Everything I Read This Month | July 2025

This month’s list of recommended reads is full of the most amazing books. Amazingly, it’s hard to say which is my favorite, but if I had to, it would be a three-way tie between The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau (Kristen Harmel), Murder Takes a Vacation (Laura Lippman), and I Know How This Ends (Holly Smale). As you can see, all three have a common theme. The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau takes place between World War II Paris and Boston (2018). Murder Takes a Vacation is primarily set in present-day Paris, and both books involve murder and theft. I Know How This Ends is set primarily in the present and the main character’s future. and does not involve murder, but the storyline will keep you from wanting to put the book down just the same.

Keep reading to find out my thoughts on everything I’ve read this month, along with two shout-outs for new releases you might want to add to your reading list.

The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau | Kristin Harmel

This book was a hard act to follow. It was just that good. Full of courage, strong female characters, and a decades-old unsolved murder. The book goes between 1940s Paris and 2018 Boston, where Colette, a not-so-retired jewelry thief, has been making her home since living in Paris following the end of WWII.

Colette comes from a long line of jewelry thieves, supposed descendants of the real Robin Hood, who would only steal from the guilty rich, and never from the poor. Collette’s English mother, Annabel, who moved to Paris after marrying Collette’s father, teaches Collette the tricks of the trade. One night, after stealing back twin bracelets belonging to a Jewish friend of Annabel’s, everything goes wrong. Their home is raided and Annabel, Colette and her father are taken into custody by the Nazi’s. When Liliane, Collette’s 4-year-old sister, is found dead, and Annabel is executed, Colette’s life is forever changed.

In the present, Colette, after hearing that the other half of the bracelet is on display at a museum in Boston, knows that now is the time to finally learn what happened to her sister.

For fans of Kristin Harmel, books set in Paris, and unsolved murders, this book is a must-read.

Rating: A+

Kristin Harmel, the New York Times bestselling author who “is the best there is at sweeping historical drama” (Kelly Harms, author of The Seven Day Switch), returns with an electrifying new novel about two jewel thieves, a priceless bracelet that disappears in 1940s Paris, and a quest for answers in a decades-old murder.

Colette Marceau has been stealing jewels for nearly as long as she can remember, following the centuries-old code of honor instilled in her by her mother, Annabel: take only from the cruel and unkind, and give to those in need. Never was their family tradition more important than seven decades earlier, during the Second World War, when Annabel and Colette worked side by side in Paris to fund the French Resistance.

But one night in 1942, it all went wrong. Annabel was arrested by the Germans, and Colette’s four-year-old sister, Liliane, disappeared in the chaos of the raid, along with an exquisite diamond bracelet sewn into the hem of her nightgown for safekeeping. Soon after, Annabel was executed, and Liliane’s body was found floating in the Seine—but the bracelet was nowhere to be found.

Seventy years later, Colette—who has “redistributed” $30 million in jewels over the decades to fund many worthy organizations—has done her best to put her tragic past behind her, but her life begins to unravel when the long-missing bracelet suddenly turns up in a museum exhibit in Boston. If Colette can discover where it has been all this time—and who owns it now—she may finally learn the truth about what happened to her sister. But she isn’t the only one for whom the bracelet holds answers, and when someone from her childhood lays claim to the diamonds, she’s forced to confront the ghosts of her past as never before. Against all odds, there may still be a chance to bring a murderer to justice—but first, Colette will have to summon the courage to open her own battered heart.

The Expat Affair | Kimberly Belle

Ever since I read my first book by Kimberly Belle (The Paris Widow), I’ve been a fan. So you can imagine that once I finished her latest, which was just released last month, I was immediately hooked. Set in her adopted city, Amsterdam. The Expat Affair delves into the inner workings of one of the most well-known (fictional) diamond ‘Houses’ in the city and what it’s like marrying into one. Shortly after one of their former employees, and the head of the lab-grown diamond initiative, is murdered, the only suspect is an American expat who slept through the whole ordeal, the lives of the Prins family are thrown into chaos. Not only have all the lab-grown diamonds been stolen, but the 12 priceless diamonds on which the entire Prins diamond empire has been built have gone missing, too.

