3.5 stars out of 5 - thanks to the publisher and author for the ARC! The blurb and the start gives away a lot about the story.

This is the tale of two childhood friends whose aspirations and goals have always been different, and as they grow older, it is apparent that this friendship is very one sided. Bonded by childhood trauma, these two have a secret that they will both carry to their grave. As they have grown older, they both have different views of what their adulthoods look like, and became even more apparent as Cassie gets engaged. Billie fought for a friendship that was not worth it, and her and Cassie were both selfish and delusional in their own ways. I did not really like Billie or Cassie, and it was sad how much Billie depended on her friendship with Cassie. It was more frustrating than anything because you just want her to give up trying to be back in Cassie's life.

This book is labeled as a mystery/thriller, but it is more of a slow burn and not much of a mystery. It was a fascinating story in some parts, but at some point, there were too many side characters who did not contribute much to the plot.

While I'm not sure I would label this book a thriller, it still managed to pull me in and keep me reading. Billie and Cassie have a toxic friendship that started when they were just 12 years old. They are now both in their mid-30's and have drifted apart. Their lives are so different. Cassie is married with a baby, living a life of luxury that she posts on social media for all to see. Billie on the other hand is still struggling to get by in her life, in her job, and in her relationships. One night Billie steals Cassie's baby. Why? What exactly happened between these 2 best friends to cause such a rift?

I really enjoyed the way this story unfolds. It starts off going back a couple months from when Billie stole the baby from the POV of both Billie and Cassie. We also see how their friendship develops overtime through Billie's flashback chapters. It's hard to really like either of the girls, but you definitely feel sorry for them both.

If you like gripping domestic suspense thrillers with a lot of character development, this is a winner.

4.5 stars

Wow, I just couldn’t get enough of this book. This is the first book I’ve read by Carola Lovering and I will definitely be reading the books she’s already published prior to

. Billie and Cassie’s relationship evolves throughout this book. From early on in life, and into their 30’s. The timeline goes back and forth from present to past. And we get a view into just how their relationship changes over time. Billie just needs to feel wanted by someone and looks for it within Cassie, but Cassie is too busy worrying about herself and her image. As this relationship deteriorates, I began to dislike Cassie a little more each day, and really feel for Billie.

This book provoked a slew of emotions for me. I really connected with Billie and wanted all the good things for her.

If you like a book with a great twist and good vs bad, I think this may be the one for you. The writing was great and I loved the story. I didn’t want to put it down once I started it! I switched back and forth between the book and the audio. The narrators did a great job and the girl who did Cassie did a great job of personifying her personality.

***Thank you Netgalley and St.Martin’s Press for an ARC copy in return for an honest review ***

The title Bye Baby does not refer to the disappearance of the child as some might think. It actually denotes the end of a long friendship between Cassie and Billie. the novel explores why friendships that have lasted for years or apparently for years finally ends. In this case the friendship was based on need and misconceptions. Both women when they were young and friendless needed each other and became close. Cassie wanted to escape the loss of a the upper class family she was raised in until her father lost it all. Billie was lonely and didn’t have friends.

By the time they are in college, the friendship starts to fray, but Billie doesn’t or won’t admit this. She always does Cassie’s bidding even going miles on her bike when Cassie wants her to come to visit her in college. Cassie is on the fringe of a life she has always wanted, but just can’t seem to achieve it, so she uses Billie to keep her company.

When Cassie finally has the life she always dreamt of,she wants to leave her old life including Billie behind. However Billie refuses to admit this even thought deep down she knows it’s true. When she realizes the real reason that Cassie killed Billie’s stepfather years before, she knows that Cassie was doing it more for herself than to revenge the wrongs he committed against Billie..

I consider this genre literary fiction with a sprinkling of suspense over who stole then returned Cassie’s baby, The reader knows the answer, so the suspense is really about whether Billie will be caught or not, and what will happen to her if she does. I will leave it at that. I liked the book but thought it required more than a reasonable suspension of disbelief.

Bye, Baby is a story about a friendship between Billie and Cassie that has run its course, at least for Cassie it has. Billie is a single woman in her mid thirties who is obsessed with the life of her childhood friend Cassie who seemingly has it all. Cassie has married up, has a new baby, her own clothing store and is Instagram famous. She has moved on from their childhood friendship but Billie can't seem to. She is left watching Cassies life through the lens of Instagram, and believe me Cassie posts everything there!
Their past is fraught with trauma that has bound them together until now. The relationships and the drama that go along with them seems very natural and real in this book, not forced at all. Billie has many cringe worthy moments in the story, as does narcissistic Cassie but the characters and their relationships have been so well developed that they are completely plausible. I laughed out loud, cringed within, and cried during Bye, Baby so all in all a great book that covered the gamut of emotions.
Thank you for an ARC of Bye, Baby this is my honest review.

Keeping this short and sweet - Carola Lovering continues to be an auto-buy author! Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity.

Such a great and captivating read. It kept me hooked the entire time. I love the relationships in all of her books and how real they all feel.

Bye, Baby begins with Billie taking her bestfriend’s baby. Throughout this dual timeline and dual POV story, as we are trying to figure out why Billie did this, we are also introduced to the lives of two women navigating social status, broken families, motherhood, and friendship.

This book was so much more than just a mystery. I was so intrigued by the mundane social drama that each friend was facing. Overall, I really enjoyed it.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an advanced copy of this book!

