Cassie Adler is the very busy mother of a four-month-old daughter. More than that, she runs a boutique and is well on her way to becoming a major social media influencer. Seemingly happily married to husband Grant, what more could Cassie ask for in life.

In order to understand what Cassie stands to lose, the story goes back to her younger years when Cassie and her friend Billie West were the best of friends. Things remained that way for years, but something pulled the women apart and their lives have taken on different directions. As far as Billie is concerned, Cassie should want to be a part of her life and has never been able to let go of that desire.

While I first got Bye, Baby as an eARC, I was approved for the audiobook ALC, and boy did this make this engaging story all that more compelling. With three narrators, the story flowed easily from differing perspectives and brought the past and present together in spectacular fashion.

This story of friendship, secrets and very sad childhood trauma had a powerful impact on me as a reader. As a survivor of the trauma that this book contained, the choices both Cassie and Billie made were easy to understand. However, the choices they made at one time in their lives would no doubt have a powerful impact on their lives as adults.

While this latest offering from Carola Lovering did factor in Cassie's missing baby, the story told so much more. In fact, I loved how the women in this book were written. There was not much to love about Cassie, yet you just had to find out what happened. Billie and her story was incredibly sad and many times I wanted to reach through the pages and to give her a hug. Kudos to Ms. Lovering for writing a story that grabbed me from beginning to end.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

this book is a RIDE and I loved every twisty turn. I think the thing that stands out most for me was the character development — Billy and Cass felt SO REAL. I related to both of them, their friendship struggles, their changing lives, etc. — in ways that I really wish I didn't LOL. I really enjoyed the audiobook too, both narrators brought the characters to life.

I was really excited about this book when I got approved for it. I loved her book “TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE” but this was not it for me. The beginning was ok as it was building up the suspense and helping us get to know the characters. I thought Billie was fine but I HATED Cassie- and not in the way I’m sure the author intended. She was the worst person and friend and I was not rotting for her at all. I ended you DNFing this book at 60%. Once I thought something exciting happened it was over and that was it, nothing really happened.

I will say, the narrators of the book were great, but the story itself, not so much.

Bye, Baby

The plot of this novel centers around a missing infant..but it really is about female friendships. Cassie and Billie grew up together but have seemingly grown apart. Cassie is happily married with a new baby, while Billie is focused on her career and her budding relationship with someone she is newly dating. Billie and Cassie are living completely different lives and see each other less and less. Until Cassie's daughter goes missing and Billie is her first call.

What I loved about this novel was that there was a dual timeline. As the present day kidnapping unfolds, we are also sent back to where Billie and Cassie's friendship started..and all the secrets they are keeping. I really thought that although I wouldn't classify this book as a thriller, it had enough drama and suspense of the story that it kept me on the edge of my seat. Lovering did a great job really creating complex characters. Their friendship and backstory was very realistic.

The audiobook was great. The narrator acted out both women perfectly.

This one is out next week 3/4

I would recommend it if you like dramatic relationships and slow burn mysteries.

4 stars

Talk about a toxic female friendship! Billie and Cassie have been BFFs since Cassie moved to Red Hook at age 12. But they've definitely grown apart and if not for the secret they share, Cassie wouldn't have anything more to do with Billie.
Billie is having a hard time letting go and when Cassie throws herself a 35th birthday party, and doesn't invite Billie, the stakes really ramp up. The story is told from both POVs and timelines going back to the early aughts to now. Karissa Vacker reads for Cassie and Helen Laser reads for Billie and their voices lend a punch to the characters. No one writes a thriller quite like Lovering.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

» Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering «
★★★★ 4/5 stars
Pub Date: March 5, 2024

“A wise friend once told me, “You can’t f*ck up what’s meant for you.”

» synopsis
Billie & Cassie used to be inseparable, but now in their 30s, their lives have taken different paths & friendship has become strained. But when Cassie's infant daughter goes missing, she turns to Billie, her oldest friend, for help.
Told in dual POVs & timelines, Bye, Baby explores how friendship changes over time,
uncovering the dark secrets that bonded them together, & the events that pulled them apart in the present.

