Banter? Check! Witty characters? Check! Love interests? Check! Other worlds? Check!

I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the banter, the plot, the characters, it was a good experience overall!

It took me a little time to get with the different worlds and descriptions but once I was in, I was IN!!

This book started off running so if you need a book like that, this is a great choice!

"I devoured this book in one sitting. And when I came to the last page, I turned back to the beginning and started again."

I have been long anticipating this book and what a delight it was to return to Tanria to visit with old friends, and get to know new ones. On the occasions that I saw Rosie in the background of the other stories, she always appeared as a larger than life kinda gal. In this book, we get a chance to know her a little bit deeper, to see that she’s more than just a 6’5 demigod. She’s a woman confident in her femininity, particular about her intimates, and still grappling with her immortality and what that means for her long life ahead.

And then there’s Adam, a genius engineer a bit on the enigmatic side himself that as the story went on, I just wanted to wrap up in cotton batting to keep him safe. To see the two of them come together was just an absolute delight that at times left me kicking and squealing like a little girl.

I love the rich world of Tanria that Megan Bannen has created, a world the likes I’ve never seen before, with a rich and detailed mythology. And I love how she uses her characters and her mythology to contemplate love, death, and the precious value of human mortality.

In all transparency, I had already pre-ordered this book, I’m that excited. But having had the chance to read an e-ARC just reinforced what a good idea that was. Because when this book comes out in July, I plan on picking up my copy and reading it a third time. I love Tanria, and I love the characters and creatures that inhabit Tanria (looking at you Saltlicker and Mary Georgina), and I need other people to discover this world so that they can love it too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for this advanced copy! I was so honored to be chosen!!!

This book is perfect for anyone looking for a cozy romance! usually I feel like a third book in a series can be a hit or miss this was was hit! it was perfection! I loved every second reading this book! I was sitting and kicking my feet at some of the part of this book were so adorable! it had me smiling from ear to ear! everyone needs to read this book 5 star read for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for this advanced copy! You can pick up The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam on July 8, 2025.

This book was everything. I didn't know much about Rosie or Adam going into this, but they were absolute standout characters who I fell in love with more and more. Rosie's larger than life personality and resignation about immortality perfectly balanced Adam's cold, emotionless exterior. Seeing her crack him open more and more was so satisfying, and the payoff when they finally admitted their feelings for each other was golden.

But aside from our main duo, I also loved Duckers and Zeddie's growth in this book. Duckers has been THE character throughout all three stories, and to see him grown up and rekindling his romance with Zeddie was incredible. I'm glad they were trapped together in Tanria and forced to confront their 10-year-old breakup!

The expansion of lore that we got in Undercutting was also really fascinating. We learn more about the New and Old Gods, the mythological stories that shaped Rosie's childhood, and how some of the magic works in this world. I'm glad we got to meet Rosie's dad, the Trickster, and compare him to Hart's godly father, The Warden. Admittedly, the ending made me tear up.

Overall, I couldn't put this book down and was invested in seeing our main quad escape Tanria in one piece. If you love super unique worlds with impeccable romance and fun banter, this is your book and your series!

i love this series so much. it is so whimsical and magical, while also having such loveable characters and TENSION!!! i love reading these and i cannot wait to reread the series all together

It was so much fun to be back in this magical world of Tanria again! The first two books were a blast, & they’re definitely my go-to’s when it comes to cozy fantasy. The mythical creatures & inventions are super cute & creative throughout this whole series, and the characters are so unique. I loved how our FMC Rosie had zero filter, and how she was just open & honest without holding herself back. Out of all three in this series, however, this MMC was maybe my least favorite. Adam’s character was extremely quiet throughout the book & seemed to lack personality (also he seemed fragile at times?), but that could 100% just be a personal preference of mine since I typically like a stronger MMC. But let’s be real…the true star of the show was Penrose Duckers, once again. Pen is such a fun loving character, and I adored getting more of him & the banter he brings to the table. If you’ve been sleeping on this series (or just looking for a quick, fun palette cleanser), start by checking out The Undertaking of Hart & Mercy (book 1, which I LOVED 🥰) and work your way through this fun, magical journey.

Thank you to Net Galley & @orbitbooks_us for gifting me this ARC.

HOLY COW

I was not expecting the amount of emotional turmoil this book put me through. I’m pretty sure I was sobbing through the last 50 pages. This is easily my favourite book so far in this series (I don’t think it’s recency bias but maybe hehe) I absolutely adored the mmc, and I loved the way that Rosie spoke of the passage of time and the grief that goes with it. This was such a fun read. I hope to read more from this author. :)

This was the weirdest book of this series -- and that's saying a lot since the first two already included gods and demigods, zombies, dimensional portals, sentient animal mail carriers, and dragons.

