THE UNDERMINING OF TWLYA AND FRANK was a fun read and different from what I’ve been reading! With older MCs, a cool fantasy world, and an engaging plot, this had a lot going for it. My only issue was the fact that throughout, we were stuck in Twyla’s, the FMC’s, head throughout the story.

I really enjoyed this book for a variety of reasons. The biggest being the world that the author created and how the characters navigated that world. This fantasy world always sucks me in and because the author created such an engaging world, the setting and conflicts were such a treat. I also loved that the MCs were older and that it was a mix of friends to lovers and second chance romance tropes. It brought a fresh take to the genre that I really appreciated. And because of that, I enjoyed the story and felt it was different enough from other books I’ve read, while still having familiar concepts.

My biggest issue in the story is that unlike the previous book, we do not get alternative POVs, which I think would’ve been helpful because of Twyla as a character. Toward the end of the novels, she was almost insufferable. I understand what the author was trying to do here. She was trying to show her coming into her own after being in a marriage that did not serve her, but she was unnecessarily mean to those around her while she figured out what she wanted. Additionally, and there was a lot of negative talk about herself, especially in her appearance and her weight, which was frustrating. If there was another POV, I think there would have been a better balance narratively speaking.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and think it is a fun read! It’s one I think you’ll like if you like fantasy worlds, friends to lovers, and older MCs who are out living their lives.

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a sweet book! I was a big fan of Hart & Mercy and knew I wanted to see more of what the world had to offer. I really loved the character Twyla, and the representation of a middle aged woman as the protagonist!

📣 a friends to lovers fantasy with cozy dragons

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

📖 what’s one of your Wednesday numbers? Mine are: 8:00 school start time, 1 yogurt, 2 kids dropped off at school, 1 book finished this morning (this one!).

If you’re looking for a rather cozy fantasy featuring two middle-aged best friends who become lovers, Megan Bannen’s The Undermining of Twyla and Frank fits the bill.

There’s also dragons 🐉.

I was in unabashed fan of both the fantasy and romance in The Undertaking of Hart & Mercy; with this book, the latter doesn’t work as well for me as the arc itself riddled with miscommunication.

But the fantasy aspects are interesting (if a bit anticlimactic for me), & I love the idea of the dragons being cozy & mostly friendly & how that fits in with the overall vibes of the book & Twyla & Frank’s relationship.

This fantasy with romance is soft & a sweet follow-up to the characters we are introduced to in Hart & Mercy’s story but didn’t grip my heart quite as much as the former.

4 ⭐️. Out 07/02.

Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.

[ID: Jess holds the ebook over a field of white & purple wildflowers.]

I did not love this one as much as I loved Hart and Mercy. That being said, I was so happy to get back to Tanria and spend some time with beloved characters and a fantastic magical world. The plot (outside the romance) was great. I loved the mystery and the tension of what was going on in Tanria post drudge infestation. The romance played on my LEAST favorite romance trope ever (that of the "we are two grown ass adults who can't just talk to each other about what's going on"), so that was a bit of a disappointment. I also felt like this one had some weird anti marriage and "all men are bad" vibes that I couldn't really get behind. I will definitely continue to read any Tanria books that Bannen writes, but I definitely didn't love this one as much as I loved the first.

In this second installment in the Hart and Mercy series we return to Eternity and Tanria to see how our marshalls and friends are faring. This story centers around Twyla and Frank, middle aged Marshalls who are partners, neighbors and life long friends. Their story takes us on a journey through friendship and love and is as adorable as TUOHAM.

A contemporary romance about two middle aged people who have experienced love, family and loss and helped each other through all phases of life. I absolutely loved this, the romance was beautiful and realistic and really highlighted the fact that adults can still experience romance and new love after their families have grown and left.

Also, dragons, and not the normal dragons we are used to seeing in fantasy stories. We’re talking adorable pink dragons who spit glitter at you. Yeah, I loved it. Also the return of utterly adorable talking immortal animal mail couriers.

I loved this story and really hope Bannen plans to continue these installments because if I'm being honest, I need more Tanria in my life.

Megan Bannen writes the cutest books EVER! I absolutely fell in love with her writing with Hart and Mercy and just fell even more in love with her after reading about Twyla and Frank. I am not normally a friends to lovers or second chance romance girly, but this book had me on LOCK. Megan Bannen is the Queen of cozy fantasy rom coms and I need about a million more books pronto.

The follow up to The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy was one of my top to be read books of 2024, so receiving an eARC copy had me over the moon. Unfortunately, the execution missed the mark for me. There are so many things to enjoy about the Undermining of Twyla and Frank dragons that are compared to purse dogs, a romcom friends to lovers with two characters over the age of 20, and returning to the world Megan Bannen created, these are all things I loved. However, not all friends to lovers have a "When Harry Met Sally" vibe and the pacing during certain parts felt like they dragged on. The love triangle felt forced and I'm not sure what was added to the story. All in all, while the book didn't meet my expectations it was cute and I enjoyed returning to this world.

