This book was the perfect combination of diving into a brand new fantasy world with its own unique mythology while giving off cozy historical fiction vibes. I also enjoyed the unusual spin on the enemies to lover’s trope. And I found myself not only deeply invested in the main characters but with the fate of the world as a whole.

When I started this book I could have sworn I was in for a WWII historical fiction with a touch of magic, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it high fantasy. Granted I didn’t read the synopsis before starting this book, but I highly recommend going into it blind. It was full of delightful surprises.

I loved the letter writing aspects of this book. It reminded me of a book I read a long time ago and loved, Daddy-Long-Legs. Read this if your favorite genres are fantasy, historical fiction and romance, this book is the perfect combination of all three.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrators were excellent. The dual POVs also really lend itself to the audiobook format. I found myself frequently sitting in my car long after I arrived home listening to the end of a chapter. I will definitely be reading the next book in this series and can’t wait to find out what happens next and learn more about the mythology!

I read an arc of this book last November and was so enamored with it that I was ready to relive the magic via audio. And magical it was! The narrators did a brilliant job bringing this story to life and it was all even better the second time around. I’ll definitely be doing a third read of the book before the sequel comes out.

Thoughts on book: I know everyone says this about their favorite authors, but I really would read Rebecca Ross’ grocery list. What is fueling that mind of hers? After reading and loving A River Enchanted earlier this year when it was a BOTM pick, I binge read her whole bibliography. The woman knows how to write! She has such a captivating, lyrical style that always gets my emotions flowing.

Divine Rivals is unlike anything I’ve read before. It combines war fiction, fantasy, and romance together so seamlessly and I found this unique story fascinating. The war is between two rival Gods that are recruiting a lot of soldiers against their will, with others joining in to protect their towns and loved ones. One of the gods, Dacre, gave me serious Hades vibes. The story opens with the main character, Iris, saying goodbye to her brother as he heads of to war, only to never hear from him again. Iris gets a job as a journalist in competition for a columnist position with a impeccably dressed man named Roman, who quickly becomes her rival. Desperate to speak to her brother, Iris writes letter after letter to him on a magical typewriter given to her by her grandmother. One night she receives a letter back that says “This isn’t Forest.” The romance has a great “You’ve got Mail” feel.

Just such a good book! I found the pacing in the middle to be a bit slow for me and the last 20% was really fast-paced. I wish the last 20% was fleshed out more because it was easily my favorite part of the book. The wait for the next book is going to be brutal after that ending! Highly recommend if you think the combination of Historical Fiction and Fantasy sounds appealing.

I was prepared to have this book rip my heart out, and it did, and I'm grateful. I loved the characters and the romance, and the balance of tension and dread with happiness and sweetness. The world was familiar but gently unique, with worldbuilding that never felt obtrusive. I'll be eagerly awaiting the rest of this series.

A serious thank you to MacMillan audio for giving me this on NetGalley because THIS WAS SO GOOD.

Maybe it's the animated UK cover, but for some reason this book gave me Sorcery of Thorns vibes.

I am now absolute trash for Iris and Roman and I just need them to live their happy little lives in love writing letters to each other from rooms right next to each other.

This should also absolutely be consumed via audiobook. It has two narrators, one for each of the characters, which is delightful, but it also does something I love which is, when Iris is reading a letter from Roman, the male narrator reads it. Love this in audiobooks.

I should also say, I normally don't like illustrated covers, but I so prefer the illustrated version to the flower/typewriter key version.

Now onto the story. This has been referred to as "enemies to lovers" and look, that's one of my favorite tropes because I love CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, but this really isn't that. It's rivals to lovers if anything. These two are after the same job but they don't hate each other. They really don't know each other.

Rebecca Ross gave us a strong female character that will get. shit. done. and a smart simp of a boy who will follow her anywhere. Honestly I loved the progression of their relationship.

The side characters? Wonderful. I would feel so safe with each them.

The world building? It's unique. It's not our world. There's a war between gods going on. But you also don't really get a lot of explanation for it (Rach if you're reading this, you'll love it). There's some magic, clearly, because they our main characters can send letters to each other by sliding them under doors, and that's built up but not really explained. And there's a lot of lore around the gods but it's delivered in a nice way that isn't an info dump and to be honest you could know nothing at all about them and it wouldn't change the story, which means all the world building that happens ADDS to the story, it ISN'T the story. Beautiful.

