The Lipstick Bureau is the latest release from New York Times Best Selling author Michelle Gable. The Lipstick Bureau is a World War II historical fiction expected to be released by Graydon House on December 26, 2022. Readers are introduced to Niki, a newlywed who has been recruited to join a spy organization setting that was up in Rome.
I want to thank Graydon House, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Lipstick Bureau. All opinions presented here are solely mine.
Summary from Goodreads
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.
Positives
The settings are written with such vivid descriptions that it is easy to picture.
Negatives
There are two narrators, which isn’t an issue, but one doesn’t need to be part of the story.
Many office memos are mentioned in the story and published as part of the text.
My Opinions
The Lipstick Bureau is a World War II-era historical fiction loosely based on a true story. Many of the events in the report are ones that occurred. Some of the characters are people who served in the Rome office during the war.
Overall, the story dragged for me. The book is over 450 pages long, which is honestly 100 pages too long. There are random time jumps between 1944/1945 and 1989. The parts of the story set in 1989 did not feel like they belonged in the story. Honestly, they could have been condensed into a prologue and an epilogue.
Another issue I had with the book was the inclusion of Paloma’s side of the story. It left me confused while reading, unsure of who the narrator was at points. The narrator’s name was given at the start of the chapter, but the voices were similar. And honestly, I didn’t see the point of Paloma’s side of the story.
If you enjoy reading World War II-era historical fiction, you may enjoy reading The Lipstick Bureau.
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Too bad this one didn’t work for you Bonnie. I can see where your frustration came from. I have this one to read, so I guess I shall see how it goes. Nice review, I liked your points.
I hope you enjoy it more than I did.
Interesting. My review will go live tomorrow. I liked it more than you did, but I didn’t really pay that much attention to Paloma’s part in the story in my review – it didn’t bother me at all. I was just more worried about the second timeline, to be honest.
I agree, the other timeline could have been more of a prologue and epilogue than mixed into the story itself.
Sounds like an interesting book, though not usually an era I read about. Pity the second timeline got in the way of your enjoyment of it.