“For anyone who has ever had to let go of someone they love”
OH. MY. GOSH. If perfection was a book this would be it. I am in awe of everything I just DEVOURED. It was magical in every way I needed it to be and immersed me in Matilda’s world from the very beginning. Thank you NetGalley for the this eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

Wild Reverence is a lush, emotionally charged return to the mythic world of Divine Rivals. Rebecca Ross weaves gods, dreams, and destiny into a romantic fantasy full of longing, danger, and secrets. With lyrical prose and high stakes, this story of a goddess messenger and a mortal lord explores what it means to be vulnerable in a brutal world. A tale for fans of slow-burn romance, divine politics, and beautifully built fantasy realms.

This book truly moved me. The depth of romance written between the two main characters really touched my heart. The intense connection between them was beautiful, mixed with the deep fantasy of the skylings and the underlings. I really enjoyed reading this, and now going to read divine rivals and ruthless vows. It's been really amazing to read the love story that happened before

SOMEBODY SEDATE ME 😭😭😭😭😭😭

don’t mind me im drowning in a sea of tears…

five stars, six, ten, twelve (iykyk) this book this story is phenomenal. beautiful, tender, UTTERLY HEARTBREAKING. everything about it is magical and enticing, rebecca ross writes like there’s no tomorrow MY GOODNESS beautiful words just ripping my heart to SHREDS and then mending it only to rip into it again!

i am so unwell. matilda and vincent are everything to me and i know i say that a lot but my GOD GET BEHIND ME RED AND VINCE 💔💔😭😭😭

sink your dagger into this beautiful world of conniving gods and mortals and the love that triumphs through it all.

Rebecca Ross is truly an artist. As usual, this book is like her others, beautiful and breathtaking!

Rebecca Ross’s words are as magical as the worlds she creates.

Wild Reverence is as lyrical as it is lovely. It charmed me from the start and did not waver.

It is a stunning cousin to Divine Rivals, delivering the same emotion and beauty.

The hold that Vincent and Matilda had on me is only rivaled by the one they have on each other. I could not put this down.

PS - there is basically a goddess of pockets, what more could you want?!

📚Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating

✨”For anyone who has ever had to let go of someone they loved”

I had the amazing opportunity to read the eARC of Rebecca Ross’s upcoming book, Wild Reverence!

I loved being able to jump back into the world of Divine Rivals. I loved this world so much. This book gives us a glimpse of what happened before the war between Dacre and Enva, but expands more into the worlds of The Underlings and The Skywards.


It takes us through the life of a Goddess named Matilda. The Herald to the gods. As she is growing up and getting stronger. She is introduced to Vincent, a mortal, through dreams.

Together a bond is created for one another. They learn later on that they have a need for one another. Through escaping death, fake marriage, battles on the field, and answering silent prayers. Matilda and Vincent grab hold of each other and don’t let go!

Rebecca Ross shows us a love with no bounds.

“Will you show me? He asked. A throaty whisper that made the hair ride on my arms. “Show me where I should touch you?

You will fall in love with Gods and despise others. Learning that there is so much more to the gods and how they too survive.

“If I am strong, then I will no longer live afraid of being slain, my magic stolen. I can move through the realms, fearless.”

Spoiler!! We finally find out how the Divine Rivals typewriters were created and by which God.

Big thanks to NetGalley, Rebecca Ross, and St Martin’s Press for providing me with this eARC. Wild Reverence will be officially published September 2, 2025.

Set in the same world as Divine Rivals, we learn more about the lore of the Gods and Goddesses.

The book follows Matilda, a new goddess, as she grows and learns how to navigate the tricky line between the three Realms. She repeatedly crosses paths with Vincent, a mortal, both in dreams and in real life. Their love is forbidden but irresistible.

I love the found family, side characters, and watching Matilda grow into her own person. How the Epilogue connects Matilda to the story of Divine Rivals was chef's kiss

Thank you, Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an e-ARC. in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. It does start off slow but it builds to an intense, page turning novel. The FMC Matilda is well written and I actually didn’t hate her. I have a tendency to be very hard on the females in the books I read, but I did not find anything I hated about her. The MMC Vincent was amazing also. He was kind of perfect, close to too much but he never crossed that narrow line. I do wish we had a little more angst between the pair.

The world itself was very inventive. Gods and Goddesses kill each other to gain their magic and their stars. Matilda’s own mother had killed another for their magic. The world was very backstabby and it created a very anxious environment.
The battle was fun and intense. Ross created a lot of tension and innovative ideas in the battle scenes.

The plot was also very different. It’s nothing I’ve read much of before. It had a few twists and you’d think okay we’re good and then something else happens and you are like oh okay! Let’s go.

