This book threw me for a loop. Not at all a thriller and starts off a slow read. But with Best friends, new life and love. How can this story go wrong. The end will surprise you and you might just be cheering on the wrong person! If I had to sum this book up in a few words it would be Life Lessons.




Thanks Net Galley for this advance audiobook.

I really enjoyed this story from beginning to end!!! The different perspectives from the two main characters were easy to follow and didn’t get confusing- which it sometimes can.
I liked that the story was unique and not super predictable!

While the synopsis sounded interesting, it feels like a lackluster execution. The story doesn’t mesh with the way it’s being marketed.

Too much of this book’s explanation is held until the end, making a lot of it confusing for a majority of the story. Even at 35% in the contradictions are too severe and it detracted from the story.

For example, the MC’s relationship with Cassie is so unhealthy, it’s borderline obsessive on a crazy level. It made her seem so crazy that her seemingly healthy relationship with Jane and Alex were far too confusing. It took me out of the story too many times.

Another example, Cassie’s friends and family talk about Billie WAY too much for someone she only sees once or twice over a six month period. As a new mother myself with a 3-month-old, if I saw someone that infrequently my loved ones would literally never mention them. It’s another unrealistic contradiction to what most readers have a lived experience.

It made me uninterested in the story, generally speaking, which made me drag my feet to finish. Maybe her next book will make more sense a little earlier on.

This is a twisty, turny tale of friendship with a side of kidnapping. Our main characters were bonded from childhood but, as frequently happens, grew apart as young adults. Does one unspeakable act atone for another? There were some parts that made me wish for more character development and other parts that gave me pause while analyzing the characters’ true motivations. Overall I was intrigued throughout and eager to see how the author would resolve the many missteps the characters made.

Thank you Carola Lovering, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy of this audiobook! The sound quality was excellent, and the narrators, Helen Laser and Karissa Vacker, were familiar. They brought each character to life.

Carola Lovering brings her signature suspenseful writing to explore the highs and lows of close female friendships in Bye, Baby.

The central event of Bye, Baby occurs on October 13, 2023. The rest of the book is told in two timelines. The main timeline described the weeks leading up to and following the central event. Each chapter is marked with the date and the number of days before or after October 13, 2023 and is narrated by either Cassie or Billie. The other timeline describes events that happened much earlier in time. These are marked with the season, year, and narrator (Cassie or Billie) and are presented in italics in the text version of the book.

October 13, 2023
Billie is outdoors on the terrace off an apartment, holding a fussy baby in her arms when she hears it. One floor up her best friend Cassie is screaming. A calm voice tells her they’ve called the police. Cassie is panicked, asking to talk to Billie. One floor below, Billie listens to it all unfold, not revealing her presence. Cassie wails, “Where is my baby?” And Billie understands what she is going through. After all, she took her baby…

Before
Cassie and Billie met in the summer of 2020 when they are starting seventh grade. They instantly form a close friendship. Through the years Cassie supports Billie as her home life becomes more strained and traumatic. Just before they leave for college, something horrible happens and the two are bonded together for life.

Now
Cassie is married to a wealthy man, has a new baby at home, and has a growing following as an influencer. Cassie no longer wants anything to do with her past, and that includes Billie. Without explanation, Cassie has stopped inviting Billie to things and only rarely responds to her text messages. Billie is hurt and confused by the rejection from her best friend. Every day she checks Cassie’s social media posts about her life and feels more alone. Desperate to restore her friendship with Cassie, Billie does the unthinkable and takes Cassie’s baby. She’ll do anything to hide the truth from Cassie, but even the most buried secrets always come to light…

Review

I enjoyed this book so much, and truly didn’t want to put it down. I am drawn to character-driven novels and this story delivered in spades. Bye, Baby is filled with tension because Lovering doesn’t hide the tipping point that the friendship may not recover from. Billie taking Cassie’s baby happens in the opening chapter in a shocking reveal. The reader knows from this point where the events are leading but doesn’t know why it happened.

I appreciated that the reveal happens right at the start of the book, because the events surrounding it were much more compelling in many ways than the incident on the terrace. In fact, the kidnapping is brief and serves as a catalyst to bring the friends back together (ironic) but also shows that something so extreme and fraught with secrets may not be the foundation needed to rebuild a friendship long term.

Mixed throughout the timeline leading up to the kidnapping are stories from their past. These were troubling but powerful chapters that leant context and weight to the present state of their friendship. Eventually something big happens that bonds the two girls closer together.

