The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is a sweet and endearing tale full of humor, romance, unique worldbuilding, and... dead bodies! I had fun with this one.

I really did like reading it, but there are a few factors that just didn't work for me. For starters, I feel that calling this story similar to Howl's Moving Castle is... incorrect. I simply did not get those vibes from this story besides the talking animals. Other readers may feel differently, but I felt like that was just false marketing. I'm a huge HMC fan, though, so I take these things seriously! Furthermore, the You've Got Mail-type plotline gave me a little bit of the ick. I think that the author should have considered writing more personal, unique letters rather than kind of generic ones. I just didn't believe that these two people were falling in love from the letters that we read. OR maybe they should be longtime penpals rather than just a few months before finding out who they've been writing. I'm not sure how I would have preferred it exactly, but I know I didn't like the letters in particular. They were just kind of bland. And this is coming from someone who typically loves letters/texts/etc in books!

What I did enjoy were both Hart and Mercy as characters and their interactions together. Maybe their "hatred" of each other was a little silly, but it didn't bother me that much. I do think that they had chemistry and that part of the story was enjoyable to read. Ultimately, I rooted for them and I loved the conclusion to their story. I found it very sweet, charming, and swoon-worthy.

Another thing I enjoyed was the family aspect and I found that the scenes where the family was all together were entertaining. I also enjoyed the unique worldbuilding. While I do think that the worldbuilding could have been expanded upon more, as some of it was confusing, I thought that Bannen's universe that she created was fresh and fun. I lowkey want another story in this world. Regardless of my few qualms, I would read it.

I definitely will keep an eye on Megan Bannen's books in the future. 3.5 stars!

This is the cutest, most unique book I've read in a while. It feels like the whimsical fairytale I've been looking for for a while!

I did not finish this book. I wanted to like this one so much, but it wasn't for me. Hart and Mercy were both immature. Mercy's dog was the best character in the book. And maybe her brother and Hart's assistant. It felt like a lot of wasted potential.

Magical, delightful and sooo precious!

This book captured me right from the start with such witty dialogue. I feel like it's more romance than fantasy, though both aspects are done really well here and I loved the world-building. It's so creative, immersive and left me wanting more! Now combine that with an A+ cast, some spice, snark and banter, plus action and adventure. Don't forget the letters! The representation!

I couldn't stop smiling at times. Seriously, the cast! Can you imagine a spin-off with Horatio and foul-mouthed Bassie? That would be a total riot. I also really enjoyed the family dynamics, found family theme, all the side characters and their arcs. Also, Duckers is everything, don't fight me on this.

The climax was slightly underwhelming for me as I found it too predictable and low stakes (compared to other fantasy books that have no qualms ripping out your heart). Nevertheless, the epilogue is perfection and I had a positively gleeful time with this wonderful novel. No wonder it's a Booksta darling.

While I do enjoy the trope of enemies to lovers, I didn't find this one embraced the aspects of that trope that I typically like. The core of their hatred toward one another came down to--essentially--a bad first impression, and while I enjoyed their relationship once they started to progress through that, I also found the "hate" dragged on a bit longer than I would've liked.

The aspects of death were done well, but I am very picky about how that particular element in books, which resulted in the "it's not you, it's me" factor a bit.

Overall, I liked the book, but I didn't love it. I'd definitely pick up another work by this author, and would recommend this one to others.

A quirky and fun read with delightful banter. The characters jump off the page and the plot keeps you engaged.

This book didn't work out for me. I'm not sure why. It may have been a case of right book wrong time. Will give it a second shot one day.

A really great romance with enemies to lovers vibes - it had great emotional depth, a weird setting that bordered on a zombie story with a focus on death care. It was touching, a bit funny, a bit sad - definitely a recommended read for romance fans!

LOVED this book! It was so unique in that it was a You've Got Mail retelling in a fantastical world, dealing with the theme of grief.

Enemies-to-lovers will always be a favorite of mine!

Coming off of some serious heartbreak myself, the last thing I wanted to read was a romance novel, but this one managed to utterly charm me despite my best efforts to keep it at arms length. To me, this one defies genre labels - it's not quite a romance, not quite a fantasy or adventure, but wholly engaging. A fantasymance, perhaps?

