Kimberly Belle is one of my favorite authors, and The Expat Affair is yet another well written novel.
The beginning had me hooked. Waking up to a dead body and not even hearing the intruder or murder taking place next to her? I ate that up.
Once the jewel heist stuff started getting deeper I felt myself losing interest a little. The pace was just a little too slow for me.

The narration was phenomenal, though!

🎧(2.0x): 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙅𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙧 𝙅𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝘼𝙧𝙖𝙮𝙖 & 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞 𝙋𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩, 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙟𝙤𝙗𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨.

📖:
FOMO brought me here and I’m so glad that it has. I really enjoyed this audiobook, and finished it rather quickly.

💭:
The Expat Affair starts with a bang and doesn’t deviate from that. Making this read unputdownable, gripping, and very entertaining.

There isn’t a lot of character depth, but the storyline + plot reveal makes it forgivable if not unnoticeable.

To avoid any spoilers and me regurgitating what I just read, I’ll just highlight a few things I really liked (and think you’d like too!).

🔦 𝙷𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜: 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚, 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚, 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙘𝙖𝙩 & 𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚, 𝙨𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩, 𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜.

𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣:
“𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦, 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 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴’ 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦.”

Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of The Expat Affair by Kimberly Belle.

I have now read quite a few of Belle's books, and I've liked most of them, but not all of them. Unfortunately this was a miss. But the reviews for the book are good, so maybe I'm the one who missed something.

This is the story of two women, both tangled up in a dangerous diamond heist, one through family, the other through circumstances. I can't put my finger on why, but I never got into this story. The characters were uncompelling, and the plot felt thin.

Thank you, @KimberlyBelleBooks, @htp_hive, @htpbooks, and @htpbooks_audio for my gifted copies. #HiveInfluencer

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Expat Affair by Kimberly Belle
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 313 / Genre: Murder Mystery
Audiobook Narrator: Jennifer Jill Araya and Marni Penning
Duration: 11 hours 7 minutes
Release Date: June 3, 2025
🥳#HappyPubWeek!🎉

Now divorced after walking in on her husband in bed with her best friend, Rayna is rebuilding her life as a travel writer in Amsterdam. Feeling she’s earned a bit of fun and debauchery, she wakes up one morning to find the guy she just spent the night with murdered in his shower. What follows is a twisty maze of events that involves diamonds, greed, and a complicated web of relationships.

I really enjoyed this murder mystery. I especially loved that it’s set in Amsterdam and shown from an outsider’s perspective, which adds a layer of complexity to this twisty thriller.

Jennifer Jill Araya and Marni Penning did a fantastic job narrating the audiobook.

Thanks to Harlequin Audio and HTP for an advanced copy of The Expat Affair by Kimberly Belle.

This was a fun thriller set in Amsterdam. This starts strong and from the first chapter, has you hooked. The two narrators did an excellent job and I was captivated - luckily I had a long drive so I was able to listen to this book in one day.

This Amsterdam diamond thriller has Rayna, an American ex-pat in the center of a mystery when she finds Xander, the guy she met the night before dead in the shower and millions of dollars of diamonds missing. Willow's husband was Xander's boss and heir to a diamond house. As a fellow American expat, she is captivated by everything.

This has you questioning who you can trust and I liked the twists and turns. A few were predictable, but this book was entertaining and I also liked learning about the diamond industry.

The audiobook was fun and just over 11 hours.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing | Park Row, and Harlequin Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest thriller by Kimberly Belle, with the audio perfectly narrated by the duo of Jennifer Jill Araya and Marni Penning. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Rayna left her small town home in Louisiana for a fresh start after a nasty divorce, landing in Amsterdam. When she accepts a Tinder date with the handsome and successful Xander, she never expected to wake up the next morning to find him dead on the shower floor and millions of dollars' worth of diamonds missing. Willow is married to the heir to a diamond house who also happened to be Xander's boss. The news shocks her and strains their already troubled marriage. Soon both of these women are dragged into the dangerous world of the diamond market.