» Read if you like :
- Dirty Dancing
- cats named Willie Nelson
- Character driven stories
- 90s/2000s nostalgia
- NYC setting
- Dual POV / Dual Timeline
- Toxic friendship drama
- Influencer trope
- Themes surrounding motherhood

» my thoughts
Although this one is marketed as a thriller, I'd call it more of a domestic drama that explores complex (& sometimes toxic) female friendship. What it lacks in twists, it makes up for in nail-biting suspense!

The flashbacks were well placed & relevant, adding depth to the current timeline. I found it so easy to empathize with the characters, especially Billie - from having a “boys” name, to feeling a little left behind in life. Even if I didn’t always agree with her actions, I appreciated the character development.

I was so anxious while reading, I had no idea where this story was going. I couldn’t imagine how on earth there could be a satisfying resolution, but I was pleasantly surprised! It wrapped up nicely in a way that felt realistic.

I highly recommend the audiobook too! Helen Laser & Karissa Vacker did an excellent job narrating.

I like the writing style & I definitely want to read more by this author! If you’ve read any of Lovering’s other books, drop me a rec!

*I would suggest checking trigger warnings

Thank you to @netgalley, @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for the opportunity to read + listen to this ARC ◡̈

Bye, Baby is marketed as a thriller, but personally, I felt it read more like a slow burn mystery/suspense novel. 
The premise is this:
Cassie and Billie are childhood best friends who have grown apart in their adult years, particularly their 30's. Cassie is married and a new mom, and she is always pushing Billie farther away from her life while Billie desperately clings to any crumbs of attention Cassie is willing to toss at their friendship. Cassie is a social media influencer, and Billie feels like stalking her social media stories is the one of the only ways Billie can stay connected to Cassie and her life. Their current dynamic takes a total 360, however, when Cassie's infant daughter is kidnapped. 
The first 50% of this book was an absolute breeze. I found myself disliking both Cassie and Billie for different reasons, but as a fan of an unlikable main character- I didn't mind this. I enjoyed the flashbacks to their teen years and learning about how deep their bond once ran. This helps us to understand why Billie just can't seem to let Cassie go. Once we hit the 50% mark and the twist was revealed though, I found myself wondering if/when anything else interesting would happen.
Unfortunately, I don't really feel like the momentum from the first 50% kept up for the second half, and by then end I was just kind of like "oh, okay!"
Overall, I'd say this one was just fine.

I had access to check out this title via audio. I didn’t care much about the narrators Helen Laser and Karissa Vacker’s performance. The story was so much of a slow burn that I ignored how Laser and Vacker narrated. Maybe if it was a different story, I could appreciate it more. But for now, eh.

When the hook sells you on your “Best Friend” stealing your four-month-old baby and not for a fun day out, it makes you question what kind of friendship these people have or what type of person would do that. Since we already know that there’s a kidnapping involved, I was interested in how the author would play it out. Did the girl have psychological issues? Jealously problems? A friend posing as a good friend, but in reality, she is a stranger out for greater gains? The possibilities were endless. Neither one of those outcomes was chosen.

I quite enjoyed listening to the audiobook Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering! I was eager to listen since two AMAZING narrators Karissa Vacker and Helen Laser are on it. I loved their narration! I enjoyed the dual POV of Billie and Cassie. These two friends have an intense dynamic and Cassie as an influencer Mom is very relevant. I enjoyed the dual timelines too as we would go back into their friendship and the secret of their past. I didn’t care for the ending but I would read more from this author. The character dynamics were very engaging.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the arc in exchange for an honest review.*

4.5 ⭐️ rounded up.

The title of the book intrigued me and the blurb sucked me in. As soon as I started reading I was hooked.

I don’t know why, but immediately in the prologue with hardly any info I already knew I was Team Billie. The author did a great job of conveying the emotion early on in the book.

I wouldn’t necessarily classify this as a mystery/thriller because you know who took the baby and why for a lot of the book, but that didn’t stop me from needing to devour this book.

The characters in the book were written so well. They had fantastically plotted backstories and everything was so realistic and made so much sense.

This whole book was so full of emotion I felt like I was a character in the book. I understand exactly how Billie felt about her dwindling friendship with her oldest friend and o felt that pain with her.

