Blog Tour Stop/Giveaway: Madam Rebelle by Amber Leigh Willilams

 

Today I have the pleasure of having author Amber Leigh Williams stop by to talk to us about her new book, Madame Rebelle. Make sure to enter the tour wide giveaway as the author is giving away a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. The tour schedule can be found HERE from Goddess Fish Promotions.

Talking with Amber Leigh Williams on Madam Rebelle:

Tell us about your latest book, who are the main characters and what we can expect when we pick it up.

Madame Rebelle is a historical fiction novel based in 1940s Champagne, France. Edmee Guillon has vowed to save as many refugees as she can from the German Army. But when a dying stranger in a German uniform asks her to hide him in the network of caves beneath her family's vineyard, she struggles to believe his claim that he is French. She's already risking her life, her home and the people she loves. Will saving this mysterious man's life be the tipping point?

 

Taking the story from a concept to a published book is a long and involved process. How does that usually work for you?

Madame Rebelle went through several revisions before it was ready for publication. This was my first historical fiction novel so it took me a while to learn how to tell Edmee's story. After the second draft, I realized that I didn't have to change my writing style in order to make the world of World War II France come to life. I followed the same parameters I do when writing suspense. In almost every scene, there's danger and a ticking clock lurking in the background. It keeps the pace moving and helps convey the urgency and immediacy of the time period.

 

Which of your books would you recommend for readers to choose first if they’re new to you and your books?

I write contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and historical fiction. If you enjoy contemporary romance, I recommend starting with my free novella, About That Summer, or A Place With Briar, the first book in my hometown series.

If you love romantic suspense, I have three series starters you can try – Coldero Ridge Cowboy (Fuego, New Mexico trilogy), Escape to the Bayou (Southern Justice trilogy), and Colton's Last Resort (Coltons of Arizona series).

If you prefer historical fiction, Madame Rebelle is my first stand-alone novel. It would be a great place to start!

 

We are very curious about your writing process.  What is a typical writing day like for you?

For me, a typical writing day doesn't really exist. I'm a homeschool mom so my day revolves around the kids' schedules. I find little chunks of time to do writing sprints so if they're taking tests or if they're at D&D Club at the library or they're at soccer or softball practice, I'll find time to write then. I've learned to write anywhere. Most of my daily word count typically happens at nighttime after the kids go to bed. I brew myself a big pot of ginger peach tea and write until 1-2 in the morning before turning in and starting it all again the next day. I’ve always been a night owl and I work well even when things around me are chaotic so as crazy as my schedule sounds, it works.

 

What trope have you not written yet but want to?

The unreliable narrator is one of my favorite mystery/suspense/thriller tropes. I'd love to explore that narrative and see what comes of it. I'm also a sucker for a dual timeline story split between past and present.

 

How do you approach character development in your stories? Do you have any specific techniques or methods that you find particularly effective?

Every character has a secret, and at some point in the story they either have to tell someone that secret or it’s revealed by other means. How they respond to their secret becoming known tells the audience what kind of person they are on the inside.

At its core, Madame Rebelle is about making a choice – do I risk my life and the life of everyone I love to do what I believe is right or do I go along with an oppressive regime to save everything I know? Every character from Edmee to Christian to the soldiers in the town square to her cousin Jacqueline each respond to this question in their own way.

 

What do you believe sets your writing apart from others in your genre, and why should readers choose to read your books?

I don't believe in character archetypes. You see that in Madame Rebelle because Edmee will always do what's right but she struggles when the right thing requires secrets and lies and she’s forced to tread the gray area that exists between good and evil.

I strive to leave readers with a prevailing sense of hope at the end of my books because while the FMC and MMC often face their greatest fears and challenges, they always find some way to overcome them.

 

Can you discuss any upcoming projects or books that you're currently working on? What can readers expect from your future works?

Next spring, my next suspense Colton Storm Watch will be published with Harlequin Romantic Suspense. I also get to introduce a five-book series about five brothers living in Shatter Pointe, North Carolina. The first two books are completed and should be published in 2026-2027. You can find out more about Madame Rebelle, these books and more at my website: www.amberleighwilliams.com

Madam Rebelle by Amber Leigh Williams

GENRE:  Historical Romance

 

Rebel. Smuggler. Spy.

