Set in the fan favorite Amish village of Harvest, Ohio, the latest novel in USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower’s Amish Matchmaker series brings back the unlikely sleuthing duo of an Amish widow and her zany, thrice divorced best friend. Will appeal to fans of cozy mysteries, small-town mysteries, wholesome romance, and inspirational fiction.
Millie’s decidedly not Amish best friend, Lois Henry, is outspoken, colorful, and so hopelessly romantic, she’s had four husbands. Millie doesn’t judge, and she also doesn’t expect to run into Lois’s most recent ex, gambler Gerome Moorhead, in small-town Harvest, Ohio. With him is the very young, new Mrs. Moorhead, aka “Honeybee.” Lois is outraged, but Millie is completely shocked to learn the next day that Gerome is already a widower .
When a large wood carving at the cozy Munich Chalet falls on “Honeybee,” all eyes turn toward Lois. Who else would want a tourist—a complete stranger—dead? And half of Harvest witnessed Lois’s enmity toward the young woman. Suddenly Millie must put aside her sewing needle and flex her sleuthing skills. She’s no stranger to a murder investigation, after all, and if she doesn’t learn who killed Honeybee, Lois could go from Millie’s boisterous best friend to her horrified prison penpal . . .
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Elise’s Thoughts
Honeymoons Can Be Hazardous by Amanda Flower is a fabulous cozy mystery that takes place in Harvest Ohio. The duo of Millie Fisher and Lois Henry are back. They are the Odd Couple since Millie is Amish and Lois is English and very flamboyant. Beyond this, readers also learn a bit about the Amish culture, beliefs, and problems. In this story Flower delves into the drug problem among the Amish.
As in all the books in the series Millie and Lois make a formidable sleuthing team. They must investigate the killing of Paige Moorhead, the wife of Lois’ latest ex-husband, gambler Gerome Moorhead. She gets hit on the head by an oversized cuckoo clock that fell. Unfortunately, Lois become one of the main suspects. Millie aka the Amish Marple is determined to find the real killer, and Lois makes sure she is included in the sleuthing.
Readers learn a little more about Lois’s backstory. They will laugh as she carries around a huge purse a la Mary Poppins’ satchel. It seems she has everything in it but the kitchen sink. The purse matches Lois’s personality, colorful, full of spirit, and very outspoken.
People will find themselves quickly drawn into the story and mystery. They will eagerly flip through the pages to find out what happens next. The characters are fun and quirky, and the story has many laughs.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?
Amanda Flower: I wanted to write about Lois and her relationships, since she was married three times. I introduced her last husband. I also wrote about the world’s largest cuckoo clock that is in Ohio Amish country. I did not use it specifically because it is so beautiful, has been restored, and is beloved by the Amish. I made up another cuckoo clock that fell and crashed on someone.
EC: Lois and her purse reminded me of “Let’s Make a Deal” TV show?
AF: I did know that people brought things in their bags, trying to have what was asked for. My mom had a purse like Lois’s. It was large and vibrantly colored and pulled a lot of crazy stuff out of it. This is where the inspiration for that came from.
EC: The drugs and alcohol in the Amish community?
AF: There is a real problem. In rural Ohio there is an opium crisis because it is so inexpensive and easily accessible. In the last decade it has come to the Amish community. I wanted to make people aware. Per capita drug use is higher in the rural counties. The more Liberal Amish districts will go to hospitals for medical conditions, although I never heard someone going for drug therapy. Drug use is more whispered about than out in the open. In the book, I had a crisis center being created.
EC: Lois’ backstory?
AF: In future books I want to have Lois find a partner because she is a hopeless romantic. In this book she realized she has not made the best decisions when it comes to men. This is setting up the next book.
EC: Next books?
AF: The next book in this series comes out this time next year titled Dating Can Be Deadly. Lois is dating a couple of guys. I am going to Pinecraft, the Amish retirement community in Florida to research about it. Millie and Lois will have a girl’s trip there.
The next Candy Shop Amish book is called Blueberry Blunder and comes out in April. Bailey is in the process of building her candy factory. Unfortunately, a general contractor was corrupt. He gets murdered inside the job site. At the same time, blueberries are a popular crop in Ohio and Harvest has a Blueberry festival. Both series are continuing. I told my editor I will write them as long as they will contract me.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SLEEP NO MORE (The Lost Night Files Book #1) by Jayne Ann Krentz on this Berkley Blog Tour.
