No one gets you in your feelings like Kate Clayborn!!!
This book is definitely one of my favorites of hers, if not my favorite.
Adding the element of a mystery plus the family drama to the romance, took it to another level. I adored Jess. Her maternal life looking after her younger sister, juxtaposed with her tough exterior, made her super appealing to me - and Adam, oh gosh, you are going to love them together.
I didn’t see the twists and turns and the way Tegan’s character developed was really moving.
Huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital arc, what a buzz!!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Other Side of Disappearing is a book inspired by true crime podcasts, in that Jess Greene and her sister's mother ran off with a famous con man about a decade ago. There was a really popular podcast about him about a decade ago too and now that Jess's younger sister is 18, the podcast host and her assistant Adam have shown up on Jess's doorstep bringing it all back up. The plot of this book results in the four of these characters going on a road trip wherein they meet some interesting people, have a whole lot of difficult conversations, learn a lot about themselves, and also, along the way Jess and Adam fall in love.

Setting plot aside, this book is written by Kate Clayborn and if there's one thing that Kate Clayborn excels at, it's writing a really gorgeous book with a melancholic tone to it. (It should be noted that Kate Clayborn is in fact really good at many things.) I mention the melancholic tone because I really think that's an important thing to understand about her books before you pick one up. Do not pick this book up anticipating a really good, fun time because while this book is FANTASTIC, it's not really fun. This quote from later in the book is one that resonated with me for a lot of reasons, but mostly, I think it's just really good at getting across a lot of what I want to say about the book. "She wants me to remember loving Jess Greene wasn't ever going to be easy."

Jess has walls up. Like, her walls are sky high. They are rock solid. Her entire life, since her mom left, has been about keeping her baby sister alive and well and healthy. Jess as a person in her own right is really not her priority. This affects her interactions with literally everyone in the book and it can make it hard, I think, to really understand her as the reader. But I think if you give this book a couple of chapters, it wins you over. Jess wins you over.

But this book is dual perspective and contrasting Jess with Adam is also so interesting because Adam has depth to him. What you see on the surface is a big former football player who has a chip on his shoulder because he blames football for the fact that his best friend is dead by suicide. Both Jess and Adam have a lot of issues with trust, some issues with abandonment, and just a lot going on personally. But their connection is undeniable, no matter how hard Jess tries.

The way the two of them stutter step their way into falling in love is absolutely magical and I loved it so much. Honestly, I really love this whole book. Give it a few chapters to fall into the world, but I have a feeling once you're in, you're in because you've got to know what happened (historically) and what's going to happen on this road trip too.

I am just foaming at the mouth for anything Kate Clayborn writes and this is no exception. I adored this book, It had everything pulling me in 100 different directions in the best way? I was invested in everything from the podcast itself to the sister dynamics to the actual love story with adam to jess’ feelings toward her mom to adam’s grappling with his best friend’s death to adam’s dynamic with Salem and Salem’s obsession with the Baltimore story. It was an intricate web of people and plots and relationships but Kate wove it beautifully. She is just a master at her craft and I’m obsessed with her brain.

I had pegged this for a mystery, but not only is it a cozy mystery there’s romance thrown in as well!
When Jess’s mother abandoned them, she took over raising her half-sister Tegan. Tegan is eighteen now and wants to know what happened to her mother. For all she has managed to do in the past, Jess realizes she can’t protect Tegan from this any longer. Not only is Tegan looking for answers, but she has also discovered that their mother may be connected con artist Lynton Baltimore, the subject of a true crime like podcast. By reaching out to the podcaster, Tegan has once again piqued her interest and brought the podcast host, Salem and her protective producer, Adam Hawkins to Jess’s doorstep.
As they road-trip in search of their mother to unravel the mystery of her disappearance, Jess finds that she is losing the control of the protective bubble she has placed around her and Tegan for the past decade. As her fears and vulnerability surface, can Jess trust anyone but herself? The ending was great in respect to the main characters; however, I would have liked a little more in regard to the mother.
Not usually a fan of insta love, but this happened organically and there was a some build up/denial, so it wasn’t a jump all in off the bat and it worked for me! There are themes of heartbreak, discovery and resilience throughout the story, as well mental health and the impact on the ones that love you.