With all fingers pointed at Rayna (the young American expat caught up in the murder, by being at the scene of the crime), she makes an unlikely ally in Willow Prins, a fellow expat who married into the Prins family. With no one being who they seem, the story goes between the POV’s of Rayna and Willow, keeping you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

A must-read for all those who enjoy international crime novels.

Rating: A

An American expat’s startling discovery plunges her into the deadly world of Amsterdam’s diamond industry.

Rayna Dumont came to Amsterdam for a fresh start. She’s never been the type for a one-night stand, but this move is all about adventure, and Xander is handsome and successful and more than willing to go along for the ride. Until the morning after, when Rayna finds him dead, millions of dollars’ worth of diamonds missing from his safe.

Willow Prins is captivated by the news. Her husband is Xander’s former boss and heir to a diamond house, and the scandal strains their already-rocky marriage. As the house comes under scrutiny, Willow wonders how much of the blame she can place on Rayna. Soon, the two women are dragged into the dark underbelly of the diamond market, where they’ll have to uncover the truth to survive. Who killed Xander? Where are the missing diamonds? And who can you trust in a city thousands of miles from home?

The Dead Come to Stay | Brandy Schillace

The first novel, The Framed Women of Ardemore House, will always be my favorite, but The Dead Come to Stay solves both a murder and the mystery that Jo Jones was so keen to solve in the first book.

The book starts off with Jo welcoming her first guest to stay at the cottage she calls home. The only problem is, coming morning her guest is found dead, and his bed at the cottage has never been slept in. She teams up with detective James MacAdams to help solve the murder, and along with her friends (and found family as you’ll discover as you read) she also works on a project of her own to discover more about her families past.

Will the story about a particular framed woman be solved? You’ll have to read it to find out!

Rating: A

An amateur autistic sleuth. A wry English detective. A murder case that thrusts them both into the wealthy world of the rare artifacts trade…

Jo Jones can’t seem to catch a break. She’d hoped that trading in her city life for the cozy, peaceful hills of North Yorkshire to take over her family estate would finally be her chance for a “fresh start.” Instead, she’s been thrust further into the past than she thought possible. The estate property is littered with traces of ancestors that Jo never knew existed, including a mysterious woman depicted in a half-destroyed painting inside the estate – and also including Jo’s late uncle, who may hold the key to her cryptic family history. Add to all this the gossipy town politics that Jo’s forced to navigate as a neurodivergent transplanted American. And that’s not even getting to the murder yet.

When the prickly town detective James MacAdams discovers a body in the woods with coincidental ties to Jo Jones, they’re forced to team up on the case. The clues will lead them into the wealthiest locales of Yorkshire, from sparkling glass hotels to luxury property sites to elite country clubs. But below the glittering surfaces, Jo and MacAdams discover darker schemes brewing. Local teens, many of them international refugees, are disappearing left and right, and each case is somehow linked to a shady architectural firm – which also happened to employ the dead man from the woods.

What began as an unusual murder case plunges Jo and MacAdams into the underground world of rare artifacts and antique trading… and the murderer may not be finished yet…

Battle of the Bookstores | Ali Brady

This is definitely a story for book lovers. When two bookstore managers find themselves turned into rivals, they never could have guessed that they would end up teaming up to take down the man who pitted them against each other in the first place. Ryan Lawson is the laid-back giant of a man who runs the romance bookstore on one side of the ‘Bean,’ the coffee shop they both frequent, and Josie Klein. is the structured lover of literature who runs a bookstore on the other side.

Little do they know that they’ve been friends in an online literary forum all along. Who will discover this game-changing secret first? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

Rating: A

Rivalry and romance spark when two bookstore managers who are opposites in every way find themselves competing for the same promotion.