Below you will find an about the book section, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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About the Book
New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz returns with the first novel of the Lost Night Files, an exciting new romantic suspense trilogy about a night that changed three women forever—but that none of them can remember.
Seven months ago, Pallas Llewellyn, Talia March, and Amelia Rivers were strangers, until their fateful stay at the Lucent Springs Hotel. An earthquake and a fire partially destroyed the hotel, but the women have no memory of their time there. Now close friends, the three women co-host a podcast called the Lost Night Files, where they investigate cold cases and hope to connect with others who may have had a similar experience to theirs—an experience that has somehow enhanced the psychic abilities already present in each woman.
After receiving a tip for their podcast, Pallas travels to the small college town of Carnelian, California, to explore an abandoned asylum. Shaken by the dark energy she feels in the building, she is rushing out when she’s stopped by a dark figure—who turns out to be the women’s mysterious tipster.
Ambrose Drake is certain he’s a witness to a murder, but without a body, everyone thinks he’s having delusions caused by extreme sleep deprivation. But Ambrose is positive something terrible happened at the Carnelian Sleep Institute the night he was there. Unable to find proof on his own, he approaches Pallas for help, only for her to realize that Ambrose, too, has a lost night that he can’t remember—one that may be connected to Pallas. Pallas and Ambrose conduct their investigation using the podcast as a cover, and while the townsfolk are eager to share what they know, it turns out there are others who are not so happy about their questions—and someone is willing to kill to keep the truth from coming out.
SLEEP NO MORE (The Lost Night Files Book #1) by Jayne Ann Krentz is the first book in a new paranormal romantic suspense trilogy. I always enjoy books by this author whether under Jayne Ann Krentz or Jayne Castle and this book is a good mash-up of her JAK romantic suspense and JC paranormal romantic suspense. This book did start out a little disjointed to me, but once the characters are sorted and the mystery investigation begins, I was engrossed and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.
This trilogy features three diverse women, Pallas, Talia, and Amelia, who jointly experience an amnesiac day which greatly heightens their slight and varied paranormal abilities. They stick together to discover what happened to them and start a co-hosted podcast titled The Lost Night Files which is for the investigation of cold cases.
Thriller writer Ambrose Drake believes he witnessed a murder during his overnight at the Carnelian Sleep Institute for severe insomnia, but he has been having delusions since his lost night due to amnesia in San Diego. He messages The Lost Night Files for help after his personal investigation gets nowhere.
Pallas Llewellyn believes Ambrose about his lost night and is willing to help him investigate. Using the podcast as a cover, they interview the inhabitants of Carnelian, but not everyone is happy with the publicity. Feeling a sinister sensation of being watched, discovering a drug ring, and more bodies, Ambrose and Pallas work together with their enhanced abilities as the suspense ramps up to discover what is really happening in Carnelian and how it ties to them personally before they end up dead.
I enjoyed this introduction to The Lost Night Files crew and the slow burn romance between Ambrose and Pallas. The characters are all interesting with their differing abilities. This book is a complete romance and mystery which fits perfectly into the overall suspense arc of the trilogy. I am looking forward to reading Talia and Amelia’s stories and discovering answers to the overall story arc.
I recommend this paranormal romantic suspense and I am looking forward to reading the remaining two stories in this trilogy.
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About the Author
Jayne Ann Krentz is the author of more than fifty New York Times bestsellers. She has written contemporary romantic suspense novels under that name and futuristic and historical romance novels under the pseudonyms Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick, respectively. Jayne currently lives in Seattle, WA.
ALL IS BRIGHT (Hope’s Crossing Book #8) by RaeAnne Thayne is an emotional holiday contemporary romance featuring a young female architect who returns home to Hope’s Crossing for the holidays to oversee the completion of her most ambitious project to date. This story is a complete romance plot and can be read as a standalone, but so many people from town are pulled in for the community holiday theme from previous books in this series, I feel I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the previous books first.
Sage McKnight is making a name for herself in the world of architecture with her unique designs for inclusiveness and accessibility for everyone. Her largest and most challenging project to date was completely redesigning Wolf Ridge in Hope’s Crossing to meet the needs and wishes of her current client, Mason Tucker and his daughter.