Honestly I just loved this book. I enjoyed every moment of listening to it and now everyone is gonna hear me recommend it. Rebecca Ross hasn't let me down yet and I will now be going through her back catalog to see what I haven't yet read.

Thank you Macmillan for an ARC of Divine Rivals in exchange oof my honest opinion.

I'm am in love with this book! The story is about two journalists that are competing to be the main columnist of the journal they work at. Meanwhile, there is a war happening between the Gods, and Iris' brother enlist and goes fighting it. As she misses him, Iris decides to write letters to her brother using her old typewriter but for her surprise, her typewriter is magical and she lerans that her letters were being sent to someone that she doesn't know. When Iris' mother dies, and she doesn't get the promotion she wanted, she decided that nothing ties her anymore to where she was. Thus, Iris becomes a war correspondent in the hopes to find her brother.

I'm so in love about this story already and I can't wait to read the next one. All the characters are so human, and they have their own struggles and their development through the story was so organic and well done!
We have very heavy themes in this book such as alcoholism, addiction, depression, graphic scenes of war, among others but they were treated with respect and even though brought a touch of realism/ weight to the story it was really well counterbalanced by the cute and romantic portions of the narrative.
Speaking about the romance, I honestly got butterflies at some moments. I loved to see all the phases of their relationship from the shy gestures, the reluctant acceptance of their feelings to the bold declarations!
In addition, I was also very pleased by how the war descriptions were conducted here. Even though this is a fantasy, in certain parts it reads as a historical fiction due to the good descriptions of the war zones, injured soldiers and the tense moments whenever there was a siren going on.

I'm super excited to see what happens next since it ended in a such big and good cliffhanger!

I received an advanced listening copy of Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review, and here it is.
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☆☆☆☆☆
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Divine Rivals is a historical fantasy story that centers around two writers who are fighting for the same position at a local newspaper while living in a topsy-turvy-war-world prompted by two gods. Iris and Roman are from two completely different backgrounds, both super strong in their own right and are very guarded. They seem to be destined to be together as they magically and unknowingly write letters to each other and are in each other's lives.
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I loved all of the complexities of all of the characters and their relationships, the bravery they exuded, and the evolution they experienced.
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I greatly appreciate that the story confronts difficult topics like death, grief, and guilt. It definitely resonated with me and pulled on my emotions, which I love in a story.
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I can not wait to read more of Rebecca Ross' books!!!
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Thanks to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley, and author Rebecca Ross for this ALC to honestly review. Divine Rivals is out on April 4th! Go get it!!!

I first fell in love with Rebecca Ross’ writing when I first read A River Enchanted. She has such a way with words and I fall under her spell every time. My favorite thing about her writing are definitely the characters and the way the develop and grow.

Iris is such a strong female character, despite having suffered so much and losing everything she loves; she still finds a way to keep going. A way to find a purpose while still holding out hope that some day she will find her brother. While she has all these problems that she’s trying to keep under control, we see her banter with her work rival. Immediately, as the reader, you know this is the love interest and everyone at work can see that…well everyone except for our two main characters. I found myself laughing out loud and very emotionally invested in their rivals to lovers story arc!!

I love anything that has to do with storytelling and writing, so having our two main characters be writers that are competing for the same promotion at their paper was an added bonus. Then we find out that they have magical typewriters and have been writing letters to each other without knowing it was them….well at least Iris didn’t know who she was writing, which is a nice secret that causes tension later on in the story.

I just loved this book so much and have already been recommending it to friends and customers. I can’t wait for more people to read it, and see what they have to say.

I really wanted to love this book. It was something that really interested me when I started listening to it. It just didn't hit the right spot. However, I did like the narrator.

I had a suspicion that Rebecca Ross was a new favorite author after reading and loving her Elements of Cadence duology last year. Divine Rivals proved that theory to be incredibly accurate. I adored this book from start to finish. Ross’s prose here is lovely without ever feeling purple, and is incredibly easy to sink into. The voice she gives her central character, and the beautiful writing found in the letters that make up much of the story, were both brilliantly done and charmed me completely.

