Kristin Harmel Books in Order: Novels, Novellas, and Reading Order
Harmel began publishing novels in 2006 with How to Sleep with a Movie Star. Her early books leaned toward contemporary romantic fiction, while her later work became strongly associated with historical fiction, particularly stories connected to World War II, France, the Holocaust, family secrets, memory, love, and survival. Her official biography notes that her first novel was published in February 2006 and that her books have been translated into more than 35 languages.
As of 2026, the main publication bibliography contains 18 books, including the novella How to Save a Life. There are also shorter works and collection contributions that should be listed separately rather than mixed into the main novel sequence.
Kristin Harmel Books in Order at a Glance
Here is the chronological Kristin Harmel reading order:
| # | Book | Year | Type |
| 1 | How to Sleep with a Movie Star | 2006 | Novel |
| 2 | The Blonde Theory | 2007 | Novel |
| 3 | The Art of French Kissing | 2008 | Novel |
| 4 | When You Wish | 2008 | Novel |
| 5 | Italian for Beginners | 2009 | Novel |
| 6 | After | 2010 | YA novel |
| 7 | The Sweetness of Forgetting | 2012 | Novel |
| 8 | The Life Intended | 2014 | Novel |
| 9 | How to Save a Life | 2016 | Novella |
| 10 | When We Meet Again | 2016 | Novel |
| 11 | The Room on Rue Amélie | 2018 | Historical novel |
| 12 | The Winemaker’s Wife | 2019 | Historical novel |
| 13 | The Book of Lost Names | 2020 | Historical novel |
| 14 | The Forest of Vanishing Stars | 2021 | Historical novel |
| 15 | The Paris Daughter | 2023 | Historical novel |
| 16 | All the Diamonds in Paris | 2025 | Novel / alternate title |
| 17 | The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau | 2025 | Novel |
| 18 | Meet Me in Paris | 2026 | Novel |
There is an important bibliographic issue with #16 and #17: All the Diamonds in Paris is an alternate title for The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau, not a separate novel. Current listings can therefore make Harmel’s bibliography appear to contain one additional book.
Likewise, publication databases differ slightly on whether The Art of French Kissing and When You Wish should be listed first within 2008. Current bibliographic listings generally place When You Wish in February 2008 and The Art of French Kissing in March 2008, so that is the order used here.
Kristin Harmel Novels in Publication Order
1. How to Sleep with a Movie Star (2006)
Kristin Harmel’s debut novel is a contemporary romantic comedy centered on the complicated world of celebrity and relationships.
The story follows Claire Reilly, a young woman whose life becomes unexpectedly entangled with a Hollywood movie star.
Unlike Harmel’s later World War II novels, this early work has a lighter, more contemporary tone.
It is still useful to read if you want to see how Harmel’s writing developed before she became primarily known for historical fiction.
Harmel’s official biography confirms that her first novel was published in 2006.
2. The Blonde Theory (2007)
The Blonde Theory follows Harper Roberts, a successful and highly educated attorney who is frustrated by her dating life.
After being encouraged to experiment with a different persona, Harper begins pretending to be a stereotypically “dumb blonde.”
The novel combines romantic comedy with questions about appearance, confidence, identity, and how people judge one another.
Harmel’s official description calls Harper a Harvard-educated attorney who experiments with changing her image in an attempt to improve her love life.
3. The Art of French Kissing (2008)
The Art of French Kissing moves Harmel’s fiction into one of the settings that would become particularly important throughout her career: Paris.
Emma Sullivan is working in public relations for a famous rock star in Paris when she becomes entangled with a reporter who doesn’t believe her version of events.
The novel is a lighthearted romantic story about reinvention, independence, attraction, and finding the courage to become a different version of yourself.
Harmel’s official description emphasizes Paris, romance, and Emma’s attempt to reinvent herself in the City of Light.
4. When You Wish (2008)
When You Wish follows Star Beck, a hugely successful pop star who is tired of living under constant public scrutiny.
When Star discovers that her mother has kept an important secret from her, she decides to experience ordinary life for herself.
She leaves behind the celebrity world and begins discovering what it means to have relationships based on who she really is rather than her fame.
