4.5 stars, rounded to 5

The Other Side Of Disappearing is a story about what we do for the people we love, the lengths will go to, and the mistakes we make along away.

Kate Clayborn has a way of crafting characters with a sense, not just of care, but of carefulness, that sets her apart as an author. Jess and Adam are both prime examples of this - subtly and precisely written, both people with reserved, cautious demeanors, but rich interior lives, driven to action by the people they care about. Their chemistry is top notch; their initial, tentative interactions are perfectly choreographed. The tenderness with which Adam regards Jess is particularly moving. The same can be said for Jess’s interactions with Tegan.

You don’t have to be a fan of true crime podcasts to enjoy the Lynton Baltimore aspects of the plot - yes, the podcast is the driving force that pulls Jess, Adam, Salem, and Tegan together - but the interpersonal dynamics between the four of them are the focus of the story.

Truly, this is a beautiful, well-written story. Kate Clayborn gets better with every book, and this one is no exception. Looking forward to her future work.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy of this book.

I saw that I got auto-approved for Kensington titles and immediately had to download the new Kate Clayborn novel!! I ate this up. I hate that I use that word so much in reviews but it is truly how I feel and I won't censor my thoughts. I am also a girl who's mom left her so this book hit quite close to home, and I was very much a Jess when it came to it. This was written with so much thought and carefulness while also not feeling like it was preachy. The romance was mixed well into the overall plot and I overall really enjoyed it!!

The Other Side of Disappearing-a standalone

By Kate Clayborn-I read Georgie, All Along and gave it 4 ⭐

Rating: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📖 Page Count: 407

🌍Setting: starts in Ohio, but they go cross country on a road trip

Publication 3-26-24  Read 3-23-24

🙏🏾 Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Kensington Books for this ARC 🧡 ! I voluntarily give an honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

🤷🏾‍♀️ What to Expect

✔️Contemporary Romance
✔️Women's Fic
✔️Mystery/Thriller
✔️Road Trip
✔️Sisters/Caretakers
✔️Family Drama
✔️True Crime Podcast
✔️Alternating POVs

📙Summary: Jess has raised her sister Tegan since she was eight years old when their mother Charlotte ran off with her boyfriend. Tegan is now eighteen and wants answers about her mother. A true crime podcast has picked up the story of the con man Lynton Baltimore who is their mother's boyfriend. Enter Salem and Adam-the creator and producer of the podcast. They want to go along with Tegan cross country to find her mother. Jess, forced by her love and protectiveness for Tegan, agrees to go along.

🎭The characters:
 Jess Greene (31) a hairstylist that has closed off her emotions, trusts no one, and is overprotective of Tegan.
Tegan(18) wants to know what happened to their mother and why she left.
Salem Durant- a mother and podcaster trying to find balance between her work life and family life.
Adam Hawkins- falls for Jess first and works his way into her closed off heart. He is dealing with his own grief over BFF's death.

🤔 My Thoughts: I love a quiet introspective heroine. Jess was shut off from the world, lost in sadness. Adam was another new book boyfriend to add to my list. He was patient and empathic towards Jess, and used Jess's nonverbal communication to figure out what she needed. To watch their love story as they were so vulnerable and curious about each other. A 5 ⭐experience!

Kate Clayborn is not only a master of romance, but a master writer as she explores a new sub-genre with a romance mystery.

The premise of TOSOD is of two women, one reluctant while the other is eager, joining with a true crime podcast to search for their mother, and the conman she ran away with. 

This book is a slow burn with an immense payoff at the end. I found myself luxuriating in Kate's writing. I love Adam, her MMC. Adam is a former athlete, fully fleshed out with a heart of gold. He's hoping to prove himself as a journalist during this podcast so that he can finally tell the world a story about his best friend that he's been holding close to his heart. 

Jess, the older of the two women, is angry that her newly eighteen-year-old sister contacted the true crime podcast putting their anonymity at risk but she can't let her sister go alone. Jess is furious at Salem Durant, a podcaster who ran the popular show "The Last Con of Lynton Baltimore" and reluctant about her colleague, the uncomfortably trustworthy, Adam.

The time together on the road trip bring Adam and Jess together, revealing secrets and pieces of their pasts that both have been too hurt by to properly reflect upon and heal from.

