Member Reviews

This book revolves around 3 perspectives: Molly, Sabrina, and Jake. Back in the day, Molly and Jake shared a young love. While their love was prospering, Molly was pursuing writing and Jake was a lead singer in a famous band, Danner Lane.

Molly later in life has given up writing and moved to Flynn Cove with her daughter and husband, Hunter. In their small, judgemental town, Molly is struggling with loneliness and fertility issues. When Sabrina moves into town, Molly latches to her quickly as their friendship blossoms over commonalities.

Sabrina also shares a secret reason for moving to Flynn Cove which unravels quickly as Molly and she become closer.

I don't truly believe this book should be labeled as a mystery. It was more suspense with more romance in it than anything. I was expecting a huge twist to come but was sadly let down. While the writing was solid, I think the plot was shallow.

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I really enjoyed this one! I loved the development of characters and the self destruction of Sabrina. I felt she was balanced out with the tortured love story taking place. I would have loved an epilogue of some sort from Hunter instead of Sabrina, as we knew her point of view and unreliability. This book kept me captured and I didn’t see the twist of the ending coming until about 75 percent in, which is pretty great!

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Here lies the start of summer beach read season. If you want to relive the melodrama of The Hills while sipping margaritas by the pool, here you go. Surprisingly, dating up and coming rock star, Jake Danner, isn’t that glamorous for Molly Diamond. They spend a lot of their time fighting and making up in Brooklyn - typical 20 year old behavior. So. Much. Drama. Then you add in Sabrina, the jilted ex plotting her way back into Jake’s arms. I think her arc was where the suspense should have been, it wasn’t. Sabrina needed a good therapist and a hobby. I did skim over some pages because I could see where the story was headed and I just wanted to get there. So, yeah, I wouldn’t call this a thriller. I wouldn’t call this suspense. It’s night-time tv drama adjacent which makes for a good beach read.

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I thought Too Good to Be True was excellent and a surprising page turner so I was excited to read the author’s next book. Can’t Look Away was different and not quite as much of a mystery, but still a good story with compelling characters. I was always a little ahead of the plot reveals but still liked the book a lot.

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I am sad to say, this story really did disappoint. Everything from the title to the description scream suspense/thriller. However the story was everything but.

Thank Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC
for an honest review.

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I felt this book may suffer from being hyped as a thriller - when it's not. A good storyline, interesting characters and a good plot. I just kept waiting for the thriller to kick in!! Love all her books - this just wasn't my favorite!

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Ok- I have seen some mixed reviews for this book, but I’m telling you, miscategorization is to blame.

It’s definitely NOT a Thriller. It’s a Drama with a hint of Mystery. People are being let down because they were expecting a Thriller.
If you go into it with the correct expectation, I think it will be a different experience.

I absolutely loved this book. This author is wildly talented- the architecture of this story and characters is just exceptional. Her writing is emotive and transportive. I was so thoroughly immersed in this story.
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It’s about a young couple in New York that falls madly in love. She is a MFA student, with dreams of writing a novel. He is a musician at the threshold of fame. They become each others’ creative inspirations… but there are outside forces at play that threaten to tear them apart….
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When I was reading this, I kept thinking it was kind of like a combination of the movie Sweet Home Alabama and the book You.

This would have been a 5 star for me, except I feel like the climax needed a little more umph. But, overall, I loved this book so much!

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This was a fun and fast moving story. An easy read, but enjoyable. The character development was well done and relatable. Like the way the story wrapped up.

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I love Carola Lovering. I have read all of her books now. This one was amazing as most of her books are but this one shook me. Let me try not to give anything away. This one is about obsession and how that type of love can shake you. Molly is in a town where she feels lonely and then she meets Sabrina and feels like she found a friend, but not really because Sabrina is obsessed with her. Ugh this book was just so good. It gave me the creeps but I couldn't put it down.

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I love Carola Lovering books, this one was no exception! I was definitely avoiding real life every chance I could get, just so I could read this one..definitely a fan for life!

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I have loved all of Carola Lovering’s books and this was no exception.

This is the story of the one that got away and getting a second chance but you are happily married - should you take the chance? You still have chemistry and passion.

It’s also the story of a wealthy woman with an obsession.

It’s different and provocative and amazing. Carola Lovering’s characters are so relatable and her writing is just so authentic.

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I didn't enjoy Can't Look Away but not as much as I expected to. I was under the impression that this is a thriller. I was just expecting a different story than what I read. This is more like a YA coming of age drama/romance about life's complexities. The build up was a little slow but I did enjoy the multiple points of view. The character's back stories were really nicely structured and the character development was there, but it just isn't my preferred genre.

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced digital copy.

