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!✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross (@beccajross )

Rebecca has done it again! 💜I loved absolutely everything about Wild Reverence. I loved the gods and goddesses, the story, the characters, everything! 🫶Rebecca writes the most beautiful prose and creates the most beautiful worlds. I loved that this story is connected to the Letters of Enchantment duology, because I’ll take any excuse to go back to that world! 😍

MATILDA AND VINCENT. I absolutely loved them so much! . There love story is unique, but worth rooting for! They are two people who should never have been together, but they’d literally move heaven and earth for each other, and it’s absolutely beautiful!

I’m struggling to find words for this review, because it’s just so dang good!! But I HIGHLY recommend this, and all of Rebecca’s other work!

I had to actually sleep on this before writing this review, just so that I could process everything (and stop WEEPING 😭).
First, thank you SO MUCH to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I literally have no bad things to say about this book. I loved it EVEN MORE than divine rivals. Rebecca Ross is the queen of yearning and I stand by this! Her writing makes me feel like I’m in the most beautiful worlds with the most intricately detailed characters and it was literally impossible for me to focus on anything else while I was reading this book. SIX⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars. ♾️/5 stars really. I will now be insufferable and will be mentioning to every person I meet that I was lucky enough to read this book before it was released.
Vincent is such an amazing MMC. I feel like we get lots of books about a strong immortal male to go along with a human female, but it was so refreshing to read about the opposite. Vincent isn’t frail by any means, but he is so REAL and has flaws and gets scared and understands his weakness as a human but doesn’t let that deter him from doing absolutely anything for our heroine. The yearning was so strong and I’m so happy we had dual POVs in this novel and got to see his side of things.
When I read divine rivals, I found myself not super invested in the lives of the gods/goddesses because I was too busy with our two main characters and their love story. But this book has me immediately going back to re-read that series all over again because I have such a vested interest in all the gods now after getting such an intimate look into many of their lives.
I could go on and on and ON about everything in this book, but don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just leave it at this: READ THIS BOOK. You won’t regret it.

I’m still reeling from this story I was sobbing so hard by the end. There’s really only one word that captures it: beautiful. It’s soft, pure and deeply moving, the kind of tale that settles into your heart and refuses to leave.
The final chapter and epilogue carried me through such an emotional turmoil. My heart was breaking and when I reached the last page I had to set down my kindle and just cry. The way the epilogue ties into Divine Rivals is masterful, it gives new meaning to the entire duology. But knowing what I know now makes it hurt all the more.
Matilda and Vincent will forever hold a cherished, bittersweet place in my heart.

Welp, she did it again. This book is beautifully written, and I could not put it down. It takes you through a roller coaster 🎢 of emotions and adventures.

It is set on the same world as Divine Rivals, before Iris’ time. You can see the interconnection between stories, and it gives you a glimpse into what happened before Divine Rivals.

This story follows Matilda as a godchild starting in her childhood, then moving to adulthood. And provided an insight into Vincent, a human whose life will be changed by Matilda and the connection they built since they were kids.

I enjoy every aspect of the book, and there were times that I was clutching my reader so hard because I did not want something bad to happen. What can I say? I’m a hopeless romantic. ♥️ There are many components to this book. I loved the character’s backstory and the inside view of other characters. The evolution of many of the characters and the feelings that they are unable to share or describe.

Matilda’s story is full of challenges, and how, one by one, she worked her way out of them. Not every time succeeding, but every time taking something away to try again. It has that component of writing, so yeah, it has letters, after all, Matilda is a herald of the gods. But the one to take away is the letter Vincent sends to Matilda. So full of love and longing.

The book felt like drinking rich flavors because of the way Rebecca writes. 💌

**eArc provided by the Publisher St. Martin's Press through NetGalley. Thank you in advance.

This book pulled me in from the very first page. The atmosphere was thick with tension and secrets, and I loved how the romantic and fantastical elements were so tightly woven together. Rebecca Ross has a gift for creating settings you can almost feel — every scene felt cinematic. The romance had real intensity without overshadowing the mystery, and the way everything came together at the end was deeply satisfying. Easily one of my favourites this year.

This book pulled me in from the very first page. I haven’t read Divine Rivals yet, but after finishing this, I know I need to. The writing is beautiful, the world-building rich, and every character layered with depth and backstory that made them feel alive. Rebecca Ross made me feel like I was in the story, betrayal, loyalty, and pain as if I were living it myself.

I especially loved the fresh take on Death, Fate, and the Gods—familiar in the sense of mortal-versus-divine struggles, yet unique in its execution.

Matilda begins her journey young and naive, unsure who to trust in the cruel realm of the Gods. When she starts reading mortal dreams, she meets Vincent—a young mortal who has dreamed of her long before they meet. Their paths cross in unexpected ways, drawn together again and again, only to be torn apart by forces beyond their control. Their story is one of yearning, protection, and unshakable connection.

What struck me most was how much emotion filled the pages, even in moments when the characters themselves couldn’t name what they were feeling. This is a story that sinks deep into your soul, making you think about your own life, your memories, and the tales you’ll one day carry when it’s your turn to be judged.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This bumped as one of my anticipated reads for this year ever since I read the Letters of Enchantment duology earlier this month. So, when I got approved for an ARC, you best believe I downloaded it right away and gobbled it up!! tbh my kindle hasn’t left my side since I got the copy, I was IN👏VES👏TED in this story.

When I read Divine Rivals & Ruthless Vows it has always left me wanting more details on what the realms looked like as well as the underling/mortal/skyward dynamics are. Wild Reverence pretty much answered that for me!

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

I went into this nervous, it’s my first Mortal x Goddess trope and I didn’t know what to expect but this was handled beautifully & it was heart wrenching in the best way.

Obvs, I can’t say a lot without spoiling anything especially since the book is about to come out in less than a month but I adored this book, I loved how it all came together at the end - I think I’ve reread the epilogue a dozen times already!

"I would wait a thousand years for you. If you asked me, I would wait for you until only my remained upon an altar."

This story is set in the world of Divine Rivals, focusing instead on the gods that rule the world. Matilda is born to the goddess of winter, an Underling, and an unnamed father of the Skywards. Born to two realms and having power of little note, she was raised to protect herself as she grew into her role as the herald of the gods. She grew shrewd and walked in dreams that connected her to the mortal world. But her mother's actions set her life upon a new course that would force her to grow into a fierce goddess.

This story was blissfully and tragically beautiful, something Rebecca Ross has truly perfected. It had a slower start but quickly picked up the pace and had a shifting point which truly catapulted the tale into one full of action and intrigue. The characters' love for one another was displayed in such beautiful ways, showcasing familial love, found family, and romantic love each in their own light. Reading this book felt like riding a fairly gentle river downstream with occasional parts more rapid. The words flowed beautifully and easily, immersing me in this wonderful world once more. I think the epilogue was my favorite part after my initial read but I have a feeling it may change with time. When the book comes out, I'll have to think about doing a reread because I don't think one time through was enough for me to appreciate the beauty of this story!

Rebecca Ross is one author that I will never underestimate. I am completely and utterly in love with this book. Wild Reverence incompetence is the idea of a romantic fantasy novel so many whimsical touches and so many moments that are going to pull at your heart string. This is such an amazing read that made me realize why I love this genre and why I love reading.