Gable is one of the best authors at historical research. I have loved all of her books. She delves deep into women's psyches in this book and highlights surveillance and spying. Excellent!

I love Historical Fiction specially the ones set in WWII. I know it was not the most fun of times but I am grateful for the brave writers that keep their diligent research to tell the story that serves as a reminder for all of us never to forget.

Nikola was a Czech immigrant married to an American Citizen, versed and fluent in seven languages and has three college degrees to her name found herself working for the OSS and the propaganda during the WWII. I know that stories and names similar to the real people back then can be purely coincidental but knowing that this was inspired from the real heroes who worked with the propaganda back then was something so outstanding!

Told is multiple voices, this book was a joy to read. I had a hard time in the beginning but ones I have the connection with the characters it became interesting and smooth flowing. I love and adore Nikola- she was very passionate, strong willed, determined and can sometimes impulsive! Yet, these were her traits that made her for what she was. I enjoyed reading about Maggie too. She was a fun one and her side of story made the plot a little more interesting. Paloma on the other hand can be a friend one needs to have. Always in the background but a good foundation for everything a friendship needs. The whole book screams of girl power and the title being Lipstick Bureau was so fitting!

This was beautifully written from start to finish. Fast paced once the story starts to unfold. I am thankful to have received a copy from Netgalley in exchange of my honest review! I am giving 3.5 stars rounding to 4.

I was unable to finish the book.
The writing style did not appeal to me, so I lost interest quickly.
I very rarely DNF a book so it always pains me when it happens.
I really wanted to like this one.

This historical novel is set during WWII, with the characters and some of the events being inspired by real life characters and events. When the book begins, main character Niki is an older woman in 1989, being honored at a gala for the women who worked in the OSS, a spy agency which was a precursor to the CIA. The book then flashes back to Nikki’s recruitment and training, and her service during the war, where she was involved in planning, producing, and distributing “black propaganda” - essentially a form of psychological warfare of sorts in which the US produced fake German newsletters and other similar materials. There are also some chapters from the perspective of Paloma, an Italian woman Niki met in Rome.

The book definitely felt well-researched, and as someone who has read a lot of WWII novels, it’s always great to find one with a new setting and topic I haven’t encountered before. And Niki was an interesting character, a Czech woman who had become a US citizen through marriage (though no longer a happy one), worrying about her family back in Czechoslovakia, and an independent, smart, and determined woman.

I loved Michelle Gable’s first four novels, but was disappointed by her last book, The Bookseller’s Secret, so was glad to see this one was a stronger effort. It did have a different feeling from her early books which I’d compare to Beatriz Williams, whereas this one felt a little more Kate Quinn. It was a bit slow though, and then the end was kind of anticlimactic, and was just a tad light on emotion for me. I did enjoy it though and would recommend to WWII historical fiction aficionados.

3.75 stars

I truly enjoy a good historical novel based on real people, and after reading Michelle Gable's last novel, The Bookseller's Secret (which featured a fictionalized Nancy Mitford), I knew I would want to read her new novel, The Lipstick Bureau.

The novel opens in May 1989 as Niki and her daughter Andrea are attending a black tie dinner in Washington DC to honor the "Ladies of the O.S.S.", or as Niki says a "deceptively quaint title, like a neighborhood bridge club." Andrea knew that her mother worked for the O.S.S., the precursor of today's C.I.A., but she was shocked to learn that her mother was not an interpreter or secretary, but she was an important member of the propaganda team called Morale Ops.

The story turns to 1943, when Niki, who speaks eight languages, manages to get herself assigned to a Morale Ops team in Algiers. A few years earlier, Niki tried unsuccessfully to convince her parents and beloved young brother Pasha to leave Czechoslovakia with her as the Nazis were moving to annex the country.

Niki's team is soon sent to Rome during the last few years of the war and Niki hopes that she can get assigned closer to her home country where she can find out what has happened to her family. In the meantime, Niki uses her brains and creativity to find ways that Morale Ops can convince German soldiers and citizens that Hitler is losing the war and they should turn against him.

I liked Niki's creativity and her out-of-the-box thinking, even if it skirts military rules. Sometimes her ideas backfire, and when they do, she gets the blame. When her ideas succeed, her partner Will get the credit and promotions that she deserves.

Niki is brilliant, headstrong, and a terrible driver. She encourages a local Italian housewife-turned-prostitute Paloma to help her with some of her plans, and when her sister-in-law Moggy turns up (possibly to spy on Niki for Nicki's husband), Moggy becomes involved in as well.

