You’ve Got a Charming Fantasy Romance: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

In Megan Bannen’s adult fantasy romance debut The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, magic is almost an afterthought: The Shrek-like fantasy town of Eternity leans more toward steampunk, dotted with gaslight lamps and amphibious autoduck vehicles. The reader almost forgets about the presence of magic, until a nimkilim (or animal mail carrier) hops or flies to the door with a letter, or when a drudge (or zombie) shambles into town.

Despite the You’ve Got Mail comparisons—and though the characters are certainly well-read (with Mercy an especial fan of demigod/mortal romance)—it’s not bookstores that are in competition, but funeral homes. The business of death is booming, thanks to an overabundance of drudges to be prepared for the afterlife. But the real magic—the spark that startles ordinary people and makes them believe in something impossible—comes in the form of a letter to A Friend, where a pen and a lonely impulse transforms virtual strangers into correspondents, confidantes, and potentially something more.

The eponymous enemies-to-Friends-to-lovers are Mercy Birdsall, thanklessly running her family’s mortuary business while her younger brother gets ready to officially inherit it; and Hart Ralston, a Marshal in the neighboring high fantasy land of Tanria… and a demigod, sired by one of the land’s Old Gods but feeling constantly out of place among mortal humans. As is often the case, a misunderstanding at their first meeting four years prior set the foundation for Hart and Mercy’s fractious encounters, each one more viciously barbed even as these nemeses lash out from their respective insecurities: she for never being good enough to be a legitimate part of Birdsall & Son, he self-conscious about his divinely inherited height and the potential identity of his absentee father. And of course they’re attracted to each other—in a “what a shame they’re such an asshole” way—but neither can see past their bad first impression.

What they need, and get thanks to the mail-carrying nimkilim, is a second chance at a meet-cute: In a fit of loneliness, Hart writes a letter while on patrol in Tanria, addressed simply to A Friend. That missive finds its way to Mercy, who is so struck by this stranger’s earnestness that she decides to admit to her own isolation (even within her raucous, loving family) and write back. What follows is a correspondence that is freeing in its anonymity, as they commiserate over career frustrations and tease each other about reading material.

But where things really pick up is when one of these pen pals figures out who’s on the other side of those letters, and how it complicates their in-person interactions while they must continue with their day-to-day lives and respective career struggles. And when circumstances contrive to spark a romance parallel to the letters, Bannen handles the resulting romance-trope tension with aplomb.

She also infuses the world of the book with quirky details, like the soul existing in the appendix (the marshals’ impeccable crossbow aim is a matter of life-and-death-and-resurrection) and the fact that any new technology developed after the time of the Old Gods doesn’t function in Tanria (the aforementioned crossbows over firearms). The portals between Eternity and Tanria create some hurdles to communication as well as a temporary barrier for the drudges, though as with any zombie story, it’s only a matter of time before they breach the borders. If anything, Eternity itself seems underdeveloped; for a town that’s been established for only the past twenty-five years, it seems a rich setting for a small-town fantasy romance, yet we only get glimpses, like a swoony dance at the Founders’ Day party. Most of the action takes place at Birdsall & Son, at a pivotal café, or on patrol in Tanria (where there lurks a mysterious house that only Hart can see…).

The You’ve Got Mail premise falters a bit since Hart doesn’t actually work for Cunningham, nor does he have a vested interest in the coffin conglomerate succeeding in overtaking mom’n’pop enterprises like Birdsall & Son. Sure, his own prepaid funeral package is with them, but that was fueled mostly by spite toward Mercy herself and an overall lack of engagement with his own mortality—or, as he has long feared, potential immortality. Without any redeeming correspondence, Eternity town bigwig Curtis Cunningham is purely, capitalistically evil, and Birdsall & Son is the uncontested underdog.

Yet that doesn’t diminish the spark of the epistolary romance. Neither the letters nor the book itself shy away from the matter of death, ably situating conversations about our inevitable ends alongside these epistolary beginnings of friendship and love. As Undertaking reveals, making yourself vulnerable to love (but also to rejection) lives alongside being open to the possibility of loss that death brings—loss of life in the worst case, of course, but also loss of control, loss of a future you let yourself hope for by twining your life with someone else’s.

