DNF at 50%

I was so excited for this book because of the comparison to You've Got Mail, but ultimately this just did not hit the mark. I was extremely bored. I did not really care about either of these two characters, nor was I compelled with their romance. Although the writing was decent, I'm not sure why this just didn't work for me and it's a bit of a bummer!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC for exchange for an honest review!

WOW!!! amazing, incredible, perfection. I will say I went into this book completely blind (dont ask I dont know how) but I can say I was NOT expecting that. I was feral for this book and absolutely devoted it!!! The audiobook was amazing and I binged it in 2 days!!!

I read the authors debut novel and really enjoyed it. I was excited to hear that she wrote an adult fantasy romance, so here we are. It's definitely much heavier on the romance, as that's what the book is centered upon. It takes a hate to love troupe. Hart is demigod and a Marshall whose job is to fight Dredges, which are something very akin to zombies. He has to deliver the slain Dredges to Undertakers for proper corpse treatment and burial. That enters Mercy, the eldest daughter of an Undertaking family who is taking over the entire family business while her father recovers from a medical issue. Hart is a grump, and Mercy is someone not afraid to speak her mind, so they don't necessarily get along too well, but accept each other's business. Hart is a lonely guy, and one day he decides to write an anonymous letter to a pretend friend and drops it off in the mail. Due to paranormal, magical animal postmen, the letter ends up being delivered to Mercy, who then writes back. The two end up as pen pals, slowly getting closer without knowing who the other half is.

The worldbuilding was strange (see animal postmen), and not super well explained. But there's enough there to make it somewhat interesting. The resolution of the whole book does really bring it together. Again, it's mostly a romance, so this book is more so meant for romance readers who want a strange fantasy. I thought the romance was really cute. The book is told in alternating perspectives, and it's always a good sign when I want a chapter to be retold from the other side's view just to understand the reaction and feelings! I thought both Hart and Mercy were really developed characters. Mercy has a nice relationship with her family, which contrasts loner Hart. Mercy is used to opening to others, which in turn helps Hart open up as well. I enjoyed the letter exchange aspect, even if it's not the most original idea. The whole romance plot is a little predictable in how it goes, but the weird fantasy worldbuilding helped make the book it's own story. The characters being named Hart and Mercy is corny yet clever; you may find yourself smiling at least some of the name-related puns.

I recommend for romance readers looking for a different sort of fantasy. Also, the Dredges aren't exactly horrifying, so don't expect this to be a perfect Halloween-time romance, either.

This was a fun book! This book was very unique, I've never read anything quite like it! I highly recommend this one! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I absolutely loved The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen! It was evident to me that the setting of the book was thoroughly planned out and developed, and I wish this was a series so I could return to this world! I would love to spend more time with the same characters or meet some new ones as long as I can spend more time in this universe.

The writing was great, and the plot and pacing kept me engaged and entertained with interesting developments. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy had a dash of horror, which I really enjoyed! There was definite chemistry between the main characters, Hart and Mercy, and I was here for their hate-to-love story arc.

The final things I wanted to add were that I listened to parts of the book in audio format provided by NetGalley and was happy with the two narrators selected to read for Hart and Mercy. And another aspect of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy that I enjoyed was the body positivity.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen, and I look forward to reading more from this author. The setting was great, the writing and pacing was on point, there was a great dynamic between the characters. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun paranormal, adventure romance!

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!

Delightful and entertaining love story. I had so much fun reading the book and meeting these characters.

The narration was decent, but it wasn’t a complete sell for me for the person doing Mercy’s voice. But maybe because it was through the NetGalley app, it sounded very robotic and I had to listen to it slower than I normally listen to an audiobook.

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.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
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).

Omg the emotions I went through when listening to this story was insane! This was a love at first listen for me! It really heldy attention with its unique spin on a You've Got Mail type of story. I absolutely loved every character and plot. A brilliant story that made me laugh and cry in equal measures.

