Wild Reverence

A Novel

By: Rebecca Ross

Narrated by: George Weightman, Hannah van der Westhuysen, Rebecca Norfolk

Set in the world of the gods first introduced in Divine Rivals, #1 New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Ross delivers a sweeping, beautiful adult novel filled with tension, romance, and dark secrets.

This audiobook features multicast narration, plus a captivating scene from an early draft of Wild Reverence read by the author, accompanied by an exclusive interview exploring her creative journey writing the book.

True love is more divine than any ruthless god.

Born in the firelit domain of the under realm, Matilda is the youngest goddess of her clan, blessed with humble messenger magic. But in a land where gods often kill each other to steal power and alliances break as quickly as they are forged, Matilda must come of age sooner than most. She may be known to carry words and letters through the realms, but she holds a secret she must hide from even her dearest of allies to ensure her survival. And to complicate matters . . . there is a mortal boy who dreams of her, despite the fact they have never met in the waking world.

Ten years ago, Vincent of Beckett wrote to Matilda on the darkest night of his life—begging the goddess he befriended in dreams to help him. When his request went unanswered, Vincent moved on, becoming the hardened, irreverent lord of the river who has long forgotten Matilda. That is, until she comes tumbling into his bedroom window with a letter for him.

As Fate would have it, Matilda and Vincent were destined to find each other beyond dreams. There may be a chance for Matilda to rewrite the blood-soaked ways of the gods, but at immense sacrifice. She will have to face something she fears even more than losing her magic: to be vulnerable, and to allow herself to finally be loved.

"Author Rebecca Ross and her narrators create a listening experience that sounds as though it echoes from centuries long past." — Library Journal

A Macmillan Audio production from Saturday Books

Critic reviews

★ "Full of visceral descriptions, expert pacing, and well-timed humor, what starts as a coming-of-age story transforms into a high-stakes game of power." —Library Journal, Starred Review

Beautiful Story; Perfect Narration.

A goddess and a mortal boy meet many times in in his dreams until years later when fate brings them together in the midst of a war. Still feeling the pull of their youthful connection, as adults they are drawn back to each other, fighting their doomed yet growing love. He will age, she is ageless. What could keep them apart? Wars, sacrifice, jealousy, rival gods, fate…??
This is my first book by Rebecca Ross. Her prose is so beautiful and so lyrical. It’s like she’s singing with her words yet there’s no tune. I can’t explain it, but I want more of it. It left me feeling hopeful, magical, and resplendent. What a delightful story. I can only hope for more like it.

Breathtaking story telling

This was beautifully written and narrated. The story is wonderful. I could not put it down.

Wonderful

4.5 Stars ⭐️

I wasn't really sure what to think before I started reading this book. Why? You might ask....Well, before this, I had only read 1 book by this author, and it wasn't until I actually started THIS book that I realized that I had not actually finished the one duology that I began from this author. I had read book 1, but never got to book 2 - maybe it hadn't come out yet at the time....oops.

So, anyway. I had read several good things about this book and felt like I was in the right head space for this, so I excitedly jumped right in. And this is neither here nor there, but I have also recently started building a new library and am choosing certain "Special Edition" books to purchase to start to create and build my beautiful bookcase. (When you read as many books as I do, and read them as quickly as I do, it never made sense to buy actual books - SPECIFICALLY hardcover books. I usually finish a book in a day, and it seemed like such a waste of money to spend, especially since I NEVER re-read books.) But now that authors are coming out with beautiful books with gorgeous, sprayed edge's and books that can create such beautiful visions, it seemed like a perfect time to start collecting books. And because this hardcover book was really beautiful, it made it an easy choice..... Oh man did I get off track here. None of this is important or even relevant here. **ADHD in action folks.....***

So....let's get back to the book. Sorry about that -

This book is set in the same world of the gods that was first introduced in Divine Rivals, it is set in a world where there is a pantheon of gods and in this world, these gods also share some traits that I would associate with human nature. Traits such as jealousy, and envy...reasons that would cause gods to kill each other in order to steal their power.

We meet our MMC Matilda when she is born, but we are not given all of the information on her birth. We know who her mother is - but we are not told who her father is. Her mother basically says that she gave an oath to never ever repeat his name again because he would hear it and that would constitute breaking her oath. We only know he is from the Sky realm.

In this world, there are three realms. The under, the middle and the sky world. Matilda is a very rare child as she is a combination of the under and the sky. Her mother never wanted her to be too powerful because she worried that if she was, then someone would always be after her in order to try to take her power from her. Matilda's power ends up being that of a herald. She is able to move through out the realms to deliver messages - this constitutes a kind of middling power....or does it?

So, no more summary. What makes this story so captivating is that very early on, Matilda discovers that she has been involved in the dreams of a MORTAL. THIS is very strange and VERY unique. This mortal is named Vincent and, in these dreams, they become friends. But are these events real? Or are they just dreams...???

Things become even more interesting when Matilda sees Vincent in the "real" world and realizes that he is actually a real person and the events that she has learned about his life have been actual and real events. That is all I'm going to say about this because after this- swell, then things REALLY start to get crazy.

I know I mentioned getting this book in hardcover, but I also alternated between reading the print version and listening to the audio format. The audiobook features a wonderful multicast narration, plus a captivating scene from an early draft of Wild Reverence read by the author, accompanied by an exclusive interview exploring her creative journey writing the book. It was awesome to be able to get the differing versions, and I highly recommend that.

I truly enjoyed this story. I liked Matilda as an FMC. She is a captivating and strong female character. Vincent, though, he was my surprise character. I REALLY liked him, and it was so incredibly easy to fall for him and to root for him. His life was not easy, but he has a strength to him that you cannot help but just to just feel so proud of all that he has endured and all that he still accomplishes.

I really adored this book. I do not know if there will be another book in this world, but whether or not there is, I am so very glad that I was able to meet these two characters and follow along on their journey. Definitely worth the time invested. Definitely.

A perfect love story.

It reminded me of Pride and Prejudice in so many ways. It’s so beautifully written and truly captivates you. It’s an incredible standalone story.

Beautiful!

Going into this I was worried I wasn’t going to like it as much as Divine rivals because it started out slow. But about halfway through (maybe sooner) it took off and I was hooked. It had a really good build up to the story. I love that we got to see inside the world of the gods and let me say, you did not know who to trust! As soon as you did BAM they deceived someone😂. But there were a few characters who I immediately loved, I won’t say who so I don’t give away spoilers. Also loved the epilogue, again won’t say why. Only gave it 4 ⭐ ️because it started slow for me and the spice was minimum but it was there-ish or at least somewhat suggestive. Beautiful story, I truly enjoyed it. Definitely recommend.