I loved Too Good To Be True and I was really excited about Can't Look Away. I felt like this was going to be a really disturbing, creepy psychological thriller, but it honestly felt more like a drama than anything else. I found the characters to be whiny and a bit full of themselves, even the ones that weren't made out to be. I didn't particularly relate to any of them.

The plot itself is fine. Molly meets Jake, an up-and-coming musical superstar, and falls in love. His ex Sabrina is still in love with him. In the present day, Molly is married to Hunter with a baby and trying to conceive another. She meets Sabrina during yoga and becomes friends, and Sabrina's secrets start to come out. It's very much a slow burn, with an okay ending. it does have some good twists and turns though.

Trigger warning: miscarriage and infertility

Overall, I'd say 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you, St. Martins Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a hard book to categorize. It had romance, suspense, revenge, family drama, gaslighting and stalking. Mix in some miscommunication and assumptions along with jealous ex-girlfriends who can't let things go, you'll get this book. Colleen Hoover fans will like this one a lot!

⭐️⭐️💫
Let’s start with the fact that this is not a suspense novel, I would more closely describe it as a chick lit drama. The characters are whiny and I was unable to connect with any of them. I skimmed through a lot of it waiting for something to happen, but it never really did. It did have some twists and turns but by the time they came around I was over it and the unlikeable characters.

This book struggles with a lack of identify, which is why I’m saying skip it and go for that other suspense novel or chick lit book that’s been languishing on your TBR.

I really enjoyed Carola Lovering's novel Too Good To Be True last year so I immediately jumped at the chance to read Can't Look Away ahead of publication. I went in expecting twisty suspense and though this novel does contain some dramatic revelations I wouldn't classify it as twisty suspense.

Lovering definitely knows how to hook you and keep you invested in turning the pages. I was especially interested in the alternating timeline and multiple perspectives. This format works well for the plot development and kept me engaged in the overall story.

Read if you like:
juicy drama
cringeworthy obsession stories
dual timelines
alternating perspectives

Overall, I enjoyed the reading experience even though I went in with a different idea of what the book had in store for me. Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Can't Look Away by Carola Lovering is a slow burn of a domestic supsense.
The build up was a little bit slow, but once it got going, I really enjoyed it.

The characters were complex, complicated and well fleshed out.
There were enough twists to keep me engaged.

I was really surprised at the ending and how the author wrapped the story up.

Again, the twists! Perfectly plotted and well written.

I liked it but I feel it's being marketed as a thriller which it most definitely is not. A little undercurrent of suspense occasionally but nothing more. Found it well-written and and finished the last half in a day.
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Remember your first love? The emotion, the passion, the agony! Jake and Molly are destined to be together forever....or like most first loves, maybe not so much. "Can't Look Away" is a romance, a love triangle and a case of insane jealousy. It's also verifiably crazy! Can't Look Away from this car crash.
I wouldn't call it a psychological thriller, more like a drama. It's a quick read about two married couples and a new friend who is absolutely too good to be true. It's a solid beach read for the summer. I enjoyed it but found it very difficult to relate to. A tasty summer treat!
3.5 stars

This is first a love story and second a drama. There is no thriller or mystery here. It’s a beautiful and nuanced story about love and the lengths someone will go to, to get it. It’s about motherhood and fatherhood and you should go in expecting this and absolutely should not be expecting a thriller. I loved it for what it was and I think it helped that I didn’t read the synopsis before diving in.

Molly was such an interesting character to follow as she is essentially in love with two men during the majority of this book. The loves are different and are in different phases of her life but they are both unique and quite a journey. There's something to be said about right person wrong time and this book sums that up beautifully. Jake is her past but it had me thinking, could he have also been her future if he was matured and ready?

I wanted more about Hunter in this book as he felt more like a side character and less like the TRUE love of her life. He was Molly's present and future so where is all of his character growth? Even Sabrina had more to her story than he did and she was mostly just unhinged in the book. Sabrina is really a warning to women about what not to do to try to get a man back in your life. Because if you have to lie and manipulate to get someone in your life, they won't be there for long as no one is in it for the right reasons.

I will personally be suing Carola Lovering for emotional damages as I've been reading too many breath-taking romances lately. How did Molly have two before turning 30 years old? Plsss.. especially in New York City? Yeah right but also sure I'll suspend reality for a bit. Maybe it was just a different time but 2022 dating scene is absolutely nothing like the beautiful love stories in this book and for that I am salty!

Overall, go in a bit blind and expect mostly a love story and bit of drama with a reveal at the end. I loved it and think it will fit for a very specific audience but typical thriller readers will probably be disappointed wanting more suspense. Because at its core, Can't Look Away is about love, obsession, parenthood, friendships, and the realities of life and growing up.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Publication Date: 6/14/22.

