In some ways, this book reminded me of a grown-up Percy Jackson if it were a Western, and if there were secret pen pals. Oh, and no dad jokes.

After a particularly prickly encounter with Mercy Birdsall, Hart Ralston finds himself writing a letter to no one. Well, technically he addressed it to “A Friend” but since he doesn’t really have friends at this point, it’s basically a letter to no one. Except…someone writes back.

At its heart, this is a love story. Don’t get me wrong, there are funeral boats and demigods and zombies. It takes place in a world all its own with unique occupations, belief system, and days of the week. There is an empty realm where the old gods used to live. There is a big corporate funeral services chain trying to take down Birdsall & Son Undertakers. There is a crazy-but-loveable family that cares deeply for one another even if they don’t always understand each other. Beneath all that, though, is the story of two lonely people who think they don’t like each other, but slowly fall in love through written letters.

The love scenes are mostly open door, but not overly descriptive. The nonromantic storylines are engaging and the worldbuilding is very thorough. If you don’t typically read romance, this may be a good starting point.

3.5 stars
Thank you to Netgalley for providing an early copy for review.

I went into this book with no expectations other than having enjoyed a book by this author years ago, and as I read “The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy” I was constantly surprised, not only by how different this book is from “The Bird and the Blade”. No, it was also because this book was simply… whacky.

In the best way!

If I had to describe it briefly, it’s a wild west fantasy story plus zombies plus You’ve Got Mail. Mixed in is a dash of whimsy, a foul-mouthed giant rabbit, and – especially surprising and exciting for an ardent fan of Caitlin Doughty - death positivity!

I mean, this book has everything. And I haven’t even mentioned the main ingredient: hate-to-love romance!
I suppose that wasn’t a very brief description after all.

I think that is the charm of this story, though. The author’s writing makes it very atmospheric, and it takes you on an adventure full of randomness, sassiness, and, frankly, silliness.

There were only a few things that didn’t land for me.

One was that the abrasive swearing of one of the (aforementioned) characters felt a bit over the top and out of place in relation to the rest of the story, but I think this was on purpose because… that was the character. Also note that I found the giant mail-delivery rabbit’s swearing to be out of place, not the giant mail-delivery rabbit himself. I also felt Hart and Mercy, when they finally did fall in love, fell in love very fast. I would have loved to see more genuine and simple acts of kindness between them before they became romantically involved, but that’s just me. And thirdly, the ending felt very abrupt. I was actually surprised when I finished reading the sweet final words on the page, turned the page for more, and found the end pages.

It was still a very sweet ending, though.

I think this book would be a great choice for the whimsical reader looking for adventure and romance and just some straight up wackiness.

Plus zombies

I wanted this book to be more than it was, unfortunately. Three stars because I don't think at my current pace, I'll finish it before it releases, but this is one I felt was a chore to get through. It isn't *bad*, it's just disappointing. The concept felt like a rip of several romcoms thrown into a blender together, but given breath in a fun and unique setting. If less of those elements came from elsewhere, it wouldn't drag down the originality that is trying to be on display.

I am a big fan of Megan Bannen's work, so when I heard she was writing an adult fantasy, I was all in. This is a bit lighter than her usual fare, though not exactly fluffy. Frankly, however you'd define it, it was the perfect blend of high stakes and dark adventure, and humorous, heartwarming moments, which made it so very readable.

To say I loved this book is an understatement. And I will try to tell you why, but really you just need to go read it for yourself, yeah?

►The characters were amazing. I fell in love with Hart and Mercy long before they fell for each other. Heck, they loathe each other. But they were both so well-developed and entertaining, I felt as though I knew them personally. They come from very different backgrounds, and I loved that they both had to reconclile their pasts before they could be ready to be with each other in the present.

►Speaking of, I loved their support systems! Mercy's family is incredible, and wholly realistic. They love each other deeply, but they also have their problems and arguments. Mercy is basically taking over the family undertaking business, even though her dad has assumed her brother would take the role. I mean, dude literally named it "Birdsall & Son", so. But turns out, he has less than no interest in the family business. But Mercy loves it. It is also awesome to see a woman venturing into this business which, in this world, is very clearly male-dominated.

Then we have Hart's "family". His actual family passed long ago, and he tries to keep everyone at arm's length. But some people have weaseled their way past his tough veneer. His boss and her wife are wonderful supports to him, and his boss insists that he take on an apprentice, which becomes a really great connection for Hart.

►Obviously, the relationship between Hart and Mercy is key. First, they hate each other. Hate, hate, utterly loathe. They don't even have good reasons for hating each other, they just... do. But even when they're not fond of each other, their banter is A+. The chemistry is there from the start, no doubt.