Iris Winnow and Roman C. Kitt are fighting for the single columnist promotion up for grabs at the Oath Gazette. Eighteen year-old Iris is gifted and tenacious but under tremendous strain. Her brother, who had been fighting on the frontlines of a war between gods, is now missing in action. Their mother is drowning her sorrows and draining their scant funds, meaning that Iris often goes to work and to bed hungry, despite her hard work. Roman Kitt is the nineteen year-old heir-apparent to a new-money family, and is trying to make a name for himself in order to bolster respect from the elite, which is what his father craves above all. Iris and Roman are fiercely competitive and often bump heads, but soon find themselves connected in a very unusual way.

Like The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, this story has elements of You’ve Got Mail, but in a fantasy setting. Our main characters, Iris and Roman, develop an unlikely connection through magical typewriters and heart-baring letters. However, much like You’ve Got Mail, only one knows the identity of the other, and the ways in which that knowledge effects their rivalry is by turns funny and sweet. I’m not a fan of miscommunication as a trope, but this is, for some reason, an exception. Speaking of tropes, this is also one of the best rivals-to-lovers stories I’ve ever experienced. The romance here was just impeccable. It was sweet without being saccharine, and it made my heart ache in the best way.

I love when a fantasy world is not stuck in the magical equivalent of the dark ages. The existence of human progression and technological advancement in a fantastical world is woefully underrepresented in the genre as a whole, and I absolutely adore when a writer bucks that norm. This book did that incredibly well. We have a world that is obviously not our own, with gods and magic coexisting with typewriters and trains. And the war element was also well handled. It was interesting seeing a magical war through the eyes of journalists, those fighting with words instead of taking up arms. There were so many elements about this world and the story setup that I loved.

The audio for this was absolutely lovely. Rebecca Norfolk did a brilliant job voicing Iris, and her smooth, lilting narration of the story as a whole was captivating. While not present as often, Alex Wingfield provided a great counterbalance in voicing Roman. When the two started passing the narrative back and forth in the same chapter, as the characters were reading letters from one another, I was utterly charmed by the dichotomy.

That being said, there were a few instances were plot progression felt less organic than the rest of the story and more like devices being forced to fit so that the plot would move along as the author dictated. But for the most part, this was a story that felt believable, even in the midst of the fantastic. I will say that the cliffhanger ending made me want to pull my own hair out from sheer frustration, but that also shows how deeply I was invested in the story. I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel. I hope Ross writes quickly!

I gotta be honest – this is categorized as a fantasy, but it feels more like a historical fiction with some fantasy elements thrown in. I often forgot this was “fantasy” – the setting is technically fictional but feels like the United Kingdom in the 1920’s-30s during wartime. The “gods” are fighting a war and “enchanting” people to join their sides, but I read that all as metaphorical at first, until we learn of the myths of the gods and how the people in this world believe them to be real. I think this story also has dragons, but again I read that as a metaphor for helicopters in war time – the word dragon is never explicitly said, and this is not a ‘dragon’ story – but by the end I think maybe there are dragons? Listening to the audiobook, I’m genuinely not sure!

But part of that uncertainty is why I enjoyed this book and was able to imagine it in my mind as I wanted to!

This is also not an enemies to lovers, more so rivals to lovers – I mean, did you READ the TITLE? It’s called Divine Rivals! They aren’t enemies and I wish marketing would stop calling things enemies to lovers when they were never enemies.

World building? Fantastic.

Characterization? I loved getting to know Iris and Roman, we have chapters from both of their perspectives and I really enjoyed that – and the audiobook has two narrators.

Iris Winnow is a strong young woman who knows what she wants. She misses her brother dearly, her mother has become an alcoholic, and she wants the columnist position at the newspaper.

Kit Roman is a determined young man who won’t let his family tell him what to do but he will work hard for what he wants.

Iris is playing pretend, writing letters to her brother at war and leaving them in her wardrobe like they did as children – except someone writes back. It’s Roman, of course, but she doesn’t know that and they continue to correspond. That is obviously a fantasy element, letters going to each others wardrobe with no explanation (it is explained but I’ll let you discover that for yourself). I loved that they got to know each other in private like this, the letter writing was so fun and unique.

A lot happens in this 353* page (*advance reader copy page count) story from civilian life to the war coming to their doorstep, as war as a way of doing. It almost felt like two separate stories, and I mean that in a good way, it felt like a lot of plot was packed into these pages.