Mason Tucker was a famous professional baseball player until the helicopter crash which killed his wife and unborn son as well as leaving him partially paralyzed. He has become bitter and reclusive since the accident and feels the smaller community of Hope’s Crossing can give him and his daughter a new start, but his property needs extensive work to make it appropriate for his needs.
Sage is excited about the project, but Mason makes the project difficult with his attitude and constant interference. Slowly Mason becomes more involved with the community through his daughter and Sage, but Sage is only in town through the holidays and Mason believes no woman would want him with his disabilities. It will take some holiday magic and friendly interference to make Mason realize what he has before he loses it.
This is a wonderfully heartwarming holiday romance with memorable main characters. Sage is such a loving and caring person, and she makes Mason face his anger and bitterness head on. The discussions of inclusive design are very interesting. There are several minor plot threads with Sage’s previous pregnancy, Mason’s mother, and the secondary romance between Taryn and Charlie which kept me turning the pages and were all tied up satisfactorily in the end. I did get slightly irritated when there were occasionally to many names and relationships discussed which I felt were not necessary and at those times I wished I had read the previous books in the series. This is a cozy romance with no sex scenes, but lots of love, family, and romance.
This is an enjoyable contemporary romance that will fill you with holiday warmth, love and cheer.
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About the Author
#1 Publishers Weekly, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne finds inspiration in the beautiful northern Utah mountains where she lives with her family. Her books have won numerous honors, including seven RITA Award nominations from Romance Writers of America and a Career Achievement Award from RT Book Reviews magazine. RaeAnne loves to hear from readers.
FLIRTING WITH THE BEAST (Modern Love Book #2) by Jane Porter is an emotional romance/women’s fiction addition to the Modern Love series. This is a story featuring a mature woman in her sixties moving forward after major life changes. This book is a part of a series, but each book stands on its own.
Andi McDermott has mourned for her husband and long-term marriage for five years and has decided it is time to move on and date again with the encouragement of her girlfriends. When her stepson disappoints her by not coming for her planned Christmas dinner to meet his fiancée, she refuses to mope and takes off for the family cabin at Lake Arrowhead and invites her best friend, Margo to join her. Everything is going well, until Andi once again must deal with her closest neighbor, who had been feuding with husband for years.
With the threat of a major snowstorm, Margo returns home, but Andi does not leave in time to safely get home and finds herself snowed in. When her power goes out, she turns to the neighbor who is not quite what she imagined.
Wolf Enders enjoys the solitude of living full time at Lake Arrowhead. The Marine vet, divorced father lives as he pleases and while Andi has always found him intimidating, when she comes to his cabin, she finds him kind and uncomfortably sexy. Wolf finds he is attracted to Andi and wants to take this good girl to bed, but he is not interested in a relationship. But life keeps throwing these two together and Andi just might be the one to tame the beast.
This is a wonderful read, not just a romance, but an all-around emotional journey not only for the H/h but their family members also. Andi has grown personally since her marriage ended and while she now stands up for herself and what she wants, she is still kind and loving. Wolf needs his space, is gruff on the outside and is one of those men that takes care of his family in the things he does for them and not necessarily verbally. The on again off again relationship is very believable as they both deal with family drama, grief, and fear. The sexual relationship was well written and steamy. This story is based around the romance between Andi and Wolf, but the realistic situations with grown children, friends, and life in general makes this story multilayered and memorable.
I highly recommend this mature romance/women’s fiction!
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About the Author
USA Today, and New York Times bestselling author of 65 romances and women’s fiction titles, Jane Porter has been a finalist for the prestigious RITA award six times, with her Tule Publishing novella, Take Me, Cowboy, winning the Novella Category July 2014. Today, Jane has over 15 million copies in print, including her wildly popular Flirting with Forty, a novel picked by Redbook Magazine as it’s Red Hot Summer Read in 2006 before being turned into a Lifetime movie in 2008 starring Heather Locklear.
Jane holds an MA in Writing from the University of San Francisco and makes her home in sunny San Clemente, CA with her surfer husband three sons, and two dogs. You can learn more about Jane at janeporter.com.
