Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Bookish Thoughts: The Number of Love

"She was worth waiting for.  Worth seeking hour by hour, day by day, month by month.  Year by year.  Even if it took him a decade to convince her to be his, it would be worth it.  And the wait would only make him appreciate her all the more."  (pg 249)

Description:
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 German telegrams for hints of the enemy's plans. 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, she discovers for the first time in her life that numbers aren't enough.

Drake Elton returns wounded from the field, followed by an enemy who just won't give up. He's smitten quickly by the quick and brainy Margot, but soon the dangers of the war draw ever closer. Margot and Drake will have to team up to save themselves from the very secrets that brought them together.

About the Author:
Roseanna M. White (www.roseannamwhite.com) 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, designing book covers, editing, 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 find Roseanna online at the following places:
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My Thoughts:
There are so many things I want to say about this story, but I’m not entirely sure where to start . . . . I’ve been a big fan of Roseanna M. White’s since first reading her Culper Ring series and have been hooked ever since!  I so enjoy how she writes different time periods and the elements she draws into her stories.  I can’t fully describe it, but her books draw me in and leave me wishing they were at least another hundred pages longer.  And this one is certainly no exception to that rule! 

I’ve been anxiously awaiting this book for months, intrigued by the coderbreakers concept and the storyline in general.  All that waiting and curiosity and I somehow totally missed that one of the main characters in this story, Margot De Wilde, was first introduced as Lukas’ De Wilde’s little sister in “A Song Unheard.”  While this series is technically separate from the previous ones, I was super excited to have some of the characters return, even just briefly.  As always, Ms. White has done an excellent job crafting a story that both intrigued me and also almost brought me to tears a time or two.  I loved the characters and getting to know the people in Room 40.  Margot is such a unique character, with her intelligence and straight-forwardness.  I so enjoyed getting to see the world from her perspective, with numbers involved in everything, including prayer.  And who doesn’t love Drake Elton?  Truly, he is such an excellent hero for this story and for Margot!  I so appreciated his quick wit, insightful questions, and care of both Margot and his sister, Dot.  The mystery is also written in such a way that kept me guessing through most of the book and turning pages as quickly as my mind could absorb.

"She didn't know how to reach Him now, when it wasn't easy anymore.  
She didn't know how to find Him when He wasn't just right there.  
She didn't know how to know Him when the numbers were silent."  (pg 238)



The author also handled the topic of grief exceptionally well.  Not to spoil anything, but it is key in this story, especially with war raging around them.  This part of the novel hit home with me in more ways than one and as something that can be extremely hard to talk about in general, I so appreciated how it was broached and the kindness within the words.

Overall, this is definitely a book that will be finding a home on my keeper shelf!  I highly recommend it if you enjoy historical fiction, mysteries, and characters that seem more like family by the end!

*My thanks to the author and publisher for my copy of this book!  I was not required to write a review, positive or otherwise, and have not been compensated for it in any way.  All opinions expressed are my own. 

Truthfully, I found some parts of this book hard to read.  Really hard.  Especially when one of the characters is wrestling with something that I still don't know how to answer, even more than a year later.  But it was so good, too!  And I love how God uses fiction to show us or maybe just remind us of things.  Even difficult things. 
Thank you for taking the time to stop by and read my review!  If you'd like to learn more about the book, of course, links are below.  
Have a lovely day! 







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