It takes place ten years after the last book, but almost all of the major players from the previous two books make an appearance, which also makes this a nice send-off for the series and its world. As much as I loved Hart and Mercy and Twyla and Frank (which was a LOT), I think that Rosie and Adam are my favorite couple. (Duckers and Zeddie are definitely in the running too.) I love turning the ubiquitous "big man / tiny woman" trope on it's head -- I'll take an Amazon and her pocket man any day of the week.

I even liked the messed up relationship between Rosie and her dad. In the end, his actions (the good and the bad) gave Rosie a lot of insight into herself and her own life.

The only thing I didn't like about this book is that it was the end of the series. It was a good ending though.

Megan Bannen has done it again!

The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam is another swoony romance set amidst the wild and slightly outrageous world of Tanria in the Hart and Mercy series.

Thank you to @orbit for the free digital arc.

This book focuses on the notorious Rosie Fox, who we get glimpses of in the first two books. It is an opposites-attract story that pairs the reckless and bold Rosie with the quiet, scowling, fastidious engineer Adam Lee.

I will say that I think the first book in the series is still my favorite, but I enjoyed this one a whole lot. We dive a lot more into the mythology of the world, especially the story of the Briar Thief. Hart’s story was so compelling because of the uncertainty of whether he was immortal or not. But we start off this book already knowing that Rosie is immortal, and she’s really grappling with that right from the beginning. I loved where Bannen took that plotline, and how she explored the meaning of living and human connection.

Overall, this was a fantastic book in this unique fantasy world that I’ve come to love. Each fantasy rom com in the series can be read as a standalone (each focuses on a romance between different couples), but I really think they’d be best read in order. This one in particular really wouldn’t make sense without some context from the other books.

Book three a series can be hit or miss. For me, this was a hit.
Rosie is a bad B with a caring heart (you'd have to be to be immortal). She is big & beautiful, has an eclectic taste in decor, and impeccable intimates.
Adam is a scientist who has been around the block a few times and has invented some pretty cool things- including the portals that are used everyday to transport people into Tarania.

Trapped together when the portals fail, we watch their trust & feelings blossom. With the help of the past & the power of friends and family, the adventure continues.

This is honestly such a cozy series, I do think this was one of the spicier ones, as they have so much alone time. The books can be read as a standalone alone but are better with all the details and characters.

I spent a while even talking at my spouse about what was going on while I sat there kicking my legs in glee about certain parts. The lore and magic of this world is so unique and comforting.

This series just holds a special place for me with the wonderful cozy world. I thought this book wrapped up everything nicely and brought a very cute closure to Rosie and Adam’s story, as well as everyone else we have met throughout the other books.

This book however was very different from the others with a single POV and an overall lighter more whimsical tone than the first two books. Overall I really enjoyed the book and there was still plenty of teary eyed moments even with the lighter tone.

The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam is nominally a dual forced proximity romance where two not-yet-couples are stuck in Tanria, a realm designed as a prison to contain the Old Gods. But a simple trope description doesn't do it justice. This is the 3rd book in a series that examines what it means for life when death isn't assured. In book 1, we joined the Demigod Hart as he figured out whether he had inherited immortality from his father and needed to decide whether to risk his own death, taking the chance that it might not be permanent. Book 2 Twyla and Frank provided us with a mortal perspective when their jobs became much safer and being at midlife means looking at decades more life to fill. Here in Book 3, Rosie knows she inherited immortality from her father, the last of the Old Gods. She has died and recovered many times in her century and a half or so of living. So with her we get the perspective of someone whose relationship with death is watching it happen to other people, never herself in the traditional, permanent sense. She is dealing with figuring out how to live a full life while protecting herself from the pain of grief for people and times past. Adam has his own unique view of life and death as well. Together they need to chose to risk death and losing the connection they have found with each other by traveling into Death and dealing directly with the gods.

This world is surprising and delightful with living myths from story - Gods and cultural legends - becoming active characters in people's lives. You would think a series about life and death and when death is worth the risk (and is often less scary than risks for love) would not be a cozy topic but that is the vibe nonetheless. The acknowledgments make clear that this is the last of the Tanria books and I'm sad to not be looking forward to more adventures in this quirky world. But I'm looking forward to finding out what Megan Bannen will come up with next.

Banner sticks the landing in the third entry set I'm Tanria. With enough information to catch up new readers this can be read as a standalone, but return readers will enjoy it slightly more since the characters we love are back as the supporting cast.