At first glance, Austrian opera singer Elsa Mayer-Braun has little in common with the young English typist she encounters on tour. Yet she and Hattie Featherstone forge an instant connection—and strike a dangerous alliance. Using their friendship as a cover, they form a secret society with a daring goal: to rescue as many Jews as possible from Nazi persecution.
Though the war’s outbreak threatens Elsa and Hattie’s network, their efforts attract the covert attention of the British government, offering more opportunities to thwart the Germans. But Elsa’s growing fame as Hitler’s favorite opera singer, coupled with her secret Jewish ancestry, make her both a weapon and a target—until her future, too, hangs in the balance.
From the glamorous stages of Covent Garden and Salzburg to the horrors of Bergen-Belsen, two ordinary women swept up by the tide of war discover an extraordinary friendship—and the courage to save countless lives.
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Secret Society of Salzburg by Renee Ryan is a heartwarming story with heartfelt characters. In this current period, when there is so much decisiveness, reading stories like this reminds people how working collectively brings everyone together. Ms. Ryan has hit a home run.
Elsa and Hattie are the most unlikely individuals to become sister-like friends. As with her previous books, Ryan writes about two strong women who work together for a common goal. These two women attempt to save the lives of Jewish refugees during WWII. In the mid-1930s, Londoner Hattie Featherstone, an aspiring artist, falls in love with opera and after hearing Elsa Mayer-Braun sing paints a picture of her. While Elsa is in London, Hattie gives her a picture she painted of the famous opera star. Wanting to return the kind gesture, Elsa invites Hattie and her sister to see a performance.
Meeting backstage at several performances all three realize they have a lot in common, becoming close friends. Hattie, the painter, her sister Vera, the writer, and Elsa, the opera singer, have in common a medium where they express themselves. As the Nazis gain more and more power, they band together to help people escape them, including Elsa’s Aunt Malvina, who is Jewish and living in Germany. A network is built to rescue as many Jewish people as possible.
The mystery of the story comes into play after Elsa is arrested in 1943 and taken to a concentration camp. Who betrayed her and will she survive the harsh conditions of Bergen-Belsen?
The characters were brave, kind, loving, and resilient during a dark time in history. Readers will be on the edge of their seats as the story has suspense, danger, and intrigue. This is a novel that will stay in readers’ thoughts long after they are finished.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?
Renee Ryan: In 2013 I was at a conference working on my previous historical novel, The Widows of Champagne, and was told about this person’s autobiography, Ida Cook. She was a British typist who ultimately became a Harlequin Romance writer. But more importantly, she and her sister Louise rescued 29 Jews from Nazi persecution. They would go to Opera Festivals and help Jews escape through that route. I did the ‘what if’ and slowly the story came together. Instead of a sister book like the Cooks I wanted to make it a friendship book of unlikely people.
EC: How did being partially Jewish affect Elsa?
RR: Being part-Jewish she felt she needed to help Jews escape the Nazis to survive. Because her late mother wanted her to hide her heritage and change her name, she had Elsa’s aunt raise her as a Catholic. This drives Elsa on so many levels.
EC: How would you describe Elsa?
RR: A musical prodigy who loved her art form so much. She was desperate to be great, but also had a fear of falling short. She has guilt feelings that things came so easy to her. She always wanted to share her wealth. She is lonely, independent, dignified, optimistic, kind, grateful, and strong. There is also a naivety which was willful, refusing to see people who they really were.
EC: Is Wilhelm, Elsa’s husband, an evil character?
RR: A lot of Maestros have some of his traits. They know they are good, the best of what they do. Everything regarding the show falls on their shoulders, the leader. With Wilhelm, he could spot Elsa’s talent. But beyond that Wilhelm was arrogant, conceited, ruthless, selfish, greedy, optimistic, and smug.
EC: The relationship with Wilhelm and Elsa?
RR: Because she lost her parents at such a young age she is struggling with this grief. Part of her attraction to Wilhelm is because he was so much older than her that there was this parental feel. He was really smitten with Elsa in the beginning, wanting them to be a superstar couple. Elsa could not see beyond his charm and was mesmerized by him. She tried to ignore his negative traits. As Elsa became more independent, he lost control over her and became a mentally abusive husband. His attraction and admiration for her turned to possessiveness, always loyal to himself. Wilhelm was a complete narcissist who was consumed with controlling Elsa’s life, career, and future.