Balancing fantasy and romance, the latter comes through stronger. As a reluctant romantic hero, Hart is compelling in his self-consciousness; it’s understandable why he would hesitate to come clean to Mercy, unable to trust that she could reconcile the friend in the letters with the man she’s starting to tolerate. The Birdsall family is the kind of charming, chattery brood that bring texture to a romance; Mercy’s relationships with her siblings (aspiring chef Zeddie and pregnant sister Lil) versus with gruff teddy bear Pops help amp up the tension around what she wants compared to what everyone else thinks she wants. And when the undertaking of the title turns romantic, it’s as steamy as Mercy’s favorite bathtub read, Enemies and Lovers.

The fantasy twists are a bit easier to guess at, though Hart’s ultimate reckoning with his ancestry brings some belated resonance to Tanria and will pluck the heartstrings of the sappier of us readers. I would love to see more love stories set within Eternity; it’s the ideal setting to build out a fantasy romance universe, whether via more nimkilim-couriered love letters, homemade cakes at the local café, or the perfect library book sought out by two potential lovers.

Thank you to the Author and Publisher for this ARC! Highly enjoyed this read. The romance was sweet and the book as a whole reminded me of one my favouite movies. Definitely going to re read again!

This book is a 3.5 stars for me 😊
First off the fairyloot edition I have is gorgeous which greatly adds to the reading experience.
The book primarily focuses on romance but it is set in fantasy setting and it could be a little creepy but I think since the characters are so chill with what’s going on it feels less creepy and you go with their pace.
I started getting a lot more invested in the book about 1/3 of the way in and by the mid point I was loving it and the ending is so heartfelt and sweet so it really is a feel good book.
My only complaint is that the beginning was just confusion 🙃 I found it so hard to get into the terminology of what was happening, and sure you get that with many fantasy books but I felt it particularly in this. If I wasn’t making myself pay attention to what I was reading I wasn’t piecing anything together. That being said I think this book would have really benefitted from a map or a glossary, I looked several times but there are none. Those would have really helped me get a handle on what I was reading at the beginning of the book tho.

This book is so well-written while also done in such a different way. I love that we don’t waste time slowly getting to the point of things, world building and the like, instead we’re immediately transported into the world and things are revealed and explained in such a way that you’re left thinking “Well, yes, obviously.” As if this world being built around you has always been there. The love story is done to perfection. Only complaint about this book is that it was so good, I bought a hard-copy version.

Spectacular, truly a magnificent work of art!! I loved every character. The side characters are just as endearing as Hart and Mercy. The world was fantastic. The love story had me swooning and melting and screaming. This was just what I needed.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy!

The Undertaking Of Hart And Mercy by Megan Bannen was a perfect Halloween read! This was a weird romance/fantasy about a pain in the ass demi-god and a bubbly undertaker with You’ve Got Mail vibes, found family, and zombies! I loved it!

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

There were things I liked about this book and other things I didn't. I liked the unusual worldbuilding, especially the death rituals that were really poignant within the narrative. I like epistolary romance and there were some really good moments with that too. On the downside, the balance of romance to non-romance plot was tilted too far over to zombies. Also, the enemies-to-lovers plot didn't quite work for me. Like, this is You've Got Mail fanfic but it wasn't pitting the competitors against each other. Anyway, points for being a weird fantasy romance, I want more of those!

As the story opens Hart and Mercy do not like each other in fact they despise one another. Hart is a marshall who journeys to the magical world, Tanria, hunting the undead.

Mercy, is an undertaker. Services in this world are a big part of the plot involving sail cloth, salt, incantations, ships, and a trip across the Salt Sea, where a god welcomes souls into the world beyond.

After yet another run-in fighting with Mercy, Hart finds himself penning a letter addressed to "a friend". To his surprise, an letter comes back, and a friendship is born.

What Hart doesn't know is that he's been baring his soul to the person who annoys him the most, Mercy.

Dangers from Tanria continue to grow closer, and so do pen pals. Can their budding romance withstand the discovery that the pen pals they have been writing to are each of their worst nightmares - each other?

THE UNDERTAKING OF HART AND MERCY is easily my favorite romantasy this year. I couldnt help but be heart broken in the beginning falling in love with the characters and loving their growth. As the story continued my hope for their love swelled not wanting to see it end. The story is is whimsy, quirky and refreshing to say the least.

