Bye, Baby starts with the protagonist, Billy, kidnapping her best friend's child. I would recommend the book for people who enjoy books with complicated female friendships.

Sense of Horrific Purpose

I was surprised at the premise of this novel and the brilliant details of the plot. Friendship between girls and women can be beautiful and sometimes life-altering.

Two best friends, Cassie and Billie, from different backgrounds become best friends as young girls. Cassie has a solid family while Billie’s mother has early onset Alzheimer’s disease and she is remarried to Wade, a man who takes her money and violates Billie. Their friendship falls apart; Cassie marries a rich man and Billie suffers from the loss of their friendship and her own demons.

There is a big secret in their past that both have hidden. The effects of this trauma and friendship is presented in alternating viewpoints, which is presented by each girl. I was surprised in every chapter as the Lovering built the plot, suspense and lifestyle choices.

The perspective of the plot culminates in the kidnapping of Cassie’s baby girl. Childhood trauma has brought Billie and Cassie to the lowest point. Their bond reaches a pinnacle of disaster. The author has created a cliff-hanger and kept me guessing to the very end. The caliber of the writing and plot design were worthy of every minute of my time.

My gratitude to NetGalley and Macmillan for this pre-published book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Bye Baby is a dark thrilling sexy masterpiece of a book. It isn't so much a thriller as it is more drama that focuses on friendship and motherhood. I didn't love any of the characters, but I think that was intended by the author. The relationships were dynamic, complicated and interesting. There was a lot to explore and a few mysteries that carefully unraveled. I devoured this book.

Thank you to the author, Carola Lovering, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC. The book was released yesterday, March 5, 2024. Make sure to pick it up and support your local bookstore in the process.

Bye, Baby reminds me of single white female a bit.. childhood friends. secrets and a kidnapped baby . Cassie and Billie have a bizarre friendship. A little slow sometimes but i liked the story . Told between Cassie and Billie and also past and present. A dark take of the childhood best friends we have and how it changes when we get older and realize not all friendships are good.

So, I am 2 for 2 in books that have just not landed for me.

Sadly, I was really excited for this one and I found it rather boring.

I do appreciate the opportunity and thank you to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

Craving an absorbing book that’ll keep you guessing? with a pinch of toxicity? Carola Lovering has you covered— Happy Pub Day BYE, BABY! ✨

GENRE: Drama/Suspense
MY RATING: 🌟🌟🌟💫 (3.5/5)
#gifted @stmartinspress / @macmillan.audio — tysm!

READ IF YOU LIKE:
▫️Past/present timelines 🕰️
▫️Character driven stories
▫️Dual POV
▫️Drama/suspense/mystery novels
▫️Slow burn 🔥
▫️Influencers
▫️NYC🗽

MY THOUGHTS:
No one blends drama, suspense, and toxic relationships better than Carola Lovering!!! ❤️‍🔥 She truly has perfected the craft of creating memorizing novels without being true thrillers. That’s a fine line to balance, so bravo to her! 🤩

Bye, Baby is full of juicy drama that kept going until the end! Told from the POV of two best friends, these two women were SO unlikable in the best way!! Aka I wanted to hate them but I kept coming back to feeling for their struggles, dark sides, and secrets 😩🫢

RATING EXPLAINED:
This was super bingeable! The pace was a little back & forth IMO— some parts were fast, some slow. 🤔 I did find some of the story repetitive after awhile... but by the end I felt like I needed more to the plot? Lol idk what the disconnect was butttt I can’t complain too much bc I was soooo easily entertained! Still recommend 🤗

Lovering is becoming an author I don’t want to pass on reading! This was my second book of hers. I think I prefer Can’t Look Away more over this one. I haven’t read Tells Me Lies but WOW did I drink that toxic sh!t up on Hulu when it came out 😂 can’t wait for season 2!!! 🎬

DETAILS:
▫️Published: 3/5/24
▫️Pages: 352
▫️Format: Audio
▫️Check TWs!

Meet Billie and Cassie, besties since childhood… until a traumatic event alters their friendship forever.

Years later, Cassie has married a wealthy man and is a new mother, she has wealthy friends, her own high end business and a social media presence with a high follower count. Billie is doing well in her career, has new friends and a new boyfriend. But she still considers Cassie her best friend, even though Cassie ignores her. Until the night Billie finds that she has “accidentally” kidnapped Cassie’s baby.

This is a story about friendship and ambition and the after effects of childhood trauma. Cassie and Billie both drove me crazy with the choices they made and the author really made Cassie out to be unlikeable. But, I was satisfied with the ending as it wasn’t what I would have expected.