Niki is based on the real life of Barbara Lauwers, and some of the operations in the story (code names Sauerkraut, Cornflakes, and Monte Rosa) actually happened. Gable brings her characters to vivid life, especially the women, and she gives Niki a great sense of humor. (Niki calls the O.S.S. "a hodgepodge of army castoffs and every rich family's one stupid son.")

I didn't know much about Rome after the Nazis were driven from there, and found Gable's description of it and the Morale Ops fascinating. If you are a reader of Susan Elia MacNeal's wonderful Maggie Hope WWII series, as I am, The Lipstick Bureau is a must-read.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on Michelle Gable's tour.

Normally, I’m a big fan of author Michelle Gable’s. I fell in love with her work with her debut novel, “A Paris Apartment;” then again with her fourth (“The Summer I Met Jack”) and fifth (The Bookseller’s Secret”) novels. This woman can write historical fiction!

In this, her sixth novel, we get a World War II saga that is based on the real life OSS operative Lauwers. It never fails to surprise me that with all the WWII-era books out there based on real figures that there is anyone left to influence a novel.

This one is a little different. Instead of resistance groups, concentration camps and those left behind on the home front, author Gable takes readers into the moral operations within the OSS (predecessor to the CIA).
Czech-born Niki Novotna has become an American, a newlywed with a failing marriage, and stationed in bomb-shattered, yet liberated Rome. Her job is to write false propaganda that can dropped behind enemy lines. Looking as if the leaflets were produced in Germany, they disseminate such false information that Hitler is dead, the Allies are closer than then they think and the end of the war is very near.

Then Niki’s job is to get the prepared publications in the enemy’s hands. That is the hard part! She comes up with a rather unorthodox way to get the information to the enemy, especially since the Air Force and the Army are more interested in dropping bombs than dropping propaganda. Her new idea borders on violating the Geneva Convention.

This book looks at the interactions of the Special Operations: Rome than how the enemy perceives the information.

Niki and her officemates are referred to as “The Lipstick Bureau,” but there were as many men in the office as women. Maybe it includes the “other” group of Italian women Niki paid to get the information out.

Y’all know how I love dual narratives. Most of the book takes place from 1943-45 and 1989. It doesn’t work. It wasn’t necessary and could have easily been deleted. However, it had to stay because this book is loosely based on the real-life operative, Barbara Lauwers, and their efforts to help win the war.

I found the office workings often tedious and lacking a forceful plot. Therefore, “The Lipstick Bureau” received 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

This novel was inspired by a real-life female spy. Be sure an read the authors note to find out more.

Nikola is from Czechoslovakia and is recruited to a secret governmental agency. She is highlight educated and speaks several languages. She ends up working for the OSS Morale operations department near the end of the war in Rome. Part of her job was to create “fake news”, to confuse the German armies.

A riveting story where Nikola tells her story in 1989. This story-line was unique from other WWII novels I have read.

Thank you Graydon House, NetGalley and author Michelle Gable. Out now.

This is the fictional story of Niki Novotna, born in Czechoslovakia, inspired by the life of real-life WII spy Barbara Lauwers.

Niki isn’t a particularly likable person. She is a shoot-from-the-hip type person and acts without thinking of the consequences, especially to those around her. But I did like her creativity and her passion. Despite very limited resources, her team of artists and forgers were successful.

It is obvious that Gable did a lot of research for this novel. I enjoyed reading about the propaganda tactics used in WWII. These tactics proved to be successful in helping bring an end to the war. Niki, being multilingual, creates fake stories and distributes propaganda to lower the morale of enemy soldiers.

While the story is set mostly in Italy, Niki is trying to locate her brother fighting in Czechoslovakia. There is little written about what was going on in Czechoslovakia during the war, so I found the references to it very interesting.

I enjoyed the chapters written from Paloma’s viewpoint. Paloma, a prostitute, befriends Niki. It is from Paloma that we learn what WWII life is like for the people of Italy.

The book is also a love story, a story of friendship, and a story of survival. The ending was predictable, but I enjoyed the journey the book took me on. It had its exciting moments that had me on the edge of my seat.

I recommend this book to historical fiction fans.

Niki Novotna, a Czech native, with multiple degrees and speaking many languages, is married to an American from a prominent family. Inspired by the true story of Barbara Lauwers, Gable has written a gripping novel about the OSS Moral Operations in Rome during WWII. Not your typical WWII novel, we have a behind the scenes view of a small propaganda operation that provides big results in affecting the morale of the German soldiers and citizens in Italy. Using prisoners of war to infiltrate and distribute flyers, handouts, etc. Niki who plays a pivotal role in designing operations with the nicknames of Sauerkraut, Cornflakes, and Monte Rosa, fears that she may have crossed the line in paying prostitutes to keep the select POWs happy and will be charged with violating the rules of the Geneva Convention. With her career in jeopardy, her marriage in name only, her parents and brother unaccounted for, Niki is facing some harsh realities as the war is ending.
I read this book in one weekend and didn't want to put it down. Gable presents the realities of war alongside the personalities and desires of the main characters. Survival is the name of the game and it's not always predictable or pretty. Historical fiction fans will enjoy a glimpse into how propaganda works and the OSS. An excellent Book Club selection for the many moral and ethical discussion points. This is the first book I have read by Gable and it won't be the last.

