Mostly I was bored by this. It was slooooooow. Has anyone ever thought, "Boy, I would really like to read a road trip book that had no adventure element!"? If so, this is the right book for that person.

There were elements of the set-up that I liked, but mostly it was even more absurd than in most romances. Adam, the MMC is a well-known football player who did something online that went viral -- ostensibly he then goes to journalism school and is trying to get in the good graces of a podcaster so that he can get her support to do a podcast about something that matters to him. That is why he is second-fiddle on this other podcast for which the established podcaster needs Jess (the FMC) and her sister to participate. But a sports star who is internet famous can get in front of people. The years in journalism school and the work as a lackey on a podcast seems like the single most indirect route to his goal. If he had wanted people to listen he could just have called ESPN.

The biggest issue was the inexplicable love at first sight. Jess is built into a sympathetic character, but outwardly she is always rude and sometimes mean, and sympathetic is not the same as appealing. She has no interests other than raising her half-sister (her mother abandoned them a decade ago when Jess was 21 and her sister 8.) She goes to work, she comes home, she won't speak to her co-workers, she won't do anything, even eat at restaurants. This is a trauma response, and I empathize with that, but it does not explain why anyone would fall in love with her at first sight. She is beautiful, but Adam was a presumed first-round draft pick out of Ohio State so he had access to lots of beautiful women. That alone wouldn't do it. Maybe he was just waiting for someone to be nasty and dismissive to him in response to his kind and polite behavior. That does not seem healthy.

I don't know, it was fine I guess. A 2.5? I loved the last Clayborn book I read, Georgie, All Along. It was silly, but also sweet in a way that made me happy. The MMC in that book had a lot of the same aloofness as Jess displayed in this book, and I had a problem with that too, but the story was better there, and at least the MMC there was always kind, unlike Jess. I will try another book by the author, but I am not rushing to do so. ( )

The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn
Contemporary romance, chick lit.
Years ago, Jess Greene’s mother disappeared with her new boyfriend, leaving Jess to raise her younger half-sister Tegan. Jess has known who the man was, but Tegan just found out and she’s determined to track the couple down with the help of a famous podcast host. The group sets out on the trail of the known cons of Lyndon Baltimore hoping to find their mother and why she left them.
As the group travels the country, Jess tries to protect Tegan, but realizes she has a right to know the facts. Jess is also discovering that staying protected behind carefully built walls has left her alone and disconnected. Adam is more than willing to help Jess experience the world if she can only lower her shields a bit. He knows the good comes with the bad, but sharing the experience is always better.

Jess has spent her life protecting her sister and herself. Closed off. In this story, she is forced to confront her fears and boundaries. Jess and Tegan must face the past as well as self assess their current relationship with each other and how they move forward.
Adam has a problem with his celebrity and he knows the public can be cruel and relentless. But there is also a chance to be better.
Heart wrenching emotions as they all make self discoveries and reconnect their past and futures.
Ultimately a romance with a lot of life thrown into middle.
Way more self analysis and angst than I’m comfortable with. Get me to the hea which fortunately was included. ( )

This book has two things I don't love, true crime podcasts and instalove. However, I still ended up liking this book.

It's probably not technically a romance. More one of those that falls in the grey area between women's fiction and romance. ( )

I am a big fan of Kate Clayborn novels. They always include someone who has some issue. The person meets someone who sees them as they are. Same in this novel. Jess's mother abandoned Jess and her younger daughter, Tegan, 10 years earlier, leaving Jess to care for her half-sister. Tegan wants to know more about her mother, so she secretly reaches out to Salem Durant, podcaster. Salem had done a popular true crime series about Lynton Baltimore, the man their mother left with years earlier. Along with Salem is Adam Hawkins, a former football star, dealing with the death of his best friend. When he sees Jess, he is intrigued. But he is there to do a job. Can Adam break through Jess's protective exterior and prove to her that he sees her, after she has disappeared into an unrecognizable personality after her mother left? Can he deal with his demons as well?
Enjoyed it. ( )

I love Kate Clayborn. She writes contemporary romances with good depth and well-developed relationships both between the main characters and the secondary ones. This latest novel is almost as much about familial relationships as about the romantic one, and it's very well done.

Jess has spent the last 10 years raising her half-sister after their mom takes off. As it happens, the mother left with a notorious con man, and a famous podcaster has appeared, wanting to tell the story. What ensues is a road trip, a love story, and a journey to healing. Clayborn is adept at writing fully believable female AND male characters, and at walking the line in developing conflict and angst without pushing it too much. This might not be my favorite of hers, but it was a good read.

4 stars ( )