Though many of the events in the past storyline were deeply troubling, I also found that I looked forward to seeing what would happen. Seeing Cassie and Billie as such close friends that they could almost be sisters leant more compassion for why Billie may have done what she did in the present story. The two storylines were elegantly woven together so that the reader could feel the tension mounting towards the night of the kidnapping. I desperately wanted the two to resolve everything, but I won’t spoil for you if they do!

Is it a thriller?

I wouldn’t describe this as a thriller. This is a character-driven suspense novel about female friendship and learning to see someone as they truly are rather than who we want them to be. I think those who appreciate a character drama will enjoy this book greatly, but it may not appeal to readers who prefer fast-paced, twist-y psychological thrillers or plot-driven thrillers.

Final Thoughts

This is a powerful and tense portrayal of female friendship across two decades and how it changes as people grow up. This was a portrait of this friendship and these two women, who are the biggest support for one another as well as the ones who can cause the most pain. At it’s core, this is about how trauma impacts even the closest relationships. The ending is satisfying and I thought about it long after I finished.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for my copy. Opinions are my own

Audiobook Review

The audiobook for Bye, Baby is outstanding and brought the highs and lows of the story to life. Macmillan Audio went with two different voice actors which was absolutely the right choice for this book. Karissa Vacker was an excellent (if obvious) choice for Cassie. I can’t imagine who else could have done it better. Karissa captures worried mother, tormented wife, and troubled friend better than nearly anyone in the business! She’s always outstanding. Meanwhile Billie is narrated by Helen Laser, who I have less experience with but greatly enjoyed. Her voice is lower and her tone more serious than Karissa’s, bringing a weightiness to Billie’s story that was needed. Helen captured the quiet, troubled woman that experienced trauma and betrayal, leading to her poor decision in the present that breaks everything wide open. With two narrators, it helps when their voices are different so that the listener can always orient to whose narrative is being told, and that made Karissa and Helen a perfect duo in many ways.

This story consists of 2 POV (Billie & Cassie) and two timelines (Past & Present)

Loved the mentions in this book: Lisa Jewell, Third Eye Blind, St. Lucia, Alanis Morissette, Judy Blume

Character highlights: Jane & Alex

I will say this is a great character driven story, I enjoyed the author’s writing and I will try out more of her books. That being said, this book should have fallen under the genre of Women’s Fiction or Domestic Drama rather than a Thriller/Mystery. I would suggest that you do not go into this book expecting a thriller with twists or expecting a reader-unknown mystery. I won’t fault the story itself for the inaccurate genre category. I see on NetGalley it’s under Women’s Fiction and General Fiction. On GoodReads it’s mostly categorized as Thriller/Mystery/Suspense. I did find the pacing a bit slow going near the end, longer wrap up with not much happening anymore. I liked what the author chose as the ending!

The story was centrally between the relationship between Billie & Cassie from when they first met as kids and how they have grown apart as women now in their 30’s. It goes into what secrets they had, and provided a deeper look into both their childhoods to give the reader insight as to why they behave the way they do now as adults. The conflicts in the book are relationship based: mainly between Billie & Cassie and between Billie & herself.

I think everyone can relate to this story in one way or another: Either in regards to the thoughts, feelings, actions of motherhood with Cassie &/or with Billie, wanting to hold onto old friendships that have become one sided through no fault of your own, being ghosted, now small talk but before sharing your worlds etc. I’m sure in some friendship or family aspect everyone can relate to one of the two characters on some level!

I related in some aspects to both Cassie (I’m a new parent of a 4 month old) and Billie (sentimentalist, hard not to hold onto the past, sometimes, old friendships that ended without closure)

Thank you Macmillan Audio (St. Martin’s Press) & NetGalley for the ALC!

Ok... I just finished and I have thoughts.

“Bye, Baby” by Carola Lovering delves deep into the complexities of friendship, motherhood, and the dark secrets that lie beneath the surface. The story follows Cassie, a new mother grappling with the disappearance of her daughter, Ella, who vanished without a trace, and Billie, her childhood friend who Cassie has lost touch with. As Cassie tries to unfold where her baby has gone, Billie looks down to find the child in her own arms.

Honestly, I thought the writing was incredibly good. Bye, Baby is packed with buried secrets, twists and turns. I found myself reacting so strongly to different events and character decisions. With that said, I did find Cassie incredibly unlikeable. The representation of the pressures of influencer culture was interesting but the mean girl narrative drove me nuts. The friendship between Cassie and Billie was incredibly toxic and there were several points in the story where I yelled out "go to therapy!".

