6/5

For fans of: rivals-to-lovers, love letters, enchanted objects, banter, wartime romance, warring gods, found family, writers

The Big Questions:

• What genre is this in? Fantasy, Romance

• Are there any swoon-worthy characters? Roman will annoy you to death and the sweep you off your feet

• Is it spicy? There’s a bit of spice, but not gratuitous

• Is it violent or gory? War violence and a bit graphic

• Should I buy, borrow, or pass on this book? If there is one book you will buy this year, make it this one!

Synopsis: When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.

After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.

Shadow and Bone meets Lore in Rebecca Ross's Divine Rivals, an epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.

Review: Rebecca Ross has become my latest auto-buy author for so many reasons that are all encapsulated in one word: ENCHANTING. Her world building is enchanting. Her plots are enchanting. Her character development is enchanting. Her dialogue is enchanting. Reading any of her work is like wrapping yourself up in a warm, cozy blanket and being transported into a world where everything may be in chaos but in the midst of it all, you fall in love with the souls of her characters.

Iris and Roman are kindred spirits, but their competitive natures and social circumstances get in the way of seeing each other as such. It takes war, loss, and enchanted typewriters for them to lay down their guard and find each other. But this isn’t just a love story, it is also a war story. Inspired by WWI, war between the gods impacts everyone’s lives in so many ways. The lives of soldiers in the trenches, on the battlefield, and in the infirmary are gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. As war reporters on the battlefield, Iris and Rowan’s brief, yet poignant interactions with them brought me to tears. War is hell and life is so precious. This book does what fiction does best and reminds us of how truly beautiful life can be and to fully live every fleeting moment. It’s sequel, Ruthless Vows, will be my most anticipated release of 2024.