Even though I loved unraveling the love triangle of Molly, Jake, and Sabrina, I was disappointed in some of the less than informative unraveling. I felt like some scenes were rushed and others dragged. Sisi was an absolute train wreckage you just couldn’t stop staring at. I definitely liked this one but wouldn’t say I loved it.

After reading this, I feel confident that Carola Lovering is an "auto-buy" author for me. I love the way she writes her characters with so much depth and the way she can alternate chapters with time jumps seamlessly. Once I picked this story up, I couldn't put it down--I read it in one sitting. It was mysterious/thrilling, dramatic, and heart-wrenching. I really love how the story wrapped up. The only thing I will note is that the POV is a little interesting: a mix of 1st person and 3rd person is used (depending who the POV is for that certain chapter) and I can see how this could throw the reader off, but after the first few chapters I got adjusted to it.

TWs: miscarriage, stalking, assault, cheating.

Overall, 5 stars! I look forward to reading more in the future!

Thank you St. Martins Press and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

“𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔.”

I went into Can’t Look Away blind, and I have to say I really enjoyed it. Although it is categorized as a suspense novel, it’s definitely more of a domestic drama (and Lord knows I love a drama with a soap-like tinge)!

I listened to most of this on audiobook (although read a bit from a ebook too) and loved the narration; the three different voices used really helped make Molly, Sabrina and Jake’s point of view distinct. I especially adored Karissa Vacker and Zach Webber’s voices. There is a lot to love in this book: the friendship between Molly, Everly, Nina and Liz; Jake’s rise to stardom with the band Danner Lane, the “Stepford Wife”-like community of Flynn Cove with its country clubs, “keeping up with the Joneses” attitudes, and Meredith (a classic B who runs the town). I really liked the past and present timelines; there were so many pieces that were neat to see come together, like knowing Molly is married to Hunter in the present, but then going to the past where Molly and Hunter were friends first. Lovering plays with what you expect to happen in her reveals. I did get slightly annoyed at Sabrina’s obsession with Jake at times, but also loved the juicy drama that I knew was to come from it. Jake too is a character that you want to root for, but scream in moments where he’s incredibly selfish.

Can’t Look Away is a dramatic look at fertility, fidelity, female friendships, life in your twenties and thirties, and first loves. It documents the rise and fall of a relationship, and examines reclaiming identity you’ve lost, when sometimes connecting with your past is part of that. This would make for a really good mini series - I hope it gets picked up! Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I liked that the storyline was engaging and I liked the alternating POVs (Sabrina's POV gave "Joe from You" vibes and was the right amount of unsettling and creepy!) and timelines to get the whole story of how everything unfolded in Jake, Molly, and Sabrina's pasts; however, I thought the storyline was somewhat predictable and I was able to guess what happened about 20-30% of the way in and definitely decreased my enjoyment of finishing the ARC. I also thought the ending was somewhat anti-climatic- the big showdown/reveal typical of thrillers happened, then the characters just sort of solved the problems on their own in a few pages in the last 1-2 chapters and everyone seemed to be on relatively good terms (if not, at least neutral ground) with each other.

"Can't Look Away" by Carola Lovering is a genre blend of Domestic Drama, Women's Fiction, and Suspense/Mystery!

Molly Diamond is in love with Jake Danner and dreams of becoming a writer. Jake Danner is in love with Molly Diamond and dreams of becoming a rock star. Molly's dream sparks to life with the support and a big push from Jake. Jake's dream comes to fruition when he writes a song about Molly and the world takes notice.

Nine years later, Molly is living happily in the suburbs with her husband, Hunter, and five-year-old daughter, Stella. Life is good but she doesn't connect with the other women in their upscale community and she's incredibly lonely. Then she meets newcomer Sabrina, finds they have several interests in common and a new friendship develops.

It's also when Molly's life takes an unexpected turn...

I was super excited to read this story when I saw the author's description as blended genres of Domestic Drama, Women's Fiction, and Suspense/Mystery. I loved how it began and enjoyed reading about the early relationship between Jake and Molly. I had high hopes of a great read and was all in for the drama part but what I wasn't expecting was it morphing into a story about obsession.

I'll be up-front and tell you I'm more of a Women's Fiction/Literary Fiction lover than a Suspense/Mystery kind of gal. That's why I enjoyed reading about the relationships and why Sabrina is the one character in this story I could do without. She causes this story to go 'haywire' and it greatly reduces the value of the other characters.

There is one scene, in particular, at the end of the book that speaks to the obscene power of Sabrina's character and how it overtakes the story. What happened after that made no sense to me and the remainder of the book fell flat. With that said, I did find the writing easy to read, enjoyed the multiple timelines, and I never wanted to stop reading. I liked it but I didn't love it...

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Carola Lovering for a free ARC of this book. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.

You are missing out if you do not pick this one up!