 

Champagne, France 1943

 

Meet Madame Rebelle. Edmee Guillon is a smuggler. She hides people from the German troops surrounding her ancestral home. When a dying man in a German uniform seeks refuge at Maison Boutet, Edmee struggles to believe his claims that he is French. Her life, the maison and the people she loves are already at stake. Can she take the chance that this mysterious spy is who he says he is? And which side of this war is he really on?

 

Christian Vovk has been betrayed by someone inside his resistance organization. He knows asking the striking young war widow to hide him will put her in certain danger. However, Christian can help Edmee save as many refugees as she can. Falling in love with her will hinder his duty to the operation that brought him to her doorstep in the first place. When love and duty become inevitably tangled, will Christian sacrifice one for the other?

 

 Madame Rebelle - Purchase Links: 

Amazon Ebook: https://a.co/d/b7e849S

Amazon Paperback: https://a.co/d/cIS1iOp

Amber’s Website:  https://amberleighwilliams.com/madame-rebelle 

Excerpt Two:

 “There’s a difference between bravery and stupidity.”

 

The muscles of her face were taut. “I know that.”

 

Christian subsided into silence.

 

“Is the gun something you stole?” Edmée wanted to know. “If it’s German—”

 

“It’s not,” he said. Would she really know the difference if he lied? “Are you going to tell your uncle you've hidden me here?”

 

“I have to cover my tracks outside the cave,” she claimed, avoiding his probing stare. 

 

He gripped her wrist before she could leave. When her gaze seized on his, it took him a moment to realize what he needed to say. “Be careful.”

 

Her lips firmed. “Take your aspirin. I won’t bring anymore wine.” She eyed the gun in his waistband. “I shouldn’t let you keep the gun. It would be stupid of me.”

 

“You cannot leave me undefended.”

 

When she wavered, he tugged her closer, leaning in. Did she know she smelled of the woods—of untamed things? “You should have one.”

 

Her brows came together. “A gun?”

 

“The supply runs. They’re dangerous.”

 

“So is carrying a gun.”

 

“Oui, but it’s the couriers, the messengers, the runners… They’re the ones arrested first.”

 

“So which one were you?” she wondered. “A courier or a messenger?”

Enter to win a $25 Amazon/BN

AUTHOR Bio and Links: 

Amber Leigh Williams writes pulse-pounding romantic suspense, historical fiction, and contemporary romance. When she’s not writing, she enjoys traveling and being outdoors with her family and dogs. She is fluent in sarcasm and is known to hoard books like the book dragon she is. An advocate for literacy, she is an ardent supporter of libraries and the constitutional right to read. 

Website: https://amberleighwilliams.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/amberleighwilliams

Facebook: https://facebook.com/amberleighwilliamsbooks

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0030VZW2C?ccs_id=972a6661-be68-4275-b311-8f8e0b259f83

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2713894.Amber_Leigh_Williams

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/amber-leigh-williams

Book Review: After Paris by Mary Ellen Taylor

 

One woman's discovers her dive into the mystery of a missing 1940's actress in German occupied France during WWII and finds more than she bargained for in the past as well as in the present.

After Paris by Mary Ellen Taylor

Montlake Publishing

May 13th, 2025

Contemporary WWII Historical Women's Fiction

Available at Amazon

My Rating for After Paris: 5 Stars and Recommended Read.

For Ruby Nevins, trying to live her life again after battling cancer has made it tough to move on but she's ready to start a new project and a new job. What she finds as she researches Cecile, the 'It' girl of early 1940's French cinema will astound her as well as deepen the mystery that surrounds Cecile. For surviving in Paris, France during the height of German occupancy n World War II gives Ruby something to figure out and as she is drawn deeper into the shadows during that time period, Ruby discovers more about herself as well the secrets behind Cecile and her mysterious dressmaker and confidant, Sylvia Rousseau. 

