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Kristin Harmel is an American New York Times, USA Today, and #1 international bestselling author of literary fiction and historical fiction novels.

Born on the outskirts of Boston, Massachusetts, and partially raised in Columbus, Ohio, and St. Petersburg, Florida, Kristin graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in journalism (Spanish minor).

Her books have been translated into 28 languages, selling numerous copies across the globe.

The former reporter for PEOPLE magazine, who hosts a weekly podcast called Friends & Fiction, currently resides in Orlando, Florida with her husband and their son.

More about Kristin Harmel

Genres: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction

Born: 1979

United States

Website: https://kristinharmel.com/

Non Series

  • How to Sleep with a Movie Star (2006)
  • The Blonde Theory (2007)
  • The Art of French Kissing (2007)
  • When You Wish (2008)
  • Italian for Beginners (2009)
  • After (2010)
  • The Sweetness of Forgetting (2012)
  • The Life Intended (2014)
  • When We Meet Again (2016)
  • The Room on Rue Amélie (2019)
  • The Winemaker's Wife (2019)
  • The Book of Lost Names (2020)
  • The Forest of Vanishing Stars (2021)
  • The Paris Daughter (2023)

Short Stories

  1. How to Save a Life (2016)
Short Stories

Detailed book overview

Non Series

How to Sleep with a Movie Star

Twenty-six year old Claire Reilly is among the youngest senior editors at Mod magazine.

A dedicated professional, she is quite experienced when it comes to interviewing sexy Hollywood stars.

So when she is given the responsibility of interviewing Cole Brannon, the biggest thing in Hollywood, the last thing she ever expected was to wake up in the idol’s bedroom the following morning.

And when the tabloids get wind of the story, Claire’s world is turned on its head.

But as she battles to rebuild her stature, Claire will discover that not everything you read is worth believing.

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2006
ISBN: 978-0446694476
Publisher: 5 Spot
The Blonde Theory

Why can’t 35-year-old Harper Roberts find a decent man despite being sharp and sexy?

Well, most men usually approach her on the  prejudice that she's a brainless blonde, only to bolt as soon as they discover that she is a graduate of the prestigious Harvard Law School.

This prompts Harper’s best friend, who so happens to be a magazine editor, to come up with the social experiment of going on dates as a “dumb blonde”.

For the next two weeks, Harper completely changes her wardrobe, her way of talking and her body language for the covert experiment.

The results will be staggeringly hilarious.

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2007
ISBN: 978-0446697590
Publisher: 5 Spot
The Art of French Kissing

Emma Sullivan should be chuffed that she’s in Paris, yet she isn’t because she’s too preoccupied with a public relations assignment for one of the sexiest and most insane rock icons in the world.

Worse off is that Gabriel Francoeur, the gorgeous and obstinate reporter, is having a hard time accepting Emma’s revelation about some of the crazy things her client was doing in the hotel room.

She however won’t let any of that tarnish her passion for Paris, the city of love.

Determined to begin a new chapter, Emma decides to become bolder, thrilling and more accomplished.

After all, she’ll need it given how the tabloids are desperately looking for a story.

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2007
ISBN: 978-0446581431
Publisher: 5 Spot
When You Wish

Despite being one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, Star Beck yearns to live like a normal girl, away from the crazed fans and merciless paparazzi.

So when that opportunity comes in the form of a shocking revelation from her mother, Star decides to walk away from the global limelight.

And soon enough, she’s munching cheeseburgers, wearing sandals instead of high heels and basically leading a normal life.

Furthermore, she loses her heart to the most authentic boy that she has ever crossed paths with.

Does he also have feelings for her? If so, how will she know?

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2008
Ebook: B001CJRD7Q
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Italian for Beginners

Cat Connelly, a 34-year-old New York accountant, is used to toeing the line and living a reserved life.

When her younger sister however gets married, Cat can’t help but wonder whether her restrained lifestyle has made her boring.

Tired of playing by the rules, she accepts an invitation from her former lover who wants them to spend a month in Italy together.

Her reunion with Francesco however doesn’t last for long, as Cat soon finds herself alone and stranded in the Italian capital.

But as she will soon learn, Cat will end up finding herself, rather than finding love.

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2009
ISBN: 978-0755347438
Publisher: Little Black Dress
After

Lacey is left devastated after the death of her father in a tragic road accident.

Even worse is that she feels she is to blame, given how she took long to prepare that fateful morning.

Perhaps things wouldn’t have turned out the way they did.

Her mom wouldn’t be incapacitated, and her brother Logan wouldn’t be an alcoholic.

Furthermore, her younger brother wouldn’t be all alone.

Determined to make a difference, Lacey decides to help others in her school in need of help.

Crossing paths with Sam was however never part of her plans.

This touching book is about family, friendship and the incredible power of love.

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2010
Ebook: B0036CTOME
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
The Sweetness of Forgetting

Hope McKenna-Smith, a recently divorced mother of one, is starting to ask several questions about her life.

What if she hadn’t dropped out of law school? What if she hadn’t resigned from her job in order to take care of her daughter? What if she hadn’t caught her husband cheating on her?

When Rose, her elderly grandmother, reveals an old secret to her, one that she has been hiding for seventy years, Hope finds herself on a desperate truth-finding quest with nothing more than a list of names.

In her journey, she will find her grandmother’s old love with his fair share of secrets.

Will the two old lovers be reunited?

