The Number of Love|Book Review
Have you ever started a book you know you will LOVE, but you’re in the busiest season ever… so then you eventually just stay up way too late because you just have to know how it ends?
Well, I finally finished The Number of Love, and it was amazing. I loved it just as much as I knew I would, and now I’m sad it’s over. Good news: this is just book one!
After reading Lukas and Willa’s story in The Song Unheard (which you must read, because it’s amazing) I couldn’t wait to read Lukas’ sister’s story.
Margot De Wilde is a perplex character. Love is the last thing on her mind, numbers are the first. Margot actually thinks in numbers. Her profession? Codebreaker. During the Great War.
Back Cover
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 who just won’t give up. He’s smitten quickly by the intelligent Margot, but how can he convince a girl who lives entirely in her mind that sometimes life’s answers lie in the heart?
Amid 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 themselves from the very secrets that brought them together.
My Review
I love this era. Of course, it’s the area I also write in, so that’s no big surprise. Roseanna makes me want to go further in my own research, but it’s the way she makes these facts come alive and hook her readers that’s really incredible.
Margot works in room 40 – an intelligence room that existed during the Great War, and was a huge part of the preparation of World War II intelligence agencies. Read her ‘notes from the author’ at the back of the book for more on this. So interesting.
Drake is basically a spy. Margot is given documents to decode when she comes across his agent number. 18. Zip over to the book cover, do you see the number in the window?
Many times, before her realization that 18 is Drake, the Lord brings this number to her remembrance. Annoyingly so. At the most inconvenient times. When he needs prayer the most. And when she least wants to.
I love how Roseanna didn’t shy away from tragedy in this book. I cried. I’ll save you the spoiler, but this book will tug on your heart. I also loved how the villain, the Ghost, was not completely unfeeling. He was terrible, yes. Evil, yes. But he was human. And he had losses. He was crazy, for sure. Yet, Margot somehow found a way to have compassion for him. Don’t get me wrong, she still took him out when she needed to. I mentioned her complexity, didn’t I?
I have to mention the faith elements in this book. Roseanna did a great job of weaving the message through the story in a compelling and natural way. I especially loved when Drake wanted so badly to tell Margot not to worry, that his mission would end with him coming home alive. But he couldn’t. Yes, God was directing him to go, but that didn’t mean a happy ending. There were no guarantees.
Can I give this book a 6 star? Because this historical, adventure-driven love story had me laughing, crying, gasping, sighing and totally gripped me to the end. Great job, Roseanna M. White. I can’t wait for book 2!
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. She and her family make their home in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.
You can get your copy on amazon.com or amazon.ca. And you should.
I received this copy complimentary from the publisher for my honest review. I love it when