Y’all. This is the book that I nearly cried about when I found out I’d been chosen to be on the early review team. Yeah, I was that excited and that honored about it. Of course, back then I didn’t realize that I would be in the midst of moving and overwhelmed with a new job and life-ish happenings in the weeks leading up to the book’s release. But here we are! The book released yesterday and although I moved before the physical copy of the book arrived at my old address, I did download an e-copy of the book and landsakes, people!

I settled down with this book and some popcorn on Sunday afternoon and prepared to be delighted as I read. Why was I so excited? Because this book features Margot De Wilde as the main character. Readers were first introduced to this character in the middle book of the Shadows Over London trilogy, as the younger sister of one of the main characters. In that book, she intrigued me like crazy – as in I would say she’s probably in the top five of most intriguing characters I’ve ever read about. And, considering the thousands of characters that have been part of my reading experience, that says a lot.

Before I say more, here’s a bit about the book:

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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.

Also, you can take a quiz for the book (after you’ve read it, because #spoilers). I just took it and got 8/10 answers right. I really thought I’d get 100 because the book is so memorable, but one of the questions was guesswork, and the other was a bit tricky. 😉

This book was gold. The writing, the characters, the plot, and the time period came together in a perfect, seamless, beautiful story that tugged my heart and made me want to keep reading for ages. In fact, although I read this book in two sittings if I hadn’t been hurrying to finish it for review I would have made it last even longer so I could savor the characters.

When I read this book the rest of the world faded away and I was so immersed in the story that it really felt like I was there…that the characters were my friends, that I’d time-traveled back to the early 1900s and England was right outside my door.

I can’t even begin to imagine how much work and research went into writing this book. The concepts were so far beyond me, yet without being confusing. That takes so much talent and time to pull off. Margot, the main character, is a codebreaker who works in Room 40 during WW1. I knew about codebreakers during WW2, but until I read this book I had no clue they existed during the Great War. (Which is why I mistakenly assumed that this book took place during WW2 when I first heard about it.)

Margot is a mathematical genius and thinks in numbers. She’s logical, scorns emotions, and is unlike any other character I’ve ever read. I seriously couldn’t get enough of her character and wish we had a whole trilogy solely from her perspective. The way she reacted to grief was my favorite scene in the whole book, simply because I can’t even fathom doing what she did, and it totally shocked me, but was so true to who she was as a person. Plus, it made me tear up, and books that make me cry are the best.

Drake was the second main character, and although I generally don’t like it when the main female and main male character both have chapters from their perspectives, Miss Roseanna pulled it off perfectly. I think this is because although there was romance in the book, that wasn’t the main plot and when we saw life from Drake’s perspective we were actually seeing espionage work, not just fluff. Seriously, his work was so cool and when I read in the endnote how much of it was taken from historical facts, I was pretty amazed. Also, Drake is just a wonderful character all around and he’s got a fantastic name, so what’s not to like?

And then we have the bad guy. Seriously, y’all don’t even know how much I dislike it when books have sections from the villain’s point of view. And yet, somehow Miss Roseanna makes it work. She gave us just enough time inside the villain’s head so that he became real and intriguing, yet without giving too much away or making me feel creeped out. I’m very impressed.

When it comes to books, this is one of my favorites. As in, it’s so close to being five stars that I’m really not sure if I should rate it four or five stars? (And y’all know how rare five-star fiction books are for me.) My one issue is that I really didn’t agree with a lot of  Margot’s ideals. I understand how she was changing and growing, and yet the book felt a little more feministic than what I like.

Other than that though, this book was simply fantastic. I hope y’all read it and enjoy it as much as I did. If you’ve read the Shadow Over London series, or if you plan on reading this book you should totally let me know so we can gush about the stories together. 😉

Way to go, Miss Roseanna, on writing another winner! Please keep writing and thank you so much for the honor of having me be part of your review team!

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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.