The Lipstick Bureau is in a genre that I love, so I was excited to get the opportunity to read this. Unfortunately, the book didn't quite live up to what I thought it would be. There were elements of it that were overly slow to get into, and I couldn't connect to Niki at all. If it wasn't for the fact that I was reading an advance copy for a review, it would have ended up on my DNF pile. I just wasn't invested in finding out the ending.

The book itself is more romance than historical fiction, especially when compared to the likes of The Huntress and The Rose Code (both by Kate Quinn). I don't read books for the romance element. I read them for the action and the thrill, and even to learn something new about the women who were involved in the war effort during the Second World War.

The clear research helped to save the book from 1 star.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Lipstick Bureau by Michelle Gable
This book is loosely based off the life and experiences of Barbara Lauwers a Czech native who worked for the OSS (now known as the CIA) during WWII.

Nikki Novotna is sent to Italy with the brand new spay agency to help break down the moral of the Nazi solders. This is the first time propaganda was used this way in warfare and Nikki breaks many rules along the way. With the help of German POW’s they deliver letters and flyers to influence the connection the Nazis have to Hilter. As the war drags on they see positive results from their efforts. As the war came to an end Nikki learns of her family’s fate and is honored with the Bronze Star for her heroic efforts.
This was an interesting read. I love learning about the women’s role during WWII.
Thanks to Grayson House and NetGalley for this ARC.

This was fantastic!

I was provided an ARC via the publisher and Netgalley, all opinions are my own. Thank you to Graydon House Books for the opportunity to read this fascinating book! This was released on December, 27, 2022. Full disclosure I swapped between the arc and the final published version of the audiobook on hoopla. The audiobook is fabulous, the narrator did a wonderful job voices the different characters.

This historical fiction is inspired by real events and real people during WWII. The author does a nice job in the author's note explaining who was inspired by a real person, and who was fictional and what events she altered for the purposes of the book. I always appreciate when an author takes the time to do thorough research and point out that they took some liberties with the facts to make the plot work.

This follows Niki, a well educated woman originally from Czechoslovakia who has been recruited to a secret government agency. She wants to be a spy, but finds herself in a much different branch of the war machine. She is hoping to use her contacts within the government, namely her husband George, to find out information about her family who stayed behind in Czechoslovakia. While stationed in Rome with a rag-tag group, Niki is assigned to create "fake news" to lower the morale of the enemy. They don't have much in the way of resources, so they are tasked with getting the job done in creative ways. Niki bends and even breaks a few rules to achieve the mission. Her work and her life are full of secrets, some of which may ruin her.

This is told in an interesting style. It alternates between the 1940's during Niki's service with the OSS when she was stationed in Algiers and Rome, then it switches to 1989 during a dinner honoring the women of the OSS which Niki attends with her daughter. We also have another POV which is told from an Italian "working woman" named Paloma whom Niki befriends and employs during her time in Rome. Paloma is being interviewed during her chapters, but the reason is not revealed until much later in the book. Normally I'm not a fan of alternating timelines but it really works here. While at the dinner, Niki has to face secrets she's kept from her daughter for many years. Paloma's chapters reveal information that we otherwise wouldn't have known.

This is perfect for fans of Alice Quinn's The Alice Network. I loved it. I loved getting to know Niki and Will and the rest of their gang. Paloma's character was a nice addition to remind us that a war was still going on, and that the Allies did not solve everything instantly by defeating the Germans.

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The Lipstick Bureau is a captivating story inspired by the life of Barbara Lauwers. It's a loose interpretation, but there's no denying that Michelle Gable did her research. Niki is a bit of a rebel, and she breaks more than her fair share of rules. I think that side of her is a big part of what made her so intriguing. A lot of the story takes place in flashbacks, but it's easy to separate past and present (or present for the characters, anyway). I'm not always fond of that style, but it works for this book, and it's easy to follow the timeline. The book is well written, and the characters and their story held my attention from start to finish. If you enjoy WWII era fiction, I'd recommend this one.

