I struggled through the first 60% of this book, as I felt the plot was developing very slowly/not at all. As for the last 40% of the book, the plot did pick up but I felt it was resolved and quickly wrapped up in a way that wasn’t satisfying. I certainly didn’t love this one, but have loved many others by this author.

Warning! The Paris Widow is a book that will inspire your wanderlust. you’ve been warned.

I loved this book. I read it while on vacation, and I couldn’t put it down. The action was almost nonstop and the mysteries continue to unfold throughout, with little easter eggs for the savvy reader. I found a few while reading and was pretty proud of myself.

The Paris Widow did have some twists that I didn’t anticipate and some that I did, par for the course with a habitual reader like me. The secrets turned into bombs, quite literally.

My favorite character by far was the settings. I felt like a jet-set, worldy traveller while also finding hidden gems to add to my travel bucket list. The scenery plays such an integral part of this book that the locations feel woven into the essence of the story. You can see yourself there while simultaneously needing to pack a bag and get there.

As you can see above, I would compare Belle’s writing and story to one of my favorite suspense writers, Freida McFadden.

The art angle and the dual POV made this one so hard to put down! I couldn't stop reading it. This is my favorite KB book to date!

This was so good. Kimberly packed a punch with this book, maybe my favorite of her books. When Stella's husband goes missing after an explosion in Paris, secrets start to be revealed. What was Adam hiding? Is Stella next? A page turner.

I enjoyed this book very much! The characters were well developed and the storyline kept me engaged the whole way through. I’d definitely recommend this book to others.

Ms. Belle never disappoints in her thrillers and The Paris Widow is great. I loved the plot twists and Stella is a great POV to tell the story. We do get Adam’s as well but more as flashbacks to explain some things. In the end it made me thankful to not have to date and figure out if I know the person fully.

The Paris Widow by Kimberly Belle is a cannot-put-it-down page turner. The first few chapters felt like a traditional “girl meets boy, girl marries boy, girl upended by boy’s past”. Instead, the Paris Widow is full of surprises at every turn, building to a truly unexpected conclusion.

The main characters, Adam and Stella, are initially quite relatable, visiting typical European cities and tourist attractions and having typical tourist hang-ups—down to the cheap sunglasses purchased while travelling that “cannot” be left behind and stress about flight departure timing.

Even after Adam goes missing in a Paris explosion, it is not difficult to see oneself navigating the dreadful situation just like Stella. But then, at the point when any reasonable person would give up and go home, Stella digs in, determined to unravel the mystery of his disappearance and to discover the truth about the man she married. Stella does this by cleverly following the bread crumb trail that Adam left behind, despite limited funds and a beginner’s understanding of the world of rare (and sometimes “blood”) antiquities.

Belle alternates the storytelling between Stella and Adam, which slowly brings each character’s backstory to life as well as their more recent love story. As these stories unfurl, the reader gains an understanding of both their devotion to each other, and the questionable actions taken by each.

The Paris Widow is a fast-paced mystery, which stretches the bounds of reality at times. But that’s what makes it such an intriguing and fun read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Park Row for the Advance Readers Copy.

such sinister secrets! I loved the tense atmosphere of this one and how we ended up learning so much about each character and how they are involved with each other

Stella doesn't mind leaving her jetsetter life as a flight attendant behind when she marries Adam, a nice normal guy. While vacationing in Paris, Adam goes missing after a bomb explodes in a public square. Now the police are telling Stella that Adam is a known dealer of stolen antiquities. Refusing to leave Paris until she learns the truth, Stella must discover if Adam was a random victim or a target of the explosion.

The Paris Widow starts off with a bang, literally, which had me geared up for a high-action thriller. Instead, the action slowed to a crawl as Stella processes her grief and confused feelings before settling into a slow-burn mystery. I know this is more realistic pacing but it wasn't a ton of fun to read about and I struggled to stay engaged. While the action picked up near the end, it was over-the-top and rather anticlimactic. Other than the fun setting, The Paris Widow is a rather forgettable summer thriller.