Despite managing bookstores on the same Boston street, Josie Klein and Ryan Lawson have never interacted much—Josie’s store focuses on serious literature, and Ryan’s sells romance only. But when the new owner of both stores decides to combine them, the two are thrust into direct competition. Only one manager will be left standing, decided by who turns the most profit over the summer. 

Efficient and detail-oriented Josie instantly clashes with easygoing and disorganized Ryan. Their competing events and contrasting styles lead to more than just frustration—the sparks between them might just set the whole store on fire. Their only solace during this chaos is the friendship they’ve each struck up with an anonymous friend in an online book forum. Little do they know they’re actually chatting with each other.  

As their rivalry heats up in real life, their online relationship grows, and when the walls between their stores come tumbling down, Josie and Ryan realize not all’s fair in love and war. And maybe, if they’re lucky, happily ever afters aren’t just for the books.

Murder Takes a Vacation | Laura Lippman

If this book were a macaron (and given the fact that it is mostly set in France, I find that the best pastry of choice) you would want to eat it in one bite. From beginning to end this book was an absolute delight, and a breath of fresh air when it comes to the lead character Mrs Muriel Blossom. She is a woman in her 60s, full figured (with no wish to change it) and just the sort of person you’d want to solve a crime with. Her experience working with a private investigator (and as she would tell you, her age) gives her the upper hand when it comes to blending into the background.

However, when she shows up at the airport to fly to France for a river cruise along the Seine, she didn’t expect her trip to have quite as much intrigue as it did, nor that her life would end up being in danger at every turn. Filled with descriptions of some of the well-known spots in Paris and stops they make along the Seine, this book will keep you guessing who is involved in the theft (and resulting murder) and who isn’t.

Rating: A+

Mrs. Blossom has a knack for blending into the background, which was an asset during her days assisting private investigator Tess Monaghan. But when she finds a winning lottery ticket in a parking lot, everything changes. She is determined to see the world that she sometimes feels is passing her by.

When Mrs. Blossom booked her cruise through France on the MS Solitaire, she did not expect to meet Allan on her transatlantic flight. He is the first man who’s sparked something inside her since her beloved husband passed.

She also didn’t expect Allan to be found, dead, twenty-four hours later in Paris, a city he wasn’t supposed to be in.

Now Mrs. Blossom doesn’t know who to trust on board the ship, especially when a mystifying man, Danny, keeps popping up around every corner, always present when things go awry. He is convinced that Allan was transporting a stolen piece of art, and Mrs. Blossom knows more than she lets on, regarding both the artifact and Allan’s death.

Mrs. Blossom’s questions only increase as the cruise sails down the Seine. Why does it feel like she is being followed? Who was Allan, and why was he killed? Most alarmingly, why do these mysterious men keep flirting with her?

I Know How This Ends | Holly Smale

Have you ever had a book that was so good, whose plot and main characters resonated with you so much that you wanted to immediately read it again? I Know How This Ends is one of those books. I was first introduced to author Holly Smale in 2023 through her first novel for adults, Cassandra in Reverse. Just when I thought I couldn’t love another of Smale’s books even more, her latest novel proved me wrong. This book follows a former network meteorologist, now an ‘Instagram-famous’ meteorologist. We soon learn that there is more to Margot than meets the eye. She can see snippets of her future, and it isn’t until she meets single-dad Henry that she starts to see her ‘visions’ coming true.

This book is an absolute must-read for your summer reading list, so I’d preorder your copy before it releases on August 12th.

Rating: A+

Margot Wayward is in manically gleeful self-destruct mode. Following the implosion of a ten-year relationship, she’s wilfully derailing her successful career, joyfully taking down men on dating apps, and living in total chaos.

Until one day, when Margot has a vision of herself with a man she’s never met before. She doesn’t believe in fate. But when Margot meets single-dad Henry, the vision comes true: exactly as she’d foreseen it.

As her future continues to reveal itself, a glimpse at a time, Margot realizes she knows exactly what’s going to happen, and when. And there’s nothing she can do to change any of it.

So Margot has to decide how to live, how to love again, and how to be herself? Because if you can’t change your destiny, how on earth do you live your present?