** spoiler alert ** I honestly couldn't get enough of this book. It gave me definite YOU (from Netflix) vibes, so it was really thrilling and fun to read. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and couldn't read quickly enough. I also love reading books that use different POVs, and this one gave you 3 POVs I believe. Also, the back and forth between present and past at different times was great too because it really gave you a sense of everything that was going on in the character's past that led them to behave/think a certain way in the present. Sabrina honestly scared me a bit - I wasn't sure how far she was going to go. She did have a bit of a character arc, which I'm not sure exactly how I feel about because she was so manipulative. I wish the ending of the book lasted a bit longer because I did feel like the culmination of everything the book was leading up to was a bit rushed, but still good regardless. My favorite quotes from the book were -

"There was a folded note on the kitchen counter, and as Jake picked it up, he was flooded with a series of memories of the two of them there in that very spot: Jake extending a wooden spoon of warm pasta sauce for Molly to taste; Molly topping off their glasses with more wine, an intrigued smile on her face as she sat watching him cook; her spine arched against the laminate as he pressed his mouth to her neck while the sauce simmer; the sound of her laugh, wild and deep"

and

"...past the powder room they've wallpapered with old covers of The New Yorker and Life - half of each, their dreams combined" how frickin cute!

5/5 stars!

I wanted so badly to like this more than I did. It was good, but not great. Interesting premise and meh execution. I just felt like Molly and Sabrina talked in circles a lot, and half of their chapters just said the same things over and over again. It was almost... boring? Not a lot happens, and then the ending just falls flat. Definite miss for me.
I probably would not recommend this to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC!

The marketing has falsely enticed me to read this mediocrity, when Can't Look Away was touted to be a 'sexy suspense novel' about obsessive love, I was anticipating something along the line of Rock Paper Scissors (Alice Feeney), or even He Will Be My Ruin (K.A. Tucker), but this was really just a slightly dramatic women's fiction in disguise, and a pretty bland one at that.

This review might be partially unfair because I'm judging it against how it was conveyed to me (and comparing to my typical reading preference), instead of its rightful intent (and impression from an appropriate audience).

Can't Look Away comes across like a bad Lifetime movie, with shallow characters and melodramatic clichés. I'm not the reader who enjoy stories of middle class suburban wives digging up past affairs to afflict emotional turmoil towards each other (while complaining about country club membership), and that is basically the crux of the novel. The 'suspense' only exists structurally (multiple perspectives and time jumps to disorient and distract), instead of embedding within its narrative and building up to a meaningful climax. There's no chemistry or steam in the romance department either (I recall a kiss was as physical as it get on page), and characters are just generic White people being generically miserable ('he loves work more than me!' / 'She's my muse I can't live without her.' / 'I need vengeance because my husband is still emotionally attached to her.').

Overall, I was sold one thing and I got another — Can't Look Away was a cringe to get through for me, but I'm sure there's an audience for it as long as it's been correctly promoted.

A compelling read with likable characters and relatable feelings. Evocative, and engaging. Great escapism!

I literally could not put this book down - it was absolutely my vibe of book, a little twisty, subtly dark, human… I devoured this in a day, and look forward to more from this author.

Can't Look Away introduces us to Molly and Jake, drawn together instantly and deeply. They're young and full of plans for the future - Molly wants to be a writer, and Jake a rock star. The story follows their journeys - both together and apart. Several unexpected twists and turns shatter their plans and their relationship, but both never really let go. I wanted to know what happened to them both (and cared about it!), and wasn't disappointed.

First, I would like to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review

Through a series of time lapses, this story follows Molly throughout her twenties and early thirties. Molly was once a young writer that caught the eye of Jake, an up and coming Rockstar, and they fell in love. Now, Molly is a young mother and married to Hunter.
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As you follow Molly through her relationships and life, you also see Molly through the lens of Jake’s ex. Sabrina becomes dangerously obsessed with Molly.
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Overall, I think this book was pretty good. It occasionally felt a little long, but all of the parts tied together nicely. Through all of the big twists I love that the end came together so well.

Can't Look Away by Carola Lovering. Not for me,, slow moving with too much angst, jealousy, and unlikable characters in the book. Couldn't relate to the story or characters. Ms Lovering's fans will most likely enjoy it.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Holy hell, what a wild ride.
This book is told in a flip flopping timeline from multiple points of view.

