Whew. Heavier than expected. Great book, but not my usual vibes. And ugh, Carol Lovering does an amazing job at creating a very unlikable character.

Thanks for the advanced copy. Gotta move along to something a little puffy and fluffy now.

1–after reading the book, the cover and the title are perfect.

2-would’ve been five stars if there weren’t so many issues/topics sprinkled throughout the book: influencers, social status, trauma, Alzheimer’s, several content warnings that I don’t want to list bc they are potential spoilers. But it was a lot.

3-you will love/hate all of the characters for so many different reasons, you won’t know who you were rooting for in the end. I cringed so hard at both Billie and Cassie but also had moments where I was impressed with them.

4-when it’s all said and done, Cassie and Billie were trauma bonded and oh so toxic. I was very satisfied with the ending. Didn’t even need an epilogue.

It's a five ⭐ for sure. Carola Lovering always delivers an edgy story with messy characters and she's unflinching in pulling back the covers on all of the ways humans are so less than perfect. She throws her literary light on Narcissistic behaviors, the toxicity and pull of female friendships and exactly how far people are willing to go for what they think they need. The writing is flawless. Annotators rejoice this book is full of so many passages that will make you stop and think and breathe. If you've ever loved someone so fiercely ( and maybe for the wrong reasons ) that you lose sight of yourself, if you've ever outgrown a friendship or known the deep pain of being outgrown this one is for you. I wanted to shake Billie multiple times and honestly if this was a paperback I would have thrown it across the room more than once I also wanted to throat punch Cassie, though I felt for her and what she was put through. Even though some of it felt deserved. I read the last 20 percent with my heart in my throat. There's a scene in a late night pizzeria that had me literally cringing for Billie. Ultimately, Lovering leaves us breathless and spent in all the good ways. Put this one on the top of your TBR piles for March, 2024! Thanks to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for an early ARC of this.

I don’t even know what to say about this one! Told in flashbacks and present day, it’s a story of two friends and how they’ve grown apart. Cassie is a micro influencer, married to a hedge fund manager and busy being a mom to a 4 month old. Billie is a single travel agent to the rich, jetting off on business trips, and casually dating a cop. There is “before” and “after” Cassie’s baby is taken. And the story unfolds from there.

Cassie was insufferable! I truly disliked her from the start. She was clearly someone obsessed with money and superficial things. She doesn’t even seem to like her husband that much, and she treats Billie horribly. This is especially prevalent when the story goes into flashback mode. Billie is a complicated character as well, bending to Cassie’s every whim, dealing with the clear distaste. It’s exhausting.

But the book itself was a page turner for sure. I’d recommend it!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

WHEW this is not for the lighthearted. This one is heavy. I kind of wish there was more of a warning for what you were getting from reading this. It’s good, the writing is great, but it is a book that will weigh you down for sure.

3.5
It’s been Cassie and Billie for twenty-three years. There friendship an inseparable bond against the world. From the tender age of twelve all the way until Cassie married Grant it was just the two of them. Love evolves and grows and with time that love changes but never dies.
…
For three years Billie watched Cassie’s life just like her thousands of followers from her phone and app where Cassie posted her life events on social media. Billie knew Cassie was destined for a difficult life she watched her friend desire the finer things in life. After college she knew Cassie was on the hunt for a man with old money. Billie thought there would be room for her at the top. Cassie cut her out so easily while Billy watched McKay take the spot she once held.
…
Then something remarkable happened and Cassie began to need Billie again. Billie pushed aside everything that mattered to her because Cassie is her number one priority.
…
Bye, Baby is a story about motherhood, friendship, and loyalty. As Carola Lovering explains each one of these topics readers learn how Cassie and Billie made pivotal choices that altered their lives. I admired Carola Lovering for broaching a topic about motherhood in both aspects because Billie’s story isn’t one that gets enough attention and it matters.
…
Carola Lovering writes with a flourishing passion about motherhood. Her writing style is unique and original. Threaded within the story is a subtle thriller aspect regarding the missing baby. For the most part this story deals with the relationship between Cassie and Billie from the age of twelve up until they are thirty-five and how there friendship withstood the test of time until life carved new paths for them in ways that redefined the relationship.
…
While the opening scene is misleading making readers believe your about to read a story about a missing baby that’s not what happens. It’s true Billie takes Cassie’s baby. Before readers begin to understand why Carola Lovering delves into the past as well as the present to show how Cassie has treated Billie over the years. Billie wanted to be recognized as a loyal friend. This was the way she knew could garner that attention. What you are solving is the reason why Billie chose to take Cassie’s baby.
…
Usually people experience this type of love and devotion in a committed relationship, yet Billie holds the same respect for Cassie as she did when they were twelve year old kids. While live comes in many forms this friendship is a true testament to how love is expressed between friends.

