"She sucked in a breath and sidestepped him. 'Excuse me.'
He slid in front of her again. 'Belgian?'
She lifted her brows. Her accent was scarcely noticeable anymore, she'd thought. Not nearly so pronounced as Lukas's or Maman's. Her English was as fluent as her French had ever been. She even dreamed in it, most of the time.
And what business was it of his? 'Antarctican.' She prepared herself to stalk away... but there was something about the grin he gave her. Something that said he appreciated her answer.
Margot sighed. She'd always been drawn to anyone who actually enjoyed her sense of humor."
This short excerpt is the literary equivalent to what I would call the "hook." It caught me. Finally there is a female in romance with the spectacular gift of intelligence and sarcasm! In fact, this book and many of Roseanna M. White's previous books are filled with well-developed and excellent characters who have unique quirks, who don't understand each other, who interact across her series (this book alone brings in characters from two of her previous series) in intellectual ways. In some instances they are artists, in others they are travelers. In this book, they are spies and codebreakers!
The plot description reads as follows:
"The Toughest Puzzle She'll Have to Solve
Might Be the Wishes of Her Own Heart
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."
There is so much to love about this book! And I'd like to start out (for those who have not followed my Facebook Live or posts about the book) by saying I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my opinions and support. I do not receive any financial reimbursement from anyone associated with the publisher or the author. I actually choose to do reviews, such as this one, out of genuine excitement and love of reading! In the case of The Number of Love, I had read the Ladies of the Manor and the Shadows Over England trilogies and love Roseanna M. White as an author. I am a fan and follow her on Facebook, so when she announced that this book's main character would be Margot, I got very excited because Margot is a fascinating minor character in the second of the Shadows Over England series. She is also a very unique character in the world of writing. There are not very many WW1 series to begin with, and even fewer are romance and mystery. Fewer yet feature such strongly intelligent characters. Margot is everything that is unconventional in her time period.
I cannot stress enough my love for the depth of talent Roseanna has for character development. Minor characters become beloved characters. Villains evoke a level of pity as opposed to hate. Differing personalities clash, siblings argue, friendships change, and a war rages on in which both sides are human beings living in their reality, their differing politics and language, yet in very similar reactions and mentalities. At one point, the book mentions a sort of mutual respect to what the spies call "their opposite numbers," meaning the agents the agents in their parallel position on the other side of the war.
The themes and discussions (should you be looking for book discussion material) that can come from this are endless. Questions are asked such as, How do I know God when he seems to be silent? Should I not mourn when I hurt my enemies? What do my actions mean to human lives? How can I hear God when the world speaks so loudly?
I want to give you all my favorites, but I don't want to ruin your shock, humor and surprise, so I will simply stop there. I will be posting some of my favorite quotes on GoodReads, so if you'd like you can certainly find some of your favorites there as well. Below I am posting some links to where you can find the book, and to Roseanna's blog where you can learn more about some of her earlier books. If you really want to read it all and to catch all the "inside jokes," start back with the Ladies of the Manor series as there are some cameos in this book and future books that you can certainly appreciate as an "old friend" of yours appearing again. I always love when my favorite character "friends" aren't truly gone when finishing a book, and I hope to have some amazing Tshirts to fangirl about this book in particular! The sarcasm! The wit! The characters! And the real moments with God. This book is a great fiction read with some great meat to it. And if you read it, come back and we can talk about our dear friends Drake and Margot to your heart's content, perhaps over a steaming cup of tea.
Read more about the book or get your copy at:
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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.