Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross – Review

Published: December 26, 2023

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Series: Letters of Enchantment #2

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Pages: 419 (Kindle)

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Synopsis:
The epic conclusion to the intensely romantic and beautifully written story that started in Divine Rivals.

Two weeks have passed since Iris Winnow returned home bruised and heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over. Roman is missing, and the city of Oath continues to dwell in a state of disbelief and ignorance. When Iris and Attie are given another chance to report on Dacre’s movements, they both take the opportunity and head westward once more despite the danger, knowing it’s only a matter of time before the conflict reaches a city that’s unprepared and fracturing beneath the chancellor’s reign.

Since waking below in Dacre’s realm, Roman cannot remember his past. But given the reassurance that his memories will return in time, Roman begins to write articles for Dacre, uncertain of his place in the greater scheme of the war. When a strange letter arrives by wardrobe door, Roman is first suspicious, then intrigued. As he strikes up a correspondence with his mysterious pen pal, Roman will soon have to make a decision: to stand with Dacre or betray the god who healed him. And as the days grow darker, inevitably drawing Roman and Iris closer together…the two of them will risk their very hearts and futures to change the tides of the war.

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What an incredible conclusion to one of my new favorite romantic fantasy series! Divine Rivals completely took me by surprise last year and I just knew I was going to love the sequel too. Who could resist Rebecca Ross’ stellar writing skills weaving the tale of these two god-crossed lovers? 

Ruthless Vows picks up soon after the final events of Divine Rivals, which were quite frankly, jaw dropping. I was shook. I couldn’t wait to see how Iris and Roman’s story would play out. Roman was now in Dacre’s thrall, being forced to write articles for the warring god to counteract those that Iris was writing. Iris was back in the city, still writing her heart wrenching articles for the Inkridden Tribune and preparing to go out for another writing assignment but also trying to find a way to reconnect with Roman. There was a surprising amount of subterfuge in this book – I won’t go into more details because it would spoil some of the fun, but that’s a good descriptor for some of the events that occur! 

While Roman and Iris remain the primary characters, the delightful cast of secondary characters from Divine Rivals is still around, with a few new additions. Attie, Iris’s coworker and friend, is still around, as are Marisol and Keegan. Tobias, Attie and Iris’s driver, is a nice new addition to the cast of characters especially thanks to his confidence and the flirtations with Attie. Forest is much more present in this installment as well, now that he’s home and out of Dacre’s clutches but you can clearly tell the war has damaged some intrinsic part of him. There are plenty of new faces around Roman too, but I can’t say I like any of them very much! 

The world around our characters gets more emphasis in this installment, mostly because of Dacre. His place of power is beneath the earth and he uses underground pathways to move troops and his war beasts. These paths are full of minerals and geothermal pools, but the potential beauty is far outweighed by the horrors of the war that is present even there. I feel like Iris’s journeys around her own city and the towns outside also helped to flesh out the world. I mean, who doesn’t love a good scene in a nice café or a museum?

Ruthless Vows was nearly as amazing as Divine Rivals, but alas, I am a sucker for the process of two characters falling in love so the first installment won out by just a smidge. This was truly an amazing and very satisfying conclusion that both broke my heart and made me radiate joy for Iris and Roman. There is a very sweet epilogue set a year later that was honestly just heartwarming. I can’t recommend the Letters of Enchantment duology enough!