Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Series: Letters of Enchantment #1

Published by Wednesday Books on April 4, 2023

Genres:  Romance, Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Magic

Pages:  357

Format:  Audiobook

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★★★★.5

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 this epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.

After seeing ALL the hype on these books for forever I finally dove into this series… and I’m glad I did!

This is a genre-bending series for sure - fantasy, romance, historical fiction, and it’s young adult! It took me a minute to understand what all the war stuff was about (but truly I was just here for the romance).

This was rivals to lovers at it’s finest. I loved how they were fighting for the same job but became sort of friends first along the way. For me, the story didn’t truly begin until Iris went off to be a war correspondent. I did enjoy reading the letters that Iris and Kit were sending each other and how close they got so fast. I was eagerly awaiting the reveal that it was Kit - and so will you if you read this one.

Kit really surprised me in this book with how hard and fast he fell for Iris. There were a few things that felt too rushed to be and I think I’m in the minority with this opinion - but I love a drawn out romance when they are combined with fantasy.

I was actually prepared to not start the second one immediately until Ross gave us that CLIFFHANGER. Following that I immediately downloaded the second book. So huge props for making this series IMPOSSIBLE to set down.

Overall, 4.5 stars rounded down. Highly recommend this one if you haven’t already read it. The audiobook version was beautifully narrated and kept me entertained.

⚠️SPOILERS BELOW - continue at own risk ⚠️

- I loved that Kit’s nan was all for him following his heart. Good for him for leaving his awful dad behind. I really loved this aspect of the story because he literally put himself in the danger zone to get to the woman he loved.

- THE WEDDING. I’m in the minority here but this was the only part of the book that had me rolling my eyes. (But like I said, I like a drawn out romance full of pining in my fantasy books) This is just my personal opinion, but I could of done without this. It felt too rushed. I get you can’t bang without being married in these times but come on - just break the rules you could die. The setup was cute and I enjoyed how it played out but to just GET OVER the fact he hid his identity for so long drove me insane. I get how it added to the story and to the cliffhanger but it’s the ONLY qualm I had with this story.

- Iris’ brother, I called this happening when she couldn’t find him and he wasn’t sending letters. I’m excited to see where this side of the story goes from here. But I love it adds a mystery element to the tale.

- CLIFFHANGER. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?! I need to know immediately. Starting the next one… plus Iris you dumb bitch why would you just follow a random masked person. Especially when you said “he gripped her too tight” or something to be Kit. And his leg was ok? What was that even about.