EC: How would you describe Hattie?
RR: Based loosely on Ida Cook. A dreamer. She was a rule follower, yet defiant at times, impulsive. Hattie was also bold, courageous, and stubborn.
EC: How would you describe the sisters’ relationship, Vera and Hattie?
RR: Also, based on Ida Cook since she became the romance writer in the story. Vera was the older sister who became mother-like to Hattie, grounding her, and preventing Hattie from diving off the proverbial cliff. Vera was Hattie’s Jimmy Cricket, a voice of reason.
EC: Describe the relationship between Hattie and Elsa?
RR: Both lost their mothers at a young age. This brought them together. Hattie’s mother passed on her love of art to her, while Elsa’s mom passed on the love of music. They were kindred spirits. Hattie found her own dream within Elsa’s dream, after hearing Elsa sing opera. Hattie admired Elsa. They became friends very quickly. It went from devoted fans, to friends, to allies, to sister-like where they were very loyal to each other.
EC: What was the role of Elsa’s Aunt Malvina?
RR: Through her story I was able to bring in the information about Jews since she was Jewish. They lost their jobs, dignity, and citizenship, and could get arrested at any given time. One of my goals with this story was to show how Jews could not just leave Germany and Austria because of the strict immigration policies of unoccupied nations, who would not let them in. I also wanted to have Elsa have a personal reason to build a network with Hattie and Vera. She feared for Malvina’s survival. Elsa handed Malvina’s care into the sisters’ hands. The aunt was the glue that brought all three together.
EC: Was opera sort of a character?
RR: It was the connection between all the characters. It plays every kind of role including the setting. It is how the characters’ meet, stay together, and what drives them. The clandestine work was able to happen because Hattie and Vera attended opera festivals in occupied countries. Opera is Elsa’s life and it inspired Hattie’s art. I had to learn a lot about opera. Through the opera scenes readers can see the pain, sorrow, joy, and hope of the world and characters. Opera is highly dramatic and emotional, and the era was highly dramatic and emotional.
EC: What about your next book?
RR: It is titled The Paris Housekeeper and comes out this time next year. It has three women: one who is Jewish, an American, and a girl from Brittany. The American is an heiress and the other two work at the hotel Ritz in Paris. The story is how they navigate German occupation. I wanted to show that the Germans did what they did because of the Jewish race, not just the religion. I also show how the Nazis get help from other nationalities in the treatment towards the Jews.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE LIPSTICK BUREAU by Michelle Gable on this Graydon House Books blog tour.
Below you will find an author Q&A, an about the book section, my mini book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Author Q&A
Q: How did you learn about Barbara Lauwers? How did you come to discover this piece of history?
I don’t remember when or how I first heard about Barbara, she was just in my file of “interesting people to eventually write about” when it came time for book #6. Most likely, she was in a listicle along the lines of “fascinating women from history you don’t know about.” Whatever the case, she made my file because of her intriguing role in the OSS (precursor to the CIA) and the misinformation campaigns she participated in. The website https://www.psywarrior.com/ has photographs of many of their campaigns, and that sucked me right in.
Q: Why do you believe there continues to be a fascination for writers exploring and writing WWII novels for readers? Why are readers so interested?
I think people are drawn to WWII stories because there are so many different countries and continents involved, and therefore thousands of angles. For Americans in particular, though we were involved in the war, it was not fought on our shores, so I think there’s a yearning to know what it was like to live with war on a more day-to-day basis. 100 million were deployed and there are millions of stories of ordinary people showing heroism when facing the worst.
Q: Many women were part of the OSS. Did they experience sexism?
The sexism was outrageous! Many of the quotes I included in the book were actually said. Like Niki (the Barbara character) being told to sew her travel documents into her girdle, and the trainers telling the women not to mess this up.
When I started out in corporate America in the late 90s, sexism was rampant enough that we more or less accepted it as part of our jobs. I can only imagine (and tried to do this in the book!) how much worse it was in the 40s, amidst the stress of war, when men were away from their families.
Q: Did many women join these groups to escape difficult marriages?