The world-building is what did it for me. A setting reminiscent of the Old West, or Appalachia, in a world with transistor radios and sneakers and croissants, and also Old and New Gods, funerary rites that involve salt and hand-carved boats, and giant talking animals handling mail delivery. What fun! It reminded me of [book: The Spirit Hollows] in a way, with the real world-adjacent yet old-time-y setting.

I found myself really enjoying the romance as well. Enemies to lovers isn't my favorite trope (not that I have a favorite trope... I don't think) but it was handled well here, with Hart in particular doing a great deal of growth. I didn't see as much character development in Mercy, and would have liked to see her growth match his a bit more, but that's a minor gripe.

Still a fun, entertaining, heart-warming romp. The actual plot (romance aside) and character development was well-handled and satisfying, so this should please discerning readers who actually want a story with their romance and not just as an afterthought. I'd pick up another of Bannen's books in the future!

Thank you so much NetGalley, Megan Bannen, and Orbit Books for providing me with a free copy of this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think my expectations were too high, when I read this book, because I’m sad that I didn’t enjoy it more. I really did want to love this book because I loved the ideas of a Urban Fantasy + Romance + Zombies. To be honest, I struggled with it at first and contemplated DNF’ing it. Mercy was enjoyable and I loved the dynamics between her and her family. They listen to each other & appreciate Mercy. Like when Mercy’s brother finally told the truth, she was annoyed, but listened and found a resolution that worked for both of them. You can tell that her family acknowledges and appreciates all of her hard work. Hart, on the other hand, annoyed me. I understand that his character has been through a lot, and he has unresolved trauma, so I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. But throughout the book, I was always wondering, “How will his un-resolved trauma effect his relationship with Mercy?” I thought the addition of pen-pals was cute, especially in this Steampunk Urban Fantasy setting. I liked how it explored their communication, because it revealed more of their inner thoughts and feelings, than it would have if they had talked more face-to-face. Maybe I’ll re-read in this book in the future with lower expectations because it did get a lot of good reviews and I like to give books & authors 2nd chances.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

Mercy and Hart have been enemies ever since their first meeting. As the daughter of one of the only undertakers who will take unkeyed cadavers, unfortunately Mercy has to see Marshall Hart more than she would like. Singlehandedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers going, Mercy finds she needs a friend, so when a letter is unexpectedly delivered to her, signed only 'A Friend', she soon relies on the letters more than she could ever imagine. Hart is a grumpy and sullen person, who's had to rely on himself for so long, but realises he is lonely, and would like someone to talk to. Never expecting to receive a reply to his spontaneously written letter, the replies are the best part of his day, but when the person on the other end wants to meet up, and it's revealed it's Mercy he's been communicating with, he mucks it all up. Can he reveal his feelings, and let someone in for once, or will he be forced to be alone after ruining everything?

Well, this book took me by surprise. I've tried to read it about three or four times since my copy was approved, but never got past chapter 2 for some reason. However, one winter morning, I decided to try again, and I was hooked. Honestly, I didn't do much but sit and read with a nice blanket until the book was finished. Hart was grumpy, but as Mercy, Pen, and the rest of the gang started to get beneath his skin, it was clear he had a softness hiding. Mercy had all the pressures of her family on her shoulders. She was keeping secrets from each other, for each other, and had everything to do herself. Being able to vent her frustrations to her mysterious friend was a blessing, but soon the feelings of friendship changed, for both her and Hart. I loved the way they opened up to each other in their letters, and though I hated the secret keeping in the middle of the book, I felt like their relationship progressed perfectly for them. The last quarter of the book had me on the edge of my seat, and I nearly wept at some of the events which occurred. A fantastic book which I wish I'd read sooner - if only I'd persevered earlier!

OK, finally a book that has it all, action, adventure, romance, hate, love, family, everything. The story is beyond original except for a few pages stolen almost verbatim from "You Got Mail" which was enjoyable but kind of felt a bit like plagiarism since I did not see any credit given (maybe it is in the notes). I can keep this short since it starts slow and ends with an amazing and exceptional ending. 5 Stars indeed.

