4 stars!

Kate Clayborn's "The Other Side of Disappearing" is a wonderful, unexpected story. It straddles the line between romance and general fiction, full of Clayborn's signature depth and wit. It explores heavy, heartbreaking topics and themes like parental abandonment, but balances this heft with a sweet budding romance between Jess and Hawk, the main female and male characters. While I think the focus is a little muddled at times, I really did enjoy this book. It surprised me in ways I didn't think it would. The notion of "disappearing" takes many different shapes and forms here, a recurring theme for the book and all of its characters. Jess disappears into the role of mother when she is forced to take care of her little sister after their mother abandons them. Jess's mom literally disappears from their lives. Tegan's history has disappeared before her eyes as she has never gotten the full story about their mother's betrayal. It all ties together nicely throughout the story. While I enjoyed the characters, I will say, I felt their connection was a little too easy for me. I *LOVED* Clayborn's last book "Georgie, All Along," which had immaculate, sizzling chemistry between its main characters, so compared to that, I think there's a little oomph missing here. Don't get me wrong, the chemistry between Adam and Jess is still there, it's just a slow-burn, not-hard-fought battle. Maybe it's the insta-love of it all that I don't like. Either way, there's a lot to enjoy about their relationship and the dynamics at play here. The "mystery" aspects are a little easy to figure out, but it's more about the journey, not the destination, as we watch our lovely characters learn a heck of a lot about themselves along their road trip to find Jess and Tegan's mother. I will read anything Kate Clayborn writes, and Iwill definitely buy this book and read it again at some point.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Clayborn, and Kensington Books for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

I'm a little late to the awesomeness that is Kate Clayborn because this is only the second book of hers that I've read (I have two that I still need to read!). Anyway, when people sing her praises, just know that they are 1000% correct. Her writing is emotionally beautiful and I want to be just like her when I grow up. Lol.

Anyway, this book felt like an elevated romance to me. There is a romance story, a sibling story, a mystery, and a story about processing a past trauma all while on a road trip! Kate does an amazing job of weaving all of these stories throughout the book and taking you on a deliciously epic ride.

Another thing that I also loved about this book was the love interest, Adam Hawkins. Kate has a way of making you fall head over heels with the love interest (see Levi in GEORGIE, ALL ALONG). While he has his own issues to deal with, right away you want Jess to end up with him. I don't want to say more about Adam because you just have experience his goodness first hand.

This is one of my favorites from this year and honestly, I need to read her backlist.

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the arc of this book.

I had a great time with this! It struck an almost exact 50/50 balance between romance and women's fiction. I liked that but didn't love it. I enjoyed what the romance brought to the story and I really loved the larger plot but it felt like neither thing had the chance to develop quite as much as I wanted it to. It was super refreshing to have a third act break up that didn't rely on a big secret that one of the MCs keeps from the other the whole time. It easily could have been that kind of story so I really loved that it wasn't.

Rating: liked it (3.5 stars)
Romantic content: multiple open door med-high explicit
Other content: abandonment, language

Jess has been raising her little sister Tegan since their mom disappeared from their lives with a con man a decade before. The aftereffects of that abandonment have ramifications for both Jess and Tegan. A true crime podcaster has been following legendary con man Lynton Baltimore for years herself and this book is the story of how the sisters end up in the orbit of investigative reporters Salem and her assistant Adam "Hawk" Hawkins.
They reluctantly set out on a road trip together, in search of Jess' mom and the elusive Lynton and find more than they expected on the trip, from each other, from themselves, and from the stories that haunt them all.
Overall this was a good Clayborn. Not one of my favorites but intriguing and interesting nonetheless. I had a harder time connection to the MCs in this one and didn't feel as engaged as with some of her previous novels. Overall a solid read, if not earth shattering. Lots of heartache, personal trauma and a bit of spice.
3.75

I really wanted to love this one, but I just didn't.

I have to say, I think the time has come to stop with the podcast-framed-mysteries in books. I'm over it! It also doesn't help that I found the mystery at the center of this book to be utterly boring. I had so much trouble investing in the story. It also felt like something I've read before - it felt derivative and unoriginal and I was really disappointed in that.

On the bright side, I did really like the characters in this book. Adam and Jess and Tegan were so easy to love and root for. My favorite part of this book was the time they spent at Adam's family farm. The few chapters spent there felt like the real meat of this story. The found family elements were beautiful and I loved watching Jess unwind and start to feel comfortable after all of her years of struggle. When they left the farm to continue their investigation I could feel my energy waning with every page.

I will definitely give this author another chance - I see so much promise in her characters and romance storylines that I think another book of hers might be more my style. But this one? It's an unfortunate no for me.