I honestly cannot remember the last book I binged in less than 24hrs but I could not put it down as I had to know how it ended. This book has everything I was looking for - romance, obsession, deceit, revenge and a couple of twists I didn’t see coming. I loved the alternating timelines and alternating POV’s between Molly, Jake and Sabrina - as a reader you were able to see events from all angles!

I alternated between the e-galley and audiobook and the audiobook, told with three different narrators, was wonderful! I cannot recommend this book enough!!

Can’t Look Away by Carola Lovering

Pub Date: Today!

Wine Pairing: Meiomi Pinot Noir

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my gifted #copy

Thoughts

This was an interesting read. I went into it thinking it would be more of a thriller, but it’s not at all. The story starts off very suspenseful as the chapters alternate between our main characters Molly, Jake and Sabrina. After a few chapters I couldn’t tell if this was going to be a love story or a crazy stalker story. Maybe a little of both. What I did know is that there was going to be a big twist coming up, and I had figured it out!

In the end I wanted more from the story. Less romance and more thrills but it is what it is.

Is this on your list?

This is an exciting thriller that keeps you turning pages. It is definitely a sweet and romantic story in many ways, but the true love story is not the one you think you are going to get at first. Molly is a likable heroine, and you can understand why she makes the choices she does even when they do not seem to be the choices she should be making. However, she is also a smart and sensible heroine and ultimately does make the right choices. The character of Jake is at first selfish and immature, but by the end of the story, he has matured nicely. The character of Hunter, at first seems like just an inconvenient impediment to the story of Molly and Jake. Yet, he is a true stand-up guy and the one who is always there for Molly no matter what even when she is committed to someone else. He does seem a little too good to be true at times, but still, any woman would love to have a man like him. The character of Sabrina is a first-class bitch. She is also not very smart because any regular reader of romance and/or watcher of soap operas can probably spot the big twist in the story long before it is officially revealed, but she is oblivious to it until it is literally staring her in the face.

The chapters alternate between Molly, Jake, and Sabrina's points of view. However, only Sabrina's chapters are told in the first person. Perhaps, this is because ultimately the author wanted to make the character redeemable since we are inside her head, and we see what she is thinking. In fact, in the epilogue, there is a bit of an attempt to redeem Sabrina and show that she has moved on. However. earlier in the book, she does something so heinous that it is not really possible to get past and give her the benefit of the doubt that she actually could have reformed especially since she makes no real attempt to atone or apologize for her actions in any way she just moves on. On the whole, however, this is an engaging and enjoyable read.

👀𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠!!👀

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: suspense
𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞: second chances & young love
𝐏𝐮𝐛. 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: June 14th, 2022!!!
𝐌𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4 stars
𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3.9 stars

𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬:
‘In 2013, a country group performs at a bar near aspiring writer Molly Diamond’s Brooklyn apartment. Her eyes meet those of the band’s charismatic singer, Jake Danner, and the two quickly fall in love. Though Jake ends his half-hearted relationship with his girlfriend, Sisi, so that he and Molly can live together, his unreliability and Molly’s suspicion that he’s cheating destroy her trust. By 2022, her writing dreams abandoned, Molly is married to a more reliable man. Lonely in their upscale Connecticut town and unable to forget Jake entirely, she’s delighted to meet Sabrina, a wealthy marketer who shares her ironic, offbeat sensibility. The two grow close, but Molly is unaware that Sabrina, who has nursed a secret grudge against her for years, hopes to sabotage what she sees as Molly’s perfect life.’

𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
If you are looking for a psycho ex girlfriend book, a rockstar, a phenomenal ending and a suspense beach read for this summer: THIS IS THE BOOK👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

While topic wasn’t my absolute favorite genre, I still completely devoured this one. And I loved the ending🖤 reminded me a bit of a love child between Colleen Hoovers Heart Bones, The People We Keep, and Rock Paper Scissors!!

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫?!

Happy Publication Day to Can’t Look Away.

If you are eagerly waiting for a new season for YOU on @netflix pick this one now! I enjoyed this romantic suspense story of love and obsession. Mood board for this book is — You know how it ends, but you can’t stop reading. This was an interesting and addictive read for me. I love to read stories about love and obsession (thank you @carolinekepnes 😂) and this story didn’t disappoint me. What is not to love about seemingly perfect life, second chances, and buried secrets!

Thank you St.Martin’s Press for the arc.

One look across a crowded bar and lead singer, Jake Danner, wants to know more about want to be writer, Molly Diamond. When they meet, they fall head over heels quickly, but all is not bliss as Jake and his bandmates find fame and go out on tour. Fast forward nine years and we find Molly happily married to Hunter, living in an upscale Connecticut enclave, with a precocious five year old daughter, Stella. Molly doesn’t fit in with the lululemon clad other mothers and is extremely excited to finally have a new friend. Sabrina has recently moved to Flynn Cove And the two immediately hit it off, but Sabrina has some secrets of her own and Molly is about to revisit her past and the one that got away! This book was entertaining, but more on the soapy side. Pegged as a domestic thriller, the thrills were few and far between and fell more on the chick lit/romance side.

Thanks to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for the gifted eArc.