Once again, Kimberly Belle has created a fast-paced thriller, where the lives of these two expat women become entwined. Told from their alternating POV, with family dysfunction and drama from beginning to end, and plenty of unsavory characters. I enjoyed the Amsterdam setting as well as a peek into the diamond world - both were fascinating. There are plenty of twists and turns and I especially enjoyed the ending.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Expat Affair by Kimberly Belle. I really hope this novel turns into a series because I’m invested in the characters. I loved how the characters in this book are all imperfect, flawed humans. The main characters are particularly interesting – they don’t regret some questionable decisions they’ve made in the past, although they might cringe a bit when they think about the past. I’m also curious about the detective in the series. I feel like I was just getting to know him. I would love to see these characters again!
The location was also interesting and somewhat exotic for me (I live in the desert). I found Amsterdam and a diamond dynasty to be a compelling backdrop to the story. Although I know nothing about the Netherlands or diamonds, I want to learn more about them now!
The audio narrators did an excellent job as well. Two distinct voices helped keep the two main characters separate and highlight the differences in their personalities.
Thank you, Harlequin Audio, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The Expat Affair by Kimberly Belle
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We follow two women who live in Amsterdam. Rayna has been through a nasty divorce and decides to go out with a man she met on a dating app, only to find him dead in the morning. Willow is the wife of a son in the Prins family who are famous for thier diamond business. But she suspects that her husband is having an affair.
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What I liked:
-The narrator was great and made it easy to listen to “just one more chapter” until the whole book was finished.
-There were so many secrets in this story!
-We had two sides of a coin here: Rayna who was under suspicion and then Willow who was suspicious of someone.
-It was very interesting to see how they two women intersected and where the story went from there.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A great slow burn suspenseful mystery!

Another great thriller read from Kimberly Belle! I loved the change of scene away from her usual stateside setting, venturing off to Amsterdam was so fun! I really enjoyed all the twists and turns of this one and recommend it to everyone!

The city of Amsterdam, a five-generation family of diamond dealers, priceless diamonds, murders and 2 expat young women all come together in this complicated tale of power, greed, family, and lab grown diamonds. You will love listening to this fast-paced and very twisty story of the House of Prins.

I was completely hooked by the majority of this book. I can’t put my finger on why I became slightly disinterested towards the end.

Kimberly Belle's The Expat Affair is an absolute triumph in its audiobook format! The narration is simply superb, bringing every character and twist to life with incredible skill and nuance. From the very first chapter, I was completely drawn into the intriguing world, feeling every ounce of suspense and emotion as the story unfolded.

Belle masterfully crafts a compelling plot filled with unexpected turns, and the pacing is perfect for an immersive listening experience. It's the kind of book that makes your commute fly by, and you'll find yourself making excuses to keep listening. If you're looking for a gripping, well-narrated thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, The Expat Affair on audio is an absolute must-listen! Highly recommended.

Take two Expat's from the US and plant them in the midst of an Amsterdam diamond scandal. What do you get? Another amazing read from Kimberly Belle (Perhaps because she was writing about the city she now calls home?)

Here are five reasons I am giving this suspenseful read all the stars:

🎧The audio book features two narrators: Jennifer Jill Araya and Marni Penning to give us the perspectives of Rayna Dumont (travel writer) and Willow Prins (wife to Thomas Prins of the House of Prins and many generations in the diamond business)

💎How do you like your diamonds? From the mine or the lab? From this book I can tell that the lab vs mine controversy makes for some strong conversations and serious changes to established diamond dealers like House of Prins. Thought-provoking!

🏨Amsterdam is a character all its own. It is a place I recently visited in August of last year. We were just in the city for a day, but we took time to do a boat tour and also had some pannenkoeken for dinner. The menu was filled with endless varieties -- both sweet and savory.

📖The book was well organized. There were three parts, each with a diamond quote of its own. The one for Part Two was quite prescient.
I never hated a man enough to give him diamonds back. ~ Zsa Zsa Gabor

🚲Willow has been in Amsterdam since marrying Thomas five years ago and rides her bike all over town -- often with son Sem in a carrier on the front. We saw many variations of this when in the Netherlands last year. Our favorite was the bikes with special back compartments that could hold about ten preschoolers to a bike. Efficient for field trips!

It's hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world. ~ Dolly Parton

Jump into this riveting read and find out how intriguing it can be to be a part of the diamond world these days. Thanks to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for an audio ARC and to Park Row and Edelweiss+ for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This may be my favorite Kimberly Belle book yet! With a backdrop of diamond theft and a deep dive into Amsterdam's elite, and opening with a brutal murder in a shower while the only witness was fast asleep, this book takes the reader on a twisted tour of the Netherlands, where greed and backstabbing are a way of life in the diamond trade. There were a few "twists" that I anticipated, but the climax is well-executed and the denouement sweet and satisfying. This is a must-read for this summer.

