What to remember about Rebecca Ross' 'Divine Rivals' before reading 'Ruthless Vows'

The sequel to “Divine Rivals” comes out in December. Macmillan

• Rebecca Ross’ “Divine Rivals” became a New York Times bestseller when it was released in April.
• The sequel, “Ruthless Vows,” will be published on December 26.
• Here’s what to remember from the first book before it comes out.

“Divine Rivals,” the first installment in Rebecca Ross’ “Letters of Enchantment” fantasy series, became an instant New York Times bestseller when it was released in April.

It follows Iris Winnow, a journalist who bonds with an anonymous pen pal through her magical typewriter, drawing readers in with an enemies-to-lovers romance set against the backdrop of a war of the gods.

The sequel, “Ruthless Vows,” is set to be released on December 26, picking up Iris’ story after she was forced to return to Oath after serving as a war correspondent.

If you need a refresher on the plot of “Divine Rivals” before Iris’ journey continues, read on. The rest of this article is nothing but spoilers for Ross’ series.

In the ‘Divine Rivals’ universe, two gods are waging a war against each other

Ross’ story takes place in a world called Cambria during a war between the god Dacre and the goddess Enva.

In Cambria, there are two families of gods: Skywards, who rule the land above ground, and Underlings, who rule the underworld. There are only five gods left in Cambria in total: Dacre, Enva, Mir, Alva, and Luz. Dacre is an Underling god, while Enva is a Skyward goddess. Dacre and Enva are enemies going back hundreds of years, as a myth in the text explains.

According to the myth, Dacre came to Earth to search for Enva hundreds of years before the plot of “Divine Rivals,” harming humans in his hunt for her. Enva agreed to go with him to the underworld if he promised not to hurt any more humans, but she escaped shortly after her arrival by lulling him and his court to sleep for six days using her magical harp.

The Skyward and Underling forces then fought a battle after Enva’s escape, and Enva eventually banished Dacre for two centuries by once again lulling him to sleep with her magic, the myth states. However, most humans believe mortals tricked the five gods into taking a potion that made them slumber, and the people then buried the gods in the Western, Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Central Boroughs.

But Dacre and Enva awoke months before “Divine Rivals” begins, with Dacre launching a war from the west to get to Enva, who is in the east. Humans are fighting for both gods, and Dacre is also using evil creatures to advance toward Enva.

Meanwhile, Iris Winnow is in a professional battle

As war rages in the Western Borough, 18-year-old Iris is living in Oath, a city in the Eastern Borough. She feels like she hasn’t been able to catch her breath since her brother, Forest, left town to fight in Enva’s forces. When Forest joined the war, their mother turned to drinking, leaving Iris to be the breadwinner for her home.

She thinks being promoted to columnist at the Oath Gazette — an outlet refusing to write about the war — will solve her problems, but she’s up against Roman Kitt, her rich, stuck-up, and annoyingly handsome colleague.

Iris can’t even reach Forest, so she takes to writing letters to him on her grandmother’s old typewriter for comfort and sliding them under her wardrobe. But the letters mysteriously disappear, and one day, a response magically appears in her bedroom from someone typing on his own typewriter, informing her he isn’t Forest. Neither understands how they’re getting letters to each other, but they keep up a correspondence, becoming fast friends.

Unbeknownst to Iris, her pen pal is Roman, who is shocked to find himself falling for Iris while continuing to compete against her at work. He starts using the alias Carver to protect his identity while he continues to correspond with Iris.

Iris decides to go to the front lines of the war after her life in Oath falls apart

Just as Roman starts being kinder to Iris at the office, everything else in Oath crumbles around her.

Her mother dies, Roman lands the promotion, and Iris feels more alone than ever. In her grief, Iris decides to leave Oath, taking a job as a war correspondent at the Inkridden Tribune. She hopes the job will give her meaning — and a chance at seeing her brother again.

She ends up in a western town called Avalon Bluff, staying at an inn with another reporter, Attie, and the owner, Marisol. She doesn’t see much action immediately, instead penning letters for injured soldiers that she sends to Carver (aka Roman) to mail to their families through their typewriter connection.

Meanwhile, Roman feels trapped by the expectations of his family after his father forces him into an arranged engagement with a woman who helped design a weapon for the war, and his feelings for Iris grow more and more with each letter she sends Carver. Eventually, he decides to quit his job, break off his engagement, and get a position at the Inkridden Tribune so he can follow Iris

Roman eventually confesses his identity to Iris

After he joins her in Avalon Bluff, Roman and Iris spend more and more time together — and he continues writing to her as Carver. Iris grows confused because she is increasingly attracted to Roman, though her heart lies with Carver.

The pair eventually make their way to the front lines, and after Roman is injured in an explosion, Iris realizes she loves him.

While he’s recovering, Iris finally reads a letter Carver wrote her confessing who he is, and though she is initially angry at him for keeping his identity secret, she soon forgives him. They quickly get married, intending to continue as correspondents side by side for the duration of the war.

But when Avalon Bluff is bombed by Dacre’s forces, the newlyweds get separated when Iris’ brother pretends to be Roman to get Iris to follow him. Forest forces Iris to leave Roman behind, physically dragging her away from him. He takes her back to Oath, where he confesses he has been forced to fight for Dacre since the god saved him when he was dying, and escaping him to save Iris was more difficult than she could imagine.

While Forest whisks Iris to Oath, Dacre takes an injured Roman to the underworld, intending to use Roman’s skills as a journalist for his own efforts. The description of “Ruthless Vows” reveals Roman won’t remember his past when the book begins — including Iris.