►The whole "pen pals" bit is so cute. Okay first of all, the letters are delivered by talking animals, which usually I am iffy about, but man, these fit so seamlessly into the world (and provide such great humor) that I was absolutely living for them! And I loved how Hart and Mercy both let themselves be vulnerable, when they thought they were talking to a stranger.

►So many emotions! Look, I laughed, I cried, I swooned. It was perfection. I won't tell you why I did those things, because spoilers, but this book provided so many emotional experiences. The humor is fabulous, and makes the darker topic of death and undertaking so much more palatable.

Bottom Line: Perfect characters, a very swoonworthy romance, and an entertaining plot full of feels puts this book on my favorites list for sure!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely LOVED this book. Was it weird? Yes. Were the characters and world-building great? Yes. Did it make me cry? Also, yes.

The setting/world that was created was unlike anything I’ve read in a long time. I appreciated the tiny details that made this a unique fantasy world, while also grounding it in a plausible reality. I loved EVERY SINGLE ONE of the characters. The animal messengers had me in hysterics every time they showed up on the page.

The romance was one of the sweetest things I’ve read in recent memory. I enjoyed the fact that while the romance is the main plot of the book, it never becomes overwhelming or over-the-top. The subplots are equally as good, and I found myself rooting for all of the characters and their various situations.

I look forward to reading more of Megan Bannen’s work in the future!

I loved this! It was so unique and refreshing. I don’t think I’ve read anything quite like The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy and this is definitely a gem.

(4.5 stars rounded up to a 5)

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is a fantasy novel with a heaping dose of romance by Megan Bannen. The ebook version is 336 pages. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at a little over twelve hours and is narrated by Michael Gallagher and Rachanee Lumayno. We follow our two characters with alternating third-person points-of-view.

Hart is a demi-god marshal, patrolling the magical wilds of Tanria to prevent dredges (think zombies) from attacking citizens. Mercy is an interim undertaker, waiting for her brother to take over the family business. They do not see eye-to-eye at all. To fight his feelings of loneliness, Hart begins writing a letter to "A Friend," sure that it will not end up in anyone's hands, but it would help him feel better. But then he receives an anonymous letter back in return, and he forges a true friendship. Little does he know that the reply came from Mercy...

The worldbuilding here was really cool! The setting is fleshed out and interesting, and while I may have been a little confused at first the threads all came together for me at one point and I was all-in. I wish that a map was included in the finished copy of this book, because I think it would have been good to reference to help me connect the threads a lot faster. That being said, I think this is a pretty well-done genre blend of fantasy and romance.

I loved all of the characters--especially the side characters. I absolutely loved both of the talking animals who are mail carriers. There's a lot of whimsy here, and I see why some other reviewers were comparing it to Studio Ghibli. Also this cover is gorgeous and the few steamy scenes are pretty nice.

If you're a fan of Ilona Andrews or The Princess Bride, you may like this book. There's cool, expansive worldbuilding + interesting characters that you can't help but love. There's adventure, but at its core it's a love story with a HEA.

Tropes in this book include: grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers, opposites attract, found family, epistolary/pen pals, secondary romance, he falls first, queer side characters, zombies, HEA

CW: mentions of losing a parent and a pet, violence, dead bodies w/descriptions of corpse, gore, parent recovering from heart attack

Special thanks to Orbit Books, Hachette Audio, Hachette, and NetGalley for providing an audio galley of this book for me to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for providing me with this arc.

God damn that was cute. This is now my favorite romance book. Major Howl’s Moving Castle/Studio Ghibli vibes. I hope it gets a movie, like a cartoon or anime. Everything about this book is perfection. Absolutely not your typical fantasy romance. 100% swoonworthy.

This was such a lovely cozy fantasy romance. While it took me a few chapters to get a grasp on the players in this world, I did really enjoy the fantasy Western-esque setting and Bannen's take on zombies with a hint of meddling gods.

I thought all of the characters were well fleshed out and I did ultimately like the romance between Mercy and Hart, though I think I liked the family dynamics between the Birdsall family and between Hart and Pen more. However, that might be a general greater interest in the side characters than the main two.

Overall, I thought this was super cute and a great summer into fall read for those seasonal readers!