Rating: 5/5
Tropes: road trip romance; cozy mystery; secrets with everyone but you

Truly unique story that is the perfect combination between a cozy mystery and romance. Yes, it was insta-love for Jess and Adam, but I had insta-love for them as well. I couldn't stop reading because I had to know what happened next.

Jess has emotional barriers due to the way her mother disappeared from her life (twice), and raising her younger sister, Tegan. Adam has personal motivations for exploring journalism and pursuing Jess and Tegan's story about their mother. I loved the way these seemingly conflicting storylines were woven together and ultimately resolved.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

This was an interesting story of 2 sisters who were abandoned by their mother while she followed a con-man. Years later a famous pod caster shows up on their door step because the younger sister agreed to share their story with her. The story takes us on a journey with the sisters, the pod caster and her good looking beefy assistant to find their mom. I liked this book i just can't say I loved it. I found the instant love part of the story a little hard to believe. But overall it was a good interesting story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Kensington Books, and Kate Clayborn for allowing me to review this wonderful book. I love all of Kate Clayborn’s books and she is an auto buy author for me! This book is such a wonderful read full of emotional connections, sisterly bonds, romance, and mystery. I love how each character is on their own journey throughout the book and the reader is able to connect with all of them. I highly recommend this book! Thank you again for allowing me to review it.

Kate does it again. She kept me afloat with Georgie All Along last year. This year, she gives me The Other Side of Disappearing. Reading Kate’s novels puts me in the room with the characters. I’m hovering in the corner watching behind a curtain. I’m walking along side them rooting them on and yelling at them when they’re making a mistake.

Jess and Tegan are the sister story those of us without a sister dream about. It’s obviously not an ideal situation but you can truly feel their relationship. Tegan’s resentment and Jess’s hovering. The way they heal together by the end of the story is magic. The happily ever after.

Jess and Adam. Their love story is beautiful. The way their relationship forms is quick, but so genuine. I guess you don’t have a lot of space when you road trip with a stranger who’s writing a story about your mom. I love the way it isn’t perfect for them. I love the way he’s too much and she retreats.

The rage I feel towards their mother. Ugh it is real rage. The way I yelled at this book during the smidge of it that she was in. UGH!

I did give it 4 stars. I would’ve liked for Baltimore to be alive. I would’ve liked a little more follow up from the mom or Salem’s background with the original documentary. Salem having a family outside of it was kind of pointless. I would’ve liked to see more of a relationship between Jess and Adam’s mom, or Beth.

Kate Clayborn gives us another emotional and touching read with The Other Side of Disappearing. I absolutely loved the concept of this book and a cinnamon roll MMC will always be my favorite. Adam is multifaceted and a great representation of "manly" on the outside, but on the inside includes so many other traits. I think having male characters like this is a really wonderful way to represent men a dimensional and interesting. I had a harder time with Jess and her reticence to engage with the world. But seeing the two characters connect was really special.

I have not read her other works, but this book was on a higher level compared to Georgie, All Along. I could feel the love and dedication Clayborn put into this story, and it presents onto the page. As romance readers, we know there are different kinds of love: romantic, platonic, familial, etc. You get to see Jess experience these kinds of relationships as she allows more people to see her. She had to hide her sister to protect her, and she put her life on hold to help raise her. I admire Jess for her strength, her heart, and her courage to let down her walls. There is a mystery element to the story to figure out where their mother and Lynton went. Jess being vulnerable and learning to live again is my favorite element, and I hope you give this book a try.
I received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley, so thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

This is the third book I've read by Kate Clayborn and I will continue to add all of her books to my TBR. She's a fantastic writer, developing the love story between Jess and Adam, while focusing the same amount of attention on Jess's relationship with her sister who she's raised since Tegan was 8 years old, and on uncovering the mystery of her mother's final abandonment. It's a beautiful, heartwarming story about the people who leave and the ones they have left behind -- whether by choice or not. It's also about self-discovery, healing old wounds, learning to be vulnerable and moving forward from past trauma, making it a poignant, emotional ride so be prepared to feel all the feels!

