Contemporary Romance is my favorite genre, but I am a bit critical of it. I enjoy the happy endings and comforting familiarity, but I appreciate the challenging task of veering from the formulaic plot and tropes to develop an authentic, relatable, and a bit surprising story. It isn’t easy nor often, but Kate Clayborn has mastered it! Her latest book, The Other Side of Disappearing, is no exception, and I think it’s her best work yet.

Clayborn’s characters are so complex, layered, and real. The obvious pair to love is the hero and heroine - Jess and Adam - who both have compelling pasts. However, I equally loved the sister relationship between Jess and Teagan, as well as the working dynamic between Adam and his boss Salem. The plot is also fresh and original. Jess and Teagan haven’t seen their mother in ten years, since she abandoned them to run away with conman Lynton Baltimore. Salem, a popular true crime podcaster, and new intern Adam, connect with Jess and Teagan to continue their search of Baltimore. The book is equally mystery and romance, and it was a thrill to both fall in love with the characters and tag along on their journeys of grief and search for their missing connections.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for allowing me to read this early copy and provide my honest review. I will recommend this book to my friends and book clubbers :)

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Two sisters get caught up with a podcaster and a journalist who are on a search for their missing mother and her conman boyfriend. The raw emotions of the abandoned daughters is realistic and painful.

There are lots of plot twists in this novel.

I love the ending.

oh jesus christ...kate clayborn has a way of writing like she's chosen every single word so carefully. as if she's mulled it over and considered it with such care. her HEROES are ALWAYS slaying but adam...he's so tender. so thoughtful. so selfless. i honestly cannot think of a BETTER hero of 2024!!! the world need to read this book and understand how beautiful it is. ugh and the moment when she sees her mom and says "all i can think is mom" TEARS!!!! kate clayborn is THAT girl

Clayborn is quickly becoming one of my favorite contemporary romance authors. I love how she clearly pays close attention to not only plot and character but also lyrical prose. In her latest novel, sisters Jess and Tegan join two podcasters on a cross-country road trip to find their mother, whose former (or current, no spoilers) boyfriend is a famous con artist. Protective big sister Jess finds surprising companionship in Adam, a podcast producer with big journalism dreams. As much a tale of grief, sisterhood, and vulnerability as it is romance, this genre-bending book is not to be missed.

Kate Clayborn writes such achingly beautiful romances. The Other Side of Disappearing is no different. This book is a slower burn, but given the circumstances of their meeting, it makes a lot of sense. It takes a while to get to know a guarded Jess, who is blindsided when a popular podcast wants her help to track her mother who disappeared years ago. Adam is just a lovely, stand-up kind of love interest who is so patient as he tries to gets to know Jess outside of work. Highly recommend.

Kate Clayborn has made a career out of writing lovely, lyrical books about people dealing with their childhood trauma while falling in love. This is no exception, as we follow aspiring podcast journalist Adam and the story he’s falling for—the deeply private Jess, who’s spent the last decade raising the younger sister their mother abandoned to run off with a conman.

I enjoyed this book and it made me cry for sure, but it felt a little…messy. Unfocused. And we didn’t get the resolution I’d been waiting for on some of the central plotlines.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

The Other Side of Disappearing was a story about the complexities of sisterhood, learning to let go, finding love, and the importance of seeking help.

Jess Greene has spent the last ten years raising her younger sister, Tegan, after their mother ran off with a man she barely knew. Her entire focus has been on protecting her sister, but everything is suddenly threatened when Tegan reaches out to Salem Durant. Salem is the host of a popular podcast dedicated to an infamous con man and Tegan believes it’s the same man with whom their mother ran away.

Adam Hawkins is trying to prove himself as a producer for Salem while dealing with his own demons. He is instantly drawn to Jess but he knows that the last thing she wants is to expose herself and her sister to the scrutiny that will come with being part of their podcast.