2.75 stars rounded up

Literally amazing. I love anything from Kate Clayborn honestly. Definitely an amazing romance and loved the focus on the journey of self discovery. I can’t wait for this to be our next book club read

After their mother disappeared with a con man, Jess raised her half sister Tegan the best that she could. And if she happened to never mention that she’s received postcards from their mother, who can blame her for not wanting to upset their precarious balance? Jess learns that Tegan has discovered the postcards when two journalists from a podcast about the con man show up to help Tegan track their mother down. Jess accompanies them reluctantly to protect Tegan initially but as the trip progresses, she gains so much more.

What I loved:
-heartfelt and heartbreaking plot
-portrayal of unconventional family relationships
-format with snippets of podcast interspersed
-open and mature communication between Jess and Adam

This was a heartbreaking but beautiful story that I enjoyed immensely. I would highly recommend this to fans of romances with a deeper plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for the advanced reading copy!

OMG what a beautiful book! I love Kate Clayborn’s books so much!!!
Hairstylist Jess Greene has spent the last decade raising her younger half-sister, Tegan, ever since their reckless mother ran off with a boyfriend she’d known only a few months. The same accomplished con man who was the subject of a wildly popular podcast, The Last Con of Lynton Baltimore. Now thirty-one, Jess didn’t bargain on Tegan plans to do exactly what Jess has always feared—leave their safe, stable home to search for their mother—and she’ll be accompanied by the prying podcast host and her watchful, handsome producer, Adam Hawkins.
Unwilling to let the sister she’s spent so much of her life protecting go it alone, Jess reluctantly joins them. Together, the four make their way across the country, unraveling the mystery of where the couple disappeared to and why. But soon Jess finds in Adam an unexpected connection she didn’t even know was missing, if only she can let go and let him in . . .
This story is like an expensive wine you just have to savor in small doses to enjoy all the experience. It´s not a book to read in a day. It’s deep, moving, and sometimes it seems that someone is ripping off your heart from your chest. Everything in this story works perfectly. The timing, the amount of aghast, the secondary characters, the bond between Jess and Adam. It’s a sweet slow-burn romance full of meaningful moments, and many romantic ones. I really like Jess, but Adam was incredible beautiful. I wanted to enter the story and just hug him.
I highly highly recommend this book.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a heart aching book. Jess's mother has disappeared, twice. The last time she left 21 years old Jess in charge of her 8 year old half sister, so Jess has given over her adult life to looking after Teagan - raising her and being the mother that their real mother wasn't.
But now Teagan is 18 and wants to find her mother. The key to this, is finding the con artist their mother ran off with. To that end, she contacts a true crime podcaster, who has been trying to track him down for years. Jess can't stop Teagan from going, so all she can do is go with her and try to prevent the worst of the damage.
Adan 'Hawk' Hawkins is the producer on the podcast.. He has his own reasons for being there and, much as he would like to, he can't protect Jess from harm either.
This story is a romance story at it's core, but it straddles the line between romance and women's fiction in the best possible way (I love books that do that!). It's a story about how we try to protect the people we love and how sometimes, we mess up. It's about sisterhood and sacrifice and how one person's disappearance affects the people she left behind. I had tears in my eyes in a few places.
This is a beautiful book. Romantic and heart felt.

<i>I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

3.5 stars, rounded down

Clayborn's books seem to be hit or miss for me. I've been chasing the high of <i>Georgie, All Along</i> ever since I finished it but <i>Beginner's Luck</i> wasn't anything special for me.

Unfortunately, this book also lacked that special spark.

Jess and Adam are wonderfully nuanced characters! It was a treat to see how the events of their lives have shaped them in even the small details. The moments where they learned about each other for themselves, those were some beautiful and poignant moments. But I didn't connect with them. I wasn't emotionally invested in their story.

The supporting cast of characters were great but again, it was hard to connect with them.

I loved how Clayborn really explored all aspects of disappearing and familial relationships. It's a romance book that makes you think a little deeper. It has a light philosophical bent, which is unique but I think is the vibe that made it harder to for me to connect.

It almost feels like us readers were meant to stay outside the story, in the way Salem and Adam couldn't stay outside their podcasts.

This book is solid, it's enjoyable, and I'm sure there's a loving audience for it. It's just not one of my favorites.

I had to wait a couple of days to digest this book before writing a review. I sat down on a rainy Saturday to read and finished it in one go. This one had me in my feelings HARD. The journey all of these characters go on, both literally and emotionally, the growth, the learning- it was so well done. So beautiful. Running to go read all of Kate Clayborn's other titles!

The "spicy" scenes were pure poetry. 🌶️🌶️.5 spice

🌶️🌶️.5= a couple explicit scenes but they're very poetic.

Jess Greene has been trying to move on from her past for years. Her mother left her and her step-sister Tegan and never looked back. When a well known true crime podcast host shows up at Jess’s door she realizes her past has come back to haunt her once again. Unbeknownst to Jess, Tegan discovered the postcards their mother had sent and contacted host Salem Durant to help track her down. Regan wants answers, specifically how their mother was connected to famous con man Lynton Baltimore. But Salem brings some help in the form of ex-football star Adam Hawkins who is helping Salem in return to have his own show green-lit.