The last couple of months were stressful, so I took a break from reading intense books and gravitated toward lighthearted romances and beach reads. When I decided to venture back into thrillers, this was my first choice. It was a gamble because I've never read this author before and hadn't seen many reviews, but I'm really glad I selected it!

This book was everything I wanted in a thriller: gripping, adventurous, deceitful, and full of twists and turns, all set in Paris. It focuses on alternate POVs of Stella and her husband Adam, who are enjoying a work-related vacation throughout Europe, as Adam collects and sells antique home decor at his shop in the U.S. However, on the final day of their trip, Stella literally loses Adam after a bomb detonates in a nearby cafe. Was Adam one of the victims of the bombing? If not, where is he?

Like any loving spouse, Stella refuses to leave Paris until she learns the fate of her husband. She gets more than she bargained for, however, as she unravels a web of lies that not only place her in great personal danger, but lead her to question whether she ever really knew her husband. I appreciated how this book kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat until the very end!

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Park Row Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review.

I always love a Kimberly Belle book. They are always addictive and fast paced. This was no different. I appreciated the twists and characters in this one. Thank you @Netgalley for my advance copy!

3.5 stars rounding up to 4. This was a plot I had never encountered before. Stella and Adam are an American couple vacationing in Paris, and on the last day of their vacation they are separated when a blast rips through Paris. Adam is nowhere to be found and over the course of the next week Stella learns that as she has worked hard to hide secrets of her past, Adam has been hiding secrets of his own. But is he alive or is he dead? How can she leave Paris without knowing for sure? And how can she stay when she is told her life may be in danger as well?

While the story was well-written and I 100% enjoyed it, I didn’t have the pull to want to keep reading well into the night like I had hoped. I will still definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery/thriller though!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for a chance to read this book and share my honest thoughts on it!

It's been awhile since I read a book with international intrigue and this book definitely made me feel like I've been missing out! From beginning to end, the secrets and twists never stop.
We meet married couple Stella and Adam as they enjoy a long European vacation. On their last day in Paris, Stella and Adam separate to prepare for their flight home. But suddenly an explosion rips through the streets of Paris and Adam is nowhere to be found. After crying and blasting Adam's face all over the news, Stella becomes known around the world as The Paris Widow, a woman desperately trying to find her husband. Did Adam die in the blast? Is he hurt and waiting for rescue? Over the next few days, Stella learns that her husband may not be the man she thought he was. Is he an international are thief? Was this a random explosion or was Adam the target? Who can Stella trust? Was their whole marriage a lie?

Five stars for me! I was hooked from the beginning and loved the multicultural aspects of the couples lives. The plot just got bigger and bigger, which kept me reading and wanting to know what was next.

This was a unique story that I haven’t read before! A couple, Stellah and Adam, is vacationing in Paris when a bomb goes off near a restaurant. Adam is missing. Stella tries everything in her power to find him. The investigator tells her Adam may have been the intended target. She starts to uncover that Adam isn’t who he seems and is involved with some very shady people that want him dead. On the flip, no one knows about Stella’s past either….she hasn’t always been completely innocent.

This story gripped me! It was action packed and suspenseful! It was fast paced and kept me turning pages! The ending was *chef’s kiss*! You will find yourself rooting for Stella by the end!

I’ve been a fan of Kimberly Belle’s for years, ever since I first read The Marriage Lie. That is the book that hooked me—I can’t resist a book about a missing husband and the lies uncovered after his disappearance. In many ways, The Paris Widow revolves around a similar concept, though it is a unique story. A perfect husband, a deadly accident, and a whole lot of secrets she never knew about the person she was married to… Sounds great, right?

The book opens with a bang—an unknown woman is in line at customs in Nice, France. She’s heading home after a long trip, but the agent clearing her finds something stitched inside her bag. It’s a book, and it’s one she has never seen before. But that doesn’t stop them from arresting her for what they found.

In present day, a married couple Stella and Adam at the tail end of a three-week vacation in Europe. Stella is well-traveled and she knows the best gallettes in the city are at a little café that Adam must try before they head to the airport. After their lunch, Adam realizes he left his glasses behind and sends Stella ahead to their hotel to get their bags. But before they can reunite to head to the airport, there’s an explosion.