Jess and Tegan are different in so many ways but both have been struggling with the trauma of being abandoned by their mother. When Charlotte (their mother) left the final time, Tegan was only 8 years old and didn't have anyone else to go to so Jess became her primary caregiver at 21, essentially closing herself off to love and devoting herself fully to raising her sister. She has no interest in finding her mom and holds a lot of anger towards her, rightfully so. Tegan on the other hand wants to find her mom, even going so far as to reach out to a podcast that did a story on a conman who happens to be the man their mother left with. This causes strain between the sisters since Jess feels betrayed by Tegan for planning to leave her behind to go on a road trip looking for their mother while Tegan feels betrayed by the fact that Jess hid their mother's postcards from her. Enter Adam, our love interest and football player turned journalist, and Salem the woman who did the initial story on the conman their mother left with. The chemistry between Jess and Adam is clear from the start but their meet cute is not under the best circumstances. When Adam and Salem turn up and Jess learns what Tegan has planned behind her back, she is determined to join the road trip to protect her sister, which means establishing boundaries and conditions for anything the sisters say on record.

There's a lot of tension in this book -- between the sisters, between Adam and Jess, and between Salem, Jess and Adam -- all for different reasons. As the story progresses we get a look into the psyches of each of these characters and I found a fondness for each of them, even Salem who is definitely not the most likeable character. Each has their own motivation for going on this trip and pursuing this story: Tegan wants to find her mom, Jess wants to protect Tegan, Salem wants to find the conman who disappeared on her during her popular podcast series, and Adam wants to publish a story about football and mental health because of the loss of his best friend and helping Salem with this story means she'll help him get to tell his own story. The further to the truth they get, the more apparent it becomes to Adam that he's not just there for the story or for his opportunity to tell a story important to him and the more time he spends with Jess, the harder it is for her to keep up her walls and close people out.

This really is a story about healing, for all of the characters and gives the reader a sense of found family forged under uncommon circumstances. Each character will confront the past in some way in order to move forward with their future. People who enjoy stories about self-discovery, with mental health themes, healing, family dynamics and a bit of romance will enjoy and find this one to be inspirational.

The Other Side of Disappearing is out now so definitely check it out!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced digital copy of this title from Kensington Books via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

After reading and adoring Georgie, All Along, I knew I wanted to read The Other Side of Disappearing. Kate Clayborn’s writing continues to be beautiful & lyrical. I will always read anything she writes! I know that so many people rated this one five stars, & I can see why! It just didn’t totally work for me. I think it is because while I liked the story, the romance part was not compelling. I think I needed it to have a bit more set up at the beginning (both the core story and the love story). If you took the romance out, the book would have still been solid. Which is good in a way, but I was kind of expecting the romance to be more central to the story. It was definitely a solid book, just not really what I was expecting. I still adore Kate Clayborn, but this just wasn’t a favorite for me.
3.75 stars rounded up to 4

Jess has been raising her younger half sister Teagan on her own ever since her reckless mom ran off with her new boyfriend 10 years ago. A man who just happens to be a con man, and the subject of a very popular true crime podcast. Jess has worked very hard to keep Teagan and herself out of any related publicity. But now Teagan wants answers.

This book destroyed me and put me back together again. It is incredibly well written, with depth that is both heart breaking and heart warming. The mystery surrounding their mom and this con man had me so intrigued from the very first chapter. There are bits of transcripts from the podcast in between chapters and I devoured them.

