Title: Wild Reverence

Series: Letters of Enchantment #0, or could be read as a standalone

Author: Rebecca Ross

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

Dear Matilda,I wrote.
I let the words flow for her.
And when the ink dried,
I gave my very heart
to the fire.

Born in the firelit domain of the under realm, Matilda is the youngest goddess of her clan, blessed with humble messenger magic she uses to carry words and letters through the realms. But the gods will kill for power, and Matilda holds a secret she must hide from even her dearest allies.

And there is a mortal who dreams of her, though they have never met in the waking world. Ten years ago, Vincent of Beckett wrote to Matilda on the darkest night of his life—begging the goddess he befriended in dreams to help him. His request went unanswered, and Vincent became a hardened, irreverent lord of the river who has long forgotten Matilda . . . until she comes tumbling into his bedroom window with a letter for him.

Matilda and Vincent were fated to find each other beyond dreams. But to rewrite the blood-soaked ways of the gods, Matilda will have to face something she fears even more than losing her magic: finally allowing herself to be loved. – summary from Goodreads

Wild Reverence is a touching romantasy with gods, war, and childhood friends to lovers!

I really enjoyed this book! It allowed me to dive deeper into the world of Divine Rivals and understand the gods of this world, as well as set up the events of the main duology.

Above, I said this is the Letters of Enchantment book 0 or could be read as a standalone. If you have read Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows, then I highly recommend reading this book. If you have not read those two books, then this book can still be read, and you would not be missing anything. However, if you are planning on reading any of these books, read the main duology first. This book adds so much more context, and despite taking place first, I found it better to read last.

This book was long. I think that is my biggest complaint of this book. It was two hundred pages longer than the other books in this series, and it had a much slower pace. The author did an incredible job with this book, so that even though there was a slower pace, I was engrossed with the story.

Matilda was a wonderful character! She was a lovely narrator, and we got to see her grow from a young child to an adult. That was very interesting, especially since I don’t see that very often in books. She also offered an interesting perspective of this world because she was a goddess, as well as had unique parentage.

Vincent was another lovely character. He had a very sad backstory. I was very intrigued by his character, and I wish there was a few more chapters told from his perspective. I especially liked his relationship with his younger brother. It was sweet, though I wish there was a little more on what his relationship was like with his two older brothers. I also really enjoyed his storyline of being a lord but not wanting to be, and I enjoyed how it all played out.

The romance between Matilda and Vincent was really sweet, and I enjoyed them together. I know I mentioned that they were childhood friends to lovers, but that isn’t entirely true. He dreamed of her for years, and she read those dreams (it’s better explained in the book), and then they met one time before they were separated for years. They eventually met again and fell in love. It was very sweet and moving.

The main duology was much more focused on the romance with the action and war more of a subplot. The romance definitely felt more like a subplot in this book. I enjoyed it, but I felt that a little more time could have been devoted to it.

I loved the side characters, especially Bade and Adira. Bade was such a wonderful character, who was incredibly well written. I loved his relationship with Matilida, and I wish there was more of closure for their story. I also hope that one day Bade and Adira will get their own book.

The setting was very atmospheric and I loved it. We got to see multiple realms in this book as well, and the author did an incredible job of describing these different places. I especially loved getting to see more of the Skyward Realm and Under Realm.

I will say that this book is definitely for adults. This book has multiple fade to black scenes, as well as a lot of violence, that is described more than in the original duology.

Wild Reverence is a moving fantasy story with a touching romance, unique mythology, and wonderful characters!

Quotes:

“My home is your home. My arms are a haven for you to rest. My last name is yours if you desire it. I will love you to my grave, and even beyond it, when the mists welcome me, when I am hopefully very old and gray and grouchy and have spent the seasons beside you when you are here and dreaming of you when you are gone.”