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is such a special book and (pun intended) has a lot of soul—I absolutely adored it.
Just enough romance, amazing world-building, a little town I want to live in myself, and a very satisfying conclusion.
I can only hope that there are more stories to come set in this little world created by Megan Bannen.
4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to Orbit and to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I'm not sure I've ever read a rom-com in a fantasy setting before but I absolutely adored this grumpy/sunshine book. It was unexpectedly funny, heart warming and mildly... spooky? There are zombies".

This was a 4 star read but I sobbed nonstop during the last 15%, so now it's a 5 star (I need therapy).

I think cozy fantasies are my new obsession.

ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Almost four stars...

I'm a big fan of original plots, quirky characters, and solid writing.

Happily I can say that the book had it all. I especially enjoyed the developing friendship and then romantic relationship between the couple - I'm such a sucker for romance.

The writing was right up my alley, except for some parts here and there that I skimmed - don't ask me why, I couldn't even explain why my attention floundered at times.
Overall, I was impressed by the original and very solid storytelling. And I wouldn't say no to a sequel or another book in this world.

Well done!!!

I loveddddd this book so much!! It was definitely a cute story that had me smiling so much with its romance. These characters have my heart, honestly. I think the story was really well told and though it did slow down for me at some parts and took a little bit for me to get into, I ultimately ended up thoroughly enjoying it. I wish it maybe had gone a bit deeper in its fantasy elements, but other than that, this story was so much fun!

A lighthearted fantasy romance in a sort of alternate reality. It didn’t really hook me, but I could see it appealing to fans of modern world fantasy rom coms.

Anyone who knows me knows that I live for a good grumpy x sunshine dynamic, found family, and falling in love with people who annoy the everloving sh-- out of you. I love the play on You've Got Mail, where two people find each other through correspondence, and I like that the author applied the trope to zombie fighting and funeral parlors. The world-building was really well done, and the strange cast of characters was definitely worth the read. Overall I thought this was a solid romcom. I do think the romance could have been more romance-y, if that makes sense, but maybe that is just a me thing.

Leaving reviews on Goodreads and Amazon.

Overall, I liked the story enough to give it 3.5 stars. The author’s previous books (YA fantasy) were amazing and both five stars for me, so I was really looking forward to her first foray into adult fantasy. I really liked Hart a lot, even though he was grumpy/ gave off unapproachable vibes. It was a front and he was secretly a sweetheart. I did however have a lot of issues with the plot/ world building/ character development, which is why this sadly wasn’t five stars for me. It had potential to be another amazing five stars, but fell short a bit. This doesn’t change the fact though that Megan is an auto-buy author for me- she’s great at telling a good story.

Spoilers ahead for all the issues I had with the story.
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1) I didn’t like that the characters are written so immaturely- the female MC Mercy is 30 and the mals MC Hart is 36. Mercy’s sister is just a few years younger than Mercy. But even though they’re in their thirties, a lot of their behavior and dialogue is so juvenile- they acted like teenagers a lot. Really, the only thing that makes this an “adult” romance is that there is a fair amount of swearing (still common in upper YA), and a couple of fairly explicit sex scenes.
The magic-verse was great (what I saw of it) but it had a lot of gaps. We hardly know anything about the old/ new gods or demigods. We get a bit of an info dump near the end about Hart’s father, but there’s not really any info on the other gods, old versus new, the pantheon, zip. So yeah, tons of gaps.
2) I didn’t like that there were some sexist plot points (like Mercy not automatically inheriting the business even though she’s the eldest and the one putting in most of the work), or several mentions of Mercy’s curves/ big boobs/ etc.
3) Mercy was a total jerk to Hart for no reason- we never find out why they had an insta-hate. Even though she’s a jerk again in person when they finally meet over the letters, he falls in love with her seemingly overnight. It went from insta-hate to insta-love, totally unbelievable. Her on her part after he saved her. I mean, great that he saved her, but I didn’t like that that was the catalyst for her developing insta-love feelings.
4) I hate it when the plot revolves around lack of communication. Mercy’s issues with her family are all about them assuming they knew what was best for her, and her not voicing anything. She’s 30, she’s not a little kid. She helped raise her siblings. Why hasn’t she spoken up for herself all these years? The letter writing thing that’s been described as a “you got mail” knockoff also has the issue of lack of communication (not identifying himself even after Hart knew who the letter pen pal was, and keeping it a secret for so long).