A Portrait of Loyalty - Book Review

A Portrait of Loyalty is the last book in Roseanna M. White's WWI historical romance series. It wraps up all the loose ends from the previous books and brings a satisfying close to the series. If you liked the rest of The Codebreakers books, you will love A Portrait of Loyalty. 

Plot Summary

Zivon Marin was one of Russia's top cryptographers before he speaks out against Lenin and his life is threatened. He flees his country and sells his services as a cryptographer to the British Navy Intelligence. Now he works with the other codebreakers Room 40 with hopes to help his countrymen and find his missing brother.

Photographer Lily Blackwell captures her days with her camera and uses her skills of recreating and identifying falsified photos for intelligence. When she meets Zivon, their friendships quickly blossoms into something more. But when Zivon's loyalties are called into questions, her father forbids them from seeing each other. Together Lily and Zivon will have to use their skills to clear his name if they are to have any hope of a future together.

Personal Thoughts

This might be my favorite book in the series. Zivon and Lily were the sweetest couple. We catch a glimpse of what Lily does in On Wing of Devotion, but in this book we get the full picture and I found it fascinating. Zivon also appeared in the previous book and I was immediately intrigued by him; my curiosity was satisfied in this one.

One of the most interesting parts was the perspective of the Bolshevik characters. It added an unique element to the story. Evgeni and Nadya's POVs showed some of the Russians thought process and the author contrasted it with Zivon's "traditional" beliefs, which interested me.

Notes

Steam Level: 💋💋

This is the third and final book in The Codebreakers series.

Ramblings Inspired by the Book

If anyone had a reason to be angry at his enemies, it was Zivon. He lost his family, friends, position, country, and home because of the Revolution and the Bolsheviks. Naturally, he wanted to act and do all he could to stop them for the sake of Russia. But every time he wanted to take action, he was reminded of the phrase, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).

In many ways I'm like Zivon; when things go wrong I want to take action and fix the problem. The idea of being still doesn't sit well with me. However, there are times when we're not meant to take action. God wants us to be still and let Him do the work. Instead of rushing in with our own solutions, He wants us to let Him work out His plan. Being still might not be the easiest thing to do when everything seems to be going wrong. But even thought it doesn't come naturally or feels counter productive, being still and watching God work is the best thing to do during trials.

For those of you who have read A Portrait of Loyalty, what did you think of it? For those who have not read it, would you? Tell me in the comments below!