It’s possible! Many husbands were sent to fight, so I think a lot of women wanted to contribute. Stateside, women were being asked to chip in and many unmarried women viewed it as a more interesting way to help versus working in a missile factory or something along those lines.
Q: What specifically stood out in the time and place of Rome during WWII?
Rome is my favorite city so I was excited to set another book there! I also found it a fascinating time…after the city was liberated from the Nazis, and before the war was over. Also the fact Italy changed alliances partway through the war, and half the country was still under Axis control, heightened the tensions in the city, and people were extremely suspicious, all around.
Q: What challenged you about writing THE LIPSTICK BUREAU?
I try very hard to keep as close to real facts as possible, building fiction around the truth. This can be very limiting, and so it’s always a challenge for me to remember I’m telling a story, not writing a biography. It’s a big reason I changed Barbara’s name–so I could go a little more “rogue.”
A smaller challenge was finding out what was happening in Niki’s hometown in Czechoslovakia during the war. As in the novel, no news was getting out. Also, I use a lot of first-hand accounts and government records in my research, and many of these were destroyed in the war. Not that I can read Czech, but I’ve definitely had records translated in the past.
Q: Which character do you most relate to and why?
There was no character I related to outright, but I appreciated Niki’s gumption and how she wanted to prove herself on her own terms.
Q: What are you hoping readers will come away with after they’ve read THE LIPSTICK BUREAU?
As always, I want people to get swept up in the story but also learn something new along the way.
Q: What research did you do to bring the history to life in this fiction?
Anything I could get my hands on. Several OSS women wrote memoirs, and I read these, along with interviews, biographies of the major OSS players, and thousands of internal memos and documents (some of which are included in the novel), including all of Allen Dulles’s wartime intelligence reports (this was pretty boring!) I read the Stars & Stripes newspapers published during this time (fun fact: my dad wrote for Stars & Stripes in Vietnam), among other things. My favorite was a biography of Saul Steinberg (the inspiration for Ezra) by Deirdre Bair.
Q: How do you think this conversation into the use of misinformation plays in today’s politics?
In real life as in the novel, the OSS used Hitler’s own rules for propaganda/misinformation when creating theirs. There were three key strategies: 1) the disinformation must be easy to comprehend (not too highbrow), 2) it must be addressed to the masses (NOT the intellectuals), and 3) it should hit on emotions, not logic or fact. These are very effective strategies, as we’ve seen, and it’s been reported that Trump has also specifically followed Hitler’s rulebook for spreading disinformation. The OSS folks were the “good guys” and would say they were doing this for a greater purpose (e.g. ending the war), and the ends justify the means. And maybe it does, but perhaps Trump believes the same thing?
Q: What are you working on next?
A book set in the 1960s Jet Set, about a failed San Francisco debutante who becomes assistant to beloved society photographer Slim Aarons as a way to social climb her way to a rich husband, but is instead drawn into the complicated inner circle of young Palm Beach socialites, and to the star at its center, heiress and rising fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer.
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About the Book
Inspired by a real-life female spy, a WWII-set novel about a woman challenging convention and boundaries to help win a war, no matter the cost.
1944, Rome. Newlywed Niki Novotná is recruited by a new American spy agency to establish a secret branch in Italy’s capital. One of the OSS’s few female operatives abroad and multilingual, she’s tasked with crafting fake stories and distributing propaganda to lower the morale of enemy soldiers.
Despite limited resources, Niki and a scrappy team of artists, forgers and others—now nicknamed The Lipstick Bureau—find success, forming a bond amid the cobblestoned streets and storied villas of the newly liberated city. But her work is also a way to escape devastating truths about the family she left behind in Czechoslovakia and a future with her controlling American husband.
As the war drags on and the pressure intensifies, Niki begins to question the rules she’s been instructed to follow, and a colleague unexpectedly captures her heart. But one step out of line, one mistake, could mean life or death…
The Lipstick Bureau : A Novel Inspired by a Real-Life Female Spy
Michelle Gable
On Sale Date: December 27, 2022
9781525811470
Trade Paperback
$16.99 USD
464 pages
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My Mini Book Review
RATING: 3 out of 5 Stars
THE LIPSTICK BUREAU by Michelle Gable is a historical fiction story loosely based on a real female spy during WWII working for the fledgling OSS (Office of Strategic Services) later to become the CIA.
