The Other Side of Disappearing - by Kate Clayborn (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"Poignant, observant, tender, and deeply romantic. Clayborn takes what she does best and goes deeper, deftly braiding mystery and family drama with an absorbing romance in her trademark lyrical voice. This book is everything."--CHRISTINA LAUREN, New York Times bestselling authors of The True Love Experiment

Hairstylist Jess Greene has spent the last decade raising her younger half-sister, Tegan--and keeping a shocking secret. Ever since their reckless mother ran off with a boyfriend she'd known only a few months, Jess has been aware that he's 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 eventually piecing together the connection for herself. But 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 is discovering other things too. Like a renewed sense of vulnerability and curiosity, and a willingness to expand beyond the walls she's so carefully built. And in Adam, she finds an unexpected connection she didn't even know was missing, if only she can let go and let him in . . .

Review Quotes

"Kate Clayborn's writing is an immersive journey through honest, gasping emotion. The Other Side of Disappearing is a masterpiece of heart, hope, and the quest for home." --Kate Canterbary, author of In a Jam

"I laughed and swooned and cried, then came away with indelible memories of unforgettable characters who jumped off the page and into my heart. A delight from beginning to end and beyond." --Julia Whelan, internationally bestselling author of My Oxford Year and Thank You For Listening on The Other Side of Disappearing

"Totally original and so romantic, The Other Side of Disappearing gave me the moving love story I'm always looking for." --Beth O'Leary, international bestselling author of The No-Show

"With her signature beautifully crafted prose, Kate Clayborn delivers another masterclass in romance with The Other Side of Disappearing. I fell completely in love with prickly, private Jess and Adam, the big-hearted giant of a man who's gone for her from the start. I was so intrigued to follow the clues about what happened in the past, but so, so invested in Jess and Adam building a future together in a way that was careful and tender and achingly true. I never disappear into a book the way I do into Clayborn's." --Alicia Thompson, bestselling author of Love in the Time of Serial Killers on The Other Side of Disappearing

"Poignant, observant, tender, and deeply romantic, The Other Side of Disappearing is a genre-bending triumph. Clayborn takes what she does best and goes deeper, deftly braiding mystery and family drama with an absorbing romance in her trademark lyrical voice. This book is everything; Jess and Adam own my whole heart." --Christina Lauren, New York Times Bestselling Authors of The True Love Experiment on The Other Side of Disappearing

"You get everything with this book: the most tender of love stories, a complicated relationship between sisters, and an engrossing mystery you won't be able to put down." --Carley Fortune, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After and Meet Me at the Lake on The Other Side of Disappearing

"A glorious feat and a must read." --Tessa Bailey, New York Times Bestselling Author of Fangirl Down on The Other Side of Disappearing

"This is a book for plunging into, a river of feelings with an inescapable current. Even as you are swept away, you know Clayborn's hand is safely on the tiller, steering you expertly through the rapids." --The New York Times Book Review on Georgie, All Along

"A sweet novel that reminds you going back is sometimes the best path forward . . . and that planning is never as rewarding as doing." --Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author on Georgie, All Along

"So stunningly, radiantly perfect... Clayborn's writing is magnetic and witty and expansive, and her characters feel as real and solid to me as my own limbs. The world is going to fall hard for this deliciously whimsical and captivating story, and I cannot wait to see it!" --Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis on Georgie, All Along

"Outright perfection! Clayborn's writing is so immersive, so exuberant, it's a truly multisensory experience. A classic author writing in the modern age, Clayborn is in a league entirely her own." --Christina Lauren, Kate Clayborn Fanclub Co-Presidents and Authors of The Soulmate Equation on Georgie, All Along

"Perfect for Emily Henry fans. [This] is the love story that proves you can go home again...It's so rich and wonderful." --Julia Quinn, The TODAY Show on Georgie, All Along

"Absolute perfection--this is the book you are looking for. Georgie All Along is a tour de force, beautifully written and full of charming characters, rich emotion, and delicious spice. With it, Kate Clayborn solidifies her place in romance royalty." --Sarah MacLean, New York Times bestselling author on Georgie, All Along

"Georgie, All Along is the best kind of love story: one where each character not only finds love, but finds themselves as well. Georgie Mulcahy is a delight, and the sweet and tender romance she finds, in the most unexpected of places, will make readers beam." --T. Greenwood, author of Such a Pretty Girl, Keeping Lucy, and Bodies of Water on Georgie, All Along

"From elegant sentences to taut plots, Kate Clayborn is a master storyteller." --Oprah Daily on Georgie, All Along

"This one's got real emotional heft, packing satisfying profundity, wrapped up in oodles of chemistry, naturally." --The Globe and Mail on Georgie, All Along

"It's hard to describe a Kate Clayborn novel. There's a lived-in-ness to them, a poignant sense of reality and melancholy that makes them a study in how to craft a portrait of wistful, bittersweet happy endings...Clayborn's writing has a latent emotionality that, paired with her lyrical pen, results in deeply romantic storytelling...Her romantic musings find the beauty and magic in life's details, reminding us that it's in finding our way through the not knowing that we discover the softest whispers of our hearts." --Entertainment Weekly A+ Review for Georgie, All Along