Then there was the romance. Adam, a colleague of the podcast host, is my new favourite book boyfriend. He’s a giant of a man, a football player turned journalist, who is both a soft place to land and someone you can’t hide from. Jess and Adam have sizzling chemistry, and the tension that is built on their journey is just perfect. There is a sexy trampoline scene, and a truck bed in a flower field scene- both will have you swooning.

This is my favourite book I have read in a long time. I highly recommend it. Five stars!

𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠📙🎧
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I was so excited when my @libby.app hold came through for this one. @kateclayborn.author please stand up and take a bow 💐💐. This is the second book this year that I’ve read that is podcast mystery related. There are so many trigger warnings: abandonment, conman, anxiety, depression, just to name a few. This wasn’t just a romance novel it was one of self-discovery and trauma-processing. Jesse green is a hair stylist who has raised her almost 18 year old sister Teagan since their mom abandoned them over 10 years ago. Now their lives are changing because their mom’s boyfriend is the grifter who is famous nationally. True -crime podcasters Salem Durant and her assistant Adam Hawkins are there to solve a mystery but don’t expect to find themselves and love in the process. I loved Adam and Jesse chemistry I also knew they were two broken people headed for doom. Salem I really enjoyed the more I understood her character. She turned into a mama bear in the end and I loved her for it. The best part of this for me was the self healing for all characters. They all did the work in the end to be better for each other and themselves. The new formed family was a great read. If you love true crime podcasts I highly recommend this book.

@marnyeyoung and Wyeth watts did a great job on narration. They performed Jesse and Adam’s characters perfectly.

❓what was the last true crime book you read?

🏷️#truecrime #podcast #grifter #conman #romance #love #books #read #drbooksreads #kateclayborn #bookstagram

I dnf'd this book after the first chapter. The premise seemed interesting but I literally felt like an idiot trying to understand that first chapter and I read it twice to make sure I understood what was happening. Not for me.

4 1/2 Stars

Jess and her sister, Tegan are both scarred by the abandonment of their mother. She left years before but the damage is still very much alive and well in their lives. When a podcaster and her producer show up prepared to take Tegan (who they believe to be Jess) on a cross country trip to follow their mother's trail, everything changes. When she realizes how much Tegan needs to know what happened to their mother, Jess agrees to go along on the trip even though she thinks it's a bad idea. Along the way, they won't just discover things they never knew about their mother, they'll learn things about themselves.

This was another strong entry by Kate Clayborn. I really appreciated the way Jess gradually opened up over the course of the book. Salem's producer, Adam was key in helping Jess find herself. Yet Adam was fighting his own demons. The storylines that were woven together in this book were well written and thought out. It was a gentle and emotional read and it really made you think.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

The shocking secret is not super shocking and the beginning of the book starts rough plot wise. I just couldn’t get into it - I don’t know if the information withholding was too much or what but I couldn’t find myself caring about the “secret” or the double abandonment or all the hurt feelings and thus couldn’t get onboard with the mission.

I think I have realized now that is this author’s MO as I’ve read two others and have now realized I don’t really love the actual plot but I love how she writes her characters and how they deal with their predicaments and most of all how they interact and grow and resolve together.

For that reason it’s a solid 3, but honestly I skimmed the last quarter of the books.

This book follows Jess, whose mum disappeared with a con artist and left her to raise her half-sister, Tegan. But when Tegan grows up and is about to leave for college, she finds a clue about their mother. So she ropes in a true-crime podcaster and her assistant to help them follow a trail of clues.

But along the way of finding their mother, they also find themselves.

This is a little different from Kate's other books. While it still delivers complex characters, descriptive prose, and a unique storyline, Kate also effortlessly blends mystery with the most tender romance, which ensures you won't want to put the book down.

I loved it! Jess and Adam are goals!

Such an interesting story. It made me laugh and cry and then laugh again!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Kate Clayborn’s books are the kind I always get lost in, in the best way. This one was probably my favorite so far, but I feel like I say that every time because they’re all so good!!!