‘Bye, Baby’ is my first Carola Lovering novel. I thoroughly enjoyed this suspenseful thriller. I will definitely add Ms. Lovering to my future reading lists.

Cassie and Billie have been friends since childhood. Their friendship starts to fade out around high school. Cassie becomes a mega influencer on Instagram while Billie remains obsessed with internet stalking Cassie.

Billie is pet sitting for her boss in the apartment below Cassie’s and she hears a party in Cassie’s apartment. She also hears Cassie’s newborn baby crying on the balcony. After investigating a bit (and to force interaction with Cassie), Billie kidnaps the baby.

The book is told in alternating POV between Billie and Cassie. This is not really a thriller but a drama that dives into the toxicity of these two “friends.” Neither are likable characters. Their issues with each other got worse as the years advanced. The ending was just okay.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC. Bye, Baby is out now.

Bye, Baby attempts a lot of things, but it doesn't succeed at all of them. It's not exactly a thriller, more of an examination of a crumbling friendship.

I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this book. Enough said. I loved everything about this book and I highly recommend it!

I knew I had to get my hands on the next Carola Lovering book that came out. What I didn't get was a thriller of any sort. This book follows two childhood friends into adulthood as one of the friends infants is taken during a birthday party. What you receive is a history of their past as well as character development of the women in the future. You find out the main plot point at the middle of the book and from there the story turns into either a Romance or a work of Lit Fic. Very strange marketing in my opinion. I kept waiting for the sh** to hit the fan at the end which is what all of her books do. This was not the case here. I think it's important to know this before reading the book so that expectations can be properly set.

This was totally different than what I expected going in - but I should know to expect that from this author. And it’s not a bad thing!

An old friendship gone awry….but why? I loved seeing this all unfold through dual timelines and POV. I’m pretty sick of the influencer as a main character in novels lately - but I found this one tolerable and it worked for the story.

I couldn’t stop listening to this one as I was curious how it would all work itself out and was fairly satisfied with the ending.

I’ll truly read anything Carola Lovering writes. This was really great on audio! Also - the characters going to a Zac Brown Band concert made my ZBB loving heart so happy.

Up next on the NetGalley ARC backlist is “Bye, Baby” by Carola Lovering. Cassie and Billie were the closest of friends. Until they weren’t. Despite years of friendship, and a dark secret, Cassie casually begins to edge Billie (and everything that reminds her of her past) out of her life. But all that changes one night when Cassie’s baby goes missing and Cassie believes Billie is the only person who can truly understand her and what she’s feeling. Billie is willing to do anything to restore their friendship, but maybe this is a friendship better left in the past…
Okay. First, I probably shouldn’t have read this in my early postpartum days, because YIKES. Nothing really triggering happens to the baby, but it definitely motivated me to read through certain chapters more quickly (once you start something spooky, you have to finish it, I don’t make the rules).
I really enjoy Lovering’s writing style. Her books are always engaging and well plotted out, in my opinion. The pages just fly because you need to know more, and Lovering feeds you information at just the right pace.
I will say, this book was less thriller, more introspection on a friendship gone down the tubes. Maybe if we only lived in Cassie’s pov it would have felt more thrilling, but we see Billie’s pov that mellows out the fear and wonder of Cassie’s.
In the end, this book was a 3 star read for me. It was entertaining and well written, but I wanted more thriller from a thriller- also the ending kind of let me down. I guess I love a happy ending, but it felt like it needed something bigger…
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review! This book is out now!

Working in a library setting, we’re of course able to read books in between checking out patrons. I chose to read this and I could not put it down.

Billie and Cassie have been best friends since they were young. Cassie, an instagram influencer sensation has basically pushed Billie to the curb. Her rich friends have become more important than her lifelong friend. Billie’s boss asks her to feed her cat and it just so happens to be one floor below Cassie’s. Cassie swore she wasn’t having a birthday party but from the vibes, she is. Billie becomes angry and instantly hears Cassie’s newborn baby screaming – crying on Cassie’s balcony. Rage and confusion overtake her and the next thing she knows, she’s holding Cassie’s baby in her arms. What happens next is crazy!

This story was SO good and kept me turning the pages. Very good plot and the story development was perfectly placed. I thoroughly enjoyed this read! The intensity kept me on the edge of my seat. Four stars!

I thought this would be more of a mystery but it really wasn't. That's okay. More of an exploration of toxic friendship and that was interesting. Definitely a lot happening here, maybe too much. But still good.

Two unlikable main characters and I can’t bring myself to care about them or what’s going to happen to them. DNF. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

Bye, Baby is a domestic thriller that had very little thriller portions. The reader goes in knowing what happened, but not how or why. As the book unfolds the reader finds out the ins and outs of the relationship between Billie and Cassie. It did not seem at though any character was meant to be liked, making it hard to connect to the book. The entire concept of the book is unrealistic, especially with the fact that no actions had any consequences.

The narrators, Helen Laser, and Karissa Vacker, did a wonderful job of playing portraying the two friends throughout the course of their relationship.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced listening copy, and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book.

This was the first book I've read by Carola Lovering, but I'll be taking a look at her backlist now because I really liked the way she writes. There wasn't a ton of action in the story (the parts that *did* have action had A LOT of action though), but I was still fully invested the entire time, and I think that's a big credit to Lovering's writing.