My Review of After Paris:

Mary Ellen Taylor's new novel, After Paris, delves into a mystery of a french actress named Cecile who was the rising star of French Cinema during the early 1940's at a time when German occupied France was increasingly getting more and more hostile toward the citizens there. What drew me into the story was the dual timelines and how this author weaved a spell around me as I followed Ruby's journey as she dived into the mystery of Cecile and her dressmaker, Sylvia. This is the first time I read one of this author's books though I enjoy her other author names' (Mary Burton) suspense/thriller books a lot. I am a sucker for good compelling WWII historical fiction about strong women during a time period where you don't hear much about them. This was a phenomenal book about three very strong women that had me glued tot he pages on a lazy Sunday afternoon and I literally read the book till I finished it several hours later as I needed to find out what Ruby was discovering about these two interesting ladies. Mary Ellen Taylor is a master storyteller who delivers a wonderful story told in 2 time periods with captivating characters that kept me glued to the edge of my seat the entire time. The characters were well written, intriguing and complex. I loved Ruby's strength and feistiness, especially as she dealt with her brother's lack of romantic relationships. Those scenes made me laugh a few times. 

After Paris is full of twists, turns and secrets of the past that will keep the reader glued to the very end. I loved Ruby's journey and as a cancer survivor myself, her journey after beating the dreaded big 'C' is just what this author describes: Wary determination with a fear of letting someone near you in case 'it happens again'. The author delivers a story that is at times respectful of Ruby's journey as well as shows her inner strength after her fight with cancer. I loved how the dual timelines interconnected at times and showed Ruby how to move forward even as she navigated 1940's Paris information. This is an author who is seamless in keeping the story flowing from past to present and back again. The way this author weaves these two timelines into the story is fantastic and delivers a one-two punch that the reader will enjoy.

After Paris is more than one or three women's journey but a testament of life, of strength during times of adversity and hope for a future. With each page, past and present times, Mary Ellen Taylor delivers a timeless tale that will leave you breathless and eager for more. This won't be the last book I read of Mary Ellen Taylor and I can't wait to see what else this author has in the future for her readers. If you're fans of Natasha Lester's historical fiction books, you'll want to pick After Paris up as well.

About the Author:

A southerner by birth, Mary Ellen Taylor’s love of her home state, Virginia, and its past is evident in her contemporary women's fiction, from her first The Union Street Bakery, set in Alexandria, to her latest, Spring House, which takes place on the state’s Eastern Shore. In Spring Cottage and prior novels, Mary Ellen’s protagonists search for their place in the world. They explore issues of family, home and belonging, and their stories entwine with those of the locales in which they unfold, encompassing mysteries past and present.

Richmond born, Mary Ellen has lived there most of her life. She grew up in a family that appreciates stories of all kinds, from a well-told anecdote to a good yarn or a tall tale. Perhaps it was inevitable that she would embrace her storytelling heritage, walk away from her marketing job and challenge herself to become a published author.

"I realized early on the tremendous power stories have to inspire laughter, love, sorrow and even fear. It didn't matter if they were found in the pages of a book, spoken in hushed tones around a campfire, or shared at an old-fashioned family reunion. Stories create connections, and I knew that was what I wanted to do," says Mary Ellen.

Alongside writing, cooking and baking are important creative outlets for Mary Ellen, who's been known to name recipes in honor of her characters. Just a few years ago, she earned her Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate at the University of Richmond's Culinary Arts Program. "In some ways, I liken baking to my efforts as a writer. You need to learn the basic tools of the trade before you can push the limits and create a distinctive sweet dessert or savory novel.”

Her two passions —writing and baking—merged for the first time in The Union Street Bakery. Since then, she's shared favorite recipes, connected to her books Sweet Expectations, At the Corner of King Street, The View from Prince Street, Winter Cottage and Spring House.

Mary Ellen is also known nationally as New York Times and USA Today bestselling suspense novelist Mary Burton. Together, they have published thirty-eight novels, with Mary Burton’s latest, I See You, debuting October 2019.

When not traveling or holed up writing, Mary Ellen spends time with her husband enjoying their empty nest and spoiling their miniature dachshunds, Buddy, Bella and Tiki.

