Ruthless Vows

I absolutely adored Divine Rivals, the first book in the Letters of Enchantment duology, when I read it last year. After a lot of letdowns in 2023, Divine Rivals helped reinvigorate my reading passion and became one of my favorites in the end. So, I was incredibly excited about this second book and the conclusion of the story. I feel like Ruthless Vows, however, didn't quite create the same magic though. I enjoyed it and still found myself looking forward to reading it every day, the world and characters Rebecca Ross created still pulled me in, but the elements that made Divine Rivals so delightful fell rather flat the second time around. The banter between Iris and Roman, the sumptuously written letters, and the found family feel of Marisol's place were all missing, in fact, many of the side characters from Divine Rivals barely made an appearance at all. Ross seemed to boost the world-building at the cost of the simpler charm she created without it in the first book, which might have worked out if the world-building was well done, but it also felt lacking. There was a base for some really good mythical storytelling regarding the gods, but that never really materialized. Dacre was a boring, decidedly not frightening character. Enva was elusive and the motivations of both were never really explored or even really clear. It could have been a story steeped in ancient magic and powerful, frightening beings loosed on the world with high stakes and epic implications, but it wasn't fleshed out enough to get there. I think my enjoyment stemmed a lot from what was originally created in Divine Rivals and I still cared and liked Iris and Roman and wanted to continue following their story, but as I look back now I'm finished, I find that the conclusion just didn't elicit the same emotion, delight, or enjoyment and it makes me a bit sad as I feel it had a lot of potential to be better. I didn't hate it and I think the duology is still worth reading. Ross created a unique fantasy/romance story and I appreciate her bold foray into crafting something different which captivated me, even if I felt like the second book didn't live up to my expectations.