Synopsis:
Matilda is the herald of the gods. She can go between all the realms of the gods. As daughter of an underling and her father king of the Skyward folk she tries to keep a low profile. She finds herself drawn to a boy that has dreams about her and eventually she finds him but has to leave him. Events happen and time passes. Matilda finally finds the boy again, now a man but he is at war. Will Matilda now a full blown goddess help Vincent the boy who dreamed of her? Or will she become trapped, embroiled in mortal politics?

A page turning, magical romantasy! 4.5 stars.

Thank you St Martins Press/Saturday books and NetGalley for the arc.

This Divine Rivals prequel is all about the gods and gives you the backstory and history of Enva, Dacre, Bade, and Matilda. It talks about the realms and mortals and gods. I read this hoping for more typewriter love stories so it took me a minute to figure out what I was reading. 🫠

When Matilda is born below, she doesn't know who her father is. God's have few allies and she is raised to be constantly alert. She trains with the god of war to protect herself from those that would kill her to steal her power when her power is made known.

Victor dreams of a red haired girl. She never tells him her name, so he calls her Red. He's dreamt of her for so long, he worries she isn't real, until one day he sees her in real life. She is a goddess.

After reading the epilogue, I wish I would have read that first! lol. (but not really because there are some major spoilers in it) It just tied the books together for me and helped me feel like I understood all of the stories better.

Overall I really enjoyed the characters and the backstory, it's a bit of a slow burn, but perfect for fans of epic tales.

Thank you to netgalley for an ARC to enjoy.

Another incredible book by Rebecca Ross. Great pacing of the story. Love the brief connection to Divine Rivals. Beautiful writing.

Quick and dirty review - I loved everything about this book.

A more detailed reasoning:

1) Can you read this without having read Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows? Yes. Are there some nods to DR and RV that you’d not get if you haven’t read them yet? Yes. But I don’t think it would detract from the book at all.

2) The first part of this book is HEAVY on lore and history. For someone like me who absolutely loves Divine Rivals, I’m here for it. I also know there were often comments, especially about Ruthless Vows about how the mythology and lore were kind of random or not well developed. Well, problem solved. This book gives you all the background you could want.

3) Rebecca Ross has some of the most beautiful writing and this book is no different. Matilda and Vincent are both so wonderful. And in true Rebecca Ross form we also get incredible side characters. Vincent’s little brother, Nathaniel, love him. Bade. Don’t even get me started. Every time Matilda talks about wanting to run and hug him - same girl, same. We love a big baddie who’s really a giant cinnamon roll.

Now that I have all this new background into the lore of the gods, you better believe I’m doing another reread of the other books. I want sure how a prequel was going to be or what all it would involve being set in the same world, but this was everything I could have hoped for.

In this prequel installment to the Letters of Enchantment series, a new goddess is born and learns to find her place in the three realms and beyond. Meanwhile, a human boy dreams of a child-god who rescues him from nightmares.

I was delighted to revisit this world and learn more about the lives of the gods, both underling and skyward. There is also a bit of explanation of some of the magic of the original series, but I thought it was a bit of an afterthought and didn’t really add anything to the actual story. It was interesting that this prequel is an adult romantasy novel after the two YA installments in the series - that could be troublesome if you have a teen reader who wants to continue in the series, but the intimacy scenes aren’t terribly explicit or frequent.

One of the things I have enjoyed about Ross’s other books is the way her writing creates such a vivid atmosphere, and there is certainly the same quality on display here. I did start to notice that there is a simile or metaphor in nearly every sentence which started to grate, but that might just be me. Overall, I enjoyed. If you read the other two books in the series, you’ll like this as well, but this is a standalone and you don’t need to have read the others to understand this one.

Quite simply, I loved reading Wild Reverence. It’s haunting, tender, and lyrical. It's emotional pull and prose reminds me of Piranesi, The Knight and The Moth, A Song of Achilles, and Heavenly Bodies.

Matilda, our FMC, grows into her own, starting in the first 25% of the book during her god-child years and forming a unique dream friendship with Vincent, the MMC, all while struggling to show love in a divine world where love is a weakness. This extended "early years" is necessary for the world building, but may put off some readers as we are in the mind of a 12 year old for a few hours of reading.

As she grows older and finds herself in fate’s path again with Vincent, her power and confidence grow, as does their blooming love that started as a fake marriage to help save the castle and people of the river. In this, we see how gods are never safe and constantly plotting and killing to steal another’s magic, which complicates the war at hand. It was a perfect balance of divine rivalry and mortal struggles.

It was so beautifully written, and I definitely cried near the end with some scenes (I have daddy issues, so).

