"The Number of Love" by Roseanna M White - The Codebreakers, book 1

Margot De Wilde thrives working in Room 40, deciphering encoded transmissions and intercepted messages, but an unexpected loss sends her reeling. Drake Elton, wounded in the course of duty, is sent home to recuperate, where he gets to know the highly intellectual yet emotionally-disconnected Margot. 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.

I loved learning about Room 40 and the WWI British codebreakers. Spying and cryptography are both fascinating, so it was exciting to discover both in the story--our hero being the spy, and heroine the cryptographer.

Margot wasn't the easiest heroine for me to connect with, but her vulnerabilities make her human and her wit likable. Having married into a family that loves taking things literally, I could appreciate her humor. Drake is all sweetness and charm, and he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously--he was easy to like. I think it would be very difficult for an ordinary man to love Margot in a way that speaks to her, so I was glad that Drake comes from a family with challenges; theirs aren't the same, but it's enough that he can figure out how to relate to someone as different as Margot.

I really liked Dot, her fears and all. Though fragile in big ways, she truly is a brave person in spite of it. I loved that her and Margot's friendship was such an important part of the story--it didn't feel secondary to the romance, as friendship so often ends up in books. It's just as important.

It was fun to have so many cameos from the author's previous two series, but I'm really excited to learn more about the belligerent Phillip Camden in the next book!

Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

The Codebreakers (third chronologically)
1. The Number of Love
2. On Wings of Devotion
3. A Portrait of Loyalty

Relates series:

Ladies of the Manor (first chronologically)
1. The Lost Heiress
2. The Reluctant Duchess
3. A Lady Unrivaled

Shadows Over England (second chronologically)
1. A Name Unknown
2. A Song Unheard
3. An Hour Unspent

Codebreakers comes third chronologically

"The Medallion" by Cathy Gohlke

Sophie Kumiega, a British librarian married to a Polish pilot, is trapped in Warsaw when the Nazis invade. As oppression sets in, she cannot turn her face away from the people needing her help. Rosa and Itzhak Dunovich did not expect their first baby to be born in the ghetto, or that circumstances would tear their family apart. When faced with saving her daughter's life by giving her up, Rosa cuts her wedding medallion in half, keeping one piece for herself and sending the other with her child, hopefully to reunite all after the war.

Though not without hope, this is a heavy and heart-breaking story, depicting the horrors of the war against the Polish people and Polish Jews, the slow strangling and starvation, and finally destruction. I did not anticipate part two of the story; for all the atrocities of war in part one, it was the post-war part that was the hardest for me to read, between the personal stories of the characters and the very real fact that for many in and from eastern Europe, the end of the war did not mean the end of oppression or a happy ending.

It's very good. For a story based on horrible atrocities, it does have a lot of hope, incredible courage, and wisdom--just don't expect a light and wholly happy read.

Winner of the 2020 Christy Award for Best Historical!

Thank you Tyndale House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

"More Than Words Can Say" by Karen Witemeyer - Patchwork Family, book 2

After being railroaded by the city council, Abby needs a man's name on her bakery's deed, and a man she can control, not the stoic lumberman Zacharias who always seems to exude silent confidence. She cant even control her pulse when she's around him. But as trust grows between them, she finds she wants more than his rescue. She wants his heart.

There's just something about a marriage-of-convenience story--not just falling in love, but knowing that one has made a choice to love, even if the emotions aren't there yet. It's deliberate. It's a lot like a real life marriage, even when a couple is already in love--there has to be a deliberate choice to love, every single day. More than Words Can Say is an excellent example of that, even if it starts out as more of a business proposal than a proposal of true marriage.

Abigail is great--not some typical, waifish heroine, but a woman of physical substance. A woman of business, talent, and a delightful sense of humor, the perfect complement to Zach, who, incidentally, appreciates each and every aspect of his wife, even before their marriage. I also loved Abigail's sister--particularly both Abigail and Zach's relationship with her. Hopefully she'll get her own book!

It's a cute story, laced with humor and themes of forgiveness and faith.

Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

Patchwork Family
1. More Than Meets the Eye
2. More Than Words Can Say
2.5: "More Than a Pretty Face" (originally published in the Serving Up Love novella collection)

Morgan L Busse's "Flight of the Raven" - Ravenwood Saga, book 2

When Selene Ravenwood turned her back on her clan, she expected to die--not marry the man she was assigned to assassinate. In the midst of learning how to be not only a wife but the wife of the Grand Lord of Maris, she is also learning how to use her dreamwalking abilities in new ways . . . ways which draw the attention of a dark power.

For all that it picks up immediately where the first book left off, this book is very different from the first. It's not as tense and political; rather, it's much more introspective, as Selene's powers are expanding and she is fighting for her soul. And it has significantly more romance, given that two people who were scarcely acquainted suddenly have to learn how to be married! (which was executed quite well, in my opinion.)

I loved the tension in the party at the very beginning, when Damien's guards don't know how to deal with harboring a self-proclaimed assassin. I'd have loved the tension to last longer, especially when it becomes clear people are associating her with strange dreams, but maybe we'll see more ramifications in the next book.

I really loved the first book, and while I enjoyed this one a lot, I was left wishing for more (just a couple hundred pages--no more than doubling its length). In any case, I can't wait for the next book to see how the series ends!

Ravenwood Saga
1. Mark of the Raven
2. Flight of the Raven
3. Cry of the Raven