The Number of Love
– The Codebreakers Book 1 Roseanna M. White
***Hooray! Theme & Characters from ‘Shadows
Over England’ Series Return ***
London 1917, WWI
Margot De Wilde has returned to us as a key player in this
story featuring Room 40 and the life of Codebreakers whose sole job is to
decode war messages in various forms day in and day out.
She has always seen life through numbers. The Lord speaks to her in numbers. She calculates every step and motion with the
utmost effectiveness. At 17, she is generally
the most intelligent person in a room.
However, her intelligence and calculations leave little room for
emotion.
Drake Elton is an undercover agent and a very good one. His younger sister Dot struggles through life
and he needs to see her settled with a job before he heads out on his next
assignment. In doing so, he meets a girl
with “impossibly dark eyes” who challenges his thoughts. But, he has little
time to delve into that while a war is raging and answers need uncovering.
Das Gespenst proves to be a mysterious villain and adds the
necessary element of danger. His
character was interesting while trying to discover his “angle”. He also brought a GO board with him, another
attention-grabbing throw-back to the previous series.
The story is continually moving forward at a great pace as
the players in the war, on both sides, do their parts. Reading about anthrax
and the effort to uncover code books from U-boats, Zeppelins and Gotha bombers were
very interesting.
Tea Quotes:
“Here you go.” Cheerful and smiling and utterly oblivious, she handed him a cup
of steaming, fragrant tea. “Just the way you like.”
“And after another night shift, she was more than looking
forward to a hot cup of tea, her clanking radiator, and maybe a not-warm-enough
bath before she went to bed.”
Spiritual Moment:
“Do not neglect your prayers, Drake. Neglect your chores, neglect your
ablutions, neglect your mother, but never neglect our prayers. They are what root you to the Lord.”
Wonderfully written as always. While we do get to visit old friends, you do NOT need to have read the previous
series as plenty of backstory is scattered within this book. I would
also add, that while the time frame is WWI, you are not dragged through the
gruesomeness of war. I very much
appreciated that. I am looking forward to Phillip Camden’s future story.
Image of The Admiralty Office at Whitehall, 1760 (aka The
Old Building) from an engraving by D. Cunego as found in the book Royal Navy
Handbooks, Naval Administration, page 17, publ. 1896,by Sir Vessey Hamilton,
G.C.B., Late First Sea Lord of the Admiralty. A copy of this book is in the
public domain via Cornell Univ. https://archive.org/details/cu31924030895860/page/n37
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.
It is my privilege to share my opinion without expectation or compensation. I received an advance copy without charge from BETHANY HOUSE PUBL.
(5 stars)
SERIES: The Codebreakers
The Number of Love – Book 1 June 4, 2019
Wings of Devotion – Book 2 tba
Author Bio: 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.
Some of my other reviews for Roseanna's books (click beneath photos):
Until next time,
Hugs and a cup of tea!
 |
| National Iced Tea is coming up! JUNE 10th |