This was cute and a lot of fun. Which I am so glad for because I got the stunning fairyloot edition recently. So sorry happy to have that!

Mercy is undertaker and Hart, a warden tasked with killing the undead, is a frequent and reluctant customer, who loathed Mercy from the moment he met her. He finds solace from his difficult and lonely life writing letters to an anonymous friend, never realizing that Mercy is the person responding and is just as unaware of who her secret pen pal is.

It's a beautiful book that isn't afraid to acknowledge death. I loved how the world building was done to immerse the reader in this world of old and new gods.

I was unprepared for how much I loved this book. This book was PERFECT for spooky season - one the most unique fantasy rom coms that I've read! And the side characters were to die for (literally).

I'm not sure I was in love with this story at first, but I definitely loved it by the end. I'm swooning for Hart and Mercy and really hope there is a second book coming that is set in this world!

Bannen’s agent told her to “Go nuts. Get weird.” and that’s a super accurate take on this book. It’s full of lore (without being too heavy), drudges (zombies), and enemies to lovers because that’s the best trope.

The dead roam, and Hart's job as a marshal is to remove bodies the spirits might inhabit. He delivers them to the designated mortuary, unless the body does not have a funerary plan. In which case the deceased is delivered to Birdsall &Sons Undertaking. A mortuary run by Mercy Birdsall in every way but name and the bane of Hart's existence. in a fit of loneliness Hart mails a letter simply addressed to "a friend" fully expecting it to end up in the trash Instead it goes to Mercy, a woman in need of a friend herself. As the two bare their souls to each other, they learn the importance of a friend, but will they learn the importance of second chances?

I adored this book so much. A true enemies to lovers, not a case of "he loved her all along.' No, they legitimately hate each other with receipts. The characters and their motivations were so well fleshed out and believable. Every single action made sense; even when you want to yell at them, you understand why they did what they did. I loved all the side characters and their individual arcs and interactions. Every character was believable and multi-dimensional. I loved everyone, even characters from a single scene.

call me controversial, I also loved the total lack of world building. We're thrown into this world post-calamity and destruction of gods and not once are given really any kind of explanation or detail about it. There's complex history here, and we are only given the surface of what citizens here pick up by living there. There's never any kind of info dump. There's never any kind of background detail. Nothing, everything we learn about the world is though passing references from a few wild characters and general conversation when relevant. I was so confused at first, but as soon as I let my need to understand every facet go, I realized it wasn't important. That said, I can't imagine this book being able to take place in a fully contemporary world, or in a world where the backdrop was more important. You need the world its in to explain why some very specific things work, like how the pen pal letters are able to be delivered or why Hart and Mercy meet each other and quickly dislike each other. Every other aspect of the world is irrelevant and so it isn't included. And I respect that. The story is stronger for it.

Finally, the final climax was a little of a let down in relation to the rest of the book only because I wish we had seen the lead up to the battle from Hart's point of view. But it's saved with his dream sequence. I did love the interactions following the twist, but it felt a bit cheap. I've never been a big fan of "I'm not mad anymore. because I thought you died so we don't have to talk about it anymore." which is how the conflict was solved, but I digress. It wasn't bad enough to take away a 5 star rating.

This one was super cute! I really enjoyed the world that it was set in, it felt new and creative. I would absolutely read another book set in this world! I had a hard time connecting with the characters at first, but after they met in person I became fully invested! Honestly my favorite part was learning about Mercy and Hart’s occupations and finding out what was happening with the Keyless bodies! That was such an interesting part of the story. This was sweet, fun, and super different!

The audio was absolutely perfect. The narrator did a great job!

I am so grateful to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for my audio reviews copy. All opinions are my own!

I loved this book! When I read the synopsis about undertaking and dealing with death, I was expecting a much darker type of romance but what i got was a lighthearted, fun and whimsical love story set in a small town with a fantasy setting. With the two POVs, one from Mercy and one from Hart, I loved seeing how they each reacted to the each situation. It just gives the romance so much more!
This was a true enemy to lovers, with characters I loved and some unexpected magical elements.
The audio narrators did a fantastic job in conveying all the feels and kept me so engrossed throughout.