Website

New Winter Historical Fiction Release Tour Stop: The Perfumist of Paris by Alka Joshi

 

THE PERFUMIST OF PARIS

Author: Alka Joshi

ISBN: 9780778386148

Publication Date: March 28, 2023

Publisher: MIRA Books

BOOK SUMMARY:

 

"A stunning portrait of a woman blossoming into her full power…this is Alka Joshi's best book yet!” —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye

From the author of Reese's Book Club Pick The Henna Artist, the final chapter in Alka Joshi’s New York Times bestselling Jaipur trilogy takes readers to 1970s Paris, where Radha’s budding career as a perfumer must compete with the demands of her family and the secrets of her past.

Paris, 1974. Radha is now living in Paris with her husband, Pierre, and their two daughters. She still grieves for the baby boy she gave up years ago, when she was only a child herself, but she loves being a mother to her daughters, and she’s finally found her passion—the treasure trove of scents.

She has an exciting and challenging position working for a master perfumer, helping to design completely new fragrances for clients and building her career one scent at a time. She only wishes Pierre could understand her need to work. She feels his frustration, but she can’t give up this thing that drives her.

Tasked with her first major project, Radha travels to India, where she enlists the help of her sister, Lakshmi, and the courtesans of Agra—women who use the power of fragrance to seduce, tease and entice. She’s on the cusp of a breakthrough when she finds out the son she never told her husband about is heading to Paris to find her—upending her carefully managed world and threatening to destroy a vulnerable marriage.

The Jaipur Trilogy

Book 1: The Henna Artist
Book 2: The Secret Keeper of Jaipur
Book 3: The Perfumist of Paris

 

Sneak Peek Excerpt:

Paris

September 2, 1974

I pick up on the first ring; I know it’s going to be her. She always calls on his birthday. Not to remind me of the day he came into this world but to let me know I’m not alone in my remembrance.

“Jiji?” I keep my voice low. I don’t want to wake Pierre and the girls.

“Kaisa ho, choti behen?” my sister says. I hear the smile in her voice, and I respond with my own. It’s lovely to hear Lakshmi’s gentle Hindi here in my Paris apartment four thousand miles away. I’d always called her Jiji—big sister—but she hadn’t always called me choti behen. It was Malik who addressed me as little sister when I first met him in Jaipur eighteen years ago, and he wasn’t even related to Jiji and me by blood. He was simply her apprentice. My sister started calling me choti behen later, after everything in Jaipur turned topsy-turvy, forcing us to make a new home in Shimla.

Today, my sister will talk about everything except the reason she’s calling. It’s the only way she’s found to make sure I get out of bed on this particular date, to prevent me from spiraling into darkness every year on the second of September, the day my son, Niki, was born.

She started the tradition the first year I was separated from him, in 1957. I was just fourteen. Jiji arrived at my boarding school with a picnic, having arranged for the headmistress to excuse me from classes. We had recently moved from Jaipur to Shimla, and I was still getting used to our new home. I think Malik was the only one of us who adjusted easily to the cooler temperatures and thinner air of the Himalayan mountains, but I saw less of him now that he was busy with activities at his own school, Bishop Cotton.

I was in history class when Jiji appeared at the door and beckoned me with a smile. As I stepped outside the room, she said, “It’s such a beautiful day, Radha. Shall we take a hike?” I looked down at my wool blazer and skirt, my stiff patent leather shoes, and wondered what had gotten into her. She laughed and told me I could change into the clothes I wore for nature camp, the one our athletics teacher scheduled every month. I’d woken with a heaviness in my chest, and I wanted to say no, but one look at her eager face told me I couldn’t deny her. She’d cooked my favorite foods for the picnic. Makki ki roti dripping with ghee. Palak paneer so creamy I always had to take a second helping. Vegetable korma. And chole, the garbanzo bean curry with plenty of fresh cilantro.

