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.
Ruthless Vows is the bigger, darker half of the pair, and the scale is both its best and shakiest move. The magical letters still carry the emotional weight, and readers praise the prose as poetic and elegant. One blogger calls the book's symmetry with Divine Rivals brilliant.
The fantasy gets louder. There's an underworld, winged mounts and a larger role for the gods, and that's exactly where critics find the characters thinnest. Enva and Dacre can read like plot devices. The middle drags, the central romance is held back until the second half, and the villain is a stereotype. Still, the finish lands, and the story actually ends. If cliffhangers make you wary, a two-book arc that closes is a real selling point.
Kirkus called it an enjoyable closer to the duology and liked how the romantic tension is paced. The Nerd Daily found the middle slack and ranked it just below the first book. It won the 2024 Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction, edging out Lauren Roberts's Reckless.
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Fantasy fiction for young adults and adults frequently merges high-stakes realm building with intimate personal conflict and romance. Rebecca Ross is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Sunday Times bestselling American fantasy novelist whose works span mythic duologies and standalone tales translated into thirty-one languages.
Ross grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. She initially studied English at Gainesville State College (now the University of North Georgia) before transferring to the University of Georgia, where she pursued nutrition and dietetics before earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2012. She made her publishing debut in 2018 with the young adult fantasy novel The Queen's Rising, launching a duology that concluded with The Queen's Resistance.
Following her debut, Ross expanded her bibliography with the fantasy duologies Letters of Enchantment and Elements of Cadence, alongside standalone novels such as Dreams Lie Beneath, Sisters of Sword & Song, and Wild Reverence. When she is not writing, she spends time in her garden in Northeast Georgia, where planting wildflowers often sparks story ideas. She resides in Northeast Georgia with her husband, her dog, and a flock of chickens.
Ross's storytelling is characterized by combining mythological lore with subtle, everyday magic and deeply human emotional stakes. Her narratives frequently examine rivalries between ancient clans, enchanted communication, musical folklore, and deep romantic partnerships tested by war and political intrigue. By grounding magical elements in quiet atmospheric details and personal resilience, her work explores how love and connection endure during times of conflict.
Letters of Enchantment