Based on real events, the book told the story of Rome close to the end of WWII. Niki is a Czechoslovakian woman who escapes the Nazis and marries an American man. Able to understand many languages, Niki becomes part of the MO division of the OSS, a division dedicated to providing propaganda to the German troops to encourage them to desert and lower morale. The book also has chapters of Niki attending a luncheon commemorating the work of the women in the OSS, with her daughter, who was surprised to learn about the bravery and sacrifices her Mom made during the war, The story was illuminating, and the characters, particularly Ezra, Will and Moggy, enhanced the story. I recommend this book for historical fiction fans. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

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.

The Lipstick Bureau was a miss for me. It was very hard for me to be engaged with the characters. I was so excited about the description and the cover, but the story left me confused. I usually can get into World War II books, but this one was dragging me down.

Thank you to Michelle Gable, NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

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.
This is a good book.
I haven't read a book by this author before and I'm not sure if I will read her again.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

I really wanted to love THE LIPSTICK BUREAU by Michelle Gable. I’ve read her twice before and both times were most enjoyable. Everything about this book’s synopsis and cover appealed to me, so I don’t know what happened! Well, yes I do. I had a very hard time getting into this story, it just felt very disjointed. I couldn’t really connect with any of the characters and the story. THE LIPSTICK BUREAU is a World War II-era historical fiction loosely based on a true story.

Overall, THE LIPSTICK BUREAU is a book I can say, is just a bit too long. It is the story of Niki Novotna, a fictionalized version of famed WWII spy Barbara Lauwers. I enjoyed the story with all the history but I didn’t love it. Niki’s backstory was interesting, but I didn’t really connect with her in any way. There is usually so much heart in Michelle’s writing that I am very sad that I did not love this one like the previous two I have read. I am still looking forward to reading Ms. Gable’s previous books that I haven’t gotten to yet as well as her future ones.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Graydon House-Harlequin through Netgalley. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given.

Happy pub day to this enlightening read. Michelle Gable tells the story of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and predecessor to the CIA. Using dual timelines in 1989 and 1944, we find out the role our main character Niki played as a woman serving in Italy. Her assignment was to a unit that produced black propaganda in an effort to weaken the morale of the German troops and bring an end to the war. She came up with the controversial idea of utilizing German POW volunteers to help deliver the propaganda into enemy territory as planes were not available. They gave their varied waves of information a name and I think my favorite was Project Cornflake where they used an ordinance which required mail to be delivered by all citizens who found it and sent their materials right into people's homes to read over their morning cereal. Their work was not for the faint of heart. It was an uphill battle without clear results as a measuring stick. Alternating between the two timelines helped to break up the heaviness of the past narrative while continuing to shed light on the work that was done. There is a third POV -- an Italian prostitute named Paloma. That did not work so well for me as that storyline was quite cryptic at times. Overall, though, this is a fascinating tale and based on a real-life spy named Barbara Lauwers. Michelle Gables includes an extensive bibliography for those who want to find out more about this aspect of WW II.

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars

I struggled with the pacing of this book, for a good 2/3, (if not 3/4 or more) of the story, and without any real insight or reason to care about the main character, Niki. The transitions between modern day, the POV of an Italian prostitute, and the WWII story involving Niki, Will, and the other OSS members, were often awkward. I did not know who the Italian woman was or why I needed to care, for far longer than I should have. The plot was a lot of gnashing of teeth and waiting and complaining, it felt, so I needed to care about the characters. Niki was frequently too impatient and frenetic to get a real feel for the character. It's not about likable, but I needed a reason to care. The snapshots in the modern day with her daughter, gave me glimpses and kept me going. Will was also drawn as forgettable and dimwitted for so long, that I was impatient reading about him. Then suddenly it all switched and I cared. Suddenly Niki and Will had a story and there was emotion, and I was carried to the end in the last part of the book - maybe last 20%? That's too long to wait, though I loved that last 20%. I almost DNF'd but chose to plow through and it did pay off at the end. It left me wondering what did I miss that suddenly these characters were fully drawn? Sadly, I don't think I missed anything, but it was at the end that the author found her stride. I wish it had been this way for the whole book. I think the darkness that Niki is dealing with wondering if her family is alive and then learning later how they survived the war, was an interesting and important theme. However, it was really only at the end that characters and themes felt developed for me. The ending was emotional, poignant, and fitting.
I appreciated a view on WWII in Italy, but I don't think I learned much new. The limited info on Czechoslovakia (the Czech Republic, as it is now known) was minimal. For as much as it was important to Niki's motivation, I had hoped to learn more about the war there. I hope the released book has a good author's note, as historical fiction readers, myself included, often want to know more about locations, events, and resources to do more reading. Please try to include that in ARCs if possible. They often add more context that can improve the experience and the story after reading.