Helen Laser and Karissa Vacker did a great job as narrators. I couldn't stop listening and was never bored with the audio. I felt so immersed in the story and experiences of the characters. I enjoyed the alternating POVs and appreciated the use of time jumps to provide the reader with the backstory of how these two polar opposites came to be friends in the first place.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Carola Lovering for an early review copy. These are my honest thoughts.

This was a super quick listen. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for both the ebook and audio version.
Cassie and Billie grow up together, Billie always following her friend, wanting to be her best friend and many years it appears she was. College and adulthood separated them some but at 35 they are living in different worlds. Cassie married money and had a little boutique, she’s working to be Instagram famous and she now has a baby. Billie is single and while successful still longs to be in Cassie’s life. A tragedy as teens has bound them to secrecy and silence.
When Billie does something foolish it becomes another drama they are involved with. Does it bring them closer or do things change?
I was super invested in this book until the last few chapters and then some outcomes seemed implausible.
Still 4⭐️ because it was interesting and showed the far reaches of a lie and how it will trip you up every time.

Okay, this one was interesting, but I also felt like the ending just sort of fell flat. The alternating POVs and having chapters in both the past and present helped build the suspense and make the book interesting. Trigger warning for sexual abuse in this though. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Cassie and Billie are loyal childhood besties who would do absolutely anything for each other. Over time, their friendship becomes fractured as they grow apart and priorities change. Cassie moves on with life establishing a successful career, marriage and family while Billie stays single with a good career. Even with her successful career, Billie can’t seem to shake her obsession with Cassie. She feels lost, forgotten and betrayed.

The friends share a secret from the past, so when Cassie’s baby is taken the one person Cassie reaches out to is her childhood bestie Billie. Cassie feels Billie is the only true friend she has. The story is fraught with betrayals by both friends.

Both Billie and Cassie are not likeable characters, but you will relate to their struggles and sometimes misguided deeds.

This is a domestic drama that explores issues of sexual abuse, friendship, and motherhood.

I received an audio ARC from NetGalley and Macmillian Audio in exchange for my honest opinion. The narrator was great! 4/5 for the story.

What a deliciously gripping read from the very first sentence! How does decades of friendship end with estrangement and a kidnapped baby? While Cassie’s entire life is out in the public for the whole world to see, well at least her 50,000 followers, her estranged best friend, Billie, is left out of the loop following along like one of the keyboard strangers following Cassie’s every move from her morning coffee to her breastfeeding her newborn. While it appears their friendship has its normal strains and many women in their mid-30’s experience, what follows is a dark path beyond our imaginations. Carlota Lovering’s writing is flawless and translates perfectly to an audiobook for an absolutely delightfully thrilling read!

Review is live on Goodreads and will be on Instagram 3/19.

*SA trigger warning for the book, but not in my review*

I enjoyed this book, but it was definitely not a thriller. It starts out with Billie kidnapping her best friend, Cassie's baby. It pulled me in right away with that start and had me wondering how they got to this point. The story then goes on to explain how she didn't get to that point and what happens after.

I like books that go back and forward in time to help build on the characters and explain why they are the way that they are currently and this was one of them. Billie initially comes across as a friend who can't let go of the fact that she and Cassie aren't really best friends anymore. We later learn in the story why she is so "obsessive" about their friendship. Cassie on the other hand is a horrible friend from start to finish. I don't think she means to be that way, she's just a bit of a sociopath.

Without spoiling too much the book, Billie, does return Cassie's baby. I felt so bad for Billie in the end. She did a horrible thing, but she wasn't a horrible person. She was a beautiful person who needs A LOT of therapy.

I would recommend this book to a friend. It was well written and kept me interested, even though I didn't find it to be all that "thrilling or suspenseful". The end was a little meh. I would have liked it if someone did end up taking Cassie's baby while she and her husband are on vacation and she finally goes back to being the annoying and backstabbing Cassie.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for allowing me the arc of this audiobook! I look forward to reading and listening to other books by Carola Lovering.

I was drawn in from the very beginning and finished this book in one day. I could not wait to turn the page and get further into the story and see how everything resolved.
The duel story line between 2 characters and 2 timeframes kept it interesting but never confusing and I loved hearing the stories of both girls and both time periods.
I didn’t love the ending, it felt like it all wrapped up a bit too easy, but goodness I loved every other part of it. So worth it.