The novel was written for a younger audience and offers another example of Harmel’s earlier, lighter style.
5. Italian for Beginners (2009)
Italian for Beginners follows Cat Connelly, a Manhattan accountant who decides to take a major risk and travel to Italy after becoming dissatisfied with her carefully controlled life.
Her plans don’t go exactly as expected, leaving her to navigate Rome, new friendships, romance, and a new understanding of herself.
Harmel’s official description presents the novel as a romantic comedy inspired by the atmosphere of Roman Holiday and Bridget Jones’s Diary.
6. After (2010)
After is Harmel’s young-adult novel and represents another departure from her adult romantic fiction.
The novel explores grief, family, friendship, and what happens when a young person is forced to confront profound loss.
It is worth keeping separate from Harmel’s later historical-fiction bibliography because it was marketed specifically toward a teen/young-adult readership. Kirkus categorizes it as Teens & Young Adult.
7. The Sweetness of Forgetting (2012)
The Sweetness of Forgetting marks a major turning point in Harmel’s career.
The story follows Hope McKenna-Smith, a Cape Cod bakery owner whose French-born grandmother is losing her memory.
Before her grandmother can forget everything, she gives Hope fragments of a long-hidden story involving World War II Paris.
Hope travels to France to uncover what happened to her grandmother and the people she loved during the war.
The novel combines contemporary family drama with historical fiction, the Holocaust, romance, memory, and the importance of preserving stories across generations.
Harmel’s official site describes this as her first World War II novel and the book that made her an international bestseller.
8. The Life Intended (2014)
The Life Intended follows Kate Waithman, a woman who has experienced profound loss but is attempting to build a new life.
After her late husband begins appearing in her dreams, Kate starts questioning what those dreams mean and whether there is something unresolved in her past.
The story combines romance, grief, memory, and a touch of magical realism.
Harmel’s official description compares the novel’s emotional premise to Sliding Doors and P.S. I Love You.
9. How to Save a Life (2016)
How to Save a Life is a novella, rather than a full-length novel.
The story follows a pediatric oncology nurse who receives devastating news about her own health and discovers an extraordinary possibility through one of her young patients.
The premise introduces a hint of magical realism, as the protagonist discovers she may be able to repeat a single day until she has truly experienced life.
Harmel’s official site identifies it specifically as a novella.
10. When We Meet Again (2016)
When We Meet Again returns to the historical and family themes that would increasingly define Harmel’s fiction.
Emily Emerson receives an unexplained painting of her grandmother and a mysterious message suggesting that someone never stopped loving her.
Her investigation leads from Florida to Munich and into the history of German prisoners of war held in American camps during World War II.
The story connects past and present generations through love, secrets, war, and family history.
Harmel’s official site describes the novel as an updated edition of one of her early historical novels.
11. The Room on Rue Amélie (2018)
The Room on Rue Amélie moves fully into Harmel’s now-familiar World War II historical-fiction territory.
Set in occupied Paris, the novel explores the French Resistance and the risks ordinary people took to help those persecuted by the Nazis.
The book combines a wartime story with themes of courage, love, sacrifice, and resistance.
It is one of the books that established the historical-fiction style for which Harmel would become particularly well known.
12. The Winemaker’s Wife (2019)
The Winemaker’s Wife takes readers to France during World War II and into the world of a Champagne-producing family.
The novel moves between wartime France and a contemporary investigation into the past.
As secrets surrounding the family emerge, the story explores love, betrayal, resistance, survival, and the moral choices people faced during the occupation.
The novel further establishes Harmel’s interest in combining historical research with emotionally driven family stories.
13. The Book of Lost Names (2020)
The Book of Lost Names is one of Harmel’s best-known novels.
The story centers on Eva Traube, a young Jewish woman who becomes involved in the French Resistance during World War II.
Eva uses her artistic skills to create false identity documents that help people escape the Nazis.
She also develops a method for recording the real identities of children who are being hidden under false names.
The novel connects Eva’s wartime experiences with her life decades later and explores identity, memory, courage, and the cost of resistance.
