This prequel was so well executed in my opinion. It gave me all the background knowledge I was craving while reading Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows.

Yes, the pacing is slower, and it took me a while to read—but not because I was bored. Quite the opposite. I was fully immersed in their world, savoring the details and sitting in their story.

I adored every single character introduced here, and I would absolutely LOVE another book with them (even though, sadly, this is a standalone… but hey, that can always change 👀).

At the start, I found myself wanting more about the main characters’ pasts, but by the end, I realized what was given was exactly enough. Any more would’ve dragged the story out unnecessarily and added fluff that didn’t need to be there.

Now I’m instantly tempted to go back, reread Divine Rivals, and just live in this universe all over again.

Rebecca Ross does it again, and this may be my favorite of hers yet. I didn't think anything could beat her Elements of Cadence duology, but this one might. The story is simultaneously grand and simple, leaving me thinking deeply about both the depth of existence and the beautiful ordinariness of everyday life. The suspense is thrilling, the love story is perfect, and the ending is satisfying. She writes strong, soft male characters so well, and her ability to convey a sense of yearning is incredible. This is my first 5 star read in a while!

I was so happy to be able to read this as an ARC. Divine Rivals/Ruthless Vows is one of my all time favorites and the love story of Iris and Roman is a magical one! I need to admit something here. I wanted to read this book because I love Rebecca’s writing. I didn’t realize at first that this story tied into Divine Rivals. I laugh now because I was reading it and it hit me when I heard Dacre’s name and then Enva. I was already invested in the story of Matilda and Vincent, along with Bade and Adria but when the realization hit, it brought it all full circle. Th story of the realms and the magic and the love that transcends all of that was just beautiful!

If you loved Divine Rivals, this is a must read. If you haven’t read it yet, read this and then immediately pick up Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows!

Can’t wait to buy the prettiest edition of the book!

“True love is more divine, than any ruthless god.”

Wild Reverence, for those who have read Divine Rivals, takes place prior to the duology. It follows the story of a goddess Matilda and a mortal boy, Vincent. Matilda is named the herald of the gods, a messenger who can freely travel through all realms. She finds herself having to hide an important secret from those including her allies to ensure her survival.

Vincent begins having dreams about her though they have never met. Matilda visits him in his dreams and begins to form a bond with him. Until things in her realm become risky and she flees. During this time, Vincent writes a prayer to Matilda, begging her for help, that ultimately goes unanswered. Thirteen years pass, Vincent has long forgotten Matilda and Matilda needs to give Vincent a letter, she finds him in the mortal realm to give it to him before it is too late—destined to find each other beyond his dream world. The book ends up taking off from here!

I really came to adore the relationship between Matilda and Vincent. It’s another almost “fated love” dynamic which is one of my favorite tropes. Their relationship really begins to blossom after the letter but it doesn’t come without its own trials.

I also really enjoyed the unique magic and hierarchy system. Essentially, when a god is born, a new constellation appears in the sky. It’s split up into three tiers, low, middle, and high court. The amount of points in the constellation, is where you ultimately end up in the hierarchy of the gods. The higher the points, the higher the rank. However, loopholes exist in this system that allow gods to push themselves up in the courts. A little modern day politics of ‘playing the system’ for an advantage.

Ultimately, I think Rebecca did such a great job bringing us back into this world and in such a different way—showing us so much more about the lives (and in my opinion humanizing them a bit from what we initially portray them as) and backstories of the divine, a few that we already know, and lots of new names we had yet to learn of. Bias because I loved the Letters of Enchantment but I would immediately recommend. If you’re a fantasy lover, you will enjoy this and if you’re a romance lover, there is plenty of that.

Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫

“We were doomed, she and I. One day, I would perish, and she would live on, endless as the stars.”

✉️ Invisible String
✉️ Immortal x Mortal
✉️ Found Family
✉️ Love Letters

Rebecca Ross, my dear you’ve done it again. You’ve bottled a bit of magic within your words and unleashed it on the page. The writing is stunningly beautiful with a sharp bite of emotion.