📖 Bye, Baby
Author: Carola Lovering
Publisher: Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press
Genre: thriller
Format: Audio
Audio Length: 11 hours and 24 minutes
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
--
This was a quick and interesting read! The story follows two childhood best friends, Billie and Cassie, who have grown apart as the years passed by. Billie is a single woman who travels a lot for work and Cassie is a mother and influencer who is married to a rich man. I was captivated from the beginning, as the book starts with Cassie screaming for her missing baby and the need for her best friend. Except Billie is holding the baby just an apartment below. Childhood memories are told, secrets are unfolded, and I couldn't wait to find out if Billie would get caught as the kidnapper, and how their friendship would end up.

3.5/5 stars: This was a very addicting read - I had a hard time putting it down. I was disappointed that this wasn’t a psychological thriller like I thought was going to be. This is very character driven and both MCs were well developed - I just didn’t find either to be very likable. However, I don’t think it took away from the story. Definitely check out the trigger warnings before jumping as this does touch on quite a few heavier themes.

Not a thriller but enjoyed the listen! Easy to navigate back and forth between the two main character POVs. Couldn’t put it down!

Billie and Cassie are best friends. Terrible things happen and they keep secrets that can never be shared. After college, they both move to NYC. Cassie and Billie grow apart after Cassie gets married and has a baby. However, things take a turn when Cassie’s baby goes missing from their apartment the night of her birthday party.

This book has great potential and I really loved parts of it. However, I feel like it had no real plot and was very anticlimactic. I did love the author’s writing style and the narrator!

Teenage friendships can be raw and complicated; the people we partner and group up with while we're still figuring out who we are. Young friendships can also be deep and long lasting due to how vulnerable we are when they're forged. They know the hopes and dreams we create before the world changes us. They know our deepest secrets and the mistakes we made while finding our path in life. Sometimes those friendships drop off after high school graduation; sometimes they bond people together well into adulthood. For Cassie and Billie, their deep, dark secret has ensured a lifelong connection, for better or worse.

Cassie is an influencer with a husband, baby, and friends worthy of her influencer status. Billie is a childhood friend of Cassie’s and Billie’s life is simple - she works hard and doesn’t have a husband or child. Their traumatic past threatens their future especially when Billie realizes what she’s done to betray Cassie. But maybe Cassie deserved it.

This was a thrilling 4 star read and the first novel I’ve read by Carola Lovering. I enjoyed the story unfolding through the viewpoints of Cassie and Billie, in the past and the present. Fans of Lovering, fans of twisted friendships, and fans of thrillers will certainly want to check this out. It was published yesterday so Happy (day late) Pub Day!

Two women. Two friends. Two lives.
Intertwined forever by things that happened in their childhood.
BUT…they are growing apart…

Meet Billie. She’s mid 30’s and single. Her job takes her all over the world. She’s got a nice apartment, friends, and she’s even started seeing a guy…

Meet Cassie. She’s also mid 30’s. Married. Wealthy (because of her husband’s money…) And, she just had a baby girl!
She’s an influencer, and is GLUED to her phone 24/7.

They’ve been friends since middle school. Cassie was from a family with money…but no more. Her Dad managed to lose it all. She is not so close with her Mom or her sister, but does have a good relationship with her gram.

Billie has no money, but does have love at home, from her Mom. But her Mom is always dating losers…

They become fast friends and remain that way through college…when they both start to change…

Fast forward to now, and they are leading VERY DIFFERENT lives.

We learn about each of them through their own POV’s, alternating throughout…

But when Cassie’s baby goes missing, who does she want by her side???

Lots of emotions in this one, and some very sad stuff too. (Personally, I’d like to get MY hands on Wade, and teach him a lesson myself…)
But also some great lessons on love, family, life, Alzheimer’s, and friendships.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for an ARC of the audiobook which was released 3/5/24.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

#ByeBaby by #CarolaLovering and narrated beautifully by #HelenLaser and #KarissaVacker.

Fun Fact: Although this does have to do with a baby, the title actually comes from Dirty Dancing!!

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Thanks so much for reading!📚⭐️📖

Give me a second while I recover. I can already tell this is going to be in my top 5 reads of the year, if it isn’t number 1. This book was the perfect amount of suspenseful and crazy, but not unbelievable. I loved literally every second of this book and could not put it down. I am so glad I requested the audiobook version because it allowed me to listen to it while cooking, doing chores, driving, etc because I literally did not want to put it down for even one second. This author has become an auto buy author for me. I cannot wait to read every one of her books now.