Two rival journalists, a magic typewriter, and letters slipped under a wardrobe door to someone who turns out to be the last person she'd ever write to. Divine Rivals keeps finding new readers years after release, and every wave ends at the same search: Rebecca Ross books in order, and where the newer Wild Reverence belongs. Here's the whole shelf, three series and two standalones, with the one placement choice that actually matters.
Rebecca Ross books in order: the quick map
- Letters of Enchantment (start here, it's the famous one): Divine Rivals (2023) → Ruthless Vows (2023)
- Wild Reverence (2025): an adult prequel set in the same world, centuries earlier, with its own love story
- Elements of Cadence: A River Enchanted (2022) → A Fire Endless (2022)
- The Queen's Rising: The Queen's Rising (2018) → The Queen's Resistance (2019)
- Standalones: Sisters of Sword and Song (2020), Dreams Lie Beneath (2021)
| Series | Books | Age | Romance shape |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letters of Enchantment | 2 | YA crossover | Rivals to lovers, by letter |
| Wild Reverence | 1 (prequel) | Adult | A god, a mortal, forbidden |
| Elements of Cadence | 2 | Adult-leaning | Childhood rivals, marriage of duty |
| The Queen's Rising | 2 | YA | Student and mentor, slow burn |
| Standalones | 2 | YA | Sisters, dreams, lighter romance |
Should you read Wild Reverence before Divine Rivals?
Read it after. Wild Reverence is a prequel in timeline, but it was written for people who already know what the gods cost Iris and Roman's world, and its payoff lands on that knowledge. Ross described it as her first adult book in the Letters of Enchantment world and a new love story centered on the god Matilda (her interview with Variety). Publication order, Divine Rivals, Ruthless Vows, then Wild Reverence, keeps every reveal intact.
What is Divine Rivals about?
Iris Winnow writes letters to her brother at the front of a war between gods and slips them under her wardrobe door. Someone answers. That someone is Roman Kitt, the polished rival competing with her for the same newspaper column, and he knows exactly who she is long before she knows him. It's enemies to lovers run through the gentlest possible delivery system, and Ruthless Vows takes the romance somewhere much crueler: the second book tests whether a love built entirely in writing survives when one of them can't remember it.
Is there a Divine Rivals movie?
It's in development. Paramount set up the adaptation with Sofia Alvarez (To All the Boys I've Loved Before) writing the script (The Hollywood Reporter). No director, cast or date has been announced, so treat any casting you see on TikTok as fan-made. When real news lands, this shelf will spike again, and this guide will be updated.
Which Rebecca Ross series should you read next?
- You loved the letters: A River Enchanted. Jack and Adaira are childhood rivals forced back together on a folklore island, and the yearning runs on the same slow current.
- You want more tension: The Queen's Rising, a slow-burn mentor romance with court intrigue.
- You want the whole mood of Iris and Roman again, new names: our enemies to lovers book list and the best romantasy books roundup are the next shelves over.
Why does Divine Rivals hit so hard?
Because the romance happens before either of them is allowed to have it. Every letter is an intimacy without a face attached, and readers who fell for Roman fell for his voice first. Her Goodreads author page keeps the full bibliography if you're collecting editions.
The cruel trick of an epistolary romance: once the letters stop, so does he. Swoony picks up right where the book drops you: romance and nothing else, closed-door and unhurried, a relationship that grows across five stages and is never paywalled - no subscription, no per-message tolls. Start with the wrong number that stuck, a stranger who kept texting back, or the rival who keeps winning if it was the competition you fell for.
The world stays open past the final page.