Wild Reverence felt like a love letter to Greek/Roman Mythology. It drew inspiration while creating something completely new. I loved learning more about the magic system and the dynamic of both the Skywards and Underlings. As a lover of Divine Rivals, it was compelling to read more about the history of the gods.

I LOVED Matilda as a character. As an audience, we watched her transform from a meek, god-like child, unable to protect herself when tragedy struck, to a strong and clever goddess. It was a pleasure to read about her growth into her power and herself.

An unlikely pairing that I enjoyed was Matilda and Bade-the God of War. Following a debt incurred to Matilda's mother, Bade was forced to extend a salt-sworn bond to Matilda, creating an alliance to shield her from harm-regardless of the damage to himself . The gruff deity transformed into a deeply cherished companion, a relationship I greatly appreciated.

Now, to the romance, I love a man who yearns. And let me tell you, Vincent is a yearner. From the very first time he glimpsed Matilda in a dream, his soul yearned for her. Their fates were so intricately intertwined that not even Death herself could interfere. And I admired that he recognized, as a Herald of the Gods, that he could never restrain her and would never attempt to do so. He was destined to await her return, regardless of the duration.

If you’re a fan of Divine Rivals, you’ll love this- especially the epilogue ;)

Thank you to NetGalley, Saturday Books, and Rebecca Ross for the opportunity to preview this book. I enjoyed every minute of it ❤️

This was exquisite. I really enjoyed Divine Rivals, but Ruthless Vows was a bit of a let down for me, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with Wild Reverence, but was excited to find out. In my opinion, this book absolutely delivered.

I really enjoy the way Rebecca Ross writes - she’s great at writing really beautiful prose without it feeling excessive or unwieldy, and Wild Reverence was no exception. The romance and yearning and love letter(s) in this are perfection and really capture what I enjoyed about the Divine Rivals relationship while still feeling fresh and standing on its own. The beginning was slightly slow, and I struggled at first to keep up with things (was I lost because it was all new to me, or were there things I’d forgotten from the original series that would be helpful context clues?), but the story really settled into itself pretty quickly and once I wrapped my head around how the gods’ magic worked and the dynamics of the world, this book was a breeze to read and I didn’t want to put it down.

I want to also how well fleshed out so many of the side characters are - I truly hated Warin and adored Bade, I wanted to see more of the sibling dynamic between Fate and Death, and I was very invested in the survival of multiple side characters in the war.

I would say this book is perfect for readers who loved and adored the magic (both literal and figurative) of Letters of Enchantment, but this book absolutely stands on its own as well. While it is tagged as “New Adult”, this addition to the series feels a bit more mature and developed than its predecessors, which I really appreciated. I would give it a 4.5/5, rounded up to 5!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you for the ARC copy.
This book had a slower start, lots of world and god building. About halfway through it became more interesting. I was confused and overwhelmed at times. Needed a little more tension and romance for me too. Overall a good read. Just needed some shortening and romance tweaks.

This book. Good lord. I was so stressed out for most of the book and preparing myself for a tragic ending. Since the story is set in the Divine Rivals universe as a prologue I think it fills in some gaps of the world I had been missing while reading DR. Plus that epilogue? Get out of here. The writing is so beautiful and poetic just like DR.

I mean, “You hold on to her. But who could hold on to the wind? And better yet—who would be so foolish as to trust—to love—such a wild being?”

Thank you to netgalley and st. martin’s press for the advanced readers copy! I will be yelling from the rooftops about this.

✨ Wild Reverence ✨
✨ ARC Review *SPOLER FREE* ✨

Matilda is the herald of the gods, destined to spend her life carrying messages between the Underling and Skyward realms with the mortal world in between. Matilda is subjected to more pain, torture and twists than most could endure but her sanctuary is a boy whom she visits in dreams. Although Fate and Death know more than they are willing to say when it comes to the future of these two….

