First published 2022
Rome, 1944. Niki Novotná has just married when the Office of Strategic Services recruits her to lead a covert operation in Italy's capital. Armed with multiple languages and a talent for deception, she must create false narratives and spread propaganda designed to demoralize enemy troops. Working with a resourceful group of artists and forgers who call themselves The Lipstick Bureau, Niki discovers an unexpected gift for psychological warfare in the liberated city's ancient streets. The work offers refuge from painful realities about her family trapped in Czechoslovakia and her domineering American husband. As military pressure mounts, Niki starts breaking the strict protocols she was given to follow. A fellow operative stirs feelings that complicate her marriage and her mission. Every choice now carries lethal consequences in a war where a single misstep means death.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, espionage
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Italy, Rome, Czechoslovakia
Period: 1944
448 pages · Hardcover · Graydon House
Content warnings: war