Their slow sizzle of a romance would make this book an excellent read regardless but paired with exploring the family dynamics between Jess and her sister and the mystery of where did Jess's mother disappear off to make this a stunning 5 star read. 

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC and extra thanks to Kate Clayborn for writing a book that broke my reading slump.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books! I got approved for this eARC a few days ago, so I wasn't sure if I was able to read and review it before publication, but once I started, I couldn't stop reading.

The Other Side of Disappearing is the first book by Kate Clayborn that I've ever read and now I want more! It gave me everything I needed – romance, mystery, heartbreak, healing and so much more.

The book follows Jess and Teagan's search for their mother, who disappeared 10 years ago with a con man, and Jess and Adam's love story. Both aspects were connected beautifully in the story. Jess's character, her hesitation and how closed-off she was felt very real to me. Even though I didn't experience what she did, I could feel that she was coming from a place of deep hurt and trauma. Adam was a great character, too. He definitely fell first, but never pressured Jess and gave her time and space to process her feelings. There was an obvious chemistry and attraction between the two, but what I enjoyed most were their quiet and nonverbal moments – a hug, a gentle squeeze of hands under the table, the trampoline scene – those gave the story more depth, made Jess open up and were incredibly sweet (especially because Adam is a giant with a soft heart 😍). Both of them had a great character development and experienced intense and emotional weeks together.
This book isn't all about romance though. It's also about the relationship between Jess and Teagan as sisters. Because Jess became Teagan's guardian at such a young age and tried to make up for their mother abandoning them, she ended up abandoning herself and ignoring her own needs. I loved how their relationship changed and they learned to trust and support each other in a healthy way and how they managed to work through everything together.

Overall, I'm very glad that I read this book. I can already tell that it's one of my favourite books of 2024 and a must-read!

THE OTHER SIDE OF DISAPPEARING by Kate Clayborn is soooo good!

Sometimes I read a book and I'm like "well I could write something at least that good" and sometimes I'm like "I'm going to close my laptop and walk to the west into the sea because I could never do that." This is one of those books. It's so good. The themes! The metaphors! The storm inside her, your wants and someone else's needs, imbalance and stability, the trampoline scene! Kate Clayborn writes books with such lovely, flawed, deeply human characters in such beautiful prose, and this is no exception. It really is just wonderfully done.

Jess's life was turned upside down at age 21 when her mother (who had left her for an extended period once before). disappeared without a trace, leaving Jess to assume responsibility for her 8 year old half-sister, Tegan. A few months later, Jess heard about a popular true crime podcast exploring the career of a con man who specialized in bilking rich women. To her horror, she realized that this guy was the same person who was dating her mother, and whom her mother presumably ran off with. Fearing that they would be outed and hounded, she quickly decided that the only way to protect Tegan was to effectively erase their presence so that no one would connect them or their mother to him.

This is the path she has followed for the past 10 years, but her attempts to protect Tegan, now 18, prove fruitless as her sister has decided she wants to find their mother, and has reached out to the host of the original podcast to suggest that they collaborate in the search. To protect Tegan, Jess reluctantly agrees to go along on the journey, not expecting that Adam, a new journalist assigned as an assistant to the lead podcaster, will be the one who finally convinces her to stop hiding and open herself up to emotions and to love.

The book seamlessly wove two disparate threads together, first the search for Jess and Tegan's mother, following clues left in 5 old postcards that she sent to Jess, second, the developing feelings between Adam and Jess as they slowly open up to each other and show their vulnerable undersides. Through much of the book, it almost seemed like their relationship was too one-sided - all give on Adam's side and all take on Jess's. However, because of the way she was abandoned both by her mother and to a lesser extent her father, I don't think she could ever let herself be open to another person unless they were willing to give as much as Adam did initially.

In addition to the romance, there's a beautiful exploration of Jess and Tegan's complicated relationship. It's clear they love each other, but Tegan is also a teenager intent on establishing her own place in the world, so she knows exactly how far and how hard she can push Jess., and push she does at every turn. I wouldn't classify the book as women's fiction because the romance between Jess and Adam was strong and well-developed, but plot lines dealing with Jess and Tegan's relationship as well as the mystery of what happened to their mother were just as strong and the book was well-balanced between all of the plot elements. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

I expected to love The Other Side of Disappearing; it is a Kate Clayborn, after all. But there was so much that was unexpected about this book, so much that moved me on a deeply personal level, that I’m struggling to move past being awestruck and distill the mile-long note on my phone about all the remarkable things about this book into something quasi-coherent. Here goes nothing.