✨Gods and realms
✨War, loss, betrayals, and tragedy
✨Found Family
✨Friends to lovers

I am very grateful for the ARC of this book ahead of next month’s release. I loved Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows and felt so honored to get this copy in advance. The following review is a reflection of my thoughts, feelings and opinions:

In full transparency, I struggled through the first half of this book. It was very world building and such a different thread from DR/RV that I really found myself unable to engage with these characters. So I took my time and persisted! But hit 50%, EVERYTHING changed. I could not put the book down after that!! Now that I’m through it, I really wish I had reread DR/RV before reading this just so that it could have brought my head back into that world. Everything made so much sense after 50% and the action took me on the wildest ride!! There were certain points where I wanted to slap Matilda for her choices but that ending though…. PHEW!

This book is absolutely worth the read. I promise it is worth it! I look forward to reading everyone else’s thoughts as the official release quickly approaches!!

Rebecca Ross is so amazing and she does it again! The world building is immaculate and so easy to follow. This is one of my top reads of this year. I could not put it down with the slow burn and yearning alone. There are so many plots to follow but they all come together in the end. I am definitely buying a paper copy when the book comes out on Sept 2, 2025.

Thank you so much to Rebecca Ross and St. Martins Pass for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press | Saturday Books, for sending me this ARC. I can't even begin to describe the excitement I felt when I got this in my mailbox. I am officially living my dream book life.

First and foremost, let's acknowledge that this is essentially a 600-page book. I mention this because I didn't realize it would be this long, and at barely 80 pages in, I started to question my opinion of the book. Although the beginning intrigued me, I thought it would be a 3 to 3.5-star read... thank goodness I was wrong. I'm so glad I persisted because Rebecca did NOT disappoint.


This book is so good. The storyline? memorizing. The characters? brilliantly made, you will surely feel deeply connected and invested in them. And the worlds? crafted so well that you will feel like they are part of your own reality. I would without a doubt read this book again. Rebecca's writing is as beautiful and lyrical as ever.

So I beg you, if you're struggling with this book and unsure where the story is headed... don’t put it down. You have to keep going. This story is pure MAGIC. I’m so grateful I got to read it early. I can’t wait to scoop up another copy for my home library on publication day.

Go pre-order this book, y'all!!

Pub Date Sep 02 2025

As always, all thoughts are my own. 🖤✨

This is stunning! The way Ross builds characters and worlds is so satisfying. I KNOW these characters like they were my friends.

Getting another story in the Letters of Enchantment world is such a blessing. It felt brand new and familiar all at once. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Matilda grow up as a child goddess into her full self. And Ross weaves her world building so flawlessly, it’s like watching magic on the page.

I have so many overwhelming thoughts and feelings about this book, that I’m still trying to process them.

This book is for you if…
You want to sink into a magical world where gods and goddesses are constantly at war.
You want to watch the journey of a fierce goddess from the beginning.
You love ugly crying when you find out how far these characters will go to show people they care.

Easily one of my favorite reads of the year. You MUST read this. Even if you haven’t read Letters of Enchantment duology, you can still read this book. The epilogue made me want to pick up those books immediately after I finished.

Rebecca Ross does it again! As a fan of Divine Rivals, I was so eager to pick up this book, and I was not disappointed. We really got to dive deeper into the world-building of DR, and it was a dream to see more of the characters that shaped the world of DR! I really enjoyed how Ross crafted Matilda, and took us through her timeline. We got to see her journey from a child-god into a goddess who knows her fears and is unafraid to conquer them. We also got to see Vincent's POV, which I really loved. I'm always a fan of getting an MMC POV, and it was incredible to see Matilda from Vincent's point of view. Ross crafted their voices in such distinct ways. It was impactful to their character arcs to see how their inner monologues differed in the way they saw the world, and where the overlap of their beliefs lay. I truly enjoyed how we received a romance arc, mixed with political intrigue in both the god and mortal world — it provides an excellent framework into each character’s choice and the differences of stakes for each person. Honorable mention to the cast of characters! This is such an expansive world (two sets of gods AND mortals), but I felt like I knew each character individually. I personally loved Bade's character and story!

