Inspired by a real-life femalespy,a WWII-set novel about a woman challenging convention and boundaries to help win a war, no matter the cost.

A gripping, fascinating read. Kelly Rimmer,New York Timesbestselling author ofThe Warsaw Orphan

1944, Rome. Newlywed Niki Novotn 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 othersnow nicknamed The Lipstick Bureaufind 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 andthe 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