The first quarter to third of this book hit me like a ton of bricks, which I was not expecting. Jess is perhaps the most closed off character I’ve ever read in romance, yet I immediately felt a connection to her. Maybe I was just in a mood, but I felt a deep melancholy in these early chapters. At her core, Jess is sad. She tries so hard not to be noticeably sad, not to have any noticeable emotions at all, actually. But you feel it as the reader. Jess’s discomfort and inner turmoil is so palpable on the page, but she doesn’t ever express it. It’s like I took it on for her. My own little act of protecting Jess. Giving her emotions an outlet when she won’t.

Protecting Jess is Adam’s primary objective pretty much from the moment he meets her and I love him for it. Talk about a difficult task, though, because it’s not like Jess is open with him. But good god does this man know how to pay attention. As does Jess. The two of them watch each other like hawks (hehe). The nonverbal communication between the two of them is so incredibly well done. What makes it work so well is how much trust is demonstrated. Every time Adam reads Jess’s nonverbal cues he has to trust that he’s read her correctly and that his response is the right one. And every time he gets it right, he earns Jess’s trust. When they do start to communicate verbally it’s all the more sweeter, and it feels earned.

Thematically, this book has so much to say about caretaking, especially raising children. It may have been a touch heavy handed in showing the ways the pressures of caretaking can make one “disappear,” almost like we were being invited to compare and contrast Jess vs. Salem vs. Charlotte. Charlotte literally abandons her children. Salem vacillates between abandoning her family for work and her work for family. And Jess abandoned herself.

Finally, a note about body size. Adam is ginormous and it is mentioned over and over again. I don’t recall Jess being described as particularly small, but she’s clearly significantly smaller than Adam. I normally really dislike it when a book emphasizes the body size differential between male and female love interests. Not that people of all body sizes don’t deserve love, but so often the size differential veers into being a key element of the attraction and reinforcing harmful societal messages about body size and gender and beauty. I have to hand it to her. Kate Clayborn managed to pull it off. I never felt like size was part of the attraction equation. If anything, I think Adam’s size was emphasized primarily to point out the ways that people make assumptions about him due to his appearance, and the ways in which it is more difficult for him to move through the world.

In case you couldn't tell, I really loved this book. I didn't even touch on the external plot of the true crime podcast, which added a layer of page turning-ness that I think helped balance out the romance arc while also being integral to Jess's personal growth arc. Amazing. I don't know how Kate Clayborn does it.

Kate Clayborn is one of the best romance writers out there, and feels oddly underrated. She has such a knack for emotional but not melodramatic romance, really rooted in character development. Jess and Adam's growth as individuals and as a couple was really wonderful to watch and was done delicately and compassionately. The relationship of Jess and her sister Tegan to each other and their mother was also well done and nuanced, exploring how Jess having to raise and protect Tegan influenced their bond and what they each needed. The larger plot, a journalistic road trip to uncover where they mother went with a notorious con man, was also very engaging and not overblown like some podcast or true crime-influenced stories I've seen. It was authentically tied into the character development and dynamics, rather than serving a thriller plot.

After I fell in love with Georgie, All Along, I was absolutely thrilled to hear Kate Clayborn had a new book coming out. While wildly different, The Other Side of Disappearing was equally fantastic. Clayborn’s prose is often poetic, poignant, and captivating. I devoured this book. An absolute genre bending gem that seemingly had everything but never too much.

Hairstylist Jess Greene has spent the last decade raising her younger half-sister, Tegan—and keeping a shocking secret. Their reckless mother ran off with a man she hardly knew who Jess believes to be the conman made infamous by the podcast ‘The Last Con of Lynton Baltimore’.

