one night screams fill the air as Cassie finds her baby missing. While Billie looks down in her arms and finds said baby.

This one is told in alternating voices, which I enjoy. Always suspenseful and on trend, this author always brings the thrills.

NetGalley/ St. Martin’s Press, March 05, 2024

I highly enjoyed this one! It was engaging from page 1, and kept me turning pages to find out what was going on. There was toxicity and plenty of tea. The ending was a tad bit of a let down, but overall I enjoyed the ride and will pick up anything Carola writes.

This was so addictive! I was so invested in the friendship between Billie & Cassie…especially considering Cassie was as insufferable as someone could possibly be. The flashbacks to get the full story of their friendship was my favorite part of the book. I would have liked more from the ending.

The relationship between these two ladies is truly toxic. Yet when the hardships of life come crashing down, they are right there to support each other. That has to count for something, right? Unless they are the cause of the suffering.
I automatically bonded with Billie. Life hasn’t been kind to her, which made me feel sorry for her. It didn’t seem to matter to me that she had some questionable behaviors. Sometimes bordering on the very creepy side. However, with her background, one can understand why she behaves the way she does.
Cassie, not a fan of Cassie. Although I believed she had one great quality, being a mother. There are sections of this story where even her mothering technique is questionable. The odd part about Cassie is as soon as you decide you can’t stand her, the author makes you question that decision. Cassie is manipulative, shallow, and she seems to have an ugly soul. Once again, somehow you start to like her. In the long run the reader will have to figure that out themselves.
I enjoyed this story. It’s an easy read.

I was so intrigued by the cover and the premise of Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering that I had to read it immediately! This novel proved to be a compulsive read for me–I had such a hard time putting it away that I took it everywhere with me.

Bye, Baby uniquely addresses the harmful toxicity that can exist within female friendships and how social media excellerates that toxicity. It also addresses other issues such as childhood trauma, sexual abuse, and choosing to remain childless as an adult woman.

The novel centers around two women who were once best friends. Their friendship has changed over time, especially as one of them has moved up in society and become a mother. It is told in alternating perspectives, so the reader is able to see into the mind and motivations of both women.

Cassie is a social media influencer married to a wealthy man who has recently become a doting mother to a four month old girl. She is desperate to leave her past behind and has grown distant towards her former bestie, Billie West.

Billie, on the other hand, is a single professional who longs for the same relationship she once shared with Cassie. She spends an unhealthy amount of time watching Cassie share her day to day on Instagram while wishing she was a part of her life. She doesn’t fit into the high-class mommy world Cassie has created for herself.

Bye, Baby begins with a dramatic incident when Billie hears terrified screams coming from the apartment above her. She screams are coming from Cassie who has just discoverd that her infant daughter is missing. Billie is shaken to her core as she looks down and sees the missing infant in her own arms.

The remainder of the book is a discovering of the reason why Billie has Cassie’s baby and the aftermath of that event.

There are a lot of issues addressed in this book, but I thought it was done in a realistic(ish) way. People have lots of issues–that’s just life.

While what Billie did in the story was definitely WRONG, I somehow related to her and her struggles more. Cassie was unlikeable on so many levels.

The resolution of Billie and Cassie’s relationship seemed fair, but I do wish the author would have had a different resolution for Cassie in regards to her activity on social media. It seemed as if she was making a commentary on influencer culture that didn’t quite pan out.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book–it was an addicting read that kept me hooked and made me think.