Jess and Adam have both been subjected to people’s judgement for the majority of their lives but find that they can be honest with each other in ways they haven’t ever been with anyone else. Adam is so soft for Jess and treats her with a kindness and gentleness she has never experienced. Adam sees and loves the real Jess, but with so much at stake neither is sure if it will be enough to withstand the potential fallout of finding the elusive con man.

Kate Clayborn writes the most compelling stories that stay with me long after I’ve read them and The Other Side of Disappearing was no exception: I loved it.

I just finished this book a few hours ago and wow kate clayborn is just so talented at writing.
premise: a girl and the half-sister she is forced to take care of after their mom disappears go on a road trip with a podcast team to hopefully find their mother and the con man she was traveling with.
I do need to warn you - this is not silly goofy times. it's definitely a romance and VERY VERY light on comedy. if you like a lot of internal conflict and heavy character development, then you'll like this one also for my broken boy stans and for my sweet boy stans... adam hawkins is a treat.

I’m dying to talk to someone about this book. It struck me as such a bold, ambitious and expansive story, and yet it had all the heart I’ve come to expect from Kate Clayborn. I have to think about it some more and perhaps read it again to fully digest it, but some initial thoughts:

- I just love how KC writes her male POV characters. Adam is a fascinating, flawed man, not at all what one might expect from an ex-football player (or, as Jess puts it: “It’s hard to picture you hulking out over a little leather ball while wearing shiny leggings.”) He’s so strong in his fragility and vulnerability, and I loved watching his relationship with Jess evolve.

<i> “I’m sorry,” I breathe against her neck. “I know I’m too—”
“You’re not too anything. You’ve never been too anything, for me.”
I smile against her skin. That feels so good, to hear her say that.</i>

- Jess is so flinty, so bristly, so closed off, and she really has a long way to come emotionally in this book. Parts of the journey really broke my heart, but I loved the exploration of her relationship with her sister as well as the burgeoning romance with Adam. AND THE ROMANCE, MY GOD.

<i>He kisses like the most impossible dream, a study in perfect contradiction. Soft and firm. Searching and assured. Eager and patient. He kisses like Adam: this huge, hard slab of a man who is somehow the most gentle person I've ever met.</i>

- All of the journalism notes hit really well for me, from the personalities to the podcast transcripts to small things like reporter jargon.

- The settings were so rich and so well-suited to the plot points, from Ohio to Missouri to Florida to Massachusetts to Washington.

- Mostly, I loved that for all the ways this book feels different (to me) from KC’s previous books, her voice permeates every page.

<i> ...even the tallest, broadest, strongest man you've ever seen will seem different to you once you've had your arms around him, once you've known him up close. Once you've seen how his heart works, and heard it beat against your ear while he held you.</i>

Kate writes such beautiful, moving & poignant stories, and her latest book is no exception! Whilst it has a beautiful romance at its core, this book is also a journey of self exploration & healing (with a touch of mystery thrown in!)

Jess and Tegan clearly love each other, but have a fractured relationship - Jess refuses to talk about the events that led to her to becoming Tegan’s guardian, and keeps herself on emotional lockdown. I loved seeing them open up to one another, and their relationship growth was one of my favourite parts of the book 🫶🏼

Adam Hawkins is a cinnamon roll in a 6’5” ex-NFL player’s body. He is just wonderful, and so earnest & sensitive. At times I thought maybe he was *too* nice, just in case that’s not your thing! But he supported Jess so perfectly, I absolutely loved him.

Considering Jess is so closed off to the world, I thought their relationship (which took place over two weeks) felt a little insta-lovey, but really this was the only thing that detracted from the book for me.

The mystery element was a fun twist that I didn’t expect! And it really did make this book unique. Also a special mention to Salem, who I was expecting to be a pain throughout but I actually really liked her by the end 😅

This was such a heartwarming read, and left me feeling so warm & fuzzy 🫶🏼

I loved this book.

I've been reading Kate Clayborn since "Just My Luck" was published. I've bought all her books for my library's romance collection. I loved "Georgie All Along" but with "The Other Side of Disappearing" Clayborn has risen to a new level -- beyond cute romance novels to a writer of thoughtful, emotional women's fiction.