I loved that the book was told from alternating viewpoints, and while I didn't particularly like either of the main characters, I could understand their friendship and how/why it fell apart. A great, compulsive read even though it was more of a character study than a thriller. I would recommend!

Billie and Cassie… best friends until they are not.
They met in seventh grade, continued their friendship throughout college until they drifted apart. That was when Cassie met a new group of friends. Cassie has always been snobbish. Her grandmother spoiled her with gifts and trips. She seeks friends with family money and prestige. She marries a man who comes from money and uses that to launch her clothing business and her influencer status on Instagram.
Cassie grew up with her mom and stepfather. She adores her mom and despises her stepfather (with good reason). She has a difficult time coming to grips with her mother’s illness.
Billie’s life falls apart on the night of Cassie’s 35th birthday party, which she was not invited to. When she is pet sitting for her boss in the apartment under Cassie’s, she hears a baby crying. Not in a good frame of mind, she investigates where the baby’s cries are coming from, only to realize it is Cassie’s 4-month-old daughter. Before she thinks it through, she suddenly has the baby in her arms. The suspense that occurs from this point on left me quickly turning the pages.
The chapters alternate between Cassie and Billie, providing both of their viewpoints. The timeline includes both the past and the present. Most of the time, Billie was a likable character for me, while Cassie was cold and calculating.
This is a character driven novel, involving secrets, obsession and a very complicated friendship.
Trigger warnings for sexual abuse and Alzheimer’s disease.

Many thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Published on March 5, 2024.

Carola Lovering can do no wrong in my eyes. Everything she writes is quick paced and ridden with guilty pleasure qualities. Bye, Baby is no exception. Cassie and Billie are childhood best friends who have naturally drifted apart in adulthood. Cassie is now married to a wealthy man and they’ve just had a baby. With a beach house, a home in the city, and high profile friends, she has it all. Billie on the other hand is a luxury travel advisor and while she does get to travel all over the world, life hasn’t been as easy for her. When Billie continues to try to re-bond with Cassie in adulthood, Cassie ices her out. Without even thinking Billie kidnaps Cassie’s daughter with the intent to scare her into being friends again. With alternating timelines featuring the girls in high school and as adults the stakes are high when secrets come to light and consequences are dangled in the balance. I blew Through this so fast and I’m already awaiting Lovering’s next work! Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! Bye, Baby is a friendship drama that is not quite a thriller/mystery but has some suspense to it. It took awhile for the story to build up but overall I enjoyed it. What would you do if your best friend took your baby? This was my first read by Carola Lovering and it certainly wont be my last!

Review: Carola does it again. Wow, I devoured this book in two days. I absolutely loved it!

What I loved is that the book opens up with the action, then goes backwards in time leading up to that action. The timeline starts a few weeks later before the incident and also goes back to Cassie and Billie’s childhood from both their POV.

I was so connected to each character. You know the writing is good when you are still rooting for flawed characters. Both main characters were flawed, real, emotional, and engaging. Even though you know what happens, you are still rooting for the characters. The character development was phenomenal.

Another thing- I love books that deal with the insanely wealthy. looking into their world is so intriguing to me. This book has all the elements that make an amazing book- secrets, friendship, jealousy, insecurity, and glamour.

Definitely add this to your list! It starts as a thriller, but it’s more of a domestic suspense/drama. It’s a page turner that I couldn’t put down. Highly recommendation.

I am absolutely loving the thrillers that delve into the dangers and challenges of sharing your life on the internet with strangers. This book was twisty and highlight's Carola Lovering's talent in portraying complex and often toxic female friendships. Many trigger warnings, so make sure to check those before reading!

This is my first book by Carola Lovering and I felt is was just ok. Told in alternating timelines, you follow the friendship between Cassie and Billy through high school years and and adulthood. Although there are events in both timelines that tries to keep the plot moving, I felt it dragged through the first half of the book. I also found the adult version of the girls to be very unlikeable. Cassie is a wife, mother and influencer that is unhappy in her life, but gives the world the perfect life that we see so often with influencers. The two grew apart, due mostly to an event from their teen years, but Billy remains obsessed with Cassie and stalks her online, until a pivotal event causes them to come together once again. The main tiwst in the story line is predictable and, in my opinion, not very climatic. Overall, I did enjoy the second half, but again was predictable towards the end. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this novel.. Others may enjoy it, but I do not thin this author is for me.

Maybe 3.5 stars.

This was a bit up and down for me. Two women, their relationship as best friends since childhood - also up and down. Cassie now with her requisit rich husband and new baby, is a popular influencer on Instagram. Billie couldn't be more different, a travel advisor with a couple of male relationships she can brag about but no desire for children, at all. Something in their pasts changed their direction, their dynamic, their future. Something that they can't discuss or even acknowledge. Then, in present day, Billie does something so ridiculously stupid that I wanted to smack her. The book changed in that moment because it was too out of character for her and suddenly made no sense.

I will say it was uphill from that point as some of the other characters shone brightly with their steadiness and wisdom. But things still weren't exactly sitting well with me at the end.

This was a domestic thriller not a suspenseful thriller. What a toxic friendship between the two main characters. I didn’t like either character but I guess that was the point of this story, who was telling the truth and who was the better person. A good book club title. 3.5 strs