Wednesday, June 5, 2019

The Number of Love – The Codebreakers Book 1 Roseanna M White


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

Room 40 was on the first floor of the northern wing (right) of The Admiralty's Ripley Building (built 1726) in Whitehall. It was on the same corridor as the office of the First Sea Lord.

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.
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/2WdRsY0
Christian Book: https://bit.ly/2U3x4LB
Roseanna’s Shop (Signed): Click Here






Some of my other reviews for Roseanna's books (click beneath photos):
A Name Unknown 
A Song Unheard


An Hour Unspent












Until next time,
Hugs and a cup of tea!


National Iced Tea is coming up! JUNE 10th

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