I will warn you, this story depicts war and all that it ensues in detail – this is an upper YA borderline adult story and this is war – people die. People get wounded. There is no mercy and you need to be in the right mind frame for that. I didn’t have any issues with it personally but if you have PTSD or are triggered by war fights, be cautious.

It is said this is the gods’ war, but we don’t hear much of the gods until the end of the story. They are mentioned but aren’t explained very well which is why I forgot at times this was even a fantasy and couldn’t tell if it was just a metaphor or not.

One of the things I loved was how in this world, women are treated on the same level as men. There are women soldiers and women of ranks, such as captains. Women can be doctors, not just nurses. Women can be war correspondents. They can do more than just cook and clean – but they also do that as well. Another thing I loved is we met a same sex couple who are married – not just together and hiding, but publicly declared their love for each other, and they aren’t ostracized for it! This world is ahead of our own and it was nice to read.

My only complaint is how Iris acts in the very end of the story – it feels completely different from how she acted the entire novel. She feels like a different person – but then again, war can change a person, who am I to judge? It just felt out of character for her but that’s my only minor complaint.

Divine Rivals comes out April 4, 2023 in the US and I’m already eager for Book 2 and to reread Divine Rivals! This story has layers which I’m sure I will notice more of on my second reading, whenever that may be.

If you read this novel of a review, thank you, and I do highly recommend Divine Rivals – it’s a stunning piece of literature – Rebecca is truly one of the best world building authors of our time!

Iris and Roman are two young journalists from very different backgrounds, competing with each other for the coveted columnist position at the Oath Gazette. There is a war between gods raging in the west, a war that Iris's brother Forest has opted to fight in. After months of no contact with him, Iris begins typing letters to Forest and slipping them under her wardrobe door as a means of coping. But these enchanted letters end up in the hands of Roman, who strikes up an anonymous correspondence that will alter both their lives.

Rebecca Ross has an uncanny ability to draw readers into her stories, and Divine Rivals is no exception. As a rule, I generally don't enjoy the Young Adult genre, but this is a beautifully written book that definitely toes the line between YA and Adult. There is one moment in particular that took my breath away, in chapter 32. Just, stunning prose at an emotional climax!

This was a truly engrossing read with vivid characters and an interesting fantasy world — in my mind's eye it's basically a WWI-era setting with enchanted buildings. I simply cannot wait for the second installment, that epilogue had me screaming!!

The narrators of this audiobook are fantastic and really brought the characters to life. I read the print version before listening to the audio, and I have to commend both narrators for their excellent portrayals! Sometimes the audio version brings a book to life in ways that print can't do, and this is one of those times.

Massive thank you to Rebecca Ross, Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for my advanced audio copy!

What a fabulous first installment of a new series by Ross.

In a war torn fantasy world (that seems to operate like England of old), our heroes are writers who would like to out-scoop each other for a coveted spot as principle feature writer. The war is between gods, and the people are caught in between.

Until Iris’s brother is swallowed by war and hasn’t been heard from in ages. Iris writes him tormented letters….which are delivered through a magical wardrobe to an unknown person….with whom Iris developes a super strong connection.

Meanwhile, her newspaper rival (Roman) is struggling against the confines of his birth and parents’ expectations to marry “for the good of the family.”

Iris is the first to leave to become a war correspondent to try to find her brother….Roman is not far behind to escape his fate.

What connections will these rivals forge? Who can they really trust? What about the magical connections with letters?

Loved the twists and turns. Felt a bit like the Empire Strikes back with the setup for the next installment. I think this series would be one I would like to digest one after the other instead of waiting for the next installment.

Huge thank you to #MacmillanAudio and #NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion .

Listen if you like:
🔱 Stories of Gods
🗡️ War Time Stories
✨ Fantasy
⚔️ Enemies to Lovers
💕 Slow Burn Romances
😘 He Falls First
⌨️ Magical Typewriters

This one was such a great start to the series and I truly can’t wait for the next book after finishing this one!

As far as audiobooks go, this one was so well produced! The dual narrators, the voice changes. The inflections, the added moments of vocal story telling were all so well done to the point I would recommend the audio of this one every time, it only even as a companion to the physical read as it was so well done.