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In “ Can’t Look Away” by Carole Lovering, Molly lives in Flynn Cove, CT with her husband Hunter and a young daughter and teaches yoga classes. To most it seems like she has it all but they don’t know that she is struggling to conceive and after every IVF treatment her heart breaks all over again. She has trouble connecting with other mothers in their wealthy community that are continually pushing her to join a country club that Molly cannot afford. During one of her yoga sessions she meets Sabrina who tells her she is a newcomer in town and then sees her again during her next appointment at the infertility doctor. The two women bond and soon firm a fast friendship. Sabrina knew who Molly was when she walked into her studio and has watched her for years.
Years ago Molly lived with Jake, a rock star on his way to the top and his first big song was one written and named for her, “ Molly’s Song”.
When a new version of the song begins making radio playlists again, Molly is confronted with memories she has long buried.
What if you ran into your first love again and found out the reasons you left were wrong? How do you know if you made the right choices? When do you let go of the dreams and love of the past?
While I enjoy this authors writing style, this is not a thriller or even suspense. I loved her previous book and the was so angry at one of the characters I was ready to throw the book! I did not have the same type of strong reactions to the characters in this one. I found Sabrinas’ actions totally unrealistic. She was an interesting character, reprehensible and pitiable at the same time. An entertaining, escapist read.
Thanks to #netgalley and #stmartins for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. This is due for release June 14,2022.

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As per usual, I loved this book, just like I love all of Carola Lovering's books. It was juicy, exciting, and I couldn't put it down.

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This book wasn't what I expected, but ultimately I think that benefitted the book itself. Lovering's writing is so compelling, this book is SUCH a page-turner in a way that I wasn't really expecting it to be. Molly and Jake are so sweet and heartbreaking, and the third POV was shockingly juicy and devastating.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Everything happens for a reason… doesn’t it? All the what if’s… what if Molly hadn’t gone with Nina to see a new band that might? What if Molly had said no to the date? How much differently would Molly and Jake’s loves end up?

10 years later, Molly is married to Hunter, but when Jake reappears in her life, all the what if’s…

Thank you to @netgalley for providing a copy of #cantlookaway by @carolatlovering in exchange for an honest review - I loved it!

#netgalley #netgallyreviewer #netgalleyreader #netgalleyarc #fiction #booklover #bookreviews #whatimreading #whatiread#bookish #bookstagram #bookworm #booknerd #bookaddict #bibliophile #bookgram #bookstagrammer #instabooks #bookreviewer

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This book was different than I expected, but I really enjoyed it.

First I have to join in my friend Michael’s clarification of the genre of this book. I completely agree with him that isn’t any kind of mystery or thriller, despite the cover and the marketing. It is more what I would call “romantic suspense” or a suspenseful romance. But lucky for me, an escapist, suspenseful love story was just what I needed this weekend.

The story is about Molly, a young everyday 23-year-old New Yorker who falls head over heels in love with an up-and-coming musician, Jake Danner. Here I must pause to acknowledge something about myself. I was a music-obsessed young lady who spent some of her later teenage years as a groupie hanging with my favorite bands on the Sunset Strip. Let’s just leave it there 😂

So needless to say, this star-crossed romance tale of a doomed love between an ordinary girl and a rock star playing Madison Square Garden was right up my alley and probably my teenage dream come true. I thought Lovering captured the music scene realistically with a lot of sensitivity and insight. The personal and real nature of the writing made me wonder if the author had some personal experience dating a musician, too. It was a fun, touching, heartbreaks story of that first passionate love everyone happens to experience…Molly’s just happened to be with a famous musician who turned it into the hit single “Molly’s Song,” transforming both of their lives.

The book jumps back and forth between Molly as a 23-year-old rock star’s girlfriend, and Molly later in life, married to another man, who once again runs into her former musician love. There is suspense and intrigue in the form of Sabrina, a creepy stalker of Molly’s who we meet early in the book. Why is she stalking Molly and how does it all tie together with Jake the musician? Honestly, it’s all not too hard to figure out, but the suspense is great and the execution of the twists does not disappoint. I love Carola Lovering’s page-turning, inviting style, and just like he past book, I was sucked in by the first page and couldn’t put the book down till I learned how it ended.

This page-turner solidifies Carola Lovering as a must-read author for me. Some readers might long for more of a thriller from this author, and I too would love to see her return to that genre one day, but for me Lovering is an author who is entertaining and satisfying in any genre because of her sheer talent and mastery at truthful emotion and heart. The ending of the book was a little unexpected, and very lovely.

Solid four star read for me and I can’t wait to read what Carola Lovering writes next.

Thanks to St. Martin’s, NetGalley, and the author for a touching and satisfying book with heart.

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I found this book to be a good read. It jumps around from several different characters perspectives but is always very clear on who is speaking in the chapter title. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how the title of the book fits the story. The story has a lot of twists and turns - many that you will be able to guess along the way - but flowed well and was enjoyable. It will surely remind you of a previous relationship or two from your youth. Molly was a relatable main character and I believe you will find yourself routing her on. I would recommend this book.

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At first sight, Molly Diamond falls in love with Jake Danner, lead singer of a rock group. The story is narrated by Molly, Jake, and Sabrina, one of Jake’s previous loves, and switches back and forth between the past and the present, which made me pay close attention. It’s a primer on relationships and all the ups and downs that take place. None of the characters are particularly likable and I quickly figured out what was going to happen in the end, Nonetheless, I enjoyed the story and thank the publisher and NetGalley for my copy of Can’t Look Away.

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Marketed as a thriller, this was actually much more - with both elements of a thriller and a romance. I normally don’t like romance novels or love stories, but the story intertwined with the stalker aspect really worked for this novel. Told from multiple perspectives over the span of a decade, this book kept me turning the pages. While a majority is predictable, some parts did make me gasp aloud. This is the second of Lovering’s novels that I have read and I believe I can consider myself a fan. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review this ARC.

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