From the start Adam seems to see through Jess’s tough veneer. The little signs that shows she really does care about Tegan and her relationship with her mother, no matter how hard she tries to hide her feelings. The four end up taking a road trip across the country based on the locations from the post cards. But will Jess and Tegan find their mother? What happened to Lynton Baltimore? And most importantly what will become of Jess and Adam after this soul searching, heavy adventure?

As usual Kate Clayborn delivers deeply satisfying story with troubled but endearing characters with a romance that touches your heart and has the reader rooting for the characters the whole time.

I devoured this story. I love that it’s all about how we define ourselves, what experiences molded the formation of those definitions, and whether they’re healthy or not.

While this is absolutely a romance (Adam, our morally huge hero, and Jess, our protective and padlocked heart heroine, are instantly drawn to and intrigued by one another, but it’s a slow burn and some serious trust-building that fortifies their bond), it’s actually the non-romantic and familial relationships that that shape this book. Jess is incredibly protective of her baby sister, Tegan, who she’s raised alone. And she fully throws herself into that role to try and make up for the fact that their mom took off.

Adam suffered a huge loss in a very public way, and it serves as his foundation for why he’s now in a career that wound up putting him directly in Jess & Tegan’s path.

These are heavy topics and trauma that have wounded both Adam and Jess, but the story is mostly centered around a true-crime podcast about Jess’ mom, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.

I was immediately intrigued by this plot (I’ll post the blurb in the comments).

It’s something different for a Kate Clayborn novel, but she still manages to approach it all with care and tenderness, which if you’ve read any of her previous books, you know is something you can rely on her to do. You’ll feel deeply, ache for the people on the pages, and swoonily sigh several times before reaching The End.

Also, I have to throw some serious bonus points out for a specific and pivotal H/h plot device, that in probably any other novel, would’ve gone a very predictable route, but quite pleasantly did not in this one. I want to elaborate more, but we’d be entering the Spoiler Zone if I did, so that’s all I’ll say.

This book was a little slow for me, but I enjoyed it. The "action" if you can call it that was very spread out, with not a lot happening in between, and the ending was a little unsatisfying except for one aspect of it. Overall, I would recommend you grab this from the library instead of buying.

Kate Clayborn is fantastic at crafting a very interesting premise and then exploring it with grace and nuance, and this is no exception. It's not hard to see the appeal in her work, even when a particular book doesn't necessarily work for me, such as in the case of this book. (Just not a fan of instant love, mostly.) I will continue to pick up her work going forward, as I am always impressed.

This is the third in a run of books I’ve been reading lately that happens to feature true crime podcasts as the driving force of the story. The upside: this one is less of a mystery or thriller than the others, but still has a more compelling and well drawn story at the center. It features complicated and well drawn characters. The downside: Omg the two narrators could not be more in their feelings. I like some emotional depth! And I like where their stories took us, individually and together. But some of the (many) tortured descriptions of their every interaction from the jump was… a bit much.

Jess and Teegan's mother eloped with a notorious man and left her children. Jess was 21 and Tegan was only 8 years old. Jess had raised her young sister alone, and then she gets a shock: Teegan has left school and is planning on travelling around the country looking for her mother. Her travel expenses are paid for by a crew of people recording and broadcasting everything as a live podcast.

I had a hard time with this book, primarily because I couldn't quite fathom that, to Jess, who the sisters' mother took off with was as important as the fact that she left them at all. The mother's attitude also shook me when they finally caught up with her. There is a romance in this book but it was not central to the story.

I received an e-arc of this book from publisher Kensington books via NetGalley, and voluntarily read and reviewed it.

While there was a nice bit of romance in this book, it was had more depth than many books of that genre. It is the story of a woman who at 21 was left to care for her 8 year old sister when their mom abandoned them. Now, ten years later, the younger sister wants to find their mom with the help of a podcaster. It deals with sacrifice, abandonment, siblings, parenting, romance and learning to live for yourself again. Thank you to NetGalley for the digital advance reading copy. I really enjoyed it. 4/5 !

A great story of two sisters struggling to make a life after their mother abandoned them for her con-man boyfriend. The depiction of narcissistic types in this book is really interesting, as is the evolution of the elder sister as she realizes her little sis is growing up and going to be just fine without her hovering. The instalove boyfriend was, as some have said, a little too quick, but sometimes the author has to take liberties. Overall I enjoyed this coming-of-age novel, although there were some minor loose ends.

I loved the author’s previous work, but unfortunately this one was a miss for me. I found the insta-love romance difficult to believe given the personality of the FMC. The plot dragged along while also feeling rushed in places. I did not feel connected to the characters and the emotional tone of the book felt forced.