First read with this author but won't be the last. Fast paced with interesting characters, even the dislikable ones. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC releasing March 5th, 2024.

This novel centers around the Billie and Cassie in alternating timelines and perspectives. Best friends as teens, it is evident that the two women shared some sort of falling out at some point, as they are no longer close as adults. The story unfolds telling us why, and leading to how Billie winds up stealing Cassie's baby from a party one night, and the aftermath.

The plot and beginning of this story had me hooked. I was so intrigued at the relationship between Billie and Cassie and what could have pushed them apart. This feeling continued for me up until what would be considered 'the twist,' and I found myself extremely underwhelmed. The reason, the outcome, it was very meh for me. This did bring my rating down a bit because I was hoping for a little more, however, I did still really appreciate the complex relationship between the women in this story. Billie and Cassie were two very different people with separate traumas and lifestyles, but were obviously loyal and loved each other in their own ways as shown by their actions. Was this enough for them in the end to mend a friendship? You'll have to read to find out and I do think it is worth it to do so, just perhaps not for the thriller aspect of it.
I listened to this as an audio and thought both narrators were fantastic.

3.25/5⭐

Bye, Baby" is a story that unfolds in the heart of New York City. With a chilling event setting the stage, lifelong friends Billie and Cassie navigate the complex aftermath of a kidnapping that shatters Cassie’s world. Lovering's storytelling, told through alternating perspectives, explores the intricate web of evolving friendships, the haunting echoes of childhood trauma, and the profound impact of women's choices on the tapestry of lifelong relationships.

I went through waves of really enjoying this book but then I found myself annoyed. One of the main characters is very snotty and unlikeable and at times the story can be unrealistic. Overall I liked the thoughts it provoked in me regarding friendships and how those relationships can change based on where we are in our lives.

Thank you to the author, publisher, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read/listen to this ARC.

4.25 stars!

This was my first book by author Carola Lovering and I really enjoyed it! I would recommend this as a good book club pick because once I started it, I could not put it down, and there were many themes to discuss, including friendship, mental health, motherhood, and classism. As other reviewers mentioned, it's not really a thriller per se, though it was fast-paced, but I would classify it more as a psychological drama.

This novel alternates timelines and POVs between two longstanding female friends who are now in their mid-thirties: Billie, from a working class family who experienced a lot of trauma while growing up, and Cassie, from an affluent family who fell on hard times and lost much of their wealth. They become best friends as adolescents, and the flashbacks in the book follow them from the time they meet through college, when they both end up at schools in Boston. After college, they move to NYC together. While they initially remain close, Cassie, who is on a mission to "marry up" and return to her affluent roots, begins to pull away from Billie in lieu of a more prestigious social circle.

In present time, Cassie is married to Grant, who comes from old money, and they have an infant, Ella. Cassie has made a name for herself as a fashion influencer on social media, and Billie is left watching and missing her bff. The novel starts with the impulsive and reckless decision that Billie makes to kidnap Ella, and explores the repercussions of that choice. Despite Billie's horrible decision, Lovering does a good job of humanizing her and making the reader feel sympathetic toward her. After all, who can't relate to feelings of exclusion and the pain that comes from losing close friendships?

I alternated between the ebook and audiobook versions. I enjoyed the fact that the audiobook had two narrators, one for each of the main characters. Many thanks to the author, NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for an ARC of this book in exchange for my opinion!

Bye, Baby~BFF’s, secrets, infatuation. Sometimes in life people forget that people grow up and move on. Even when you have a shared secret. That secret that sets the blueprint of your life. Insecurity is probably the driving force that makes Billie do most of the destructive things she has done in her life.

I don’t know that I would call this a mystery or thriller, more just DRAMA.

Thank you NetGalley for another amazing advance audiobook!!

This is the first novel by Carola Lovering I had the pleasure of listening to and reading

Billie and Cassie are high school friends. As they have gotten older, it seems as if they have drifted apart. Cassie is trying to run from her past living in a middle class town.

Cassie attends a prestigious college where she meets Grant. Cassie is chasing “old money” to get out of her middle class town and never look back. Cassie and Grant have a baby named Ella. At Cassie’s wedding, Billie can sense the divide between Cassie and herself.