Jess has raised her sister Tegan, now 18 years old, since her mother, Charlotte's abandonment a decade earlier. Charlotte ran off with a notorious con man and the story became viral after being featured on a popular true crime podcast. Jess copes by being hyper focused on raising Tegan, locking down every emotion and closing herself off.

But then the podcast host and her handsome assistant, Adam Hawke who has his own traumatic past, literally comes knocking and the careful life Jess has constructed starts to crumble as they all take a road trip to find Charlotte and the truth.

The beautiful emotionally connected romance intertwined with the mystery of Charlotte's disappearance provides a delicious and satisfying read.

Highly recommended. 5 stars

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this novel.

Overall, this is an amazing self-exploration journey, a genuine sisterhood story, and a blossoming romance between Jess and Adam that warms the heart. Adam, with his cinnamon bun demeanor disguised under a giant facade, possesses all the qualities of the best book boyfriend. I recommend this book to anyone seeking something inspirational, soul-healing, and positive to lighten their mood.

Unique and sweet!

📖 The Details
The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn

⏱️ Quick Summary
Sisters Jess and Tegan travel across the country with two podcasters to find their mom who may or may not have runaway years ago with a con-man.

💁‍♀️ My Take
I always love a good Kate Clayborn, and this is no exception. She can really develop and tell a story! I loved the complicated but loving sisterhood/motherhood elements for Jess and Tegan, the budding romantic relationship with Jess and Adam (love a protective and sensitive man!), and the building suspense of their search. This was a story well told, with tough and sweet parts all around, Would recommend.

4 stars!

Kate Clayborn and Kate Canterbury are two Kates that deserve such great and wonderful things. Kate Clayborn brings forward another amazing book that you know you're going to love from the start. We meet Jess and Teagan, who are two sisters raising themselves. After their mother runs off with a man she half knows, Jess is left raising herself and her younger sister in place of both of her parents. She dedicates her life to making sure Teagan doesn't feel that loss but she didn't know what hiding her mother would've brought her ten years later.

Enter Adam and Salem, here under the guise that they are meeting a well-informed Jess who definitely has been talking to them about collaborating on their podcast where they find a con man that may just be the man Jess' mom got swept up into. Adam takes one look at Jess and knows that nothing about what's to come will be what he thought. Jess has no idea what is going on until Teagan catches her up to speed, angry that Jess hid their mother's only contact from her for so long. What this podcast will look like relies entirely on Jess' willingness to participate but she has no choice unless she wants to lose her sister in the process.

Adam's attentiveness was insane and killed me every step of the way. I adored him. I loved the way Jess slowly came out of her shell with him and found a way to see what was right in front of her. The two form a relationship that you fall in love with. Looking at Jess through Adam's POV was everything.

I really enjoyed how this was executed. Even Salem's contribution to the story made it enjoyable. The sister dynamic and the moments they shared made this almost as much of a sister story as it was a love story. The layers to this come together perfectly, right until the very last page.

The Other Side of Disappearing is the best contemporary romance I've read in a longggg time!

Clayborn has executed a masterpiece! The perfect romance! TOSOD is unique, wholly unlike any other book I've ever read, but also astonishingly perfect. This is one of those books I can't imagine every reader immediately falling in love with. TOSOD is complex and rich and soft and simply wonderful-- the perfect book to curl up on the couch with. It took all of my self-restraint not to finish this in one sitting. I was so torn between needing to know what happens next and never wanting the story to end.

5 stars, no notes. I cannot wait to see what Clayborn writes next.

In this story of heartbreaking specificity, Kate Clayborn writes another masterpiece. Jess and her sister have been left to their own devices since their mother left them 10 years ago. A popular true crime podcast comes in with a possible connection between their con man "hero" and the mom. Adam works on this podcast as a way to get cred to produce his own podcast about a topic near and dear to his heart. On a road trip to find answers, Jess and Adam fall in love so much despite themselves and in such secret, small ways that the reader almost feels like they are secretly prying into private things.

