What happened in Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross - Recaptains

The basics

Title: Divine Rivals

Author: Rebecca Ross

Series: Letters of Enchantment #1

- Divine Rivals (2023)
- Ruthless Vows (2023)

Add it: Goodreads

Goodreads Summary:

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.

Here is a spoiler summary of what happened in Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross to help refresh your memory before you read the sequel, Ruthless Vows. If you need help remembering what happened in Divine Rivals then you’re in the right place.

What happened in Divine Rivals?

• Iris and Forest Winnow are brother and sister. Forest plans to head off to war to fight for the goddess Enva. The siblings say goodbye.
• A few months later, Iris is working for the Oath Gazette, the local newspaper. She hasn’t heard from her brother in months and is quite upset. Her mother is also upset and is trying to cope using alcohol.
• Roman Kitt was recently hired to work at the newspaper too. The two become rivals for the same columnist promotion. The two get into lots of arguments and compete for the attention of their boss, Zeb. Iris feels really crappy because she thinks Roman will get the job because he’s rich, even though she’s arguably the better writer.
• Iris writes to Forest using a typewriter which she inherited from her grandmother. She posts these letters under her wardrove and they disappear, so something magical is obviously going on.
• One day, Iris receives a reply. And it’s not from Forest, it’s from Roman, who is remaining anonymous. He pretends to be a guy alled Carver (his middle name) and the two continue writing back and forth.
• Roman’s father arranges an engagement between Roman and a rich woman called Elinore, whose father is a chemist. Roman is absolutely not keen, and he doesn’t want his father controlling his life. Elinore isn’t keen either but she doesn’t get much of a say.
• Iris’ mother dies after being run over. Iris learns about this and leaves work early without telling anyone where she is going. Roman goes to her house to bring her jacket back to her but Iris doesn’t tell him what happened.
• Roman, as Carver, tells Iris that he feels like he caused his sister’s death. She drowned when she was a child and he was supposed to be watching her.
• Roman is promoted to columnist, and Iris is upset and resigns. Roman tries to argue that Zeb should give them more time as Iris’ mother recently died (he saw this in the obituaries), but Iris still wants to leave.
• Iris takes a job as a war correspondent for the Inkridden Tribune and travels to the front. She wants to find Forest.
• Iris goes to live at a B&B run by a woman called Marisol.
• Iris learns that her typewriter is super special and is one of three which belonged to three friends. One was given to Iris’s grandmother, and one was given to Roman/Carver’s grandmother.
• As a war correspondent, Iris interviews people and writes letters for injured soldiers. She continues writing to Carver and tells him where she has moved to.
• Roman arrives in town among blaring sirens. Iris runs to him and the two hide from bombs. Roman confides that he will no longer be marrying Elinore, and he has actually quit his columnist job to become a war correspondent too.
• Roman continues writing to Iris in order to get to know her. He eventually tries to tell her the truth, but is interupted when they get sent to report from the front lines. The two are in the trenches when Roman saves Iris and is injured. Iris loses her locket in the trench.
• Iris finally learns who Carver really is, and Roman confesses that he loves her. The two decide to marry.
• Dacre’s army arrives. The citizens of the city are evacuated, but Iris decides to stay as her brother is about to travel through the city.
• Dacre’s army bombs the city overnight. Once the bombing stops, Iris and Roman try to help the injured but they’re caught in poisonous gas and get separated.
• Iris is dragged away by who she thinks is Roman in a gas mask, but it’s actually Forest. He won’t let her go back into the city until the gas is gone. The two of them head back in later on and try to find Roman, but they are unable to find him.
• Forest decides to escort Iris back to Oath. Forest tells Iris that he was injured and nearly died, but Dacre healed him and forced him to switch sides. One day, Forest found their mother’s locket in a trench and decided he needed to find his sister.
• Dacre’s troops secure the city of Avalon Bluff.
• Dacre heals Roman and takes him to the underworld.

That’s what happened in Divine Rivals! Check out our recap list for more recaps. If you can’t find what you need, you can request a recap from us!