I’m amused by the fact that, in the review of the first book of this duology, I said I was glad I could pick up the sequel immediately… and then proceeded to wait an entire year to actually read said sequel.

Anyway, Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross picks up two weeks after the events at the end of Divine Rivals. Iris is back home in Oath with her brother, though she’s haunted by what she went through on the war front. However, her hometown is in denial about how bad—and how close—the war is to them, so when she gets another chance, Iris heads west again to continue reporting. Meanwhile, Roman has awoken in the underworld ruled by the deity named Dacre, with no memory of his life. He’s compelled to write articles for Dacre, all the while hiding that his memories are slowly but surely seeping back in. Then, when a letter arrives due to his magical typewriter, things change, and both Roman and Iris must decide upon their next moves. Because anything they do might determine the course of this war.

I quite enjoyed Divine Rivals last year, and had a good time returning to that world. The dismal but vivid setting inspired by WWI-era Europe is excellent, combining a historical old world vibe with magical elements in a clever way. This is, of course, epitomized by the enchanted typewriters that link Iris and Roman—through these, older technology intertwines with fantasy, and it’s great. I do think that the plot mechanics that enable Roman to retain one of the typewriters is a little bit of a stretch, though (what was Dacre’s motivation, keeping that typewriter? He could have just as easily provided a random one. Perhaps his mind game in that case went over my head). But on Iris’ end, I liked that she had to execute a museum heist at one point to keep in contact with Roman. I love a good heist plotline.

Beyond that, I found the plot of this pretty compelling. It was cool to see more about the magical lore of this world, namely the dynamics between the gods Dacre and Enva. Their toxic, star-crossed love story served as an interesting foil to Iris and Roman’s romance. I don’t know that all the elements of their story worked for me, as a lot of the time, I was more interested in the humans and the way they dealt with the war, but it was still intriguing.

As for Iris and Roman, despite having the major setback that came at the end of the first book, their relationship is one of the stronger aspects of this book. I like them as a couple, and their devotion and determination in spite of all the obstacles between them. It’s refreshing (especially after a couple lackluster romances I’ve read lately) to have a male love interest I actually enjoy reading about.

The action of this book is pretty tense, combining the drama of the two deities with the realities of last century’s warfare. However, the final act of this book was kind of a disappointment to me; I think the pacing was much too fast for the gravity of the events occurring. The final fight was almost anti-climactic for how quickly things went down, and there’s a minor character death that I personally didn’t care about at all. I simply hadn’t gotten nearly enough time to get attached to that character. So while the end was dramatic and high-stakes, I think it could have been presented in a different way.

In the end, though, Ruthless Vows is a mostly satisfying conclusion to this duology. The writing is lyrical, but not overly so, and the settings are rich with detail. I like the characters and the various plotlines, and the action is pretty good. Though the final act is imperfect, the love story between the protagonists is still solid enough to carry the story. I’ll definitely look for more books by this author in the future!