2.5 ⭐

I think I’ve been too hyped up for this book. I had to relisted many parts because I just wasn't pulled in and I couldn't focus.

The fantasy elements were fine, but nothing more than that. And the chemistry between Hart and Mercy - it was ok, but I expected more.

But the writing was good, and the narrators were good, so there's that. And I love that cover!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an audio ARC of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen in exchange for an honest review.

This book had such a unique and well written world building that was one of the most interesting aspects of the story, along with great main and side characters that kept it really entertaining. But although I loved both Hart and Mercy and really cared about where the story was taking them, I felt like the lack of development between them in the first 50% of the book made me just not really care about the romance as a whole, unfortunately. Don’t get me wrong, they had some adorable scenes (the dance scene was so sweet!!!) and I did feel like there was a lot of chemistry there, but I wanted a little bit more of the banter/enemies to lovers interactions they had in the beginning, because I feel like it just went from that to suddenly Hart realizing he was in love with her way too soon. The pen pal aspect was fun, but I wanted more scenes between Hart and Mercy before Hart found out the truth. The potential for this to be a five star, and the romance to be a favorite for me was certainly there, but it did fall short on that aspect for me unfortunately. The rest of the story was so great though, and I do recommend it as I thought the world building was absolutely fascinating, not to mention the amazing side characters (as well as the main characters, of course).

3+

This is one of those rare books where I think if it didn't have the romance it would have worked better. Yes, it is a romance novel. But it's also a very compelling and interesting fantasy world, that the reader only got to scratch the surface of. Vaguely anime vibes, with some steampunk thrown in and old gods. I want more of that.

The romance, as I mentioned, didn't really do it for me, and that is largely because it is so dependent on miscommunication. I hate it when the conflict revolves around "protagonist A didn't tell protagonist B the Really Important Thing and so protagonist B finds out a different way and things fall apart." Which is what this was, and I wasn't here for it. During the obligatory third act break up scene I found myself saying "Good" and "Dump his ass" which... is not necessarily what you want. You want to be cheering for the central couple. I was not. And this was partially due to said miscommunication trope, but also because I felt like they went from enemies to lovers very quickly, and I wanted more of them learning to like each other, rather than a three-month time jump.

So, this was an cool book with an interesting premise in an interesting world that I would like to see explored more. But it didn't necessarily do it for me.

I’ve heard this novel described as Howl’s Moving Castle but for adults, and while I don’t totally agree with that statement, I still thought the story was whimsical and cute, and I really enjoyed it.

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is a hate-to-love romance with some fantasy elements. Mercy is an undertaker and Hart is a demigod marshal who brings her dead bodies to take care of. They hate each other but are forced to work together. One day, Hart writes a letter to no one about how lonely he is. He doesn’t expect it to get delivered to anyone, but it shows up at Mercy’s door, labeled as being from “a friend.” Mercy corresponds with this mysterious friend, confiding in him, neither of them knowing who is on the other end of the pen. I loved this idea because they fall in love with each other via handwritten letters while still hating each other in person. I’ve never seen that done before in a novel, but it was so much fun and had me giggling while I read because I knew more than the characters did about how they actually felt about each other.

Although this novel is marketed as a fantasy, I think it would appeal more to romance readers who also enjoy fantastical components because the focus of the book is on the relationship between Hart and Mercy with a secondary focus on Mercy’s family and undertaking adventures. The fantasy elements are visibly present but also primarily in the background of the story, so readers expecting an epic fantasy will be disappointed here. I love romantic fantasy novels, so I had a great time with this story.

I love that The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is a standalone novel. As much as I love a long series, a good standalone that wraps up nicely at the end is so satisfying, and that’s how this book is. It has a nice conclusion and doesn’t leave any questions hanging open at the end.

I had a great time reading this book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a cute and swoon-worthy fantasy romance novel.