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2012
ISBN: 978-1451644296
Publisher: Gallery Books
The Life Intended

Kate Waithman never expected to fall in love again after the unexpected demise of her husband.

Yet a decade later, she is on the verge of exchanging marital vows for the second time in her life.

So why isn’t she thrilled about it?

In the beginning, she attributes is to insufficient sleep?

However, when Patrick, her deceased husband, appears to her in her dreams, Kate can’t help but wonder if this is a sign that she shouldn’t get married.

Determined to unveil the message being conveyed by her late husband, Kate embarks on a mission that sees her uncover far bigger things than she could have premeditated.

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2014
ISBN: 978-1476754154
Publisher: Gallery Books
When We Meet Again

Emily Emerson is accustomed to being alone, given that she has nobody to call family.

Left completely alone after losing both her grandmother and her job, Emily feels lost—until she receives a stunning painting of a young woman, with the written words, “He always loved her”.

Desperate for a sense of belonging, she embarks on a determined search which leads her to Florida where German prisoners worked for Americans, with some losing their hearts to American women.

In her journey, she sees a different side of her father, who abandoned them years ago, and a different side of her distressing family history.

Will her discoveries change things for the better?

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2016
ISBN: 978-1476754161
Publisher: Gallery Books
The Room on Rue Amélie

It's 1939 in Paris.

Ruby Henderson Benoit has just gotten married to Frenchman Marcel. Her happiness is however shattered after the Nazis attack France.

Charlotte Dacher was just a young girl when Hitler’s army took over Paris.

Her life was torn apart after the mass deportations were launched.

When Thomas Clarke enlisted for the British Air Force, he thought that his efforts would count for something.

However, his doubts only intensify after he loses his mother to one of the Nazi bombings.

But amidst all the chaos in the French capital, Thomas finds something worth fighting for, and a sudden way back home.

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2019
ISBN: 978-1501190544
Publisher: Gallery Books
The Winemaker's Wife

Champagne, 1940: the lives of newlyweds Inès and Michel get interrupted after the Germans attack.
With the terror getting closer, Michel abandons his marriage as he makes preparations for the Résistance.
Although this could expose his family, the risks could be far bigger for Céline, the half-Jewish spouse of their chef de cave.
But when Ines and Céline both take a huge risk in the pursuit of love, they endanger the lives of their loved ones.

New York, 2019: Liv Kent, who has lost everything that is dear to her, is surprised when her queer French grandmother unexpectedly appears in an act that will forever change her life.

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2019
ISBN: 978-1982112301
Publisher: Gallery Books
The Book of Lost Names

While arranging books one morning, Eva Traube Abrams—a partially retired Florida-based librarian—finds a photograph of The Book of Lost Names—a book that she hasn’t laid eyes on in more than half-a-century.

Along with the photograph is an article that explores how the Nazis plundered libraries all over Europe during the Second World War, something that Eva remembers vividly.

The book in the photograph, safely kept in Berlin, contains a secret code that researchers can’t seem to decipher.

Eva however has the answers that can help solve the mystery.

But does she have the have the energy to relieve the old and painful memories?

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2020
ISBN: 978-1982131906
Publisher: Gallery Books
The Forest of Vanishing Stars

A young woman uses her knowledge of the wilderness to help Jewish refugees escape the Nazis—until a secret from her past threatens everything.

After being stolen from her wealthy German parents and raised in the unforgiving wilderness of eastern Europe, a young woman finds herself alone in 1941 after her kidnapper dies. Her solitary existence is interrupted, however, when she happens upon a group of Jews fleeing the Nazi terror. 

Stunned to learn what’s happening in the outside world, she vows to teach the group all she can about surviving in the forest—and in turn, they teach her some surprising lessons about opening her heart after years of isolation. But when she is betrayed and escapes into a German-occupied village, her past and present come together in a shocking collision that could change everything.

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2021
ISBN: 978-1982158941
Publisher: Gallery Books
The Paris Daughter

Two mothers must make unthinkable choices in the face of the Nazi occupation.

Paris, 1939: Young mothers Elise and Juliette become fast friends the day they meet in the beautiful Bois de Boulogne. Though there is a shadow of war creeping across Europe, neither woman suspects that their lives are about to irrevocably change.

When Elise becomes a target of the German occupation, she entrusts Juliette with the most precious thing in her life—her young daughter, playmate to Juliette’s own little girl. But nowhere is safe in war, not even a quiet little bookshop like Juliette’s Librairie des Rêves, and, when a bomb falls on their neighborhood, Juliette’s world is destroyed along with it.

More than a year later, with the war finally ending, Elise returns to reunite with her daughter, only to find her friend’s bookstore reduced to rubble—and Juliette nowhere to be found. What happened to her daughter in those last, terrible moments? Juliette has seemingly vanished without a trace, taking all the answers with her. Elise’s desperate search leads her to New York—and to Juliette—one final, fateful time.

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2023
ISBN: 978-1668026939
Publisher: Gallery Books

Short Stories

How to Save a Life

A pediatric oncology nurse is shocked after learning that she only has a matter of weeks left before her death.

Left distraught, she surprisingly finds strength and reassurance from a patient.

Her new young friend however holds a huge secret; one that pertains to the possibility of living the same day continually until you finally experience a complete life.

This marks the start of a moving tale of love, friendship, and finding one’s self, as the courageous nurse learns to live life to the fullest despite the constant reminder that death is on the horizon.

Author: Kristin Harmel
First Release: 2016
Ebook: B010MH1C9I
Publisher: Pocket Star