3.5/5 Stars

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

Thank you netgalley and Orbit for providing me an earc in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited for the Undermining of Twyla and Frank especially after reading the first installment to the series. This story was pitched as a friends to lovers with a hint of dragons, all things that I adore. For some reason this book just did not hit for me as much as the first book unfortunately.

We were first introduced to Twyla and Frank in the first book, and I really was excited to see their story. Unlike the first book, this story was not dual pov and only focused on Twyla’s story, which I found somewhat difficult to connect to. I really enjoyed Twyla and I thought she was very sweet and I adored her friendship with Frank. A lot of her growth centered around finding herself as an individual outside of her family which I was completely rooting for. Her family really frustrated me and with her character arc, while I was rooting for her, I just did not find myself completely invested.
As for her relationship with Frank, I loved their friendship, I just did not love the buildup to their relationship. I am so happy for them, again I just was not fully invested in them.
As for the plot, I am not sure why that was the direction it went in, but that was an extremely dissatisfying ending. I wanted to roll my eyes the entire end. If the plot was better I think I would have enjoyed the book more, but I was so disappointed by the whole reveal I just deflated a little bit.

Overall I really enjoyed Twyla and Frank’s friendship and I thought they were so cute. I wish I was more invested, but I just was not and I was really disappointed with the direction of the plot in this book. If there is a book three I will still happily read it, I love this world and really enjoy these characters. I wish I connected with this story more, because I do enjoy her writing.

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank expands the world that was created in book one. This time, we get to spend more time in Tanria, learning more about the unique flora and fauna created by the Old Gods. We also get to see Twyla and Frank’s incredible friendship that eventually (so slowly) turns into more.

One highlight of this book for me was Twyla. We do not have enough heroines who are middle aged in romance and I loved seeing Twyla with kids and grandkids and middle aged problems and worries. A couple times in my reading I wrote a note about how “this is such a midwestern mom thing to do” and I loved the representation.

Bannen’s writing again was a highlight. I love how she writes her prose and the literary words she uses. I only had to look up one this time, and I loved that I needed to. It’s truly the way to my nerdy heart for me to have to look up a word I don’t know the meaning of.

What didn’t really work for me was the relationship. I knew going into this that friends to lovers rarely works for me and this, while still adorable, again didn’t really work. The slow burn was too slow and not enough burn. The realization of friends to more was too near the end of the book for this to be really a romance focused book.

I still really enjoyed it and I think my rating is a 3.5, but I’ll round up for the couple Hart and Mercy cameos that I was completely delighted by. Overall, enjoyable and I’m crossing my fingers for more in the world - maybe a second chance romance next time?

Wowza! This book was so good. The first book in this series was great, but this one was even better! It blew me away—straight to Tanria, glitter spit and all. I was captivated right from the start. It was lighthearted and fun. There were laugh-out-loud moments. The romance was down to earth and believable. And I stayed completely immersed in this book throughout—the kind of deep immersion where you lose track of time and forget you're reading.

So much of this book clicked for me. The character development was fantastic. And the main character was so incredibly relatable. I loved the rawness, honesty, and insightfulness of Bannen's portrayal of what it means to be a middle aged woman. I found it surprisingly self-validating. There was also a lot of good commentary on gender inequality.

This was the most satisfying book I've read in a long time. I want to just hug it so hard and keep it forever.

4.5/5

Super sweet quarky romance with much older characters (50+). It's a refreshing romance with friendships develop into something more and how Twyla navigates her life as a grandma/mother and being herself. The world itself is fun and different and we see characters from her other book and get a quick check in with Hart and Mercy. Looking for a fun light romance this will do the trick! Plus it has magical flying creatures!

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for the opportunity to read this e-arc! This is my honest opinion of the book!

Read if you like:
-Dragons!
-Friends to lovers!
-Fun banter!
-Weird fantasy/sci-fi world that's lots of fun!
I loved The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy and while I didn't love this quite as much, but it was still fun! Twyla and Frank are both single, middle-aged empty-nesters, so it was nice to follow them since so many fantasies and romances follow younger characters. I loved the banter between the two, and their friends-to-lovers romance was sweet as well! My biggest problem with the book was that things got a little boring in the middle and didn't pick up until the very end of the book. We had some nice moments between Twyla and her children and Twyla and Frank, which were necessary to the character development, but I think the plot suffered a bit because of it.

I was underwhelmed by this book unfortunately. I loved the Undertaking of Hart and Mercy and this fell very short of that. It's in the same world, bit has lost It's edge since the drudge were dealt with.

This book follows Marshalls Tywla Bannecker and Frank Ellis about a year after the end of the last book. They continue to patrol Tanria and keep it safe from all those to do it harm. They pick up Hart's former partner Duckers, when HIS current partner is found dead in Tanria. The 3 get quickly wrapped up in the blackmarket dealings happening in Tanria this time.