First loves are unforgettable, at least that is how Molly Diamond felt ever since she locked eyes with Jake Danner while he was playing a concert in NYC. In their early 20’s they thought they would be together forever. Now, in her 30’s, Molly is married (not to Jake), has a daughter and lives in a small ocean town, Flynn Cove. She use to write but now spends her time trying to have a second child with her husband and trying to fit in with the uppity country club ladies. All that changes when Sabrina’s moves to town. Finally, Molly has a real friend, someone she can truly be herself around and someone who is also going through fertility issues. But Sabrina doesn’t just happen upon a friendship with Molly she has planned it all along. As buried secrets are revealed, both Molly and Sabrina must deal with the consequences of their past choices.

I really enjoyed this book! It is a lot of romance with a dash of suspense which was a welcomed break to what I am use to reading. The characters were so well developed that I truly cared about them and how they ended up. The plot of first loves pulled on my heartstrings and brought me back to those days and how intense that love was. I’ve also read Too Good To Be True by the same author and they are just so talented and write truly well executed stories. I feel like fans of Colleen Hover would enjoy reading this author.

I also read To good to be true from Carola so I was so excited to receive the Arc of her latest book Can’t look away. I also received the Arc of To Good To be True from net galley also. Okay, onto my review, so if you read the blurb of this book that you do know what this is basically about. At the ripe age of 23 in love with a band leader no matter how much love there is, it is a disaster waiting to happen. So, as you read from the blurb, Molly marries a much more stable, conservative man named Hunter after many failed attempts to make it work with Jake who truly loves her but when on tour forgets to call etc. Now in comes Sisi,aka Sabrina his previous girlfriend who he just falls out of love with. He then meets Molly but he is done with Sisi which has nothing to do with meeting Molly.Now we get into Sisi who desperately tries anything imaginable to break them up. She is truly bat crazy but I also feel sorry for people with this default in their make up. She finally gets him to marry her and stalks Molly in the suburbs. If I go any further with my review I do not want to give away spoilers but there is a MAJOR twist at the end. I loved this book. This a must read. I flew threw it in one day.

Thank you net galley and the publisher for this ARC. Just awesome

Let me just say this…. I LOVED THIS BOOK! It was an amazing/addictive domestic suspense that was a major page-turner. This is not a thriller but it is definitely a twisty drama about obsessive first loves that has parts that reminded me of You and several Lifetime movies.

The characters were so well developed that I was so invested in the plot and had emotions for all of the characters. The ending was great and everything was buttoned up nice and tidy!

You should definitely add this to your TBR but don’t expect this to be a thriller!

***** Many thanks to St Martin’s Press, Carola Lovering, and NetGalley for the gifted copy as it was provided to me in turn for my honest opinion.

Rated as 4.5 stars but rounding up.

Will post to instagram (thriller_book_sisters) in the near future.

Definitely NOT a thriller, mystery & not even really suspenseful either. It was still a good, well rounded story though.

Can’t Look Away
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (Rounded to 4 for rating)
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 6/14/22
Author: Carola Lovering
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pages: 320
Goodreads Rating: 3.91

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Molly Diamond is at a concert in East Williamsburg, when she locks eyes with the lead singer, Jake Danner, and can’t look away. Molly and Jake fall quickly and deeply in love, especially after he writes a hit song about her that puts his band on the map. Nearly a decade later, Molly is living in Flynn Cove, Connecticut with her young daughter and her husband Hunter—who is decidedly not Jake Danner. Sabrina has her own reasons for moving to Flynn Cove and befriending Molly. And as Sabrina’s secrets are slowly unspooled, her connection to Molly becomes clearer––as do secrets of Molly's own, which she’s worked hard to keep buried. What happens when life turns out nothing like we thought it would, when we were young and dreaming big? Does growing up mean choosing with your head, rather than your heart? And do we ever truly get over our first love?

My Thoughts: First, I want to say this really is not a thriller, as it is classified. I would say more romantic suspense or domestic suspense. The story is narrated by Molly, Jake and Sabrina and is broken into two frames, in 2013 when Molly was with the rock star (Jake Danner) and then currently in 2022. This was told in a third person perspective, which was different than what I am used to. The book was true to Lovering’s style of mastery of the heart and suspense around the corner, especially with Sabrina stalking abilities. I typically gravitate towards fast pace thrillers or Rom-Com’s more, however, this was a nice change up. There were some twists throughout, but not what you typically expect in a thriller. Some of the plot and/or twists were a bit stretched, but since this is a work of fiction, it does work for this book. Overall, I thought the book was good.

