Title: Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment #2)
Author: Rebecca Ross
Genre: Fantasy, young adult, historical fantasy
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: December 26, 2023
Format: Hardcover
Length: 432 pages

Read if you like: epic love stories, historical fantasy, books about writers and writing, high stakes, dual POV, magical realism, found family

Rating: 

Divine Rivals was one of my top reads of 2023, making Ruthless Vows one of my most anticipated reads of the new year. I’m new to Rebecca Ross, who’s a gorgeously lyrical writer with a real gift for evoking strong emotions, and while I worried that Ruthless Vows may not live up to the heavy expectations I had for it, I needn’t have been concerned.

Ruthless Vows repeatedly broke my heart and put it back together again. I went through so many emotions while I was reading (joy, despair, hope, desperation for the characters), I sobbed several times, and then I finished the book even more in love with the characters and the world that Ross had built than I was in book one. 

This series was gorgeous in every way. It had an incredible universe that felt part historical, part magic, a unique type of relationship with Gods and magic that drove a plot that felt steeped in lore, and a romance that is certainly one for the ages. 

This was one of my first reads of 2024, but I already know that it’ll make my list of top reads of the year. I love this conclusion to Roman and Iris, who forever will hold a special place in my heart.

The Book Synopsis: Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

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

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

The Review

This was such a perfect end to a gorgeous duology that I won’t soon forget.

Ross’s writing never fails to stop me in my tracks. It’s so utterly enchanting, lyrical and heart-wrenching. It’s not all that often that I actively stop to take notes or write down a quote, but with this series, I was doing it constantly. There were so many instances where her words broke my heart wide open that I simply didn’t want to forget them. 

Iris and Roman continued to be a gorgeous love story that shattered my heart and left me hopeful at all times. I felt like they both grew in really natural ways throughout this book, and I loved that they were able to take their stands both alone and together, especially since they spent so much of the book apart. It felt important that they each had their moments of reckoning beyond one as a couple, that they had both an opportunity to stand up for what they believed in and make choices for themselves. I’ve always loved them as a couple, but in this book, Ross allowed them to develop and shine on their own as well. 

I felt like the pace was slower in this book, but not in a bad way. The story moved along as it needed to and I enjoyed the way that Ross took so much time on Dacre’s and Enva’s stories, giving them life beyond just myth and giving them faces and feelings and natures that could be explored. In the first book, they just felt like these mythical gods but in Ruthless Vows, they’re humanized (to the extent that they can be), and given enough context and background that the entire conflict has more meaning.

I sobbed on several occasions through this book but it was 1000% worth the pain. I adored this series, it’s one of my favourites that I’ve read in a very long time and will be a continuous fantasy recommendation for the foreseeable future.