Magic Number: The Actuary's Diary

by Deb Hosey White

Merlin McHenry believes that every person has a Magic Number — and once discovered, it should be used to its fullest advantage.

A brilliant student of risk, probabilities, and beautiful young women, Merlin loves space exploration, collects board games, and worships Stephen Hawking.

But math makes Nance Elliott nauseous. She’s a careful reader who trusts her instincts when it comes to detecting dangerous young men. So when she meets a handsome actuarial student carrying a book of sonnets, she is certain he is nothing more than a charming young geek.

Brought together by a curious antiquarian book and an afternoon bike ride, Nance and Merlin meet as strangers and part as lovers on one of the longest days of the year. By nightfall Nance feels magic in the air and Merlin is madly in love. In one languid afternoon Merlin unlocks Nance’s Magic Number — now it’s all the young storyteller can think about as her life carries her farther away from Merlin’s front door.

Although their hearts tell them they are meant to be together, reuniting is seldom as simple as a heart’s whim. Parental intervention, a semester abroad, and sudden illness conspire to keep the couple apart. Finding each other again will not be easy in a time before the Internet, when a handwritten note and a phone book are still the best ways to track someone down.

For Merlin and Nance, love, life and destiny are in the numbers.

Set in Baltimore, Boston, Edinburgh, Bermuda, and in the shadow of the University of Maryland, MAGIC NUMBERS is an education-of-the-heroine romance filled with engaging characters, sophisticated dialogue, unexpected plot twists, humor—and numbers.

231 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 14, 2014

About the author

Deb Hosey White's lifelong love affair with the written word:

Began with a poem about a flying bear
Set the scene for meeting her husband and writing partner
Guided her through an English degree
Made her an eclectic reader, a lover of libraries and bookstores
Contributed to her success as a business writer
Jumpstarted her fascination with flash fiction
Compelled her to publish a workplace novel
Inspired her to add "experienced travel writer" to her resume
Motivated her to write about interesting women across all genres (from the boardroom to the bedroom), and
Turned her into an observant witness of the world around her.

Deb lives and writes in Annapolis, Maryland.


Deb is the author of:

The Scottish Ruin Keeper
Magic Numbers - the actuary's diary
Pink Slips and Parting Gifts
Travels Beyond Outlander
Let's Take the Kids to London
Beyond Downton Abbey (Volumes 1 and 2) and
Portugal - A Tale of Small Cities


Facebook pages:
https://www.facebook.com/RuinKeeper
www.facebook.com/pages/Pink-Slips-and...
www.facebook.com/BeyondDowntonAbbey
www.facebook.com/pages/Portugal-A-Tal...
www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-Take-the-...
www.facebook.com/pages/Pink-Slips-and...