The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn (★★★☆☆)
Audiobook • Libby • Contemporary Romance • 2024
Short synopsis: Jess, who has spent years hiding her family’s ties to a notorious con man, finds her carefully constructed life upended when her younger sister, Tegan, and the creators of a hit podcast set out to find their missing mother.
I think the audiobook experience hampered my enjoyment of this novel because I really didn’t like the narrators. The book alternates between Jess’s and Adam’s perspectives, and while neither narrator worked for me, Adam’s was especially distracting because he sounded nothing like the sexy hero I imagined. Maybe that’s shallow of me, but it made it harder to get invested in the story. Even beyond the narration, I found the central mystery surprisingly dull, and I’m not entirely convinced Kate Clayborn has ever listened to a true crime podcast (the podcast snippets, especially, didn’t feel believable to me). The romance didn’t really work for me, either. “Instalove” is one of my least-favorite tropes, and this novel solidifies why I dislike it so much. Jess and Adam had known each other for all of two weeks before they were suddenly in love and willing to completely upend their lives for each other. It all felt a little too convenient without the emotional depth I look for in my romances.
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 4 by Beth Brower (★★★★★)
Audiobook • Hoopla • Historical Fiction • 2021
Short synopsis: The Year is 1883, and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.
These novels are a balm to my soul, truly. Emma M. Lion has become such a dear friend to me. She is both witty and so much fun, but then there’s also this darkness to her as she has suffered an unimaginable loss recently (before the journals began) and is still grieving and coming to terms with what that means for her life. In this volume, Emma finds out that there is going to be a funeral that she knows she must attend, even though it is going to be one of the most difficult things she’s ever had to do. I loved every bit of this novel, even the sad parts, and most especially the continued storyline involving Emma and a potential love interest. Ooh, it’s just so sweet! I want to take my time working through these novels, but I also don’t want to listen to anything else!
Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood (★★★☆☆ 1/2)
Print • Owned (Target) • Contemporary Romance • 2025
Short synopsis: Maya, a struggling grad student, gets more than she bargained for when a destination wedding in Sicily forces her into close quarters with her brother’s older best friend, Conor—the successful biotech entrepreneur she’s secretly loved for years.
I had a tough time rating this one. On the one hand, it was sweet, heartfelt, and set against the backdrop of a destination wedding in Sicily. What’s not to love?! I also adored Maya, who was spunky, confident, and always willing to ask for what she wanted. On the other hand, this romance tested my patience. I don’t love a slow-burn romance, and this one was frustrating. I did not need hundreds of pages of Conor insisting that his attraction to Maya was wrong. Sir, we get it. The age gap (23 and 38) didn’t bother me nearly as much as Conor himself, who came across as rude, overly serious, and married to his job. The amount of work calls and meetings happening during what was supposed to be a vacation gave me secondhand stress. By the end, I wasn’t convinced Maya couldn’t do better. While I enjoyed the setting, the humor, and Maya’s character growth, Conor was just too much of a killjoy for me to fully buy into the romance.
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