If you are looking for a YA fantasy, I’d highly recommend checking this one out as it was such a sweet story of two people falling in love in two different ways, through the magical typewriters they are connected through and as enemies to lovers in the workplace. This one also is great for those that love Greek mythology or stories of gods interfering with human lives.

Thank you so much to Macmillan audio for this spectacular ALC in exchange for my honest review!

I had seen and heard nothing but glowing reviews for Divine Rivals and I worried that it might not live up to the hype. Well folks, this book was absolutely amazing. It's my first novel by Rebecca Ross and I am stunned and in awe of her talent. The rivals to friends to lovers romance and epistolary elements in the novel were chef’s kiss. The mix of fantasy and historical kept things engaging and completely drew me into the story. This book consumed me and I didn't want to put it down. I appreciated that Ross didn't shy away from the more difficult topics (please see CW's) and instead showed grief, healing, love, and loss in a beautifully raw and sometimes bittersweet way. I cried several times in the novel, some happy and some sad tears, but it was chapter 32 and the story of Sycamore Platoon that had me stopping my walk and quietly weeping on the sidewalk.

The romance between Iris and Roman had me swooning and grinning so hard. I loved how their relationship developed and evolved from would be rivals to so much more. It was such a tender and beautiful exploration of first love. The series is a duology, so I knew after feeling so much joy there would be a painful cliffhanger, but that ending still gutted me. Iris and Roman have my whole heart and I'll be dying a little each day as I wait for the sequel.

I both and read and listened to Divine Rivals, and Alex Wingfield and Rebecca Norfolk were phenomenal! They truly became Roman and Iris and their voices complemented each other so well. I also loved how the audio was produced so that each narrator was reading their letters even if it wasn't their POV chapter. It created a more immersive listening experience and heightened all of the emotions. Definitely recommend this one on audio!

Audiobook Review
Overall 5 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 5 stars

CW (from the author): Loss of a parent, loss of a sibling, a parent struggling with alcoholism, profanity: mild, depictions of PTSD, violence: moderate to severe, mature scenes: present on the page, but not explicit

*I voluntarily read and listened to an advance review copy of this book*

I'm so happy to have discovered this new series called Letters of Enchantment! Can't wait for #2! Two young journalistic rivals, of course, fall in love. But this happens slowly, achingly through a series of magical letters...
Iris Winnow is trying to make ends meet with all her hopes pinned on becoming a columnist at the Oath Gazette. The only thing stopping her is handsome, cold Roman Kitt. While her brother is off fighting a war between Gods, Iris decides, after more heartache, to sign up as a war correspondent at the rival newspaper. The letters she had been sending to her brother, meanwhile, had been intercepted by Roman. They are both in possession of magical typewriters. Iris falls in love through these letters (not realizing its Roman), and Roman won't let anything keep him from Iris. Can their love survive this mystical war? Again, cannot WAIT for book 2! The audio is especially enjoyable as 2 very fine actors are reading as Iris and Roman.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

Thank you @WednesdayBooks and @MacMillan.Audio for the #gifted ALC/ARC of DIVINE RIVALS.

Y’all… this book… it’s amazing and you simply must read it!

It has:
- Rival journalists
- 10/10 banter
- Slow burn romance
- Enemies to lovers
- Magical typewriters
- So much angst and longing
- Love letters that will make you weep

After loving A RIVER ENCHANTED, I was nervous to read a new duology by Rebecca Ross. What if I didn’t love this new book as much?! But omg this book blew me away. I devoured it in 2 days and now am desperately waiting for any news of the sequel.

Rebecca’s writing is just beautiful. She’s able to take an incredibly tense and difficult subject (like war, death of a parent/sibling, grief, etc) and handle it with utter care. It doesn’t feel forced or voyeuristic.

Similar to BABEL, this book reads like historical fiction but with a fantasy element woven in. If it weren’t for the gods warring on the Western front and the enchanted typewriters, one could almost think that this was a standard WWI historical fiction love story.

I did a mix of the eARC and the audiobook and the narrators were fabulous! @Rachels.cattic.reads mentioned to me that the male narrator sounded a bit like Daniel Radcliffe and I totally got that vibe (even though it wasn’t him). Even though I loved the audiobook, I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy so that I can reread and annotate.

DIVINE RIVALS is out April 4, 2023!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4856925854
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CqYLLG-r_ig/

YA fantasy romance lovers add this to your TBR right now. This book will make you feel all of the emotions. The end will leave you wanting the second book intensely.