A few chapters in, you realize this is not going to be a stereotypical romance novel.
It's! So! Good!
You fall in love with the characters, you get wrapped up in their drama, their lives, their love, their heartbreak. Lovering wrote this exceptionally well.

There were many times I had to put it down and take some deep breaths because the ANXIETY! the ANTICIPATION!

It was exciting, genuine, creepy, drama-filled, and wonderful.
A few of the plot twists were a bit predictable, but I very much enjoyed this and would recommend!

Can’t Look Away Review

Ah I can already tell this is going to be one of my favorites from 2022! This book was fantastic. It sits somewhere in between being a romance and a mystery, and I thought it had a good combination of both which is really unusual for the genre. I was equally invested in the back storyline and the current storyline as all of the characters began to collide.

This book has a bit of a love triangle or almost a love square. The main character is Molly, who has moved to Connecticut with her sweet husband Hunter and their young daughter Stella. She has been struggling to make friends, but she majorly hits it off with Sabrina, only to discover Sabrina has a unique connection to Molly already. I thought the romance was so heartfelt in this one, and it really solidified a place as a favorite for me with the ending.

Read this if you:
*like Blink-182
*have ever dated someone in a band
*have ever wanted to be a writer
*have ever wanted to teach yoga/Pilates
*love a good character driven story

This is my third book by this author and it did NOT disappoint. Truly might be my favorite one yet. That epilogue though *chefs kiss*. I was invested in the characters and how it would end up. Shows the great length’s people will go to in order to get what they want.

Thank you NetGalley & St Martins Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: June 14

2013: Molly Diamond, a 23-year old New Yorker barista and wannabe writer, is almost finished with her studies when she meets Jake Danner, the lead singer of a band. They fall fast and hard for each other. As his band’s debut album skyrockets up the charts, he writes a song about Molly (creatively titled “Molly’s Song”) that ends up being the biggest hit from the group.

2022: Molly now lives in a Connecticut suburb, married to a man named Hunter, and with a 5-year old daughter named Stella. She’s given up writing, and now teaches yoga instead. When she hears a new acoustic version of “Molly’s Song” on the radio (sung by Jake himself), she can’t help but remember him...as much as she has tried to forget him over the years after their breakup.

Meanwhile, Molly makes a new friend in the neighborhood. Sabrina and her husband have recently moved to town, and Molly meets her at the yoga studio. They instantly hit it off and become close. But Sabrina has secrets...and an agenda all her own.

This is being marketed as a mystery/thriller, and that is absolutely, certifiably, 100% false. It’s a domestic drama with maybe the slightest hint of suspense. I think many readers who pick this up will be disappointed, but now you’ve been warned and know what you’re getting into.

That being said, I still enjoyed this for the most part - in the same way I would maybe enjoy a Lifetime movie...not realizing it was a Lifetime movie until I was already sucked in by the overdramatic plot. There are no twists (IMHO), and nothing surprised me...and yet I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

Everything is wrapped up in the end. All that’s missing is a pretty red bow. I actually enjoyed the finale, but other readers may find it a bit too perfect.

Overall, it’s a quick and entertaining DRAMA that doesn’t require too much brain power, but nevertheless hooks with its back and forth timeline and interesting characters.

3.5 stars rounded down.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a widget of the ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 6/14/22.

Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com

When Molly meets Jake, there are fireworks, stars, little birdies flying around tweeting hearts…because this is the real deal. Molly and Jake have a love story that is unbreakable---they are meant to be and neither can deny it. But when the stress of Jake’s band tours becomes too much for Molly, she realizes that it’s time for her to grow up and face reality. But what does that look like when Molly and Jake find each other again 7 years later? Really fun read and definitely hard to put down. This one left me thinking about the character for days after I was done reading the book. Will definitely look for more by this author in the future!

Special Note: Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of Molly, Jake, Hunter and Sabrina and how their lives intertwine. Molly is a writer who wasn’t. Jake was a Rock Star who isn’t. Hunter is a good man, a husband and father. Sabrina is rich, spoiled and self centered. I won’t go into the plot any further because of spoilers, but will tell readers I was reading the next development when I should have been otherwise occupied. Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC for an honest review.