Hands down the best book I have read so far this year. This is a novel about the challenges of childhood friendships throughout time — and also a stolen baby.
The characters so complex. I kept catching myself considering if Cassie was actually good, right after deciding I hated her. I was rooting for Billie, until I wasn’t. And then I was again. Their relationship is defined by codependency while simultaneously growing apart, and I think it made an interesting narrative. I think the ending was my favorite ending out of any book so far. I find that this author’s endings give me the same feeling of unsatisfied resolution, and I kinda love it.

I couldn’t put this book down. Every free moment I had was spent with this book for 3 days.

Bye, Baby delves deep into the intricacies of female friendship, exploring themes of loyalty, growth, and the consequences of change. The alternating perspectives between Billie and Cassie gives a multi-dimensional view of their relationship, making the narrative dynamic and engaging. The prologue's gripping prologue of Cassie's missing baby sets the stage for a story filled with suspense and emotional depth. We know that Billie takes the baby but what led her to her actions is discovered a little later. It was difficult for me to empathize with Cassie’s character because of her blatant meanness towards Billie. The exploration of social media's influence on relationships adds a contemporary layer to the narrative. Cassie’s obsession to share her life to the world is so relatable, as is Billie’s stalker-like behavior by following Cassie’s every move online. While the pacing may be slower at times, the insightful commentary on friendship and demise of a toxic one make this book a compelling read. Overall, "Bye, Baby" seems to be a thought-provoking exploration of friendship dynamics, with relatable characters and relevant themes that resonated with me.

This is the first book I have read by Carola Lovering. It was very enjoyable and an easy read. This was a very fast passed read. Cassie and Billie were friends since they were kids and through college until Cassie started to change and move on. Billie doesn't understand why Cassie is pulling away and keeps trying to stay in contact. It really became a one sided friendship but Billie wouldn't give up. The story actually starts when Cassie's baby goes missing and Billie can hear her screaming that her baby is missing when she looks down into her arms and see's she is actually holding Cassie's baby. The chapters go back and fourth in Cassie's and Billie's first person point of view. This had you on the edge of your seat to see what happens. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

2.5/5
I wouldn't classify Bye, Baby as a mystery/thriller. I think doing so is a disservice to getting the right audience to read the book. It doesn't really have the speed or suspense of a thriller and the reader knows the "mystery" in the book pretty early on. This book reminded me a lot of The Push by Ashley Audrain. A psychological drama with a lot of triggers. I didn't enjoy reading the book as there was a lot of toxic relationships and none of the characters were likable to me. Not the book for me, but both those looking for a more women's literature focused on female relationships and overcoming terrible situations might really enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for granting me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of Bye Baby by Carola Lovering. I enjoyed this book but it was definitely not a thriller. It was really about friendship, loyalty, motherhood, and social status. The book had me engrossed and I didn't want to put it down. It was good right from the beginning up until the end. It was fast paced. I would definitely recommend this book to others. A 4 star rating.

Billie and Cassie have been best friends since they were kids. When they go off to college, their friendship begins to change as Cassie is intent on reinventing herself while Billie is attempting to build a life on her dream of travel. Now, several years later, Cassie has almost entirely extricated Billie from her life as she achieves everything she wanted: A rich husband. A posh life. Thousands of followers on Instagram whom she rewards with constant updates of every minutiae in her life. During her 35th birthday party, her baby, Ella disappears. And, suddenly, ironically, she needs Billie in her life again. (If you read the blurb, you already know who has taken Ella.)

Carola Lovering has given us a fascinating character study in Bye, Baby, one that may leave the reader sometimes feeling frustrated. It certainly left this reader feeling frustrated and perhaps a little disappointed.

At its core is the frequently one-sided friendship between Billie and Cassie. Billie thinks it’s two-sided, which arouses sympathy (and pity) for her naïveté. Cassie bursts into Billie’s life, makes her discard her previous best friend, and monopolizes Billie until they reach a point in time where Billie is no longer useful or wanted. The reader sees Cassie for who she is: a shallow narcissist.

There’s this funny thing that we readers do. We think because we know we’re reading fiction that the characters should act differently than real human beings; they should behave more ideally or how we would ideally want them to behave. Take Billie. She is sweet, loyal, a genuinely good person. Why is she so obsessed with Cassie? That question arises constantly as we read. Cassie is shallow, spoiled, and money-obsessed, which allows her to fit in very well with Instagram influencer popularity. Why is Billie obsessed with her? It’s an interesting situation, an interesting question. Why is anyone obsessed with celebrities on Instagram? Billie’s obsession is based on Cassie’s seeming to have her back, her loyalty, that she would do anything for Billie. (People who would do anything for Billie are becoming a rare commodity for teenage Billie.) But, Cassie has always been acting for herself, without regard for Billie. This knowledge comes far too late for Billie.