Also, I cannot review without mentioning Rebecca Ross's writing and prose. Her technique is truly incredible. Her prose weaves time, emotions, space, and characters together into a seamless tapestry of a story that is impossible to tear your eyes from.

I have absolutely no business feeling this emotionally destroyed by a book about a goddess and a mortal boy and yet here we are 🥹 Rebecca said, “Here, have some pretty prose and gut-wrenching longing” and I said, “Yes, thank you. I’ll take it all please and thank you.” ☺️

Set in the Divine Rivals universe (yes, you should read but no it’s not required). This story feels like a whispered legend passed down through generations. It’s soft and slow and so heartbreakingly intimate. 😭Rebecca makes a strong case for why the quietest love stories can still feel the most epic ❤️‍🔥

Rebecca doesn’t just write: she paints. She composes. I’m not one to mark books but every sentence felt like it could be underlined and aggressively highlighted in five colors 🤨It’s poetic without being pretentious and emotional without being overdone. You don’t read this book, you feeeeel it ❤️‍🔥

Vincent and Matilda’s connection is the kind that builds across lifetimes. Childhood dreams, stolen moments, impossible odds. So the usual: emotional sabotage with dual POVs ❤️‍🩹

Vincent is the MMC who is both respectful and completely and emotionally ruined by love. And Matilda? A literal goddess navigating a world of brutal divine politics and trying not to let her heart get involved. Spoiler: it gets very involved. Their chemistry? Off the charts. Their timeline? Tragic. The yearning? Astronomical.

Also, shoutout to the Divine lore! We get more insight into the gods and their realms. How they work, manipulate and why most of them are the worst. For the Divine Rivals fans, yes there’s a little reveal in the epilogue that’ll make you scream. Or cry. Or both. 😭

So yeah… If you’re into quiet but soul-crushing romances, unique magical worlds, soft boys with sad eyes, powerful goddesses and prose that leaves you emotionally fragile, this is for you ❤️‍🔥

Thank you @saturdaybooks / @stmartinspress and @netgalley for gifting me with an eARC.

This book was 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. And yet, no matter how many words I try to put down, they will never be enough. 😭💕

Rebecca Ross gives us pages layered with 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑓, 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒, and 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 so pure it aches. It’s a book that doesn’t just ask you to read it, but to 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕, to feel every heartbeat of its characters and every breath of its world. 😮‍💨

I can’t even count the amount of times I wanted to dive into this book to experience this world firsthand with these characters. Matilda and Vincent are the kind of characters who leave 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠 on your soul. I cried not simply because of what happened to them, but because of 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆, the way they carried their wounds, the way they 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 despite their own trauma, the way they 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 courage over comfort, & the 𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 they both made. ✨🫶🏼

The mythology of the gods is spellbinding, each backstory threaded with both 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚 and 𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚. It’s a divine tapestry, woven into the events leading up to 𝐷𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑠 so seamlessly it feels like these worlds have always been intertwined. And yet, this novel stands in its own 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅 light, ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴀ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ, ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ꜰᴀɴᴛᴀsʏ; 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆.

She writes like a 𝑝𝑜𝑒𝑡 with the patience of a ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛, crafting symbols and themes that 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑: 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑓 and the way it reshapes us, 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 as a lifeline, the bruising weight of 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟, the sharp edges of 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑠, the quiet miracle of 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙. Her 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔, acts of 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, stilled me. Tʜᴇ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ… ᴏʜ, ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ. The 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 is 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚, the 𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 a 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓, the 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑛 a 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 that scorches. 😭💕🔥

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 💕
💔 Characters with layers upon layers of complexity
📖 The seamless weaving of the gods’ backstory into Divine Rivals
🖋️ Symbolism + poetic prose that makes your chest ache
🏛️ Power, politics, and divine influence in every decision
😭 The emotional punch in every chapter

𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 ✨
💫 Slow burn yearning + pining
⚔️ War + politics intertwined with love
👑 Found family
🌌 Mythology woven into the plot
🩹 Healing through connection

Rebecca is an 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕 in every sense, and this novel is 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑓. Without a doubt, 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 is my favorite read of 2025. 𝐍𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝. 𝐍𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 🌿

𝐀 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 & 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭. 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐬, & 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐞-𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰. 💖

Wild Reverence reads like a forgotten folk tale lost to time. I fully believed it to be true as I read it.