That day, we hiked Jakhu Hill. I told her how I hated math but loved my sweet old teacher. How my roommate, Mathilde, whistled in her sleep. Jiji told me that Madho Singh, Malik’s talking parakeet, was starting to learn Punjabi words. She’d begun taking him to the Community Clinic to amuse the patients while they waited to be seen by her and Dr. Jay. “The hill people have been teaching him the words they use to herd their sheep, and he’s using those same words now to corral patients in the waiting area!” She laughed, and it made me feel lighter. I’ve always loved her laugh; it’s like the temple bells that worshippers ring to receive blessings from Bhagwan.

When we reached the temple at the top of the trail, we stopped to eat and watched the monkeys frolicking in the trees. A few of the bolder macaques eyed our lunch from just a few feet away. As I started to tell her a story about the Shakespeare play we were rehearsing after school, I stopped abruptly, remembering the plays Ravi and I used to rehearse together, the prelude to our lovemaking. When I froze, she knew it was time to steer the conversation into less dangerous territory, and she smoothly transitioned to how many times she’d beat Dr. Jay at backgammon.

“I let Jay think he’s winning until he realizes he isn’t,” Lakshmi grinned.

I liked Dr. Kumar (Dr. Jay to Malik and me), the doctor who looked after me when I was pregnant with Niki—here in Shimla. I’d been the first to notice that he couldn’t take his eyes off Lakshmi, but she’d dismissed it; she merely considered the two of them to be good friends. And here he and my sister have been married now for ten years! He’s been good for her—better than her ex-husband was. He taught her to ride horses. In the beginning, she was scared to be high off the ground (secretly, I think she was afraid of losing control), but now she can’t imagine her life without her favorite gelding, Chandra.

So lost am I in memories of the sharp scents of Shimla’s pines, the fresh hay Chandra enjoys, the fragrance of lime aftershave and antiseptic coming off Dr. Jay’s coat, that I don’t hear Lakshmi’s question. She asks again. My sister knows how to exercise infinite patience—she had to do it often enough with those society ladies in Jaipur whose bodies she spent hours decorating with henna paste.

I look at the clock on my living room wall. “Well, in another hour, I’ll get the girls up and make their breakfast.” I move to the balcony windows to draw back the drapes. It’s overcast today, but a little warmer than yesterday. Down below, a moped winds its way among parked cars on our street. An older gentleman, keys jingling in his palm, unlocks his shop door a few feet from the entrance to our apartment building. “The girls and I may walk a ways before we get on the Métro.”

“Won’t the nanny be taking them to school?”

Turning from the window, I explain to Jiji that we had to let our nanny go quite suddenly and the task of taking my daughters to the International School has fallen to me.

“What happened?”

It’s a good thing Jiji can’t see the color rise in my cheeks. It’s embarrassing to admit that Shanti, my nine-year-old daughter, struck her nanny on the arm, and Yasmin did what she would have done to one of her children back in Algeria: she slapped Shanti. Even as I say it, I feel pinpricks of guilt stab the tender skin just under my belly button. What kind of mother raises a child who attacks others? Have I not taught her right from wrong? Is it because I’m neglecting her, preferring the comfort of work to raising a girl who is presenting challenges I’m not sure I can handle? Isn’t that what Pierre has been insinuating? I can almost hear him say, “This is what happens when a mother puts her work before family.” I put a hand on my forehead. Oh, why did he fire Yasmin before talking to me? I didn’t even have a chance to understand what transpired, and now my husband expects me to find a replacement. Why am I the one who must find the solution to a problem I didn’t cause?

My sister asks how my work is going. This is safer ground. My discomfort gives way to excitement. “I’ve been working on a formula for Delphine that she thinks is going to be next season’s favorite fragrance. I’m on round three of the iteration. The way she just knows how to pull back on one ingredient and add barely a drop of another to make the fragrance a success is remarkable, Jiji.”