Because I feel constrained by not putting spoilers in my review, I don’t want to comment too much on the action. I do wonder, though, why Lovering seemed to “punish” Billie, whose crucial act in my opinion while bad was not as bad as Cassie’s. (Some might suggest that Cassie’s was justified, but the law (and morality) doesn’t envelope what anyone feels is deserved retribution.) Cassie, however, incurs a huge scare that puts a momentary damper on her life but allows her to continue as she did before–unpunished. Perhaps, Lovering would like us to feel that Billie was actually rewarded in the end by her newfound awareness?

I’ll just reiterate: this was a fascinating read albeit semi-frustrating.

Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy.

Bye, Baby is the newest novel by Carola Lovering. She also wrote Tell Me Lies which I didn’t love, but later was made into a pretty good Hulu mini series (I liked it more than the book). Going into this one I wasn’t sure what I would think, but the premise had me wanting to read it.

Bye, Baby classified as thriller, but I would not say it was. It was more a domestic mystery, or maybe slightly suspenseful. Overall I was compelled enough to finish the book, but it definitely felt a little long and drawn out. The story is about toxic friendships and female relationships. But mostly how change as the characters grow, and move into new stages of life. Plus throwing in the dynamics of social media, wealth/class and shared history.

“But people don’t always turn out to be what you decide they are when you’re younger. Even your closest friends. Loyalties can shift.”

Bye, Baby was a dual POV, written in both present time and flashbacks. The pieces of history we got about Cassie and Billie added to their current friend dynamic.

Lovering knows how to write really dislikable characters. I really only liked Alex, poor Alex. I just wanted to pluck him out of the madness, he was an innocent bystander.

Thank you St Martins Press and Netgalley for this eARC to read and review.

Cassie's baby is missing, and Billie, her best friend of 23 years, is the kidnapper. Told in alternating points of view, we find out how the two became friends and what leads up to the fateful night in question. As we find out why their relationship has become estranged, the story explores the myriad ways friendships change and evolve over time, especially when added in is a secret that can never be told. Unlikeable characters, tragic secrets, betrayal, and twisted revelations. Bye Bye Baby is a psychological thriller that keeps you in suspense until the end. The story drags a bit in places, so I highly recommend the audiobook to help keep the mementum.

A compelling story with just enough surprises to keep me flipping pages. Lovering does an excellent job crafting relatable characters and exploring long-lasting friendships that fade and come back in time - and the toxicity that can sprout up along with it! All in all, this was a good domestic thriller, and one that I could see my friends passing around at the pool all summer.

What a wild ride this book was! I was hooked from the prologue. I absolutely loved the dual POVs of childhood friends to adult acquaintances Billie and Cassie and the added dual timeline of their childhood into adulthood through Billie’s POV. I felt that the backstory was very detailed and thorough, to the point that it took me a little longer to read and understand.

I like that the title is a play on words from what the girls called themselves when they were young because of their love for Dirty Dancing, and the event that propels this entire story. Honestly I loved reading the prologue without any prior knowledge what this book was about, so I encourage you to do the same.

This is a messy domestic thriller-esque, I don’t know if this truly qualifies as a thriller, with messy family drama, toxic friendships, and unlikeable characters. Overall I loved it. One critique I have is the pacing was very good until the very end and there were characters and events that were introduced that didn’t feel completely necessary or didn’t go anywhere. But really, I loved how this was written and the story unfolded.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I had not read anything by this author before this book, but I requested it based on my best friend's love of Lovering's writing, and it was a solid read!

Billie and Cassie were close. They grew up together. Spent most of their 20s together. They've been through really hard things together. But now, their friendship is strained. Cassie doesn't want anything to do with Billie... that is, until her baby disappears, and Billie is the first person she calls. The problem is, Billie is the one who took the baby...

From the start, you're told that Billie is responsible, but you have no idea why she would do what she did. The journey of understanding, and backstory, and drama all folded together really well to tell a great story. It was long ish but never felt long.

Bonus, it mentioned the Azores in the first chapter, which is becoming a more popular travel destination in recent years but is also the land of my grandparents and all older relatives/ancestors. It's always cool to see an aspect of your life represented in fiction!

I loved this book! 5 stars! The author did a wonderful job writing about the complexity of a friendship that has shifted as life takes people in different directions. I found myself questioning Cassie's choices and having compassion for Billie. The story takes you on an emotional journey and the suspense keeps you turning pages!

This is a book that I have been very excited about. It is my first Carola Loveing book but I had heard so many good things about it.

Domestic thrillers can be hit or miss with me - but this one was a hit. A NYC setting introduces Cassie Barnwell who's infant daughter has gone missing. Cassie seems to have had it all - rich husband, new baby, social influencer with success and more. But in creating her perfect life who freezes out her former best friend Billie. Billie knows all of Cassie's secrets - including where the baby is.

Told from Cassie and Bilie's perspectives in alternating chapters this book held my interest with excellent story creation. It is a warped story of friendship with all the twists and drama that can go with it.