Well, I was just delighted by this book! After I got over the initial worldbuilding confusion, which was surprisingly in-depth. I was dumped into a world that I expected to be sort of “weird-western” and it was, but it was weirder than I expected. Zombies, demi-gods, animal mail carriers with drinking problems all set in a rather modern world. It really had a bit of everything.
So, even though the world stuff is cool, the best part is really the cast of characters. Mercy Birdsall is the daughter of an undertaker on the island of Bushong. Since her father Roy had a heart-attack, Mercy has been doing most of the heavy lifting so she’s not suddenly burying him. Turns out, Mercy loves this job and her brother, Zeddie, who was supposed to come home and take over after his schooling finished, totally hates it. He wants to be a fancy chef, not preparer of the dead. Mercy’s family (her sister especially) feels like she needs to go and finally live her own life, but what they don’t get is that she’s living the life she wants! She just needs a sympathetic ear - someone she can bare her soul to.
And then there’s Hart Ralston, handsome demi-god marshal. Hunter of drudges (basically zombies). He’s got to be the loneliest man in existence, right up until his former partner and now boss foists an apprentice upon him. He’s dealing with a lot of emotional baggage and seriously needs some therapy. Instead of getting an actual therapist, he writes an anonymous letter addressed “Dear Friend”, pops it in the mailbox and thinks on it no more. UNTIL. It gets a response, delivered by the liquor-loving lop-ear mail carrier rabbit (who does speak, quite a lot). You guessed it, it was delivered to Hart Ralston’s not-so-favorite undertaker, Mercy. Of course, the two don’t know it and continue to exchange letters, finding they really like this other person and they decide they want to meet.
I love the thought of this wonderful, secret pen pal who knows your true soul. I love the cast of characters, particularly the tight-knit Birdsall family. I love the smidgen of mystery thrown into the story. I even rather liked the world-building after I got over the initial confusion. This book was almost a total win for me! I wasn’t super crazy about a certain event at the very end though. It was really emotional and you get a few hints leading up to Hart’s parentage reveal, but ultimately it just felt contrived. Aside from me rolling my eyes at a convenient return to life, I did love this. I thought it was emotional and fun - would definitely recommend if you’re looking for a good fantasy romance with weird-western vibes (even if technically it’s set on an island).

An interesting blend of the pen pals to lovers trope with a fantastical twist! It was a bit slow at the beginning but picked up fairly quickly.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

I think maybe what was so exciting about this book was how unexpected it was. I don’t know if I just didn’t read the blurb correctly or what, but I was expecting something… Victorian, maybe? More prim and proper, but with this seedy dead body situation, kind of like Anatomy: A Love Story. So when I got You’ve Got Mail but with zombies and demigods and a Wild West sort of feel, it was a complete surprise. And then it veered into tender and heartbreaking and hilarious and sweet, and my world was rocked yet again. I wish I had the ability to describe in words exactly how much I adore this world and these characters, but even now I’m on the brink of tears thinking about it. The only complaint I have about the whole thing is that I wanted the epilogue to be 400x longer so I could bask in the ending until my heart was ready to say goodbye. Honestly though, that probably still wouldn’t have been long enough.

5/5 ⭐️
2/5 🌶️

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy was even better than I was expecting. The world was incredibly unique, the characters were so interesting and fun, and the plot kept me on my toes the whole time. This is one of those books where I finish and instantly want to read again.

Secret pen pals is one of my favorite tropes that I just don't see enough, and it was so well done here. I love how they started writing to each other, with Hart looking to be less lonely and with Mercy finding a much needed friend. It's always angsty waiting to see how it all blows up, and this one didn't disappoint. I felt so bad on both of their accounts on how it went down and didn't really blame one over the other.

The world building was just amazing. It took a minute to grasp exactly how it all worked, but I really enjoyed the world Megan brought to life. I love the idea of birth keys, that souls are housed in an area of our body that we in this world find almost useless and how drudges are just lost souls looking to live again. Everything is this world was so wonderfully different, even the days of the week and how they were named.

Hart and Mercy were so loveable. The banter between them was so much fun, I couldn't get enough. The supporting cast was great too, especially Pen and Zeddie. I also really loved Alma and Diane, they were so sweet and great mom figures for Hart.