It became a major international bestseller and was a finalist for both the Goodreads Choice Award and the National Jewish Book Award.
14. The Forest of Vanishing Stars (2021)
The Forest of Vanishing Stars follows Yona, a young woman who has been taken from her family and raised in isolation in the forests of Eastern Europe.
During World War II, Yona becomes involved with Jews hiding from the Nazis.
The novel explores survival, identity, belonging, love, and the remarkable resilience of people attempting to survive the Holocaust.
Harmel’s official site describes it as a story of love, survival, and destiny set in the forests of Eastern Europe during World War II and based on true stories of resilience and heroism.
15. The Paris Daughter (2023)
The Paris Daughter returns to wartime Paris.
The novel centers on Elise and Juliette, two young mothers whose friendship is tested when the Nazi occupation changes everything.
When Elise must flee, she entrusts her young daughter to Juliette. A devastating bombing then destroys the neighborhood and creates uncertainty about which child survived.
Years later, the consequences of that decision continue to shape both women’s lives.
The novel explores motherhood, friendship, guilt, survival, and the impossible choices created by war. Harmel’s official description identifies the story as beginning in 1939 Paris and spanning generations.
16. The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau (2025)
The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau combines historical fiction with a mystery and heist narrative.
Colette Marceau comes from a family of jewel thieves who follow a strict code: steal from people who deserve it and use the proceeds to help those in need.
During World War II, Colette and her mother become involved in helping the French Resistance.
A stolen diamond bracelet and the disappearance of Colette’s younger sister create a mystery that reaches across decades.
Harmel’s official description specifically highlights two jewel thieves, a priceless bracelet, 1940s Paris, and a decades-old murder.
Important note: All the Diamonds in Paris
Some current databases list All the Diamonds in Paris as a separate 2025 Kristin Harmel book.
It is actually an alternate title for The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau. Fantastic Fiction explicitly lists The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau with All the Diamonds in Paris as an alternate title.
Therefore, do not count both titles as separate novels when calculating Harmel’s bibliography.
17. Meet Me in Paris (2026)
Meet Me in Paris is Harmel’s newest novel, published by Gallery Books on July 28, 2026.
Unlike Harmel’s recent World War II novels, this is a contemporary Paris-set story involving several interconnected characters and love stories.
The novel follows nine Americans in Paris whose lives intersect during one memorable week.
Among the central stories is Julia Glover, who has brought her daughter Piper to Paris knowing that their trip together may be their last. Other characters are dealing with marriage, betrayal, new possibilities, and the question of what it means to find one’s way home.
Harmel’s official site describes it as a story of intertwined love, loss, courage, and redemption.
Kristin Harmel Books by Series or Connected Stories
Kristin Harmel does not have a conventional long-running novel series like many mystery or fantasy authors.
Most of her books are standalone novels.
However, there are a few connected works worth knowing about.
The Sweetness of Forgetting connection
The Snow Globe is a short work associated with The Sweetness of Forgetting.
Because it is a novella/short work rather than a full-length novel, it is best treated as supplemental reading rather than a numbered sequel.
If you want to explore that world beyond the novel, read The Sweetness of Forgetting first.
Good Intentions collection
Harmel also contributed The Road Home to the 2023 Good Intentions collection.
This is a short story contribution to a multi-author collection rather than a standalone Kristin Harmel novel.
Current bibliographic listings identify The Road Home as Harmel’s contribution to the Good Intentions collection.
Do You Need to Read Kristin Harmel Books in Order?
No.
For most readers, Kristin Harmel’s books can be read in any order because the novels are standalone stories.
You do not need to read The Sweetness of Forgetting before The Book of Lost Names, or The Book of Lost Names before The Paris Daughter.
Each novel has its own characters, plot, historical circumstances, and emotional arc.
However, reading Harmel’s books in publication order can be rewarding because you can see how her writing developed from contemporary romantic fiction into the historical fiction for which she is now best known.
Her own website describes her more recent work as historical fiction and highlights books including The Book of Lost Names, The Forest of Vanishing Stars, The Paris Daughter, and The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau.
What Is the First Kristin Harmel Book?
The first Kristin Harmel novel is How to Sleep with a Movie Star, published in 2006.
