Carola Lovering’s Bye Baby Book Review

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Bye Baby Book Review

Today we’re going to be discussing the book Bye, Baby in my Bye Baby Book Review. It’s the latest release by Carola Lovering, who is known for her other thriller novels. Her first novel called Tell Me Lies was even made into a TV show! I’ve been wanting to watch it ever since I saw the trailer. From what I can tell it’s the story of a very twisted relationship between two people, and the main characters may be less than truthful. Hopefully I’ll be able to get to it soon.

I was a little leery of this story after reading the book description. One woman stealing another woman’s baby? That doesn’t seem pleasant to read about. I wasn’t sure I wanted to read a book where the baby is missing for the entire time. That seemed stressful.

But while the plot to Bye, Baby is a little stressful, it’s also very intriguing. The main characters Cassidy and Billie have an interesting relationship that confused me but also intrigued me.

So keep reading for my honest review! And if you’re looking for more thriller recommendations, you can read the rest of my thriller reviews here

About Carola Lovering

Although Bye, Baby is her latest release, Carola Lovering has published three other novels. Tell Me Lies is a thrilling romance about two individuals who each have a past and things to hide. Too Good To Be True is a romance about a perfect couple, except one half of the couple is keeping a big secret that will ruin their future. And Can’t Look Away is about woman who must come to terms with an old love.

All of these books are romantic in nature, with a bit of suspense. That’s basically my favorite genre!

What is Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering About?

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. (from Goodreads.com)

My Thoughts

Bye, Baby is the fascinating new thriller release by Carola Lovering. Set in NYC it tells the story of two childhood best friends who are fighting to keep their friendship alive. Or at least one of them is! Billie is desperate to keep her old friend in her life, while Cassie is trying to move on to bigger and better things.

Cassie and Becca grew up together in the same small town. They know everything about each other, including their childhood secrets that no one can ever find out. That’s what makes this story a gripping novel of suspense.

Through good and bad, and through high school and college, the girls managed to stay friends. But Cassie always had her eyes set on something bigger. Little by little she starts making new friends and associating with new people. She has this unique ability to move on from the reverberating effects of childhood trauma, not even worrying about the past or her dark secret.

She wants it all. And she just may have it. Until one night Cassie’s baby daughter is gone and the only person she can turn to is her old best friend.

On one hand, this shocked me. I know it’s in the book’s description so I shouldn’t have been too surprised. But I was. It made me question Billie and her mental health. I also wondered if she even had a moral compass.

I found this book to be very intriguing because I didn’t know whose perspective was the most accurate. On one hand we have Cassie, the “perfect” mom and influencer who doesn’t want to be friends with Becca anymore because she’s a part of her old life. Cassies new mom friends are completely different from Billie.

And then there’s Becca, who plays the victim a little bit by not being able to let Cassie go. She lets Cassie treat her like a second tier friend and it’s painful to watch. 

Who do you trust? Who is right, and who is wrong? It’s difficult to say. They used to be a comfort to each other, but now they have a toxic friendship.

But these girls have both had difficult situations in their lives that have made them the way they are. And they share a big secret that no one can ever find out about.

I thought this twisty novel was a great story because of the different situations going on. Like the fact that Billie is dating a NYC cop? This definitely added some excitement to this intense thriller. While both of the main characters did some not so good things in this story, their actions also showed the complexities of a female friendship.

In Conclusion

I really enjoyed this book. Lovering’s writing style is easy to fall into and I found myself devouring each chapter. Female friendships are complicated and unpredictable. I had to know what would happen next and was glued to this book until the very last page.

If you like thrillers that feature a little bit of drama and dishonesty, this book is for you. I was drawn in by the initial plot, but the characters wrapped me up in their twisted backstory and kept me guessing until the end. This book would be a great read for fans of Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins.

Thank You!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a digital copy of Bye, Baby in exchange for an honest review. Like I said earlier, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this story but it would up captivating me from the very beginning. If you enjoy thrillers with complicated characters and relationships, I think you’ll enjoy Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering.

But wait, there’s more!

If you enjoyed this book review and are looking for more books like tell me lies carola lovering or Bye Baby, make sure you check out the rest of my thriller book reviews.