"Clayborn's stories always feel equally specific and universal, written with vulnerability, humor, and empathy, and this latest is no exception. Georgie and Levi each have an incredibly charged presence on the page as the story explores their individual narratives, but their differences allow them to forge an entirely perfect whole. A modern yet timeless love story." --Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW for Georgie, All Along

"Told from alternating viewpoints, this tender and sexy contemporary romance from Clayborn also features strong friendships and will appeal to fans of Emily Henry." --Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW for Georgie, All Along

"Clayborn spins a gentle tale of two people who set out to find themselves and stumble into love along the way...The smooth, vivid prose makes it easy to invest in the protagonists' well-rendered character growth. This introspective romance is a treat." --Publishers Weekly on Georgie, All Along

"Kate Clayborn's books are some of the best of the genre because they grapple with life-changing inheritances, tense friendship breakups, and fraught parental relationships in parallel with the deeply felt romances." --Paste Magazine on Georgie, All Along

"Kate Clayborn's gorgeously written romances are a perfect counterbalance to the current wave of high-concept rom-coms." - Bookpage on Georgie, All Along

"In the realistic and insightful romance novel Georgie, All Along, two people reinvent themselves--and ignite heat in the process." --Foreword Reviews on Georgie, All Along

"Constantly revealing new layers of lyricism...Love at First is poetry, then -- sometimes an artful sonnet, other times halting free verse. But it's never anything short of miraculous." --Entertainment Weekly, Grade A for Love at First

"[Clayborn's novels are] absolute stunners, written in a warm, witty, complex voice... I was left with that warm, glowing love for humanity that is always what I'm chasing when I read this genre: the sense of togetherness, of hope, of even unsolvable problems feeling less impossible. Because a good romance lets you forgive the people on the page. A great romance lets you forgive people in general--and feel that maybe they even deserve it." --The New York Times on Love at First

"This is a gorgeously written romance with a line that perfectly sums up a truth for many a romance character (or human): We don't have to love the way we learned to love at first." --NPR on Love at First

"A novel of lush complexity, one bursting with humor, a tender melancholy, and meditations on love, friendship, and life, any reader can find solace and inspiration in. It's lyrical and engrossing, a novel that possesses all the colors, idiosyncrasies, and range of the alphabet. Like the pages Meg designs, Love Lettering is a novel bursting with hidden messages essential to discover--long as we open our hearts to analyze the codes." --Entertainment Weekly, A+ for Love Lettering

"Quirky and winning." --USA Today on Love Lettering

"Fresh, funny, clever, and deeply satisfying." --Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW on Love Lettering

"Love Lettering does much more than just give us a cute love story. The novel isn't just about love--it's about communication both in romantic relationships and in friendships." --Hypable on Love Lettering

"I flew through this creative and original book. I was completely absorbed by the world Kate Clayborn creates--the characters felt so real and their joys and sorrows and struggles and triumphs felt so relatable that I forgot I was reading fiction." --Jasmine Guillory, New York Times bestselling author of The Proposal on Love Lettering

"What if you and your two best friends all went in together on a winning lottery ticket? The romance between Kit, a no-nonsense scientist who dreams of her first real home, and Ben, a recruiter and builder (I promise, it works) is emotional and real. Plus, I adored Kit's strong relationship with her two best friends." --O, The Oprah Magazine, Best Romances of the Year, on Beginners Luck

"Clayborn's characters are bright and nuanced, her dialogue quick and clever, and the world she builds is warm and welcoming." --The Washington Post, 5 Best Romances of the Year for Luck of the Draw

"This book is hilarious and moving and sexy, with a focus on strong female friendship, guilt that's hard to let go of, and one of the most realistic, and ultimately romantic, fake fiance´setups I've ever read." --Buzzfeed, Best Romances of the Year, on Luck of the Draw

"Despite all the time we spend tethered to screens, the truth is that humans live with technology, not in it--at least for now. Kate Clayborn's Love Lettering is a flawless representation of that truth...a lush, languid romance that merges the nostalgic past with the technological present." --The Washington Post on Love Lettering

"Clayborn explores the experience of falling in love in a Chicago apartment building in a contemporary romance that will resonate with city dwellers and rural readers alike...A superb cast of characters rounds out this sweet, slow-burn romance." --Booklist on Love at First

"Clayborn employs her signature combination of past emotional wounds and tender blossoms of hope to gradually twine her two protagonists together, allowing them to--temporarily--live in denial even as they fall deeply in love. Her beautiful prose is full of a softness and depth that lingers--passages beg to be reread and savored--while moments of humor and gently smoldering passion lift what might otherwise be a slow and overly sentimental read. Perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Emily Henry, Love at First feels like a long, warm hug upon returning home." --Shelf Awareness on Love at First

About the Author