Synopsis

From the author of Tell Me Lies and Too Good to Be True comes Carola Lovering’s Can’t Look Away, a sexy suspense novel about the kind of addictive, obsessive love that keeps you coming back––no matter how hard you try to look away.

In 2013, twenty-three-year old Molly Diamond is a barista, dreaming of becoming a writer. One night at a concert in East Williamsburg, she locks eyes with the lead singer, Jake Danner, and can’t look away. Molly and Jake fall quickly and deeply in love, especially after he writes a hit song about her that puts his band on the map.

Nearly a decade later, Molly has given up writing and is living in Flynn Cove, Connecticut with her young daughter and her husband Hunter—who is decidedly not Jake Danner. Their life looks picture-perfect, but Molly is lonely; she feels out of place with the other women in their wealthy suburb, and is struggling to conceive their second child. When Sabrina, a newcomer in town, walks into the yoga studio where Molly teaches and confesses her own fertility struggles, Molly believes she’s finally found a friend.

But Sabrina has her own reasons for moving to Flynn Cove and befriending Molly. And as Sabrina’s secrets are slowly unspooled, her connection to Molly becomes clearer––as do secrets of Molly’s own, which she’s worked hard to keep buried.

Meanwhile, a new version of Jake’s hit song is on the radio, forcing Molly to confront her past and ask the ultimate questions: What happens when life turns out nothing like we thought it would, when we were young and dreaming big? Does growing up mean choosing with your head, rather than your heart? And do we ever truly get over our first love?

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Review

I enjoy books that are told from multiple points of view because you can really dig into what the character is thinking, feeling, or planning to do. The book starts off primarily from Molly’s point of view and we learn about her struggles until she and Jake have a moment when their eyes meet at a bar where his band was playing. From there it was off to the races.

Later in the book, we have a new character, Sabrina. We know she is up to no good but we don’t really know why. Until we do, then it is a “whoa” kind of moment. Sabrina is messed up is all I can say. At first, you think she deserves some pity or sympathy until the truth is revealed. The pieces really start to fall into place and we have a better understanding of the past and how it has impacted the present.

The book does flip back and forth in time so that we can grasp Molly’s relationship with Jake, her relationship now with her husband, Hunter, and how even love can’t save a relationship.

The characters are young in the “past”, 23+ and that explains a lot of their immaturity. But circumstances and situations change them as people, and while they may be more grown up in the present, there are still some secrets that need to be shared and discussions to be had if everyone is going to truly move forward.

I did enjoy this book and there is so much I want to say but it would give away a lot of the “suspense” of the plot. I don’t think this is a true suspense novel, maybe a romantic suspense story, but I think it might be more of a drama that you would see on Lifetime or a similar channel.

We give this book 4 paws up.

About the Author

Carola Lovering is the author of Tell Me Lies, Too Good to Be True, and the forthcoming Can’t Look Away. She attended Colorado College, and her work has appeared in New York Magazine, W Magazine, National Geographic, Outside, and Yoga Journal, among other publications. Her novel, Tell Me Lies, is currently being adapted into a television series for Hulu. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and son.

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