I liked the way the book ended. It was a toss up on whether or not I thought Cassie would turn Billie in to the police for what she did, and I think the ending was done tastefully.

If you like books with secrets, betrayal, lots of emotion, multiple pov and dual timelines this would be a good choice.

Thank you so much to MacMillan Audio for the advance copy of the audio!

"That's the problem with trauma. You can decide to change how you think about it, time can fade it, but it's never going to disappear."

This is my 3rd book by Carola Lovering and once again I am just amazed at her skills. She has such a way of pulling the readers into a world where you are just pulled into this world of lies and deceit.

We learn the whole premise of the book in the prologue and it sets the stage for the rest of the book. I wouldn't say that there was a clear villain in the book as both characters are unlikeable at different parts throughout the book. Though I will say I did not like Mckay at allll even if her intuition was spot on. I did feel bad for Cassie after the kidnapping and her paranoia as a result of it.

Even with the crime of the kidnap and the fall out after it, the root of this book is the deep friendship between Cassie & Billie. Billie had such a sad teen years and what she had gone through no person should have. Though it made the bond between the girls stronger it also led to a lifelong secret that was always a dark cloud over them. This also shows how some friendships tend to grow apart as adult which is normal but when the kidnapping of her baby happened, the only person she wanted by her side was Billie. I don't want to go into too much detail of what happens in the book as it would take away from the fun in reading but its a ride.

"You're my best friend, Baby."

I like that we got both point of views from each of the characters as well as chapters that had stories from their past. It gave the readers a sense of their relationship and how it shaped them as adults. And this is also a reminder that friendships are complicated.

I paired my reading with the audio and I thought both narrators Helen Laser and Karissa Vacker did a great job with each of the characters!
Their narration helped keep me invested and pushed the story along.

I think I was waiting for some other shoe to drop and there was a small plot point that I felt didn't get a satisfying enough closure for me.
It was addressed and then kind of tossed aside but I thought maybe that could have been played with a little bit more.

The whole premise of the book was so fascinated and I just couldn't stop reading because I needed to know how it ended. And this is my reminder that I still need to go back to read Carola's first book Tell Me Lies.

If you are looking for a book about toxic friendships that just builds and builds - give this one a try!

4.5

This is a book of friendship - - both found and lost. It's a book of love - - parental, friendship and romantic. Told in alternating viewpoints between Billie and Cassie and in different timelines, the reader is given the history of their friendship and also an understanding of where both of these girls "came from." The things that happened in their young lives when they were growing up definitely influenced the people that they became.

Billie and Cassie were almost inseparable for years but when Cassie married her trust fund husband, Grant and began her journey into marriage and family. At that point, Cassie determined she wanted to become someone different and forget the past - - and Billie was a solid reminder of where she came from. But Cassie felt like family to Billie and she couldn't understand the distance that Cassie was placing between them.

When a situation occurs involving Cassie's baby and Billie doesn't come clean with what truly happened right away, it leads to a secret that she's running from and the lies just continue to pile up. At some point they will catch up to her and she risks losing everything including her new boyfriend, Alex who is a policeman.

There were times I was frustrated with both of these characters because they each did things that were pretty unkind or just plain wrong. Yet at times, you could explain it away for them too - - which was equally bad. It was a very convoluted storyline at times. You knew things were not going to end well but you just had to keep reading to see how it was resolved.

AUDIOBOOK: The narration was really spot on for these characters. I felt myself pulled into the story and completely locked into what was going on. If you're an audiobook fan, I highly recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both of the ebook and audiobook.

I couldn’t stop listening to the audiobook for Bye, Baby! It is told in the perspectives of childhood best friends- Billie and Cassie. Cassie is a wife, mother, business owner, and influencer who is trying to distance herself from Billie. Billie is hurt by the lack of contact with Cassie and obsesses over Cassie’s Instagram stories. Billie finds herself in a circumstance where she kidnaps Cassie’s 4 month old daughter and the secrets don’t end there.