I can talk forever about fragrances. When I’m mixing a formula, hours can pass before I stop to look around, stretch my neck or step outside the lab for a glass of water and a chat with Celeste, Delphine’s secretary. It’s Celeste who often reminds me that it’s time for me to pick up the girls from school when I’m between nannies. And when I do have someone to look after the girls, Celeste casually asks what I’m serving for dinner, reminding me that I need to stop work and get home in time to feed them. On the days Pierre cooks, I’m only too happy to stay an extra hour before finishing work for the day. It’s peaceful in the lab. And quiet. And the scents—honey and clove and vetiver and jasmine and cedar and myrrh and gardenia and musk—are such comforting companions. They ask nothing of me except the freedom to envelop another world with their essence. My sister understands. She told me once that when she skated a reed dipped in henna paste across the palm, thigh or belly of a client to draw a Turkish fig or a boteh leaf or a sleeping baby, everything fell away—time, responsibilities, worries.

My daughter Asha’s birthday is coming up. She’s turning seven, but I know Jiji won’t bring it up. Today, my sister will refrain from any mention of birthdays, babies or pregnancies because she knows these subjects will inflame my bruised memories. Lakshmi knows how hard I’ve worked to block out the existence of my firstborn, the baby I had to give up for adoption. I’d barely finished grade eight when Jiji told me why my breasts were tender, why I felt vaguely nauseous. I wanted to share the good news with Ravi: we were going to have a baby! I’d been so sure he would marry me when he found out he was going to be a father. But before I could tell him, his parents whisked him away to England to finish high school. I haven’t laid eyes on him since. Did he know we’d had a son? Or that our baby’s name is Nikhil?

I wanted so much to keep my baby, but Jiji said I needed to finish school. At thirteen, I was too young to be a mother. What a relief it was when my sister’s closest friends, Kanta and Manu, agreed to raise the baby as their own and then offered to keep me as his nanny, his ayah. They had the means, the desire and an empty nursery. I could be with Niki all day, rock him, sing him to sleep, kiss his peppercorn toes, pretend he was all mine. It took me only four months to realize that I was doing more harm than good, hurting Kanta and Manu by wanting Niki to love only me.

When I was first separated from my son, I thought about him every hour of every day. The curl on one side of his head that refused to settle down. The way his belly button stuck out. How eagerly his fat fingers grasped the milk bottle I wasn’t supposed to give him. Having lost her own baby, Kanta was happy to feed Niki from her own breast. And that made me jealous—and furious. Why did she get to nurse my baby and pretend he was hers? I knew it was better for him to accept her as his new mother, but still. I hated her for it.

I knew that as long as I stayed in Kanta’s house, I would keep Niki from loving the woman who wanted to nurture him and was capable of caring for him in the long run. Lakshmi saw it, too. But she left the decision to me. So I made the only choice I could. I left him. And I tried my best to pretend he never existed. If I could convince myself that the hours Ravi Singh and I spent rehearsing Shakespeare—coiling our bodies around each other as Othello and Desdemona, devouring each other into exhaustion—had been a dream, surely I could convince myself our baby had been a dream, too.

And it worked. On every day but the second of September.

Ever since I left Jaipur, Kanta has been sending envelopes so thick I know what they contain without opening them: photos of Niki the baby, the toddler, the boy. I return each one, unopened, safe in the knowledge that the past can’t touch me, can’t splice my heart, can’t leave me bleeding.

The last time I saw Jiji in Shimla, she showed me a similar envelope addressed to her. I recognized the blue paper, Kanta’s elegant handwriting—letters like g and y looping gracefully—and shook my head. “When you’re ready, we can look at the photos together,” Jiji said.

But I knew I never would.

Today, I’ll make it through Niki’s seventeenth birthday in a haze, as I always do. I know tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow, I’ll be able to do what I couldn’t today. I’ll seal that memory of my firstborn as tightly as if I were securing the lid of a steel tiffin for my lunch, making sure that not a drop of the masala dal can escape.

 

Excerpted from The Perfumist of Paris by Alka Joshi © 2023 by Alka Joshi, used with permission from HarperCollins/MIRA Books.

BUY LINKS:

Harlequin

Indiebound

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books-A-Million

Target

Google

Apple

Kobo

BIO:

Born in India and raised in the U.S. since she was nine, Alka Joshi has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts. Joshi's debut novel, The Henna Artist,  immediately became a NYT bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Bookclub pick, was Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, & is in development as a TV series. Her second novel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur (2021), is followed by The Perfumist of Paris (2023). Find her online at www.alkajoshi.com.