Billie struggles with the divide wedged between her and her closest friend. One evening, Billie has Cassie’s daughter after hearing terrified screams. How did she wedge herself into such a sticky situation?

Billie and Cassie are forever bonded by a secret from their past. This novel depicts a toxic female friendship. Although there were some loopholes and things that seem to be left unanswered, i did really enjoy this novel and would read more from this author.

Cassie Adler and Billie West have been best friends since High School. These days they feel more like frenemeies. Cassie is living this bougie life in a penthouse in New York, married and with a brand new baby girl. She also has social media following of 50K. To everyone on the outside, it looks like Cassie Adler has it all, until one night her child goes missing. But, who took the baby?
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I was fully engrossed in this story. It hooked me from the beginning and I couldn’t flip the pages fast enough. The relationship between Billie and Cassie is so toxic but fully addicting. As we move through the story we continue to uncover more and more secrets between these two friends. This book was addictive and I absolutely loved the audio. Karissa Vacker is my favorite.
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4 stars because I felt the ending finished with a few plot holes. I don’t want to go into detail to avoid spoilers. But all in all a great read and one I would recommend. Absolutely adding Loverings backlist books to my TBR.
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Thank you Netgalley and St Martins press for an early copy.

Cassie and Billie were once the best of friends, always together and thick as thieves all the way through college. Cassie was desperate to leave their middle-class town behind and get herself in with the old money crowd. She’s finally got the life she’s always dreamed of: a wealthy finance mogul husband, a swanky New York penthouse apartment, a rising social media influencer career, and best of all, a beautiful baby girl. Cassie’s new life doesn’t have much use for her past – or for Billie. But Cassie and Billie are bonded by their history and a terrible secret that links them forever, and Billie will do anything to try to hang on to Cassie.

I was instantly captivated by this slow burn character-driven suspense story about toxic female friendship. We know from the very beginning that Billie kidnaps Cassie’s baby, then the nonlinear timeline takes us back in time to find out what led to that pivotal moment, and later shows us what comes after. The ripple of unease underlying the relationship between this trauma-bonded pair makes for a propulsive read filled with tension. I’m a big fan of a dual POV structure, and Lovering uses it to great effect, with Billie’s POV particularly powerful as her dark, obsessive thoughts are revealed. Billie’s yearning to hang on to Cassie’s friendship as it slips farther through her fingers is so compelling!

I had an immersive experience both reading and listening to this one, and while the book is already great, the audiobook is even better! Helen Laser and Karissa Vacker do a phenomenal job of bringing Billie and Cassie to life. The snooty, fake-gushy voices of Cassie’s high society friends are spot on, and I felt I was there right at the dining room table at Cassie’s dinner party. The narration is so expressive that I felt Billie’s anguish over the dwindling friendship in the pit of my own stomach. Such a great listen!

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Narration
This audiobook was narrated by two voice artists: Helen Laser and Karissa Vacker. Both women did an exceptional job of narrating their characters — there was enough distinction between the multiple side characters that there wasn’t any aural conflict {by aural conflict, I mean, I wasn’t trying to guess which character was speaking or getting confused when I had to leave off midsection and return later.

It’s helpful that the story is written from Cassie’s and Billie’s alterrnating points of view. Getting inside of the character’s heads and finding out their motivation made the story much more interesting.

Overall
I really enjoyed this book, as it was an easy listen that I could put down and pick up again without getting lost. Because of the way the book is written, there’s very little mystery in who kidnaps the baby or why the baby is returned. The drama comes in delving into the pasts of these two women and finding out the secret that connects them.

This story also serves as a commentary on influencers and their reliance on social media for validation and the lack of boundaries when it comes to sharing intimate moments of their lives. There’s a lot of name dropping and product shilling, but it fit the character and the storyline, so I don’t view it as a negative so much as a hat tip to the reality that is social media platforms like Instagram.

In some ways, this story reminded me of some of the vintage chick lit books that I like to read. You know, the ones that gush over motherhood and click their tongues at women who choose not to have children. In fact, that’s probably the biggest issue I had with this book… All of the pressure that Billie felt to have children even though she was leading a fulfilling life gave heavy trad wife vibes.