Several years later, Jess finds that Tegan plans to go in search of their mother with the podcast host and her producer, Adam Hawkins. Unwilling to let Tegan go, Jess joins them as they begin their travels across the country, unravelling the mystery of where the couple disappeared to and why. However, Jess finds a connection to Adam, as she begins her this journey of self-discovery.
A beautifully told story that demonstrates how deeply scared both Jess and Tegan are by the experience of their mother’s disappearance. Intertwined in this, is the love story between Jess and Adam. Issues relating to death and loss are handled with tremendous sensitivity and carefully woven into the storyline, never overwhelming any aspect. A great read.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found this to be a really interesting, engaging read that I couldn't stop turning the pages to. I think the format is really interesting, with the podcast snippets, the dual POV. I really enjoyed the tension between Jess and Adam, and how they work out how to feel about one another. The podcast definitely felt Serial-adjacent, and it felt pretty authentic. There is deep hurt, pain, trauma, explored on these pages both with Jess and Adam's past, and it felt raw and exposed, and quite realistic. I think the conflict between Jess and Adam was almost unnecessary at the end, since it was such an emotional rollercoaster by that time. I really found this book intriguing and while sad, a great read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

Oh, Kate Clayborn, how you have my heart and soul! One of the best romance authors writing today, the way Kate writes emotion is unparalleled. And I love the true crime spin to this book! Still very much romance but with a tinge of thriller and true crime. :)

Wow, Kate Clayborn is a master at storytelling and weaving romance into a story that has deeper subjects. This reads more like women's fiction, rather than a romance but it was a nice palate cleanser for me. If you're a fan of Emily Henry, then this author and this book are for you. Jess and Adam are very flawed people with complex pasts and presents, and yet you can't help rooting for them and wanting to know more. I loved the way she weaved in the true crime and podcast aspects, as this is huge trend and phenomena in pop culture right now. If you like Only Murders in the Building, you'll want to read this book. I love that the author combined both romance and mystery, and succeeded so well in both genres. This book is definitely not like her others; less happy go lucky, less fun and swoony, and more of a character study and plot driven but I loved that she took this leap and branched out to something new and different because I just loved it more than I can say.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Clayborn, and Kensington Books for the eARC of this book.

Kate Clayborn has been hit-or-miss for me in the past. I loved Love Lettering and have been waiting for one of her books to hit the same. Ultimately, The Other Side of Disappearing wasn’t quite as good, but it is a solid read. I have a hard time classifying it - it reads more like a general (women’s) fiction book with a side of romance, which I really liked for some variety. I liked the podcast side (? Or main?) plot, which felt very similar to Serial in some ways (minus murder, of course). I liked the dual POV, and Jess and Tegan’s emotional trauma with their mom felt extremely realistic and well thought out. But Jess as a main character was hard to connect to, and the love story felt like it could have had a more realistic beginning, or less immediate love on both sides.

Oh I wanted to love this one - and there was quite a bit I liked. I really liked the podcast angle and the investigation into Jess and Teagan's mother's whereabouts. I thought Adam was a total sweetheart and liked how he dealt with everyone involved in the story. He's intelligent and thoughtful though often gets dismissed because of his size. Tegan is definitely a typical teenager - overly confident and super vulnerable at the same time. I liked the writing style. The author is fantastic at creating a world and complicated situations.

But, unfortunately, there was quite a bit I didn't like. Jess was difficult to warm up to. Given her history I completely understand her reserve but her need to control everything and her single mindedness was frustrating and I felt like it took too long to see any cracks in her defenses. As well, I felt like there was a lot of repetitiveness. I liked the fact that the author alternated between Jess's and Adam's POVs as this gives the reader insight for both the subject and the investigator but the mutual longing and Adam worrying about Jess and Jess being angry got a bit much after awhile.

It did resolve nicely and I did enjoy being along for the investigative ride but this wasn't a book I looked forward to picking up.

Kate Clayborn does not disappoint! Her handle on the structure of a satisfying romantic journey is always impressive, but so is her ability to create characters who you believe could be real, and can relate to. Jess and Adam are complex, they are flawed, and they have such a strong connection that you are excited to live vicariously through. This is insta-love that you actually buy as being possible in the real world. It's amazing that in such a short time you feel connected to both main characters, understand each of their past traumas, and feel invested in their journey to healing - WHILE enjoying the thrill of their new and growing love.

I love when authors take risks - big swings that take them outside of their comfort zone. I'm not a writer myself so I cannot imagine how intimidating it must be. But it's really something special, as a reader, to experience an author whose writing you adore stretch themselves and go in different directions. And when they absolutely nail it, like Kate Clayborn did with her latest? Well, then it is absolutely magnificent.