I was intrigued to read Bye, Baby because I couldn't stop watching Lovering's Tell Me Lies on Hulu. I got the same sense of drama and relationships in this book. I could no without all of the Influencer stuff because that makes my stomach turn. I enjoyed the parts about the friendship and how it changed. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Four stars.

A twisted female friendship that goes too far? How could I not like this! While I do think the ending wrapped things up perfectly. I just felt like it was missing something.

I discussed Lovering’s books after Tell Me Lies was adapted by Hulu and I’m so happy I did. Lovering does a really great job of depicting toxic relationships. There’s not that many books out there that focus on toxic female friendships and I’m happy that Lovering decided to give her own spin on it.

Billie and Cassie are two women who have been friends since childhood. Like many, they’ve drifted apart over the years and Billie wants what they once had. I love how modern this story is and how you can relate to both women. Cassie has become a superficial influencer and Billie is on the outside looking in at her life through Instagram.

The story is told by two povs. I loved reading both sides of the story along with past chapters. They were bonded through trauma and secrets and trauma brings these two together again. I was on the edge of my seat while reading and couldn’t put this book down!

After reading the first chapter, I knew I’d be hooked. I was drawn into this book so quickly and stayed interested until the very end. I thought it would be more thriller/mystery, but I really liked what it ended up being.

Billie and Cassie have been friends since childhood. They’ve gone through it all together and have shared secrets and trauma that have bonded them for life. Well, at least in Billie’s opinion. For the past few years, their friendship has drifted apart, which has somewhat angered and hurt Billie, who is pretty obsessed with her former best friend. All of this culminates into one night: when Billie kidnaps Cassie’s four-month-old daughter.

When I first started reading Bye, Baby I felt very drawn to Billie. I think at some point in their lives, everyone feels like Billie did. But does everyone steal their former best friend’s baby? No. This book takes a situation and makes you think about what’s right and what’s wrong and who is more wrong in these situations, and I thought it was very powerful. My opinions flip flopped throughout the whole book and I love that the author was able to do that.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I wasn’t able to put it down. Definitely going to be a big hit in 2024. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Carola Lovering for the eARC!!

This was a face paced story about a life long friendship, secrets and the damage they can cause. I really enjoyed how character driven this story was. The author did a great job of connecting me with both POV’s. Though I don’t feel like this was a thriller, I did enjoy it.

Bye, Baby is a domestic drama about Billie and Cassie, long-time friends who live in NYC but aren't as close as they once were. Billie is desperate to get their friendship back to what it was, but Cassie is now very wealthy, an influencer, has a baby, and is just generally very superficial.
This book is not a thriller or mystery but is more about the toxic relationship between Cassie and Billie. It is told in Cassie's and Billie's POVs and includes chapters about their past growing up. Something happens in high school that bonds them forever.
I wanted Billie to give Cassie a big "F... You" for the way Cassie treats her. Cassie is too concerned with her wealthy lifestyle and influencer life that she doesn't have time for Billie anymore. Billie as a character needed to know when to cut ties.
The kidnapping was a little unbelievable because I'm sure a high-priced apartment building would have more security and/or cameras.
Overall, I was engaged in the story. The characters were flawed and not particularly likeable, but I wanted to see how it ended.

I have no idea why I thought I would enjoy this. annoying amount of brand references, idc that one character is an influencer, and what I thought would be a thriller/mystery ended up just being an slog through a friendship between two pretty annoying people. gratuitous sexual assault for no good reason I could see other than trying too hard to add ~layers~ to a character. the pace was decent and it was an easy enough read.