It was her debut novel and predates the historical fiction that later became the defining feature of her bibliography. Harmel’s official biography confirms that her first novel was published in February 2006.
If you’re specifically looking for her first World War II novel, that is The Sweetness of Forgetting, published in 2012. Harmel’s official site describes it as her first World War II novel.
What Is the Latest Kristin Harmel Book?
The latest Kristin Harmel novel is Meet Me in Paris, published on July 28, 2026.
It is a contemporary story set in Paris involving nine Americans and seven intertwined love stories.
This makes Meet Me in Paris the newest book to add to your Kristin Harmel reading list in 2026.
How Many Kristin Harmel Books Are There?
Current publication-order databases list 18 books in Harmel’s bibliography through Meet Me in Paris.
However, the number requires a little explanation.
The bibliography includes:
- full-length novels
- the novella How to Save a Life
- books that have received updated/repackaged editions
- The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau, which is also published under the alternate title All the Diamonds in Paris
The safest way to describe her current fiction output is therefore 18 distinct books in the current publication-order bibliography, while making clear that All the Diamonds in Paris and The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau are the same work.
Kristin Harmel Books by Genre
Harmel’s bibliography can roughly be divided into two phases.
Contemporary and romantic fiction
Her earlier books include:
- How to Sleep with a Movie Star
- The Blonde Theory
- The Art of French Kissing
- When You Wish
- Italian for Beginners
- After
- The Life Intended
These books tend to focus on romance, personal reinvention, family, identity, and contemporary relationships.
Historical fiction
Her later and most widely recognized books include:
- The Sweetness of Forgetting
- When We Meet Again
- The Room on Rue Amélie
- The Winemaker’s Wife
- The Book of Lost Names
- The Forest of Vanishing Stars
- The Paris Daughter
- The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau
Many of these novels are connected to World War II, occupied France, the Holocaust, the French Resistance, family secrets, and survival.
Harmel’s official site notes that her novels have been translated into more than 35 languages and highlights her reputation for historical fiction.
Which Kristin Harmel Book Should You Read First?
The best starting point depends on what you want from Harmel.
Start with The Book of Lost Names for her signature historical fiction
If you’re new to Harmel and want the type of novel she is best known for today, The Book of Lost Names is an excellent starting point.
It combines World War II history, the French Resistance, romance, identity, and a strong emotional family story.
Start with The Sweetness of Forgetting for her first WWII novel
If you want to experience the beginning of Harmel’s World War II fiction, start with The Sweetness of Forgetting.
It establishes many of the themes that become important throughout her later historical novels: memory, family secrets, France, war, survival, and love.
Start with The Paris Daughter for wartime Paris
If your primary interest is occupied Paris, motherhood, and emotionally intense historical fiction, The Paris Daughter is a strong choice.
Start with The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau for historical mystery and heist fiction
Readers who prefer a faster-paced story involving jewel theft, the French Resistance, family secrets, and a decades-old mystery should start with The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau.
Start with Meet Me in Paris for contemporary romance
If you’d rather skip World War II and read a contemporary Paris story, Meet Me in Paris is the natural choice.
Kristin Harmel Books in Order: The Simple Answer
If you simply want Kristin Harmel books in order, use this publication sequence:
- How to Sleep with a Movie Star (2006)
- The Blonde Theory (2007)
- The Art of French Kissing (2008)
- When You Wish (2008)
- Italian for Beginners (2009)
- After (2010)
- The Sweetness of Forgetting (2012)
- The Life Intended (2014)
- How to Save a Life (2016, novella)
- When We Meet Again (2016)
- The Room on Rue Amélie (2018)
- The Winemaker’s Wife (2019)
- The Book of Lost Names (2020)
- The Forest of Vanishing Stars (2021)
- The Paris Daughter (2023)
- The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau (2025)
- Meet Me in Paris (2026)
Note: All the Diamonds in Paris is an alternate title for The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau, so it should not be counted as an additional book.
You don’t have to read these books in order, but this sequence is the best choice if you want to follow Kristin Harmel’s development as an author from her 2006 debut through her latest 2026 novel.
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