I strongly recommend this to those who love a slow build and appreciate soft and tender love with Greek god like characters and lore. Thank you to St Martin's Press for allowing me to read and review this eARC!

Wild Reverence is beautifully written and deeply immersive with poetic prose that feels otherworldly and I ate it up. I went in knowing little about the world, since I haven’t read Divine Rivals yet (which is absolutely next), and I was blown away.

Set in the same universe as Divine Rivals, this novel functions as both a prequel and a standalone. Though the pacing begins on the slower side, it makes it easier to absorb the world-building, the introduction of gods and realms, the ensemble of characters, and the rising stakes. My love for Matilda and Vincent extended to several side characters, some of whom I was glad to see become more prominent as the story progressed.

The forbidden love and second-chance romance between them is tender and full of yearning, reminding us that to be seen is to be loved. I appreciated how Ross portrayed them as mature, emotionally complex adults navigating trust, vulnerability, and sacrifice despite their circumstances. Their journey is as much about healing as it is about love.

Reading this novel was an emotional experience, and I cherished every moment. This is easily one of my favorite books and what a way to be introduced to Rebecca Ross!

Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross is expected to be published on September 2, 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an unbiased review from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

4.5! It was a joy to dive back into this world in a new way but with Ross’s characteristic depth, intrigue, and charm. The characters are complex and well-developed, and I believed Matilda and Vincent’s fated love. It some ways, Matilda is an underrated and hero, which was a refreshing take for a female-driven fantasy book. She is not all-powerful or able to conquer all, and yet Matilda succeed. Again, Ross wove a world I felt like I was living in, and I could put it down. The half star off is only for pacing, which felt a bit off at points, especially in the book’s first major time transition.

*SPOILERS*




"You've been gone for three days, and I have never been so conscious of time before now. I count the hours, listening for the bells to mark them. I collect each moment that you've been away, and I feel them gather in my bones like winter.
I long for you."

I felt the same with the Letters of Enchantment, and will repeat myself here: I cannot get enough of Ross's writing. Her prose and use of imagery is sublime, and paints a picture that even those like myself can enjoy. This was easily a 10/10 read that I could not put down and wanted to never end. The slow burn is SLOWWWW but not arduous, and I do wish there was a little more spice, but what was there fit so well within the narrative. (The yearning!!!!! The pining!!!!!)
Matilda's story is teeming with twists and turns and was so intriguing, and Vincent's POV added so much flavor and suspense.
One of my favorites for sure.

I highly recommend this to everyone!

When I first started this book, I didn't realize that it was set in the world of the Divine Rivals duology because although I want to read that duology, I have not read it yet. I went into this book completely blind, and I really wanted to like this more than I did. I didn't dislike it, but it was just entirely too long and slow moving for me. I struggled hard with this book. Larger books aren't really an issue for me usually, but I think the pacing just made it too hard for me to stay interested. At the half way point, I was not even sure where this story was ultimately going, and I wasn't invested in Matlida and Vincent. The one thing I did really enjoy was Bade's character, but otherwise this was just very mid and honestly, more of a disappointment.

The absolutely magical feel of this story reminded me of reading Greek and Roman myths with the gods fighting over power and having secret children. Matilda is the youngest god, the only one born recently, and a complete mystery, even to herself. As she grows into her powers, she finds that makes her a target of the political infighting of their system.

At the same time, a mortal teenager begins to see her in his dreams. They have a slow burn with a long separation that leads to a fake marriage. As the gods meddle in the affairs of men, Matilda and Vincent struggle to decide who they are and what they mean to each other.

I adored the magic system, the way they related to the stars, and the tie-in to the Letters of Enchantment at the end of the book. Ms. Ross's writing style is beautiful and kept the pages turning as I desired to see where the book would go next.

Rebecca Ross does it again. What a beautiful prequel to the Letters of Enchantment duology! This book did take me a while to get into because I’m a mood reader. I had to read a few rom coms and come back to this book. And I’m so glad I did, because it made me appreciate this book so much more! And I DEVOURED the second half of this. I couldn’t put it down, I had to know what was coming next!!

Let’s talk about Rebecca Ross’s world building - one word, PHENOMENAL! How does she even come up with half the stuff she does?!? With the wastelands, the stars, different magic, how to get magic, the sisters and their mother the Gatekeeper, the realms, dreams, and the list goes on!! The world building was heavy in this book, but it is soooo well done that it keeps you wanting to read on and be immersed into this world!!

Matilda and Vincent’s love - I loved it so much. I loved them both. I loved their ending. I loved how Rebecca Ross tied the ending into Divine Rivals!!

If you haven’t read Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows yet, you definitely could read Wild Reverence first and then jump into Divine Rivals! I plan on doing that when I receive my preorder of Wild Reverence!!