You will fall in love with the humor, characters, action, and secret pining.

Have you read this fantasy standalone yet?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ .5 /5

Thank you to @hachettebooks for a copy of this fantastic read.

This book was wildly delightful start to finish. I immediately was in love with all the characters, and the combo of demigods, talking animals, magic, science, the dead, and love letters created a wonderfully weird and charming story. A fantasy stand-alone with remarkable world building, adventure, romance, and mystery so there’s something for everyone.

I really enjoyed this one. I don't typically read fantasy, but the author evoked all my emotions without confusing me with the world-building and altered realities. The plot itself made me chuckle and cry (not at the same time) and I'm really glad I tool the time to read this one.

I DNF'ed this book very early on, only getting till 11% of the way through, though this by no means should discourage others to try out the book for their selves! The book seems to have quite a slow start to it as it builds the world and characters for this story. In the end however, I just couldn't get myself excited to pick it up and decided it simply wasn't worth it for me to keep going with it, though the story itself seems like it would be nice. Perhaps one day I'll find the calling to pick it back up again!

This was such a cute book! It’s the first fantasy book I’ve read in a few months and I loved the whimsical of it. I was amazed at the authors way to describe the scenes and make this world come to life for us, i am also amazed at how her brain works to think such a things to write about it. I love that she is giving us a door into the way her brain thinks. Okay now that I’m done fawning over the author. Let’s get back to this story! It really had everything, it was a bit of a slow burn at first but those letters make up for it!! They are so cute and I loved the characters that delivered them! And even tho is a romance book, it is so much more! Dealing with issues such as feeling lonely in a world and letting grief take over intill we are a shell of who we where suppose to be. Hart ( and Mercy) but really Harts struggle with loneliness was so sad. He carried so much on his big board shoulders. And mercy with her family, I loved her family so much! We really see them come to together and work out all their issues and support each other. And that when we think we are alone we really aren’t we just need to really see whos around us. I thought hart and mercy where so sweet together, their first kiss had my heart fluttering it was precious. And the last half the book with out spoiling it for anyone was the chefs kiss of the book! I probably highlighted the whole last 100 pages!!! If you been thinking about reading this book, than this is your sign! It’s enemies to lovers, a plot line with depth and development. Great side characters. Laugh out loud parts and cry you’re eye out parts and the best part of all. The dog! Thank you to the publishers and the author for a copy of this book to review!

This was a really interesting, fun book. I really liked both main characters and their chemistry together. I enjoyed the nods to You’ve Got Mail/In the Good Old Summertime/Shop Around the Corner/etc., although there was one one scene in the book that was so directly out of You’ve Got Mail that it ended up just a little too on the nose and took me out of the story a bit. The magical world was really interesting, but I felt like it was a little too difficult for me to get a grip on it, at least at the beginning. There were things mentioned like the autoducks and equimares that needed more description to be able to picture. I also would have loved a bit more of the main characters happy together, but was glad that at least we didn’t have to wait until the end for them to get together like in the movies it’s based on.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

Wow, wow, wow. I'm not sure exactly what I just read, but I know this lovely romance will be on my top 10 list for the year. Humorous and sweet definitely, but still so beautifully emotional and angsty that I cried several times during the course of the book.

The book has a classic grumpy/sunshine pairing. Hart (or Hart-less as the heroine initially calls him) is a taciturn, surly, antisocial warden who risks his life on a regular basis patrolling an alternate world that is link to the mundane world he lives in but that is plagued by “drudges”, zombie-like beings who kill people who venture into this alternate world in order to possess their fresh bodies. However, underneath his crusty exterior, he’s lonely down to his soul and so in need of someone who can see his true self. Mercy (or Merci-less, as Hart calls her) is tall, breathtakingly competent, relentless upbeat, and is singlehandedly running her ill father’s family undertaking business to keep it going so that her younger brother, who just finished his formal undertaker studies, can take over. She’s the hub that her small family revolves around. She unhesitatingly gives to everyone around her, but has completely lost sight of her own wants and desires.

