Lisbon, Portugal, is a city of spies, and I’m one of them. I came here to escape the confines of my life in Boston. It’s 1943, and many women are wearing apron strings, carrying babies on their hips and unfulfilled dreams in their hearts. Not me. It might’ve been foolish to break off my engagement to my odious fiancé, especially since my family disowned me for it, but I don’t have any regrets. I couldn’t spend another minute working at the library, either. My best friend Bea loves being a librarian. I have her to thank for getting me that job in the first place, but it wasn’t for me. Books are Bea’s passion; mine is breaking rules, and there were just too many of those for my taste back home. So, here I am—Selene Delmont—an Allied spy tasked with stealing secrets from Lisbon’s elite.
Lisbon is beautiful—a pastel confection of buildings with red-tiled roofs nestled in the hills near the briny Tagus River. Most days, the air is filled with the scent of the sea and orange blossoms. Yellow trolleys wind their ways up and down the narrow streets. Lisbon is a port town bustling with fishing boats and steamships, sailors and soldiers. At night, jazz drifts from elegant bars in Bairro Alto as writers, artists, and actors sip champagne. Meanwhile, a few blocks away, smugglers barter and sell false exit visas in the dark alleyways of Cais do Sodre.
Since World War II began and Portugal declared its neutrality, this city’s become a safe haven for refugees escaping Hitler’s horrifying atrocities. It’s also an alluring playground for the monarchs and aristocrats exiled from Nazi-occupied Europe. Each morning, the cafés in the city’s main square, the Rossio, fill with their laughter and gossip. The smell of strong coffee—known as bica here—wafts on the air as they enjoy pastel de nata in the warm sun. Many of these finely-dressed socialites turn a blind eye to the refugees who pass, hurrying to the docks for a chance to board a steamship for the States. But I don’t, and neither does Bea. She has such a tender heart, and I worry that I shouldn’t have brought her to Lisbon with me. There are already too many secrets between us, too much I can’t tell her about my mission here.
I spend my evenings watching Lisbon’s crème de la crème as they gamble and dance at the Casino Estoril or dine at the elegant Hotel Aviz or Avenida Palace. With my beauty (oh, yes, I know I’m beautiful) and silver-spoon upbringing, I fit right in with them. I’m under no delusions about why my handler, Marguerite, chose me. All I have to do is walk into a room to capture men’s attention. But while they’re staring, I’m surveying, using my head as they’re losing theirs.
It’s my job to watch, listen, and learn—to gather information about the missing refugees. Because there’s another side to this city of glittering lights and glamor—a sinister pall that lurks in the shadows. There are murderers hiding amidst the champagne and ballgowns. Someone is targeting refugees, singling out the most influential of them and turning them over to the Nazis, marking them for death.
I’m charged with finding this killer, but I can’t do it alone. I need the help of Luca Caldeira, an outcast Portuguese nobleman whose past is as impenetrable as his scornful defenses. He’s the one man here who’s impervious to my charms, and the one I find aggravatingly handsome.
He’s warned me about this city and its dark underbelly. It crawls with Axis spies, smugglers, and profiteers. I can’t trust anyone, or tell friend from foe. But I have a job to do—a purpose truer than any I’ve ever had before. I will unmask the Nazi informant before more refugees disappear. Lisbon is a beautiful but dangerous beast, and I’m the one who will tame her.
A WWII Story of Love and Espionage
The romance of Casablanca meets the spy world of Ian Fleming in this WWII love story for the ages.
In a glittering city of secrets and shadows, love is the most perilous gamble of all.
Lisbon 1943. As two American librarians are drawn into a city of dangerous subterfuge and unexpected love affairs, they are forced to choose between their missions and the men they love. Brimming with evocative writing and meticulous research, award-winning author Suzanne Nelson spins a web of secret aliases, sweeping romance, and great sacrifice. Inspired by real historical figures, this is the captivating story of two remarkable young women, their bravery and heartache, and a friendship that withstands the ravages of war.
With World War II raging across Europe, best friends Selene Delmont and Beatrice Sullivan are enlisted by the US Intelligence Office and sent to Lisbon—a sparkling city and hotbed of trouble, harboring exiled royalty, hunted refugees, and spies trading double-edged secrets in seductively dark corners. In official capacity, librarians Selene and Bea have been recruited to catalog the vast mountain of information gathered by the Allies, but by night, both women are undercover agents tasked with infiltrating the Axis spy network.
Where Selene is confident and brash, Bea is bookish and careful. Selene longs to escape her family’s impossible expectations and embrace her independence, while all Bea wants is to heal from heartbreak and keep impulsive Selene out of trouble. But soon, both librarians are caught up in treacherous games of deception alongside two of Lisbon’s most notorious men—the outcast Portuguese baron, Luca Caldeira, and the lethal double agent, Gable. As Selene charms her way through lavish ballrooms and fêtes with Luca, Bea is plunged into Gable’s shadowy underworld of informants.
Victory depends upon the joint success of their missions, but when an unexpected betrayal throws a carefully spun web of lies into chaos, everything they’ve sacrificed is put at risk. As Selene and Bea are pushed to their breaking points can their friendship, and their hearts, survive the cost of war?
Women's Fiction Historical [Zando, On Sale: February 4, 2025, Trade Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9781638931652 / eISBN: 9781638931669]
When she was in kindergarten, Suzanne Nelson jotted down in a school keepsake album that she wanted to be a “riter.” Though she clearly had issues with spelling, she persisted, composing cryptic poems about rainbows, fairies, mud, and even "Star Wars" in spiral notebooks all through elementary school. When she was seventeen, she filled four journals with her handwritten first novel, titled “The Dream Keeper.” To escape her chores, she often lied to her parents about what time her shift started at the local fast food joint so that she could spend an extra hour writing in the parking lot in her mom’s faded Buick. Her first published novel was The Sound of Munich, followed by Heart and Salsa, The Ghoul Next Door, Cake Pop Crush, and Dead in the Water. She is a shameless fan of “The Sound of Music,” Hershey’s kisses, Charlotte Bronte, and Jane Austen, and can often be caught daydreaming of romping about gothic castles in lovely Victorian gowns. She was born in New Jersey, grew up in Southern California, attended college in Texas, and spent eight years as a children’s book editor in New York City. She now lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut with her family.
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