I went into the story not knowing much. I haven't even read Divine Rivals, but little did I know that this book touched on my two favorite troops: marriage of convenience and childhood friends to strangers to lovers. Even though Matilda and Vincent's bond is fate-driven and insta-love, which I normally don't enjoy, I was surprised to be entranced by their relationship. I think this is because of 2 reasons:
1. Vincent is the ultimate yearner.
2. The relationships surrounding Matilda and Vincent are so interesting (Matilda and her father figure Bane and Vincent and his brother Nathaniel) and endeared me to them as characters and their story.

Though this may not have been the perfect book in all aspects, the message of Matilda's and Vincent's story and the lives of their allies truly touched and inspired me which warrants a full 5 stars in my book. I hope to pick up a copy when the book releases.

I am so sad this book had to end, but I’m so grateful to have read it. This is one of the most beautiful stories I think I’ve ever read. I loved it so much more than Divine Rivals. I will admit that it was a bit slow for me in Part 1, but I appreciated the world and character building. I was quickly hooked during Part 2, and by the time I was 40-50% through the story, I could not put the book down.

Everyone needs a Vincent in their lives - someone who makes them feel safe and worshipped, who you can let yourself be vulnerable with, and who would wait 1000 years for you if they had to. I NEED a bonus epilogue to see more of their time together - I wanted to live a little bit longer in the wild reverence of their relationship. I also would’ve liked to see a final reunion between Bade and Matilda. Their relationship touched my heart in a much different, but equally special way.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book! Below is my honest review.

DNFed at 46%. At this point, I don't think I'm a Rebecca Ross fan. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this book, but I felt like I was forcing myself to read it just to read it. The premise and world sounded so interesting, but something about it was not grabbing my attention. I'd still recommend people to read it because it has a lot of potential to be good. It's simply not for me.

My Quick Takes:
- 5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Genre 📚 New Adult Romantasy
- Language 🤐 infrequent mild
- Spice ❤️‍🔥 non-descriptive open door, chapters 67, 68, 84
- Content 🤔 on page death, killing, themes of war, same sex relationship of side characters

I think this is my favorite Rebecca Ross to date 👏🏼 and I don’t have the words to do a review justice but I’ll try my best.

Wild Reverence will be a top read of my year, a 6 star read if you will. I’d heard from others that it is a lot of world building, but I have a strong opinion that Rebecca Ross does no such thing. She weaves together details through her lyrical writing until the reader is left with a beautifully spun tapestry of tales.

In her other books, Ross has touched briefly on realms of gods and magic that influence the mortals in the narrative. Having an entire book dedicated to them was enchanting and I loved seeing the threads of her myths and lore come together in real time.

Wild Reverence is a prequel to her Letters of Enchantment Duology (Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows) and I loved the Easter eggs throughout that nodded to the lore in that duology. If you haven’t read those books yet you can still read Wild Reverence as a stand alone romantasy.

Three realms: Skyward, Mortal & Underling. A story of divines, humans and the perils to coexist.

Matilda, the FMC & herald to the gods, was part of all three realms. Her character growth was beautiful to read! She started off as a “god-child” merely existing and turned into much more than anyone could have imagined. She was cunning, strong, compassionate and the true definition of a goddess in looks and in nature.

Vincent, the MMC & human lord of Wyndmere. He was wholely devoted, loyal, and true of heart. He lost nearly everyone he loved and didn’t let it harden him. He exuded the definition of what it means to “worship a god”. If you catch my drift.. He was perfect honestly. THEY were perfect 🤍

I really enjoyed this book and the epilogue had a nice surprise in it! I don’t want to spoil it too much but just know, it works seamlessly with Divine Rivals!💌

✨Thank you so much NetGalley & Rebecca for this ARC!✨