Thank you for the arc!

This book was such a cozy and wonderful read. I love that we got a tall queen and short king falling in love. So few books break gender norms and societal beauty standards and I find it very draining. This book was such a refreshing read and the characters were all so charming and unique.

3.5⭐

Thank you to Orbitbooks and Netgalley for an ARC of this book!

I would like to preface this review by saying that if I read the previous two books, I can see myself enjoying this more, but I also don't think it was necessary to enjoy. This book is full of laughter and banter, but it's also such an easy read and palate cleanser. I was able to read this book in between work, but also mainly in one sitting, which goes to show Megan Bannen's beautiful and captive reading.

To get more into the characters, this story started with the ground running with the portals going haywire and it's up to Rosie, the heroine to fix it. I will have to say, despite the title, I did not expect this to be a romance from the premise of the beginning, and I'm pleasantly surprised! I do wish their relationship was a bit more developed, because characters like her best friend, Penny D, was more interesting. Tbh, I was more interested in their friendship above most things.

Like I said, I do believe that if I read the rest of the books (which I wish I knew this was a trilogy), I'd have loved this more. Therefore, it's my goal to read the the first book, the Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by the end of the year!!

I LOVE SHORT KINGS AND TALL QUEENS.
Megan Bannen has a real gift for writing lovable, memorable characters. I honestly can’t even pick a favorite couple because they’re all so good, but Rosie and Adam have such a perfect dynamic. The plot was super entertaining, just like the other two books in the series, and I couldn’t put it down, I read the whole thing in a single day. I’m really going to miss this world and these amazing characters. If you love romance with heart and humor, this book is a must-read!

Rosie and Adam are a strange choice for romantic partners as well as main characters. The chemistry and build up just is not there. I wasn’t feeling it. I wasn’t understanding it. I wasn’t rooting for it. In addition it wasn’t as if there wasn’t a perfectly acceptable couple to follow the story of instead of them.

From the first book I think we can all agree we have been feral for a Duckers and Zeddie book. I don’t understand exactly why the author has now twice given us romantic couples no where near as interesting as Hart and Mercy and defiantly skirting around Duckers and Eddie as a main character option.

In this book we get to see Duckers and Eddie have their happily ever after but honestly I am so perplexed why it was given to us this way. Perhaps Bannon has an aversion to writing a full MM novel. I don’t know. But Adam was an awful love interest and it did not help that the book was one POV literally taking away his voice and the opportunity for us to have more insight into that character.

I would recommend starting and ending this series with The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy; as it is the only book worth reading in this series.

Review of The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam, by Megan Bannen.
Overall rating: 3,5 stars.

Megan Bannen is bringing us back to the magical world of Tanria and the old and gods for one last time, while we are following Rosie, an immortal demi-goddess through an adventure that has not only action and suspense, but also romance,friendship and helps our main heroine realize things about herself that she wasn’t able to in her long 157 years of existence. And lets not forget about the dragons!
I’ll start by saying that the setting is very-well captured and its close to reality with dashes of whimsy here and there with the pink grass of Tanria, its curious turkey-like birds and the pink dragons.
As far as the plot goes, it is easy to read and has funny moments and moving instances-especially during the final chapters- however, I would say that overall I found the pacing to be slow and repetitive.
As far as the characters go, I believe that the side characters and especially Penrose Dunkers stole the show and the reader’s affection. Rosie Fox, our main heroine, despite being and immortal demigoddess has something very humane about it and Megan Bannen managed-very eloquently- to capture through this character the eternal dilemma that humanity is always facing, of whether immortality is a gift or a curse.
As far as Adam Lee goes, as a reader there were a lot of moments where I actually craved for his point of view and I believe that this is something that this novel needed, especially in order to help us get more emotionally invested at his plight as a character and at the romantic connection that he has with Rosie.
All in all, it was a very pleasant reading experience and I would recommend it to other readers!

*I received this as an arc from NetGalley* What a great conclusion to this series. A perfect blend of heartwarming, whimsy, and humor. The characters are lovable, the world is fun and unique. Highly recommend.

Rosie and Adam took me on an emotional roller coaster but I loved every moment of this. This is the final book in the series and it was lovely getting to revisited all our favorite characters from before. This book takes place 10 years after the end of Twyla and Franks book. The portals are on the fritz and it’s up to Rosie and Adam (the portals creator ) to figure it out. We also get the secondary romantic plot line of Ducker and Zeddie.

What the author does well , is she took all the traditional gender characteristics and threw them out the door. The characters were refreshing and I fell for them the more we learned their backstory. The only thing I’m sad about is that there won’t be more from this specific world.