It took me a long time to get through this story because I juat couldn't get pulled in and didn't get attached to any of the characters. Twyla sounded like someone from the midwest working their way through a crowd for as many times as she said "Ope!" The plot with the dragons and imprinting on Frank would have been a more interesting focus tha Twyla's relationship with Quill for the first 50% of the book. They didn't get together until about 75% and that was a massive letdown. I appreciate all the expressed personality traits of motherhood put into Twyla, but those weren't enough to make me like her a lot. She came off very whinny and a doormat for a Marshall, and I guess that was a point of character growth for her here, but it felt too little too late.

I liked the epilogue and wish more of the main story had been along those lines and focused more on the mining going on. The "whodunnit" at the end was straight out of Scooby Doo and I was half right about the end.

Refreshing to read about actual adults in their middle age still able to go through the fun, sexy, thrilling, dismaying, longing parts of love. This book was a perfect cozy fantasy. The stakes were just right, the circumstances were not hard to grapple with, and the tension was still alive, despite their dragons being cute and not monstrous. A very fun read!

After The Undertaking of Hart & Mercy, I could not wait to see what author Megan Bannen wrote next in the unique and interesting world she had created. Tyla Banneker is a widowed mom to her still needy grown children. She and her long time neighbor work together for the Tanrian Marshals. Together they patrol Tanria. But since the events that take place in book one, things are very tame, dare I say boring. That is until one of their fellow marshalls is found dead covered in glitter.

This story is so good. Twyla and Frank's friendship and the romance between two older characters gave the story a heartwarming feel. I loved the author's portrayal of the dragons and they fit perfectly with the creative world and fantasy elements of the book. The story was a nice mix of mystery, adventure, and romance. I am excited to spend more time in Eternity.

Thank you Orbit Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Orbit for the chance to read The Undermining of Twyla and Frank as an ARC! I adored The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy and was so excited to get my hands on this title. In true Megan Bannen fashion, this book absolutely did not disappoint. The thing I love most about Bannen's writing is that it's exactly what I think of when I think of "feel-good" writing. The combination of humor, tenderness, and genuine friendship is equally heart-warming and captivating, with an incredible plot line in itself. The Undermining of Twyla and Frank is perfect for fans of India Holton, Freya Marske, and Olivia Atwater (as well as for anyone who enjoys a good low-stakes fantastical, romantic fiction). I adore this world that Bannen has built, and I adore Twyla and Frank; I look forward to anything else Megan Bannen publishes in the future! The Undermining of Twyla and Frank is out this upcoming July, and I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy!

I read this Advance Reader Copy courtesy of NetGalley.

I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately my expectations may have been too high. Hart and Mercy was magical and made me feel all the things, but that same magic didn’t translate well to its sequel.

The biggest missed opportunity was the fact that in Twyla and Frank we only see Twyla’s perspective. Frank’s consistent stoic support And not much else made him basically a secondary character in Twyla’s story. However, if the story switched to his perspective ever, the plot would have had to change, because the reasons Twyla and Frank are not already a couple are frustrating—and not in a fun way. If we knew what Frank was thinking, we would have been even more annoyed that these two just needed to actually talk to each other.

Frank does not grow in the book. He is a foil for Twyla’s change, and that is a shame.

Some things I enjoyed:
The dragons
The Twyla and Frank banter
Twyla learning to love herself and ask for what she wants
The reappearance of Hart and Mercy
The new nimikilin, a hedgehog who loves grape soda named Hermia
Duckers being Duckers

Overall, there were things to enjoy in this book, but with the predictable plot and narrow vision of the characters, it fell flat.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

IMO, this was better than the first book! Twyla and Frank were such wonderful characters, I loved seeing how their friendship has been over the years and then how it expanded to more than friendship. The scenes where Mary Georgina had imprinted on Frank had me laughing. Twyla and Frank's friendship was beyond precious, and I can totally get why there was a conflict on whether or not to try for 'more'. The cast of characters is expansive, outrageous, and it feels like they're your family too - all of the interactions were well done and delightful to watch unfold. I truly forgot there was a plot, not because it wasn't interesting, but because I adored the characters so much. That being said, the plot was worth it to be the final push for Twyla and Frank to be more than friends (and plus I got a good laugh at the 'villain' and their motivations).

Easy 4.5/5, loved it!

I adore this weird little world.

I was really excited when I saw that this has older MC's. Twyla's feeling like a chair, my goodness, the realness of that, punched me a little in the chest. Also dragons! It was everything I wanted and more.

And I want to give it up to Frank for being the dumb dumb daddy we deserved. And you know for them being the bestest of friends, they sure didn't talk about many personal things.

I loved that Twyla got to be in a love triangle, and that she was bonked in the head hard enough in the end to go get her man.

The ending definitely threw me, and Duckers and I had the same thoughts. But I love a badass turnout.

All in all, it was an excellent time, and it came to me when I really needed something weird.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for an e-copy.

I loved Hart and Mercy so I was pumped up and ready for this one. I didn't like it quite as much because I did not feel as connected with Twyla or Frank. Their relationship didn't give me that same excited feeling. But I still enjoyed the story because Megan Bannen's writing is so good and easy to breeze through. I would still read more in the future.