TW: secondary infertility, infertility, miscarriage

Solid 5 stars for me! I love a good romance with some domestic suspense. They give me just enough of a suspenseful plot and yet enough romance to pull at the heart strings. ‘Can’t Look Away’ was definitely more romance, but I was very invested in finding out how the plot unfolded. Lovering can’t write no wrong though (I can though – was that even grammatically correct?). I couldn’t put this book down and had to absorb every little detail. Lovering creates such relatable characters that make you invested in their development and growth (assignment understood). I even enjoyed our antagonist in this story. Told between dual- timelines and 3 POV’s – THIS STORY DELIVERS. You will not be disappointed with the beginning, middle, and ending.

‘Tell Me Lies’ has officially moved up my backlist TBR. I can’t wait to see what else Lovering writes!

I devoured this book. I wouldn’t change a thing. Loved how the chapters were laid out. I was rooting for all of the characters—maybe not Sabrina though. Was perfection!

Going into this I was expecting super thriller vibes and what I got was a big dose of romance/chick lit with a suspense on the side. And this was a-okay for me because I was hooked from page one. Aptly titled, Can’t Look Away, this book drew me in from the get-go and I could.not.look.away until the very end.

Molly locked eyes with Jake Danner in a bar when he was a rising rock star. Their love was one songs are written about. But life as a rock star’s girlfriend isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, and Molly finds herself falling for stable, dependable Hunter.

Fast-forward several years to a quiet community in Connecticut where we find Molly, Hunter and their daughter living a quaint life. Enter Sabrina. Molly and Sabrina quickly become friends, but Sabrina has an agenda and Molly’s world will never be the same.

Angsty, heartbreaking and over-the-top obsession make for a quick, suspenseful read. It was so well-written and the flawed, realistic characters made this one stick with me for days after I finished.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and Carola Lovering for an advance copy of this book. Go out and grab yours today. You won’t regret it!

𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦!

All I can say is that I wasn’t expecting this book at all, a twisty, tense thriller mixed with a second chance romance that kept me at the edge of my seat. I mixed reading and listening to the audio and loved them both. A fantastic read that you need to add to your tbr.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this gifted copy.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦!

All I can say is that I wasn’t expecting this book at all, a twisty, tense thriller mixed with a second chance romance that kept me at the edge of my seat. I mixed reading and listening to the audio and loved them both. A fantastic read that you need to add to your tbr.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this gifted copy.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

Lovering once again delivers what longing and obsessive love looks like. I loved Sabrina’s POV because it added to her obsession and showed her motivations even if you didn’t believe in them. I appreciated how flawed all three MCs were and how their youth was portrayed because it was very realistic. There definitely were some bombs I did not see coming and while this is billed as a thriller, I would say it’s more romantic/domestic suspense - either way you should read it!

Can't Look Away is a good read that straddles multiple genres. It focuses on Jake Danner, his first love Molly Diamond, his ex Sabrina. Sabrina is obsessed with revenge after Jake leaves her for Molly and sets out to learn everything about Molly and Jake's relationship, a plot that ends up spanning years. After low key stalking Molly for years, Sabrina is able to win Jake back but in the end doesn't get the result she'd hoped for.
This book feels more like a suspenseful romance. It didn't grab me right away but the different points of view and the back and forth between the past and present kept me interested until the climactic finale. None of the main characters are likeable due to the poor choices they all make. And yet you can't help but hope they find their happy endings, especially as they all come to terms with their past mistakes and traumas and learn to be better.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Can't Look Away by Carola Lovering is an entertaining page turner about first love and its consequences. Molly and Jake make eye contact and instantly connect when he is singing with his up and coming band at a bar in Brooklyn. Their love blossoms as Jake's career takes off. Unfortunately,their romance can't be sustained and they go their separate ways. Six years later Molly is living with her husband and daughter in Connecticut. Molly is excited to meet Sabrina and the women quickly bond and become best friends. Molly doesn't suspect that Sabrina has intentionally sought Molly out and plans to ruin her life. Can't Look Away is a fantastic story with interesting characters.

Molly Diamond meets an up-and-coming musician named Jake and they fall in love. They have a rocky relationship that peaks with him writing a hit song that has her name in it. Years later, Molly is married and raising a daughter in Connecticut. She has avoided thinking of her ex by staying mostly off of social media. She befriends Sabrina, a new woman in town, and their separate secrets bring a new layer of chaos to Molly’s carefully crafted world. Can’t Look Away is a sly suburban suspense story that will take the reader into the post-college years, following along as young artists try to balance their romantic and career ambitions.
Carola Lovering has the ability to remind me of the big feelings of my twenties and also make me so glad that time is behind me. I felt like this book brought together the best elements of Tell Me Lies and Too Good to be True, The messy young dramatic relationships and the domestic suspense bits. I was so worried for everyone’s safety as they made these really reckless decisions at every turn. I won’t tell you how it works out, but I appreciated the ending that delivering without compromising on anything that came before it.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!