In the wake of the explosion, Stella frantically searches for Adam. But it soon becomes clear that he was likely a victim. Over the next few days, Stella prays for news of Adam’s safety. But as the police continue to pepper her with questions, she soon learns that Adam wasn’t the man she thought he was. He’s alleged to be a dealer of rare and stolen antiquities heavily involved with the criminal underworld. Was Adam a victim of the explosion, or the target of it?

The opening prologue is a jaw-dropper, and from that point on I was invested in the story. It seemed likely that the woman in the story is Stella, but we don’t know for sure, nor do we know when that happens. Belle provides enough of a glimpse into Stella and Adam’s blissful marriage to feel the devastation of Adam going missing during the explosion. However, when Stella learns he has been under investigation, everything is thrown into a new light.

Belle is at her best with a mystery involving a central couple. I liked that Adam was missing in the present storyline, and Stella was forced to confront the fact that her husband had a secret life. But how much should she believe? It’s hard to reconcile the version of Adam the police are painting with the man she knows. She can’t help but think about the man who planted tulips because they are her favorite. Was it all a lie?

The book is largely narrated by Stella, though interspersed are brief chapters from Adam’s perspective the three weeks leading up to the bombing. I think the book would have actually been stronger without Adam’s chapters. I found the Adam narrating to us to be kind of boring, where the Adam seen through Stella’s eyes was mysterious and vibrant.

The mystery kept me engaged the whole way through. There were plenty of twists and turns as Stella learned more about her husband. If you’ve read Kimberly Belle before, then you probably know that her big twists tend to come slightly before the end of the book, and that was certainly the case here. She likes to give her characters some sort of closure, and we got that here.

Thank you to Park Row Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.

This title kept me intrigued from the first chapter! It’s one of those books that make you want to know what is going to happen next! I love thrillers and I also love historical fiction and I felt like this book had the best of both worlds! When describing the “antiques” that Adam acquired for his clients, I could actually feel the importance of those artifacts. This book made me feel Stella’s pain as she thought the love of her life had perished. The characters added to the intrigue of the book since you never knew who the character actually was! The ending was perfect and I think believable, too. I want to thank NetGalley for the ARC and I will certainly be recommending this title to all my book club friends!!!

The characters were flat and unlikeable. Stella’s defining trait is that she loves Adam. Adam’s defining trait is that he loves Stella. The descriptions of their relationship were generic and boring; I had to skim some chunks describing how beautiful/handsome she/he is and how much they can’t live without each other. Dullsville. A major red flag should have been when the author described Adam as someone who was drop dead handsome but didn’t even know it. What a vomit-inducing cliche.

Stella’s blind loyalty to her husband was the most frustrating part of this book. She was defined by her Adam or by his absence. Her decisions were always based on Adam. She sometimes spilled her guts to people without thinking and then other times hid things when she probably shouldn’t have.

And what exactly made Stella someone that men swooned over anyways? She seemed to lack any personality or defining characteristic.

And the ending? Major eye roll.

I really enjoyed this one!! It was fast paced, full of secrets and lies!

It kind of gave me Lifetime Movie vibes, but not in a cheesy way.

I really enjoyed watching the secrets of Stella & Adam unfold.

Stella was a great main character - her past was very entertaining as well and I looved the skeletons she had in her closet

there were lots of twists and turns which made for a fun thriller read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of "The Paris Widow" by Kimberly Belle. Belle's writing style in this novel is immersive and rich, whisking you away to post-World War II Paris with vivid detail. The story unfolds with a perfect balance of intrigue and emotion as protagonist Ruby navigates a web of deception and danger in her quest for truth. Belle's meticulous research shines through in the historical backdrop, adding depth and authenticity to the narrative. While the pacing is steady, the suspense builds steadily, keeping you engaged until the final twist. "The Paris Widow" is a compelling blend of historical fiction and suspense that fans of the genre will enjoy.