Ruthless Vows - Rebecca Ross

 

 “Write me a story where there is no ending, Kitt. Write to me and fill my empty spaces.” 

 The anticipated sequel to Divine Rivals is out and I am saddened to say...that I did not enjoy this as much as its predecessor. I still enjoyed it, but it didn't have the same hold over me as Divine Rivals did.

⭐⭐⭐

Started: January 16th, 2024

Finished: January 29th, 2024

Synopsis: After Iris and Roman are separated during a raid on Avalon Bluff, Iris moves back to Oath with her long-lost brother, Forest. Roman, taken into the care of Dacre, one of Underling gods lost his memory in exchange for being healed from his mortal wounds. This story takes place with Iris, trying to find Roman and Roman slowly regaining his memories of Iris. 

My Review: Upon finishing Divine Rivals, I immediately wanted to know what happened to Iris, Roman, and Forest. Iris is taken back to Oath by her brother, Forest, (who very rudely left Roman on the battlefield inhaling poisonous gas, like excuse me?) and he becomes a sort of warden for Iris. I get he is the older, protective brother, but it was a little much considering Iris is married and has done a shit-ton of stuff since he last saw her. Roman, on the other hand, was saved by Dacre and is forced to become his war correspondent for the Underlings. 

The premise of this book is that Iris and Roman are separated again, but with the added notion that Roman is suffering from amnesia, a byproduct of Dacre's powers to save Roman's life. In DR, this longing was fluid and smooth, whereas in this story, it felt rushed. The amnesia lasted all but a couple of chapters, and it didn't feel like it added anything other than nodding at the events of the first book, but with less impact.

Another aspect that did not have as much impact were the gods themselves. Dacre, this supposed hellish god who only wants to heal people (his words) is killing so many people in order to prove a point. Enva, on the other hand, appears out of nowhere to gift Iris a magical sword that will destroy Dacre. It felt like a very set-up deux ex machina where Iris would defeat the "great evil" with a magical sword. Enva herself was very forgettable and I had to rewind my audio in order to understand that she showed up. 

The saving grace for this book was when Roman and Iris were actually together! They aren't together much in this book, but when they are...the longing and the pining is *chef's kiss*. Especially that one moment with them together (IYKYK). I wanted so much more of their life together and it felt like they were both operating on different schedules, which they were. Roman had to keep up his farce with Dacre and Iris was busy working with Atty and Tobias to find Enva. In my opinion, the story didn't work as well when the two protagonists weren't together and on the same page. 

Final Thoughts: Overall, I was disappointed with this one. Disappointed to the point where I upped the audio speed just to finish the book because honestly, the gods and their war...I didn't care ultimately. The gods, in hindsight, were dumb to trust humans and maybe that's why they were put to sleep in the first place. They just weren't smart enough to keep themselves relevant anymore.