I loved the premise and the extensive historical research, but the characters never hooked me emotionally, the writing at times seemed disjointed and the pace was slow. I really wish the characters had been more developed and intrigued me as much as the plot regarding U.S. political propaganda developed and distributed during the war to undermine the Nazi Party and Hitler.
I feel I would have enjoyed this story much more if it had been an actual biography of the fictionalized main characters. The history and information surrounding the OSS and Department of Morale Operations was the reason I continued reading this book to the end.
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Excerpt
NIKI
May 1989
Washington, DC
Niki’s stomach flip-flops, and there’s a wild fluttering in her chest. You’re fine, she tells herself. In this buzzing, glittering room of some three hundred, she’s unlikely to encounter anyone she knows. Not that she’d recognize them if she did. It’s been almost forty-five years.
“Jeez, what a turnout,” her daughter, Andrea, says as Niki takes several short inhales, trying to wrangle her breath. “Did you know this many people would show up?”
“I had no idea what to expect,” Niki answers, and this much is true. When the invitation arrived three months ago, she’d almost pitched it straight into the trash.
You are invited
to a Black-Tie Dinner
Honoring
The Ladies of the O.S.S.
The ladies of the OSS. A deceptively quaint title, like a neighborhood bridge club, or a collection of wives whose given names are not important.
“You should go,” Niki’s husband had said when she showed him the thick, ecru cardstock with its ornate engraving. “Relive your war days.”
“Manfred,” Niki had replied sternly. “Nobody wants to relive those.”
Though he’d convinced Niki to accept the invitation, it hadn’t been the hardest sell. Manfred was ill—dying, in fact, of latestage lung cancer—and Niki figured the tick mark beside “yes” was merely a way to delay a no.
The week before the event, Manfred was weaker than ever, and Niki saw her chance to back out. “I’ll just skip it,” she’d said. “This is for the best. You’d be bored out of your skull, and no one I worked with will even be there!”
“Zuska,” Manfred said, using her old pet name. As always, he’d known what his wife was up to. “I want you to go. Take Andrea. She could use a night out. It’d be like a holiday for her.”
“I don’t know…” Niki demurred. Their daughter did hate to cook, and no doubt longed for a break from her two extremely pert teenagers.
“You can’t refuse,” Manfred said. “What if this ends up qualifying as my dying wish?” It was a joke, but what could Niki possibly say to that?
Now she regrets having shown Manfred the invitation and is discomfited by the scene. Niki feels naked, exposed, as though she’s wearing a transparent blouse instead of a black sparkly top with double shoulder pads.
“Do you think you’ll spot anyone you know?” Andrea asks as they wend their way through the tables, scanning for number eighteen. Every Czech native considers eighteen an auspicious number, so maybe this is a positive sign.
“It’s unlikely,” Niki says. “The dinner is honoring women, and I mostly worked with men.” Most of whom are now dead, she does not add.
Soon enough, mother and daughter find their table, and exchange greetings with the two women already seated. Niki squints at their badges and notes they worked in different theaters of operation. Onstage is a podium, behind it a screen emblazoned with O.S.S. Beneath the letters is a gold spade encircled in black.
“What a beautiful outfit!” says one of their tablemates in a tight Texas twang.
“Thank you.” Niki blushes lightly, smoothing her billowy, bright green chiffon skirt.
“You’re the prettiest one in the place,” Andrea whispers as they sit.
“What a load of shit,” Niki spits back. In this room, it’s sequins and diamonds and fur for miles. She pats Andrea’s hand. “But thank you for the compliment.” And thank God for Manfred, who’d raised their girl to treat her mother so well.
Manfred. Niki feels a quake somewhere deep. She is losing him. She’s been losing him for a long time, and maybe this is the reason she came tonight. Those three letters on-screen call up—rather, exhume—a swarm of emotions, not all of them good. But they also offer a strange kind of hope, a reminder that Niki’s survived loss before, and this old body of hers has lived more than one life.
MICHELLE GABLE is the New York Times bestselling author of A Paris Apartment, I’ll See You in Paris, The Book of Summer, and The Summer I Met Jack. She attended the College of William & Mary and spent twenty years working in finance before becoming a full-time writer. She grew up in San Diego and lives in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California.