Kate Clayborn slowly breaks your heart over and over. With sentences, with sentiments, with fears, with truth, with love. And you become fragile and tender and open and you think you’re getting ready for a full destruction of your heart in two. But then she slams your heart back together in one piece and that’s what pushes you over the edge. The relief that things will be ok. Will be more than ok. That things can suck and hurt and be awful and feel like they’ll last that way forever but that hope and love can come and surround it all and make it that there’s a light too. Not just darkness and hardness and difficult things.

I was reading the end of this book, the moment between two characters where things get said finally, things get felt, and I was holding my breath, keeping my own tears at bay while my heart knitted itself back together

This story follows two true crime podcasters and two sisters who are trying unravel the disappearance of their mother and a notorious con man. Jess, the older sister had hoped to keep some family secrets to herself, in order to protect her younger half sister Tegan, with whom she has had to essentially care for the last decade. In all of this, Jess also finds herself falling for the podcast producer, where the forced proximity of the road trip allows them all to grow closer. This story is an exploration of family trauma, grief, sisterhood, vulnerability and acceptance.

This story sucked me in from the start, as the podcasters show up at Jess and Tegan’s home, and you know a mystery and adventure are about to unfold. I felt like the pace changed quickly though when the road trip took a pause, and focused a large chunk of the book on Jess and Adam’s relationship. I wished that the two plots could co-exist together, because it really slowed down and I was struggling to pick it up again.

I do think Kate’s writing is beautiful, and it’s very character driven vs focusing on the mystery/romance plot, so that may be something you love, but didn’t quite work for me. This book covered some heavy topics well, but I wished it had a bit more levity.

Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn @kateclayborn.author
✨
This book was the warmest, sweetest hug. 🥰 I am a huge Kate Clayborn fan and her previous, Georgie, All Along, was one of my favorite reads of 2023. This one is just as gorgeous, warm, witty, and emotionally complex— with an added layer of mystery and road trip adventure! From the first page I was totally sucked into Jess and Adam’s romance and every mile on the way to their happily ever after was jam-packed with such swoony, delightful moments. 💕 I also loved the complex relationship between Jess and her sister Tegan and some of their conversations brought me to tears! ✨ and Adam is just, simply, the best, the sweetest, the most caring guy ever. 😍 As an added bonus, there were lots of mentions of Rhode Island and as someone from Rhode Island, I loved that!! 🍃
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This book is out on March 26, 2024! Thanks to @netgalley for the advanced copy.

Clayborn just gets better and better with each book. I loved this story of hairdresser Jess, whose carefully ordered under-the-radar life is disrupted when she discovers that her teenage half-sister has contacted a true-crime podcaster and together they want to track down Tegan and Jess' mother, who disappeared years before with the con artist the podcaster famously profiled. Jess has spent her entire adult life focused on raising Tegan and trying to keep the connection to the famous con artist hidden, but when it seems like saying no also means upsetting her relationship with Tegan just before she leaves for college, Jess grudgingly agrees to join the search alongside the podcaster and her producer, Adam.

Adam, a former college football player, has his own story he wants to tell, far removed from true crime. Years before he gained viral fame with livid social media posts about the toxic sports culture that crushed his best friend, who struggled with mental health issues. He wants to channel that into a new podcast but is still learning the medium, hence his producer role on this project.

With so much going on, both Jess and Adam find their immediate attraction inconvenient and unsettling but, in the best tradition of Clayborn characters, are able to talk about it. They are kind, they are honest, they are remarkably true-to-life and I loved it all.

I am always and forever a Kate Clayborn stan. And this book gave me exactly the tender, football guy romance that I need in the era of T Swift and T Kelce.

I found myself reading through the podcast/mom history parts quickly because for me the real story was of sisterhood and learning to love when all you’ve been taught is being left behind.