This was an interesting mash-up of romance and thriller - I'm not sure I've read many books quite like it. I was engaged with the characters and enjoyed the relationships, but the thriller piece was just OK for me as I didn't really feel like the suspense was maintained throughout the book. I flew through this one - definitely a recommended read!

An utterly engaging novel about the allure--and sometimes dangerous pull--of love, particularly young love, and the lengths we go to in order to protect and pursue such love. This is a page turner with compelling characters whose lives intersect at many unexpected points . I'll be thinking about Molly, Jake, Sabrina and Hunter for a while. Highly recommend.

2.5 stars

After enjoying Lovering's _Too Good to Be True_, I was really anticipating this new one. This more recent experience left a lot to be desired, unfortunately.

Molly, the main character, is somehow both a writer and the world's least observant person...except for her ex-partner, Jake. Because these two are so ridiculous and then are surrounded by other outrageous characters, this situation somehow evolves. If there is a mystery component to this novel (more on this in a minute), it's here: how some of these characters can ask so few questions about the people in their lives and fail to pay attention to obviously disturbing 'coincidences.'

The story is told in the present and past by Molly, Jake, and Sabrina, the latter of whom is Jake's current wife and Molly's current "friend." In the past, Molly and Jake were together. Their relationship IS NOT GOOD. Think of one of those yikes relationships from your 20s. This is that for them. Unlike healthy folks who recognize those "learning experiences" for what they were, there is still - in many ways inexplicably - an incredible draw between them when they bizarrely reconnect six years later. MOVE ON. Sabrina is a whole other problem. She's been around for a really long time, but somehow there are EXTREMELY IMPORTANT DETAILS that no one really bothers to figure out about her...for like a decade. I'm not going to say that folks deserve bad things to happen to them. Sometimes, though, the characters are so clueless (despite some practical signs that suggest they shouldn't be) that it's hard to find sympathy when their situations fall apart.

This is getting tagged as mystery/thriller, and the cover image reinforces this vibe, but for me, this is a not stellar example of the worst of women's fiction: romanticizing of bad former relationships, obsession/possession on the part of a jealous woman, conniving women, and way more that I won't spoil. There's a highlight reel of bad behavior and unhealthy ideas, and strangely, there's little mystery or thrill because unlike the characters, the readers can figure out what's what almost immediately.

While this is not the follow-up novel I anticipated from this author, I'm going to take a page out of some of these characters' books and sort of eternal sunshine this one from my brain in hopes that the next one is a little more like this one's predecessor. Oof. It hurts to write, but this was a challenge.

Never have I read a story that captures its title like Can’t Look Away by Carola Lovering. I couldn’t look away. The love stories between Jake, Molly, Hunter and Sabrina are raw, emotional and intoxicating. The twists and turns of this story made it unpredictable and rooting for different characters. This story is a romantic drama with hints of a thriller. Fans of Colleen Hoover will devour this story. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Can’t Look Away was a great book that kept my attention and had me quickly turning pages to see what unfolded next. I wouldn’t call it a suspense novel like the description says but there were tons of unexpected twists and turns that keep the reader engaged throughout. I kept thinking that I had the story figured out but then something would change or a new detail revealed that made me realize I didn’t know how the story unfolded.

This was such a great book! I loved all the suspense and the drama that went along with it. I would read this Authors books over and over

Talk about drama!!!
This book was very intriguing from start to finish. I loved the dual timelines and multiple POVs, it really added to the layers of this story. I would like readers to go into this knowing it is NOT a thriller. Which is okay, as long as you know that it makes the story more enjoyable. It reads more like a domestic (romantic) drama. And dramatic it was. I'm a sucker for a love story involving a famous musician, is it because I've been in love with a famous musician for the last eleven years and fantasize about our lives together? Probably. This is a story of falling in and out of love, growing together and growing apart, secrets, betrayal, hope, and understanding. It hit me a bit in the feels as someone who wants to extend her family but struggles a bit to do so. I think its great that this sort of situation is being talked about so openly, as painful as it is to read about while in the thick of it, its also so nice to not feel alone. Overall, I really enjoyed this story.

Molly's life changes one night when she decides to go to a small bar show and locks eyes with the lead singer of the group performing. Thrust into a magical romance, it's everything she could hope for and a future she is eager to experience. But not everything goes how we want it to. Fast forward, now Molly lives in an uppity neighborhood surrounded by women she doesn't relate to but is thankful she has her husband and young child with her. When she meets Sabrina, a like-minded woman going through similar battles, it is a breath of fresh air. But soon her past starts to catch up to her and she isn't sure she is willing to face it or the pain she tried to leave behind. Her future doesn't seem so clear anymore. Now she has to decide whether to follow her head or her heart.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan for early access to Can't Look Away!






TW: miscarriage, infertility, cheating