Hart and Mercy got off on the wrong foot when they met several years ago and have been sniping at each other ever since. But, then, somehow, they become linked when Hart writes a letter to the universe, it ends up in Mercy’s hands, and she writes back. From there, a sweet and beautiful friendship/romance is born as these two lonely souls slowly find their way to each other. This book made me feel every feel multiple times and by the end, I was completely wrung out yet smiling widely. I’m so happy I had a chance to read it. Bonus points to the author for managing to make undertaking be sexy and cool. All of the supporting characters were also fleshed out and not just props to the main romance.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Orbit Books for allowing me an eARC of The undertaking of Hart and Mercy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved the premise of this story and I found the world-building and characters so compelling and rich.

The book is a split POV between Hart, a Tanrian Marshall, and Mercy, the bookkeeper-turned undertaker for her family business. Both characters are battling to keep their secrets to themselves, while surrounded by people who want nothing more than to air everything out (in a loving/ relatable familial way). One anonymous letter sent out into the universe is all it takes to spur on a new and comforting pen pal relationship, giving them both someone to confide in.

There was so much I enjoyed about this book, from the cast of characters that the author came up with, to the legends and myths that circulated and formed the foundations of everything those people believed in. I found it so easy to lose myself in the story and enjoy the journey that Hart and Mercy were on.

Some of the world building was confusing until you get further into the story, but honestly, this is something I find in most fantasy books. It takes a bit of adjusting but once you get it, it’s so much fun to read!

I’ve given The undertaking of Hart and Mercy 4 stars because I really enjoyed reading it, and I liked the almost mysterious element that picked up towards the end, plus I am a sucker for a happy ending. Not to mention, this book lived in my head until I finished it, and even now, I think I’ll be thinking about it for the foreseeable future.

When I think of fantasy romance, I think of a typical medieval-like settings... think castles, dragons, lords, princesses, soldiers, etc. etc. <i>The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy</i> felt refreshing with its fantastical western world, and I particularly appreciated how death-positive our main female lead was (if that aspect intrigued you at all, I’d highly recommend any book from Caitlin Doughty). There was also some fun world-building, albeit it took me quite a while to figure it out. My main critique here is that the main romantic relationship went from hate to love wayyy too quickly - I’d have preferred a little more romantic angst. I think for this reason, I had trouble feeling invested - especially in the second half of the story.

Overall - not my favorite, but I’d happily read something else from this author!

3.5 stars, rounded down.

I voluntarily obtained a digital version of this book free from Netgalley and Orbit Books in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book but I didn’t love it. It had a lot of elements I really enjoy, but it almost felt like it was trying too hard to make them all fit together. It’s a You’ve Got Mail remake in a Neil Gaiman-esque gods walk among us universe, with some zombie apocalypse vibes thrown in for good measure. And it’s fun, but I wanted more from it. Like things that could have felt like clever homages came off as derivative instead (like the parallel universe Pride and Prejudice they argue over). I’m not mad I read it, but it didn’t quite live up to expectations.

I really enjoyed this book! It was absolutely delightful, though it also made me cry (which is quite a feat, it takes a lot to make me cry).

I loved Hart and Mercy, they were just perfect. Both avid readers, Hart making use of interlibrary loans (at one point he goes into his home branch and thanks his favourite librarian and my little librarian heart was so happy!🥰), and they are each other’s secret pen pals?!?!? Reading and snail mail are two of my great loves, along with this book.

While I really loved Hart and Mercy, the side characters were also great. Zeddie and Duckers were just the cutest, and Pops and Alma were also great.

I realize I’ve said virtually nothing about the plot of this book. It’s a romance with letter writing and interlibrary loans, with a mystery and sort of zombies, with a fantasy/wild west sort of feel.

I don’t often come across m/f romance that I enjoy this much. I think a lot of why I liked it is because Hart and Mercy are just incredibly likeable characters, despite them not liking each other to begin with. I also thought that the sex scenes were really well written. Hart and Mercy talked to each other, told each other what they like, laughed when something funny happened. So well written.

The whole book is just so, SO good.

Also, how gorgeous is the cover???

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.

Comfort read; a romance novel re-telling of "The Shop Around the Corner" set in a fantasy world filled with Old and New Gods. I liked the magic system and the worldbuilding. Although focused on a MF romance, queer relationships are not stigmatized. Has some sexytimes. I wish it had played around a little more with the story beats.

Read an ARC provided by NetGalley