Book Review: The Number of Love

By Roseanna M. White
Bethany House, 2019
367 pages

Publishers 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.

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Thanks to author Roseanna M. White for providing a complimentary copy of The Number of Love. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

Wow! If you like a smart read then The Number of Love is for you. This book checked off all my ‘good book’ boxes. It’s historical fiction, it’s got a great female lead who is smart and savvy, it’s got an engaging plot with lots of action, and it has a romance that is sweet but doesn’t distract from the rest of the story. Roseanna M. White is one of my favorite authors and she does an excellent job with research that builds a fantastically detailed story and setting.

Our heroine, Margot De Wilde, is such an interesting character. She thinks about everything in terms of numbers, even prays through numbers. She is kind and empathetic, has a penchant for sarcasm, and little tolerance for superfluous things like fashion or flirting. In short, she’s not your typical girl next door who dreams of finding love and settling down. For instance, look what she tells Drake when he asks about whether she will pursue marriage after the education she desires:

“If then. With marriage comes children — they are one of the purposes of the institution after all — and while I’m a proponent of them in general, I have no interest in procuring my own specifically.”

Margot De Wilde from The Number of Love by Roseanna M. White

See what I mean? She’s very clever and the dialogue is smart and snappy between all of the characters. Good dialogue is a must for me, and The Number of Love did not disappoint in that category. Another thing I really liked about this story is the development of the villain. I loved how the author humanized him through Margot’s eyes, showing why he did what he did and not just his wrong actions.

Margot’s was first introduced in A Song Unheard, the second book in a separate but related series, as a side character, and I am so glad that she came back for her own book. I can’t wait to see where the Codebreakers series goes next after The Number of Love with the next book On Wings of Devotion set to release in January of 2020.

Other books I’ve enjoyed by Roseanna M. White:

• A Name Unknown
• A Song Unheard
• An Hour Unspent
• A Heart’s Revolution