The action was more intense than I was expecting. Two parts in particular had my knee bouncing in anticipation for what was to come. I was almost in tears in a few spots too, it broke my heart to think Hart thought he was so alone when he was surrounded by so much love. All the while, I was constantly laughing from the fantastic dialogue between everyone. This book really had it all and I'm hoping this isn't our last stop in this wonderful world.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I had no idea what to expect with The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, but I’m all for a fun fantasy romance, so I was on-board. It’s a bit out there, but it ultimately is a fun ride.
The world building is a bit uneven in places, and the part I wanted a bit more from. It took a while to figure out what the deal was. It definitely leans more modern linguistically and technologically, but there’s some comically morbid fantastical elements woven in, so it’s definitely one of the more unique fantasy worlds I’ve read about.
It’s fun seeing both Hart and especially Mercy in the context of the roles they play in the world. Hart is a demigod who doesn’t know who his real father is. Mercy is from a family of undertakers, and I love the family dynamics among the Birdsalls.
The romance is pretty cute, and I like how there’s simultaneously an enemies-to-lovers thing going, while a secret pen-pal relationship is also developing. I really like the dynamic when two people who get along through correspondence can’t stand each other in real life, and you even have the comedy of the failed first meeting where one realizes who the other is, but the other doesn’t.
This is a fun, quirky read, and would recommend it to anyone who likes “cozy” fantasy, in the vein of The Princess Bride or Howl’s Moving Castle.

This was a cute & cozy fantasy romance. Although the setting may be morbid in topic since it's the undertaker business and to do with souls/death. I really enjoyed this and it was a fun, quick read. I laughed so many times from the sarcasm and I love when a book can do that.

Hart and Mercy were cute. They have the "I hate you for being so hot" vibes and are oblivious to their feelings for each other. There are some steamy scenes and there is mid-size/plus-size rep.

If you're going into this for massive world-building, don't. It is a some what straight forward plot with a pantheon of gods, old and new which it does get into and the overall it is a romance. But, don't expect something hyper detailed.

If you like the sound of a cozy fantasy romance, with oblivious love interests, sarcasm, some steamy scenes, pen-pal trope, 30+ year old characters, cute families, & lgbtq+ rep then I'd definitely recommend this!!

This book will definitely squeeze all the emotions out of you.

This is definitely not your typical romance novel, it’s not even your typical paranormal romance novel. Completely unique, with world building that grabs you from this start, these characters will capture your Hart *wink*, and not let go.

Definitely go into this book with no expectations, and just enjoy the ride. Mercy’s entire family is off the wall lovely and hilarious, with quirks that make them all the more endearing.

Mercy and Hart have animosity towards each other, more of a miscommunication/misunderstanding that seems to have started all, but we learn real quick how Hart feels and I’m a goner when the hero falls first.

There is a full range of emotions that come with this book, so be prepared with your tissues!

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is a lighthearted and fun enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance that sucked me in from the first chapter! The banter was probably the best part of the book, but I would have loved more build up between the characters.

Fun Western-flavored fantasy, with an enemies-to-lovers romantic plot and plenty of undead action too!

5⭐️

“Hello, Hart-ache,” she sighed.
“Hello, Merciless.”

I did not want to put this book down! The enemies to lovers! The letter writing! The pining! The spice! Everything about this book is amazing and it has easily become one of my favorite fantasy romances.

Hart is grumpy, but lonely, and decides to write a letter to a friend just to get his words on paper and off of his shoulders. By a twist of fate, the unaddressed letter ends up in the hands of Mercy, the undertaker’s daughter who Hart delivers bodies to regularly and loathes. Mercy feels her mysterious friend’s same loneliness and writes back. There friendship blooms until Mercy asks her friend to meet face to face, but is so caught up in her hatred for Hart that she doesn’t see her friend at all.

The story is so unique, too. How many fantasy romances are there about undertakers, let alone a female undertaker who started helping out more because her father had a heart attack and realized she actually loves it?! The way that Mercy respects the dead is so beautiful and she’s so caring and kind. I have absolutely no idea how her and Hart’s first meeting four years prior could have been such a disaster when the two of them are clearly meant to be.

This book made me laugh and cry and feel all the feels. I love this world the author has built and I love Hart and Mercy with all of my heart, pun intended.

This was really cute! I really enjoyed Mercy and Hart's banter and the romance that bloomed between them. I'll admit that this came close to hitting my "unreasonably tall male romantic lead" ick button, but I appreciated Mercy's desire to be the shorter one for once so I'll let it slide this time. I loved the whole cast of characters and I think that Megan Bannen did a wonderful job of bringing everyone to life and really flushing out the supporting cast. I'm a sucker for sibling relationships and I think that Mercy, Lil, and Zeddie had such a great dynamic. I also loved Hart and Pen's relationship and I think that it really highlights the fact that there is more to Hart than meets the eye.

One thing that didn't quite hit home for me was the world-building. Please don't ask me a thing about what is going on with Tanria and how it exists because I truly have no clue. I liked little details like the days of the week having different names but I'm also not sure if I was supposed to understand what they meant. Overall, I enjoyed the vibes enough to go with the flow and I was able to understand the plot just fine. However, if I was more of a hard-fantasy person I may have found the lack of worldbuilding a little frustrating