Cassie and Billie are the best of childhood friends, but sometimes even best friends grow apart. What they do and for each other is a complicated web of love, jealousy, and deceit. Not so much a mystery…more of a mystery mixed with drama.

Wow, “Bye, Baby” was a book that I couldn’t put down. I didn’t think I loved it as I was reading it because the characters were aggravating at times, but I found that I was thinking about the book often when I wasn’t reading it. The relationship between Cassie and Billie is very much one that could take place in real life, so a lot of the story is relatable for anybody that has grown apart from a friend in real life.

Do people in real life steal their best friends babies on accident? Probably not, but once you are reading the book, it feels a lot more possible than I thought it would when I read the description to begin with. The alternating perspectives were a nice change of pace, as we got to know both characters on a personal level. This was a good, somewhat suspenseful read that I’d recommend to anyone interested in women’s fiction with slight thriller vibes.

Thank you NG and the publisher for providing me the ARC of this book.

This book had me hooked on the first page. Its about so many parts of life. A pair of women who grew up best friends, an abusive step-father, a gold digger, an abduction....and so much more. Cassie and her best friend Billie share everything....well until Cassie meets a well to do young man and Billie feels abandoned by her. Two events impact their lives and continue to cause their friendship to change and later spiral out of control. Read this book if you have ever needed the love and trust of a good friend......I enjoyed it very much and look forward to more from this author.

Lovering's latest kept me on the edge of my seat from the very first page and I truly couldn't put it down. The element of a baby being involved added a layer of suspense and anxiety I wasn't prepared for, but couldn't look away from. A fast read that had me turning pages late into the night!

Carola Lovering does it again! This is one of my most anticipated releases of 2024 and I am SO thrilled to have been able to read it early (thank you St. Martin’s Press!!). She is the master of developing characters and the complexities of relationships... and that dynamic is ever present in Bye, Baby too.

The lead relationship in this book is a toxic friendship, which was such a breath of fresh air. I love domestic suspense, but friendship suspense totally needs to be more of a thing. As women, we all know what it can be like to have that one friend who you can’t live with or without… and this book captures that dynamic brilliantly.

5 huge gold stars for this one! Consider it a must for your 2024 TBR (out 3/5/24)

Synopsis (from Netgalley, the provider of the book for me to review.)
*********************************************************
A missing baby. A fraught friendship. A secret that can never be told.

On a brisk fall night in a New York apartment, 35-year-old Billie West hears terrified screams. It's her lifelong best friend Cassie Barnwell, one floor above, and she's just realized her infant daughter has gone missing. Billie is shaken as she looks down into her own arms to see the baby, remembering—with a jolt of fear—that she is responsible for the kidnapping that has instantly shattered Cassie’s world.

So begins the story of Billie and Cassie's friendship--both in recent weeks, and since they met twenty-three years ago, in their small Hudson Valley hometown the summer before seventh grade. Once fiercely bonded by their secrets, including a traumatic, unspeakable incident in high school, Cassie and Billie have drifted apart in adulthood, no longer the inseparable pair they used to be. Cassie is married to a wealthy man, has recently become a mother, and is building a following as a fashion and lifestyle influencer. She is desperate to leave her past behind--including Billie, who is single and childless, and no longer fits into her world. Hurt and rejected by Cassie’s new priorities, Billie will do anything to restore their friendship, even as she hides the truth about what really happened the night the baby was taken.

Told in alternating perspectives in Lovering’s signature suspenseful style, Bye Baby confronts the myriad ways friendships change and evolve over time, the lingering echoes of childhood trauma, and the impact of women’s choices on their lifelong relationships.

Influencers. Sigh. #getalife
This is a wonderfully suspenseful book that will keep you guessing about what the truth was that night of the kidnapping … it is not what you expect. Friendships are always tricky things but add in jealousy, deceit, lies and bitter, unpalatable truths. Crafted to be utterly readable, I highly enjoyed this book and will recommend it far and wide to friends, family, and patrons alike. #shortbutsweetreviews

This is my third book by Carola Lovering and it was excellent like the other two. This one had me on my toes the whole time and I was enthralled by the story. This story shows how complicated relationships can be as people grow older and their lives change. I liked the shift between the current day events and what happened to the two main characters starting from when they first because friends and their shared past trauma and how it shaped them.