In Divine Rivals, Iris and Roman are going after the same promotion at the newspaper. Roman needs the job to satisfy his family, while Iris is driven by her passion. They find themselves magically linked but war is breaking out around them. Iris finds herself needing to get closer to the battles to find her brother.

The characters had me hooked from the start. The correspondence between the two was so deeply emotional and beautiful.

The backstory of the Gods and the world building behind the war was forgettable and felt out of place. But everything else in this book more than made up for it. Great narration on the audio version.

This had a similar feel to This Is How You Lose The Time War. But Divine Rivals is preferable to me because it had more going on in the overall story.

I was provided both a print and audio ARC of this book via Netgalley. Thank you to Wednesday Books and Macmillan Young Listeners for the opportunity to read and review this early. As always all opinions are my own.

The audio narrators were wonderful. The did an amazing job brining Kitt and Iris to life. I really enjoyed that we get alternating male and female dialogue where appropriate so if feels like they are having a conversation. I mainly opted to listen to the audiobook and couldn't put it down once I started.

I loved this! I've been a fan of Ross' work for sometime so when I saw that she had a new YA Fantasy out I jumped on the chance to read it. This follows Iris, and aspiring journalist who is struggling to keep things together after her brother leaves for the war front. Iris is competing for a columnist position at a reputable newspaper with Roman Kitt. Roman is handsome, rich, and put together; basically everything Iris is not. They are opposites in everyway, but their opposition drives them to be better at their craft. While Iris can't stand Kitt, what she doesn't know is that they are tied together in the most unusual way. When Kitt wins the spot at the paper, Iris decides to become a war correspondent in an attempt to escaper her life that has fallen apart and to find her missing brother on the front. Iris not only becomes a published writer, but she also finds so much more on the front than she was expecting.

I really love what Ross did with the mythology aspect in this. I'm not sure if the myth is based on an actual myth or if she completely made it up. Either way I really enjoyed that there was something otherworldly driving the war and a small magical and fantastical element to the plot. I really liked the concept of the magical typewriters and I'd love to know where the 3rd one is. I wonder if we'll ever find out. This does heavily focus on the rivals to lovers trope, and while we do get the background myth that started the war I hope to get a bit more background or interaction with the gods in book 2. I love mythology whether made up or based in ancient cultural myth and legend so I really appreciate when an author weaves that into their storyline.

This is classified as YA, but it does have some more serious and mature themes. This does end on a cliffhanger, and I cannot wait for the next book! I'm so anxious to find out what happens next! I loved the development of the relationship between Iris and Kitt and Iris and Carver. I really loved Iris' character development throughout the book. In the beginning I was wondering if she was going to throw in the towel, but she really snapped out of it and stepped up. She was appropriately scared in the situations she was in, but she was also courageous, kind, and selfless. As a correspondent she is supposed to write what she sees, but she was also respectful of the soldiers and wasn't just in it for a story. While this was tense and serious at times, it also has light hearted moments as well. The banter between Iris and Kitt is witty and their romance is fun.

Content warnings: loss of a parent, addition specifically alcohol, PTSD, violence and injury due to war, non graphic intimacy

I enjoyed this audiobook, though I agree with others--the ending wasn't entirely satisfying, and the ambiguity didn't feel earned. That said, the narrators did a spectacular job; I'm not sure I would have liked it half as much if I had experienced it solely through words on a page.

I appreciated the fact that it felt more like a historical war novel than it did fantasy (not that I don't love fantasy, but complex world building would have felt out of place in this story). The romance was compelling, as was Iris' love for her brother, grief for her mother, and general loneliness in the world. I would have liked a little more from Roman's perspective, though. Right now, the voices feel a bit unbalanced.

All in all, a charming story that was hugely elevated by the audio performers. I will likely buy the book for our collection, but recommend the audiobook over print.

This book had me swooning! While I felt like it started a little slowly, by the end, I was just in love with Iris and Roman and their colleagues. The story had one of my favorite things in a romance - a couple who find each other and have minimal self-inflicted problems put in their way. That doesn't mean there's no conflict, but I appreciate that they weren't acting dumb and making up problems that didn't need to exist.
The narration was excellent, as well. I can't want to put this story into the hands or ears of students who love a good enemies to lovers romance.