While I enjoyed the story overall, I was a little disappointed that no one seemed to suffer any consequences for their actions.

I’d recommend this audiobook for book groups as there are so many topics to discuss: influencer culture, women’s friendships, marital relationships, familial ties, and so much more.

Trigger Warnings
Sexual assault, murder, kidnapping

Great story that kept me listening way longer than I planned. I wanted to hear more! I liked the dual narrators. Would recommend.

I previously read this excellent novel, but got so much more out of listening to the audiobook. Fast paced intricate story of friendship told from different perspectives. Billie and Cassie have been friends since 7th grade, sharing a painful secret they have sworn to never reveal. Years later their friendship is unraveling and Billie does an impulsive terrible thing that may damage their friendship beyond repair. Excellent audiobook that is not to be missed.

I loved her book Tell me Lies and was excited to read this one! I thought it was a fast paced read and I liked the jumping back and forth between the past and present. I didn’t think either of the characters were particularly likeable… but maybe that just makes them human. I would recommend this. It’s a quick read!

Billie steals her best friend Cassie’s baby during a party that Billie wasn’t even invited to. That’s how Bye, Baby starts us off, a domestic drama about friendship gone wrong.

I found this story very engrossing - from the first shocking chapter I needed to know who the heck these ladies were and how they got here!! I liked that this was told in alternating perspectives between Billie and Cassie, but unfortunately I feel like I didn’t get a good sense of either character beyond surface level. Billie felt like the clear "main character" as we dove deep into her difficult past, however I never understood why she did some of the things she did in present day including stealing the baby!! I did like how Billie's story wrapped up, but I think there could have been more character growth overall and especially for Cassie, who we never got to know as well.

Both narrators for the audiobook were excellent.

Major content warnings: SA, Alzheimer’s disease, death of a parent, kidnapping

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for providing this ALC!

What a great story. The narrator did a great job with telling the story. I was hooked from the start.

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.

*Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced reader copy*

So many things to love about this book! First, we meet two lifelong best friends, Cassie and Billie. It is relatable for those that have those people in their lives that they've known for years -- decades, even. But lives change for everyone, and holding onto those friendships can be hard, and often not worth the pain.

I empathized with Billie, and I found myself despising Cassie's character. I don't want to go into too much and give this away, but I adored the writing and the emotions I felt while reading each person's POV. It touched on so many topics and I found myself swooning and contemplating deeply.

Now, while I loved many things about this book, it drag on a little in parts. The ending was a little too perfect, but that's not always a horrible thing. This is my first Carola Lovering novel and I'd read more, given the opportunity. Overall, I'm so glad I was gifted this audiobook -- Karissa Vacker is top-notch, as usual.

3.75 stars rounded up to 4.

I enjoy this book right up until the ending, where I think it lost its way, sadly.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loveddddd the friendship, scandal, and drama in this book. Billie & Cassie's tumultuous friendship had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.
Usually I don't like books that start out by telling what happens, but I decided to give this book a chance since I read Tell Me Lies and really enjoyed it.
Thank you to NG for giving me the opportunity to listen to Bye, Baby in exchange for my opinion which is all my own.

For me this was just ok. I enjoyed this book, but the ending was trite and just too dumb. I’m sorry for that, but it truly felt rushed. The actual climax wasn’t really that interesting. The backstory of the friendship and the inevitable growing apart entertained me much more

In "Bye Bye Baby" by Carola Lovering, skillfully 🎧🎧narrated by Helen Laser and Karissa Vacker, the author masterfully unfolds a tale where friendship is tested by a haunting event. The narrative, though not conforming to the traditional thriller genre, intricately explores the aftermath of a traumatic incident, shedding light on the complexities of relationships. Carola Lovering's storytelling, brought to life by the narrators, captivates listeners in a nuanced examination of friendship strained by tragedy. While it may not meet typical thriller expectations, the book distinguishes itself with a unique focus on the enduring impact of a shared history. I recognized its distinctive approach to storytelling and character dynamics.

Special thanks to Macmillan and Netgalley for providing me with an Advance Reader's Copy of "Bye Bye, Baby in exchange for an unbiased review.