The Number of Love by Roseanna M. White

ABOUT THE BOOK

Three years into the Great War, England’s greatest asset is their intelligence network—field agents risking their lives to gather information, and codebreakers able to crack every German telegram. Margot De Wilde thrives in the environment of the secretive Room 40, where she spends her days deciphering intercepted messages. But when her world is turned upside down by an unexpected loss, for the first time in her life numbers aren’t enough.

Drake Elton returns wounded from the field, followed by an enemy that just won’t give up. He’s smitten quickly by the too-intelligent Margot, but how to convince a girl who lives entirely in her mind that sometimes life’s answers lie in the heart?

Amidst biological warfare, encrypted letters, and a German spy who wants to destroy not just them, but others they love, Margot and Drake will have to work together to save them all from the very secrets that brought them together.

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MY THOUGHTS..... 

The Number of Love by Roseanna M. White
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

'The numbers marched across the page in a glory all their own.'

Margot De Wilde has a mind that most of us can't really comprehend and it is amazing to see how she can analyze and solve mathematical problems. Knowing that she has been blessed with such mathematical genius prompts Margot to volunteer to help break the codes that are being used in German telegrams during WWI and she spends long hours in a secret room, Room 40.

The Number of Love features spies, biological warfare and danger that lurks everywhere but there is also romance and Margot's eventual understanding that she needs to learn to wholly and completely trust God. Margot has never felt a need for love, marriage, or children and even though she believes in God, she finds herself often wondering just what God's Plan truly is as this dreadful war continues.

Drake Elton finds himself falling in love with 'the nameless young girl with the impossibly dark eyes' and he shows creativity and patience in his plan to win Margot's heart. A question is asked concerning how long two people should wait when they know that God has put them together for a reason and Drake simply replies "As long as it takes." And, still later, in a letter, he tells Margot "I want forever with you. I will wait a year, a decade, a century to make you my wife."

White certainly knows how to write words that made me swoon! She also knows how to write about faith and family; reading Margot's ability to finally trust completely is very heartwarming. The doubts that she once had are replaced with the knowledge that God can be trusted 'not just with her well-being, but with her dreams.'

Author Roseanna M. White has a knack for combining fiction with historical facts and she has succeeded in making The Number of Love another must-read for lovers of Christian historical fiction! It is very apparent that she devoted a great deal of time and effort in researching for this book and it is a fantastic way to begin a new series. I am looking forward to the next book in The Codebreakers series.

I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher and all opinions in this review are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award nominated author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

MORE FROM ROSEANNA

When I told my best friend and critique partner what book I was pitching next to my publisher, her response was something along the lines of, “That sounds awesome. Also, you’re crazy, and I do not envy you writing that one.”

I laughed…and knew exactly what she meant. Because I was setting out to write a heroine who was a mathematician—which I am definitely not. A heroine who was utterly indifferent to love and marriage—which makes for a difficult story when one writes romance. A character who had an unshakeable faith—which has to be shaken at least a bit in order to make for growth throughout the story. And more, a character who has “issues,” let’s call it, that those familiar with such things will recognize…and which those who aren’t will probably think are quirks.

I was setting out to write a story that would be challenging for me, every step of the way. And the result is a book I’m incredibly in love with and so happy to share with the world.

The Number of Love is all about Margot, who thinks and even prays in numbers. Born and raised in Belgium, she and her family fled to England in 1914 when the Germans invaded her homeland. Thanks to her remarkable abilities with numbers and patterns, she’s now employed at Room 40, the Admiralty’s secret codebreaking branch. But as I was contemplating what sort of man could ever win Margot’s heart, I knew he had to be very different… someone active where she’s still. Someone outgoing where she turns inward. Someone who sees in her what she never can, and who believes she can grasp the dreams that society tells her are unbefitting a woman. This is how Drake was born—a field agent employed by Room 40.

I can honestly say this is the only book I’ve ever written that required me to borrow my daughter’s algebra book while I was writing it, LOL. And though every single scene was a challenge, it was one I thoroughly enjoyed. I hope you’ll join me on the journey that Margot and Drake are on, which answer the question my husband cheekily asked more than once as I was writing it: what is the number of love?

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