Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1) by Rebecca Ross

 

Summary (from the publisher): When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.

After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish―into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.

Shadow and Bone meets Lore in this epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.

Review: Eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow is working hard to earn a promotion to columnist at the Oath Gazette to help hold her family together. Her mother is an alcoholic, and her brother has gone off to fight in the war. But her promotion is threatened by her rival, Roman Kitt, the cold and handsome fellow journalist at the paper. Alone at home, she writes letters to her missing brother and slips them under her wardrobe door and is astonished someone starts writing her back. Little does she know that that someone is her rival Roman Kitt. As the two begin to bond, the decision over who will be promoted forces Iris to make a decision that will change the trajectory of both Roman and Iris's lives. 

This novel really worked for me. It's got it all - Greek mythology, historical fiction vibes, you've got mail via typewriter vibes, wartime romance, and more. Ross has created two extremely compelling characters in Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt and it's difficult to not root for them. The addition of the anonymous letters and ability to magically send them was also a nice touch, enabling them to pour out their most vulnerable thoughts to one another from the privacy of their own rooms, even when they are rivals at work. This was such a unique blend of a fantasy world set in a vaguely historical setting and a beautiful romance embedded in the middle of it all. Looking forward to book two. 

Stars: 4