Told in both the present and past, this book was difficult to put down! I needed to know why Billie would do something so extreme. Carole Lovering really brought these characters to life and I found myself empathetic to both of them- more so Billie, which was bizarre to me given the kidnapping. They both seemed so real to me and I enjoyed seeing their relationship as it progressed in the past and the present. I recommend this book to all mystery lovers!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Bye, Baby was such an interesting read. I told myself I would read this closer to the release date, but I read a few chapters and was hooked. I finished this book in less than 24 hours, the story was realistic, and I was on the edge of my seat wanting to read what led Billie to do what she did. This story is told in a dual pov, switching between the main characters Cassie and Billie. It also alternates in past and present timelines giving us insights into how Cassie and Billie's friendship started and how it got to where it is in the present.

This is about friendship, gossip, drama, and the lengths characters go to keep people in their lives and feel like they belong. The characters make mistakes and decisions that are not good, but I came out of this book empathizing with Billie and her actions. The author did a good job weaving everything together, and the writing was great. I was distracted by the past timeline, it was helpful in knowing how the friendships came together, but I think there was so much going on that I focused a lot on the present. I liked the end because it showed that some friendships aren't meant to be, and some people are toxic to be around.

Overall this was a compelling story about unraveling secrets, drama, and the history of a friendship. It wasn't really a thriller, but it was still an interesting and suspenseful book.

Bye, Baby was a book that had be hooked and reading until the end because I wanted to see what happened. I was sure that there was going to be something big that happened or that there was going to be a plot twist. There wasn't. It just kind of ended in a way that wasn't really realistic. I really wanted to rate this book a 5 star book. It was a solid 3.5 star book and I would certainly read it again. It was an easy read.



Spoiler Alert: no parent is going to walk away from pressing charges when someone kidnaps their baby.

I’m a little conflicted on how to feel about this one. I feel like where we start at the beginning is where we end at the end. A while the middle was interesting, I kinda don’t love the resolution.

Let’s start with the good. This book probably should have just been pitched as a drama, I would have gone in with the right expectations. The tense friendship is fully flushed out. I liked how the pacing slowly revealed how the girls met and the evolution of their friendship. The flashbacks that seemed to jump all over the place really worked for me, showing all the trials and tribulations they went thru together. The exploration of female friendships and how sometimes you just grow out of those relationships really felt real.

Now, I mentioned it marketed wrong. The first sentence of the synopsis says “a missing baby” I’m sorry but the baby doesn’t “go missing” until 50% in AND we knew the whole time where she was. I think bc we got both Cassie and Billie‘a POV nothing felt high stakes bc we knew what the other was doing/thinking. I only wondered how it was all coming to a head. I wanted them to be able to work it out and be able to repair the friendship. But it became obvious that was never going to happen. Also, it became very repetitive with Cassie’s chapters after the “kidnapping” I understand she was sad and had gone thru something traumatic, but I needed some variety with her emotions

Overall, I think this book is fine. It’s not necessarily for me (only bc I was expecting a thriller) BUT I think most people will enjoy this! I hope the people who like dramas & contemporary suspense find this!

DNF - Just too over the top for me and had to quit with the sexual assault of a minor. Self absorbed rich women who put themselves over their husbands and best friend . 40% in and no thriller or mystery yet. Just a sad description of those addicted to social media and self-promotion.

I’m sorry to say that this was an average read for me. I really wanted to love it but it was a bit boring and there was nothing to feel excited about. I think there is an audience for this book. Anyone that likes general fiction about toxic relationships.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher.

Great read and great narration! It was a captivating story that kept my attention throughout. I expected more twist and turns but I thought the story moved at a good pace nonetheless.

This reminded me of that episode of How I Met Your Mother about being on the hook. Everyone is on someone's hook. Billie is on Cassie's hook and Cassie was on the hook for her more popular and wealthy friends. Billie just can't move on from Cassie.

Billie and Cassie are lifelong best friends. So how did it turn out that at Cassie's 35th birthday party, Billie is a few floors down from Cassie's luxury abode, uninvited and holding Cassie's child?

Well, there are a lot of reasons for that and we find out all of them as we go. Initially you may think she's a monster but as the story hums along, you see why she may have been unjustifiably pushed to the point of doing something bizarre.

This is a friendship drama with a dose of mystery but the mystery is just "why on earth did you do that?" but it was way more interesting than I thought. I had to suspend disbelief for a while but I enjoyed it.

The narration was great. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to listen and review.