The two narrators, Jennifer Jill Arya and Marni Penning, do an amazing job with flawless Dutch accents. Thank you to HarperCollins, Netgalley, and the author for the opportunity to read this book pre-release and to provide an unbiased review.

3.5/5 rounded up

Thank you Harlequin Audio for the advanced listening copy!

I read a ton of Kimberly Belle back when I started getting back into reading post-grad school, and I was so excited to pick up one of her books after a little hiatus! This one started out soooo strong and, while it lost a little bit of steam in the middle, picked right back up towards the end. I really enjoyed the dual POV, especially as time went on. It's always fun when two characters are connected but you're not sure exactly how, and that was well executed in this book.

The diamond plot was unique and fun, adding a dynamic to this book that I haven't really seen before. This being a unique plot did make me a bit confused at times with "diamond jargon," but overall I think this was well-written enough to make sense throughout There were some solid twists, but some that were predictable. I'd say that the twists were overall lackluster, which is what stops me from rating this book higher.

Overall, this was an entertaining mystery with some bursts of action, but overall more slow-burn. Not sure how memorable this one will be long term, but I enjoyed it while reading!

Thrown into a world of diamonds and murder, we follow Willow and Rayna as they try to unravel it all.

As always Kimberley Belle knows how to weave a compelling story that keeps you invested until the last page. Even though I had a sneaky suspicion of who was behind it all, they were still solid twists and I enjoyed watching them play out.

I read this as a mix of eARC and audio and thought narrators did a good job. Perfect for the story!

This was my third by Kimberly Belle and a great reminder that I need to move her backlist up my TBR ASAP!

Read if you love:
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family drama
👥 Dual POV
💍 Diamonds

Thank you Park Row and Netgalley for my audio and eARC in exchange for an honest review!

What a wild ride! This book started off dramatically and did not let up; it as so fun and hard to put down. I love both POVs equally and it was interesting how the story kind of came together from two ends that met in the middle with the most shocking reveals. The writing was so good, I felt emotional for Willow as a mom who would do anything for her son, and my heart pounded for Rayna thrown into danger. I love how I was semi-confused the entire time, but so fascinated with the diamond business (especially the lab grown space). The ending was so well executed for shock and awe and a bit of cheering down to the very last page.

Note: The audiobook narration was perfect. The way it elevated my heartrate and I felt like I had to pace and look over my shoulder while reading was so well done!

A gripping murder mystery set against the backdrop of expatriate life. Belle weaves a tale of female friendships, motherhood, and secrets. The audiobook narration enhances the suspenseful atmosphere.

Two American women, one, the wife of a diamond baron, the other happily single, both living as expats in Amsterdam. Both have their worlds thrown into chaos after a murder occurs and their lives become intertwined. The cutthroat world of diamonds, both real and manufactured, take center stage. This one was good enough, but not Kimberly Belle 's best. I kind of got lost in all of the diamond world details. It is fast-paced, twisty and suspenseful but I wasn't really hooked by the characters or the plot. However, it is highly listenable, the narrators did a great job and the story kept me listening through to the end. It will appeal to a wide array of readers.

Thank you to Netgalley, Edelweiss, Park Row and Kimberly Belle for the audio ARC

This is my first book from Kimberly Belle. It was a good listen. Kept me wanting to know more. It was very elaborate on the diamond/lab grown business. Which I found it interesting but also it dragged too long at a certain parts. I also loved how she wrote about Willow’s husband and knowing it wasn’t a real marriage but still putting a front into front of her in laws. It just shows how sometimes dysfunctional families can happen even when you are rich. And also relatable about how rich can have affairs. My heart hurts for Willow at times from her Husband’s actions.

I love how Kimberly wrote this with Amsterdam as the location. A lot of times when. I read about Amsterdam as a location it’s back in time, but this wasn’t. It was so relatable and modern. Wrote things like X and Tinder. I got hooked after the second chapter when she found Xander’s body. This book made me think of Amanda Knox in a way.

I didn’t know how this book would end. I had so many suspicions but I was surprised on how this ended!