This was an interesting read. Another one that I think I may have DNF if I wasn’t listening to it via audio. Dual POV and multiple timeline with some interesting twists thrown in. A story of friendships and those friendships dissolving. A woman who struggles to fit in and then does something unimaginable. But that unimaginable thing to me seemed so odd and quick that I just wasn’t sure how a whole story was written about it. Cassie is insufferable with her influencer ways and clearly only living for status. Billie is a trauma victim and simply trying to get her best friends attention. I finished and am still kind of asking myself what was the point.

Billie and Cassie are lifelong friends. But lately it seems more one sided which leads one of them to do something unthinkable.

This was my first Lovering book and I liked it, but didn’t love it. It is tagged as a mystery/ thriller and it isn’t at all. It’s a women’s fiction drama. I think if you go into to knowing that you will enjoy it more than I did.

The story is told in dual POVs (the lifelong friends) and dual timelines (past and present). I love when books have this. Lovering’s writing was very good and unveiled things at a good pace.

Both characters have something traumatic happen to them, which made me feel bad for them. However I still could not connect with either of them throughout the whole book and didn’t really like either one.

The ending really wrapped up everything very well and I think the best thing about the book. *3.5 stars rounded up*

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an advanced copy of the book!

This book was about a friendship or rather two frenemies. Billie and Cassie meet when they're in middle school. They're now in their mid-30s, living in NYC, and over each other. Kind of.

Cassie is a gold digger, who has been trying to get into the world of old money since her dad lost their family fortune when she was a child. Billie is in awe of her the moment they meet. Billie's home life is not good. Her step dad is a perv and her mom has early Alzheimer's.

The book alternates between the women both in the past and present day. Both are very flawed and it was hard to like either of them. Though part of the uncomfortable feelings were seeing parts of myself in both. Female friendships can definitely have a lot of jealousy. Which is part of the issue with Cassie and Billie.

Lovering kept me interested with her writing style. The drama about the baby wasn't interesting, but the thoughts and actions of the women kept me engaged.

Check this out when it hits shelves March 5. Thank you to netgalley for the arc!

I received an ARC of this thanks to NetGalley. Thank you!

This book had me hooked from the very beginning. I enjoyed how it went back and forth between the multiple main characters, also between current and present. While what Billie did was extreme, it gave a good viewpoint of the crazy things people do because of jealousy.

I really liked this book. It definitely hooks you from the beginning. I liked that you got to hear from both characters perspectives.

I LOVE Carola Lovering. I will truly read anything she writes and I’m just obsessed with her books. Nothing will ever top Tell Me Lies for me but I have always enjoyed each book she’s written.

Bye, Baby was another great read full of mystery, intrigue, pain and hope. There were two POVs and multiple timelines, so you really need to pay attention to what’s going on otherwise you’ll miss key moments happening in the present timeline.

I do feel like there’s one very small thing that never got resolved. Technically it did but I just assumed more would come from it?? So that’s a me issue but I wanted a bit more. I don’t love when endings of thrillers are tied up with a nice little bow, and this story was absolutely closed up so we didn’t have any more questions.

Read if you like:
🤔 thrillers where you don’t have to guess whodunit
🤞🏼 complicated friendships
🤳 social media
🎁 perfectly wrapped up endings

TW: there’s some pretty intense on-page rape scenes. Proceed with caution

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.

We all have friends we’ve grown apart from. What if you have a friend who just won’t let go? Billie and Cassie were best friends growing up until Cassie began pulling away and moving towards a different (rich) lifestyle. I found her to be very unlikeable, and left wondering why Billie just couldn’t move on.

Then you learn about their secret.

Billie tries so hard to keep her place in Cassie’s life. Then Billie finds herself in an impossible situation that left me wide eyed wondering how she was going to find her way out. Two friends who are toxic to each other - would make for a great book club discussion!

My first Carola Lovering novel and the prologue completely sucked me in! The toxic relationship between Billie and Cassie had me craving for more and more. Looking forward to reading all of her other books. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Carola Lovering delivers a fresh, fast-paced story on women's friendships and the ways that they, and the women themselves, can change, often in the most unexpected ways. She asks the question, What do we owe to ourselves and each other, and when is that debt paid? Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this eARC.

I devoured this book. I have read all of her books. Carola sucks you in from the beginning with her descriptions of characters that you feel as if they are your own friends. Billie and Cassie have a deep friendship that stems from childhood trauma. Cassie is always looking for the next best thing, and Billie is happy doing whatever Cassie wants. Their friendship is fractured way before Ella goes missing. Carola does an amazing transitioning between past and present keeping the reader engaged an interested. She touches on the reality of new motherhood and the stress of keeping old friendships that are in different stages of life. Billie did a terrible thing, but you feel for her and want her to end up winning at the end. I have been looking forward to reading this book since last year and it did not disappoint.

📕Cassie… I don’t know if I would want to be friends with her after her “transformation” even if she did what she did. She sounded shallow. She was a wanna be influencer using husband’s money and connections. She should have been more but she wanted to be an arm candy. There are things people do for survival but did she need to “survive”?
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📗Billie… girl, I understand. When you found a friend who understands you and does anything for you, you held onto to her for your dear life. But maybe remove that pink sunnies because your “friend” only talked to you when she needed you. She paid attention to you only when she thought past might come out of her cracks
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📘I’m mad at both women. I’m mad at them for trying so hard to fit in. Normalize being an outsider. Normalize owning your personality. Normalize having friends and connections with all walks of life. Or go have a party at your Gramercy apartment and be shallow

Unputdownable domestic thriller about what happens when two best friends follow different life paths. Billie and Cassie are childhood best friends who have grown apart since the birth of Cassie's daughter. One of them doesn't want to keep the friendship going, but the other can't accept it. Toxic friendships, romance, kidnapping, this book has it all and I loved the way the drama unfolded. I look forward to checking out more books by this author!