Y'all have heard me gush about Kate Clayborn for a while. I adore everything of hers I've read, and Georgie All Along was one of my favorites of 2023. I got an advanced copy of The Other Side of Disappearing (HUGE TY to Kensington Books and NetGalley bc WOW this book is a gift) just when I needed it the most - I had been in a bit of a reading funk. I'll be honest - I didn't even know what the premise was, but I was excited to lose myself in Kate's writing, and oh man did it blow me away. I absolutely devoured it - and just adored it.

This is the story of two half-sisters, Jess and Tegan. Jess has raised Tegan since she was 8 and their mother disappeared with her new boyfriend. Tegan starts college in the fall, and Jess is anxious - being Tegan's mother figure is all she has known for the last ten years. She has kept a purposely low profile - maintaining only surface-level relationships, no social media presence, etc. because there is one secret that she hasn't even shared with Tegan: the man that her mother left with wasn't just the latest in a string of boyfriends - he is actually the notorious conman and subject of the wildly successful Serial-esque podcast, Lynton Baltimore.

But Jess is thrown at the arrival of two podcast producers on her doorstep, including the very intimidating and handsome Adam Hawkins. It turns out that Tegan discovered Jess' secret, and wants to track down their mother and reached out to the producers who are eager to revisit Lynton Baltimore's story and all of the unanswered questions. So together, they embark on a cross country trip to try to find Tegan and Jess' mother. And in the process, Jess finds herself drawn to Adam in a way she never has before.

I am so so so excited for yall to read this book so we can discuss it! It feels like a delicious fusion of romance and mystery with Kate's exquisite storytelling and character development. I became so invested in Jess and Adam, but also Tegan and the search for their mother. It is out on TUESDAY and I cannot wait to hear what you think!!

Will post review on goodrfeads, retail sites and my bookstagram @scottonreads

Kate Clayborn writes beautiful character studies. I have loved all of her books, but this one really surprised me. It's so different than the others--less whimsical, more plot-driven--but I still loved it. It might actually be my favorite of hers.

Jess Greene and her sister Tegan live a quiet life in Ohio. They have come to rely on each other after their mother leaves them. The plot revolves around the mystery of what happened to their mother, and the fact that the person she left with was a notorious confidence man, Lynton Baltimore. Enter Salem Durant, a famous podcaster whose fame came from a serialized podcast about Baltimore. Salem's assistant with her podcast is Adam Hawkins, a former football player with his own agenda for helping Salem. The four main characters embark on a three-week road trip to find out what happened to Lynton, and to Jess and Tegan's mom. They only have for clues the five postcards that Jess and Tegan's mom sent years ago, and that Jess hid from Tegan.

I imagine that if you like podcasts and mysteries, you'll really love this book because I didn't come from either of those fandoms and still found it fascinating. And even more than that. you'll come to really care for these characters. Jess and Tegan are processing a lot of trauma from being left behind. Adam is still dealing with the death of his best friend. Jess and Adam open up to each other, and fall in love. This book is really about what makes a family, and how to love and support each other through the worst moments.

I couldn't recommend this book more.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book.

Jess became guardian of her half-sister, Teagan, when her mother left ten years ago. Jess’s life is turned upside down when a podcast explores her mother’s connection to an infamous. They, with the two podcasters, undertake a cross-country road trip to discover the truth. Jess finds herself discovering things about herself, as well as allowing herself to open up to Adam, one of the podcasters.

Wow, this book. I was in full ugly cry mode for a lot of this book, but it felt so cathartic. We are following this mystery timeline of Jess and Teagan’s mother and also this developing relationship between Jess and Adam. I liked watching this slow opening Jess had toward Adam and herself. I loved both Jess and Adam, their flaws and who they were. I also loved the growth Jess experienced throughout the book.

I enjoyed the exploration of Jess’s relationship with her sister, Teagan, it was so complicated. You never doubted their love for each other, but you got to see her both as a parent and as a sister. My heart broke as their past was revealed and I wanted to give them big hugs. I loved watching the changing dynamics throughout the story.

Kate Clayborn has this amazing writing style that I fall in love with each time I pick up her novels. Her books are deeply emotional, and she has such relatable characters. She can put you in the story and feel the heartbreak and happiness that the characters feel. Her ability to combine the mystery and love story was done impeccably.

Having a podcast/mystery and a love story between Adam and Jess was done so well. This is a great read and I can’t wait to see where she takes readers next! Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.