From the author of Tell Me Lies and Too Good To Be True, Carola Lovering's newest novel is about the kind of addictive, obsessive love that keeps you coming back--no matter how hard you try to look away.

Pub Date: June 14, 2022
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐💫

At 23, Molly Diamond is a barista in NYC and dreaming of becoming a writer. She locks eyes with Jake, lead singer of an up and coming band, at a concert one night and they fall quickly and deeply in love. Fast forward a decade and Molly has given up writing and lives with her young daughter and husband Hunter in a wealthy suburb outside of the city. Hunter is everything Jake wasn't, but Molly still finds herself not quite happy as she struggles to make friends and to conceive their 2nd child. Enter: Sabrina. Sabrina and her husband recently moved to Molly's neighborhood and she finally finds the perfect friend she's been looking for. But are things really as they seem?

If you read this description and think this will be a fast paced suspense -- you would have had the same thought as me and also sadly be wrong! This is more of a slow burn domestic drama exploring questions about identity, love, family, and coming of age. For what I thought this book would be, I was pretty disappointed. If I had gone in realizing it was not a thriller, I think I would have enjoyed it much more.

Thanks to @netgalley @stmartinspress and the author for the ARC!

Another unique, fun, and intriguing read by Carola Lovering! Fantastic writing style with absolutely perfection in character development! Very realistic, fast paced, and unputdownable! Kept me turning pages, as I could not get enough! It does have some small twisty turns, chills, thrills, and shocks, but not in a regular thriller way! Highly, highly recommend!

This book was absolutely riveting!

This is a story of love and obsession and how far someone will go to get what they want.

Molly Diamond meets the love of her life, Jake Danner, when she sees him perform with his band. They fall in love quickly and move in together. Things are going well for them until Molly gets an email from an unknown sender showing Jake kissing another woman while he is on tour. Things start to go downhill from there in the relationship.

Fast forward 7 years and Molly is living in a small town with her husband, Hunter, and their little girl. Molly is lonely and does not seem to fit in well with the women in town. She is also going through fertility treatment trying to conceive a second child. When Sabrina, the new girl in town, attends a yoga class that Molly is teaching, she thinks she may have found someone in town she actually likes. This is further confirmed when she sees Sabrina at one of her doctors appointments and realizes that she is struggling with fertility issues as well. Molly and Sabrina become fast friends, but Sabrina has an agenda. Her connection to Molly is slowly revealed.

If you are on the fence about this one, just get it! You won't be disappointed.

I thought this book was great! The pace, the backstory, the flashbacks, everything came together for an easy-to-read, fast book. I loved Carola Lovering’s first book but I think I liked this one even better!!

This is a story about first love and forever love. Jake Danner is a rising rock star when he meets Molly and falls in love. As his band takes off the travel and distance puts there love too the test. Molly is a budding writer hoping to get published. Molly is his muse which has led to him writing a song about her that is a hit and establishes his band.
Then fast forward to 10 yrs later and Molly is married to Hunter and she has a daughter. Molly life looks perfect to the outside world but Molly is struggling. Unable to conceive a second child, out of place in the burbs and no longer writing, Molly is lonely. When Molly meets Sabrina at her yoga calls she thinks she finally has a friend.

When a new version of Jake hit about Molly is released, she is forced to remember and the pain and secrets of the past.

How will molly deal with the thoughts and feelings for her first love? Will Molly decide to after her dream of writing after all this time? How did molly end up married to Hunter?

The book is called Can’t look away but truly it is can’t put it down. It is an incredible journey that will keep you ip at night until you get to the end.

Thank you to Netgalley for complimentary copy.

First, I would like to say thank you to Carola Lovering, NetGalley, and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this ARC of Can’t Look Away!

Carola Lovering has done it again with this great read! The story revolves around the main character, Molly Diamond, and her life with three main people: Jake, Hunter, and Sabrina.

Her relationship with Jake has so many ups and downs that come with dating the lead singer of a popular band. She finds solace with a new friend, Hunter, who she ultimately marries. Sabrina comes into Molly’s life just as she needs someone who understands everything that she is going through. The question is whether or not Sabrina is really who she says she is!

There were definitely some twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. I love how well the story wraps up at the end and how everyone seems to finally find some peace in life’s decisions.