SOCIAL:

Author Website: www.alkajoshi.com

TWITTER: @alkajoshi

FB: @alkajoshi2019

Insta: @thealkajoshi

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18257842.Alka_Joshi

New Release Book Review: Code Name Sapphire by Pam Jenoff

 

Code Name Sapphire by Pam Jenoff

Historical Fiction set during World War II

Park Row Books

Release date: February 7th, 2023

Available at Amazon

My Rating for Code Name Sapphire: 3 Stars

It’s 1942, Germany is rolling into countries and taking them over as World War II rages on. The Nazis are everywhere and when Hannah Martel has to escape Germany due to the death of her fiancé and her work in the resistance, she finds herself on a ship that’s turned away from port and with nowhere to go, she sends a desperate letter to her cousin Lily in Brussels. With her cousin Lily vouching for her, Hannah tries to keep her head down and make arrangements to get out of Europe as fast as she can but there’s no safe way to escape as she’s drawn back into the world of the resistance again in Brussels. Bu danger looms and as her work with the Sapphire line continues, Hannah finds she put her cousin Lily and her family in danger even as she desperately tries to help in anyway she can for the resistance. But what happens when Lily and her family are arrested and scheduled to be deported to Auschwitz, how far will Hannah go to rescue her cousin? How much will Hannah sacrifice to save the only family she has left?

 

CODE NAME SAPPHIRE is a story set around some true events and stories of sacrifice and bravery that happened during that time in Brussels, Belgium. This was an author I haven’t really read before and found that her characters were interesting if a bit one note at times. The characters felt a little flat at times and one note. Lily in particular had me wondering if there was a redeeming quality about her so I could like her a little and Hannah fell far below some other characters that felt a bit more interesting (especially Micheline as head of the Sapphire line in Brussels) and wished there was more about her than some of the others. The story alternates between Lily, Hannah and Micheline throughout the book and it was a cohesive storyline that didn’t veer to far off the track especially when you go back and forth between the three women. The author does a good job in capturing the desolation, the austerity and hopelessness that many during that time had felt under Nazi Germany rule and the bravado of those who fought back against them. CODE NAME SAPPHIRE isn’t the best historical fiction set in World War II I have read but its one that was just unique in the setting that kept my attention until the end. The writing flows and though people who read this will find they know the outcome of what happened to those imprisoned by the Germans, it was still an interesting story to be told. I just wish the author focused more on the resistance in Belgium more and centered the story along that instead of two main characters I felt were boring, in my opinion. If you enjoy the glimpse into what was going on with the many who were under German rule during World War II then you might find this book a bit more to your liking than I did at times. I may try a different book of this author’s to see if it fits to more what I enjoy when I read stories set around this world war and Holocaust.

 

This is an objective review and not an endorsement.

New Historical Fiction Release: The Lipstick Bureau

 

Insert Q&A Here

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

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Inspired by one of the OSS’s few female operatives, Barbara Lauwers, a WWII novel set at OSS’s Morale Office in Rome, which was responsible for creating black propaganda and distributing it behind enemy lines. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Bookseller's Secret.

 

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.

 

“A gripping, fascinating read.” —Kelly Rimmer, New York Times bestselling author of The Warsaw Orphan

 

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…

 BUY LINKS:

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-lipstick-bureau-a-novel-inspired-by-true-wwii-events-original-michelle-gable/17917455

Indiebound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781525811470

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-lipstick-bureau-michelle-gable/1142529516

Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-lipstick-bureau-a-novel/9781525804977-item.html

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lipstick-Bureau-Novel-Inspired-Events/dp/1525811479/

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.

 

Excerpted from The Lipstick Bureau by Michelle Gable Bilski. Copyright © 2022 by Michelle Gable Bilski. Published by Graydon House Books.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

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. Find her on Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest, @mgablewriter.

 

SOCIAL LINKS:

Author website: https://michellegable.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MGableWriter

IG: https://www.instagram.com/mgablewriter/