I have had the absolute best time reading this series, and this story was the perfect way to end it. The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam follows not only Rosie Fox, but Penrose Duckers as well. Throughout the other books, Penny-D is a favorite and I loved getting more of him!

In this book, we get introduced to Dr. Adam Lee (aka Dr Sassafras), who has so much depth to his character and I loved everything he brought to the story. I really enjoyed how more of the history and mythology of the world is explored. Because with that, we also get more insight into the characters.

Rosie was hilarious, and I had so much fun with her point of view. Her friendship with Penrose Duckers is so wholesome, and I treasured their interactions.

Overall, this was such a fun time and I wish I could live in this world purely for the wacky chaos of it. Read if you love: paranormal, cozy, nonsensical fantasy, and want to have a good time while you’re at it!

The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam releases July 8, 2025.

Thank you Orbit Books (via Netgalley) for gifting me with an eARC, all thoughts expressed are my own.

A great conclusion to a fun and heartwarming series! I would rate the first book 3.75, second book 4.25 and this one 3.75 as well.

In this final installment of the series, we get Rosie, who we have met before, a demi-god who is partnered with Duckers, and new-to-us Adam, a mysterious scientist. I admit I was more excited to see our past characters, Hart & Mercy, Twyla & Frank, Duckers & Z, etc., more than I was intrigued by Adam. Adam seems to be cut from a similar cloth as many mysterious protagonists - a man of few words and even fewer expressions. I've read a lot of these men, and I found myself not particularly interested in unraveling his past. Nevertheless, the central storyline was still gripping, and I love the world of Tanria.

The relationship between Rosie and Adam also didn't blossom as authentically for me as Hart & Mercy's through their letters, or Twyla & Frank's through their many years of friendship. They had no real meaningful past and Rosie seemed to instantly be attracted to Adam. Though at least her self-awareness was refreshing. Bannen is excellent at creating character voices, as each one of her protagonists felt different, unique, but still relatable.

If you loved the past two books, you won't be disappointed by this finale, as it brings together many of the beloved cast and finishes strong. There is more lore revealed in this novel, but I like that it still leaves Tanria with plenty of mystery and questions- all left to the reader's imagination. I am sad that it's over! Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy!

3.5/5

This was such a unique book with such a unique premise (and it turned out super cute and fun)!

This book follows Rosie (a demi-god) and Adam (a portal inventor) have to work together to fix a portal, but they up trapped together when things go south.

And we have a grumpy/sunshine situation on our hands with Rosie trying to break through Adam's tough exterior. And, of course, it eventually works. But this is definitely a very slow-burn grumpy/sunshine, it takes Adam most of the book to open up. And because of this, I didn't feel like they had a whole lot of chemistry. It was still cute though!

And this is single POV for those wondering.

There would've been some more oomph to this for sure, but overall, I still had a fun time reading it and being in this fantasy world that doesn't feel too fantastical but it still super whimsical and fun.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

If Megan Bannen has no stans, I am dead.

Adored diving back into Tanria with this book. We get to check in with Hart & Mercy, Frank & Twyla, and the rest of the gang in Eternity, and hang out with the dragons in Tanria. Duckers is such a wonderful continuation throughout the three books - I loved that he got his subplot in this one. This book and these characters bring a whole new lore and mythology to the universe, while still existing in the same world. Lovers of the first two books will not be disappointed!

Rosie & Adam both feel alone in the world, and without spoilers - find out maybe they are ~not~. Unlike the first two books, almost all of this one takes place in Tanria with its mystic plants and dragons, and - with a red-eyed, immortal FMC - it feels fully fantastical and romantical (not a word but I like it) from page 1.

The only thing I bumped on was the number of mentions about their sizes. I LOVE the flipping of our typical fantasy "giant immortal man loves tiny teenage girl," and that not only is Rosie big, but Adam is small - I just would have been okay with fewer mentions of both of their sizes throughout once established.

This book is for people who love mythology, fantasy, dragons, found family, and strong FMCs.

Favorite spoiler-free quotes:
- "All she could do was be, and that was her least favorite thing to do."
- "Fuck it. I'll do it for science."
- "Dry as a desert wind and every bit as hot"

Even though this is part of a series, this is my first book by the author and I had so much fun. This was a fantastic combination of fantasy, humor, and adventure with some emotional depth. I loved the fantasy elements and the banter between Rosie and the other characters. My only gripe was the romance. I just felt like it went from nothing to instalove real fast. Adam seemed to be just there to maybe sort of being as obsessed with Rosie as she was with him. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

“Best way to go. Act first. Think never. Always works for me.”

I love these books! It’s great to be back in weird and wonderful Tanria.
This third story in the series revolves around Rosie Fox, the tall, irreverent, immortal demigod as she and 3 others get stuck in Tanria when the portals malfunction.

The mystery of the portals is great in a slightly creepy way, but my favorite part of the story are the wonderful characters. I love hard driving Rosie and it was fantastic to see Duckers and Zeddie again. I found Adam a little hard to warm up to, but he grew on me as the story developed.

The ending was perfect and I thoroughly enjoyed the epilogue and hearing what happens with the characters from the earlier books, although I’m sad that this seems to be the last of the Hart and Mercy books.

This book seemed a bit less cozy than the first two, but it’s still a very sweet story. There’s loads of humor and quite a bit of weirdness. If you like T. Kingfisher’s White Rat books, you'll probably like this one. Highly recommended!

amazing conclusion to the trilogy. excellent new main characters with Rosie and Adam and continued wonderful characters from other books (Penrose Duckers is spectacularly loveable). loved the continued world building in this book and how it was a part of the story.

I absolutely ALWAYS love the world that Megan Bannen has come up with. Tanria is just always a good time, no matter what the people/demigods are up to, I just know I’ll be delighted. Rosie and Adam’s story was no different.

One of the things I love about Megan’s love stories is that despite some of the population being demigods, the people are so incredibly real. You have older couples, tall women (I especially love this one as I’m a tall woman - not Rosie tall, but tall), short men, and honestly it goes on and on. Megan represents so many people who don’t get romance novels and I am always here for it! And yes, Rosie and Adam are a tall woman/short king pairing!

If you love Tanria like I do, you’re going to love this one too.

When it comes to <i>The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam</i>, I mainly consider two elements: the fantasy world-building, and the Romance. While I think the fantasy aspects were incredible here, the Romance fell a little short for me, but I overall really enjoyed this book as I have the entire series.

Let’s break it down:

<b>The Fantasy World-Building:</b> Megan Bannen has crafted such a interesting world in this series with Old and New Gods, an impenetrable mist, demigods and dragons (I would be remiss if I didn’t mention they are pink) juxtaposed with a modern-ish society living on one side of the mist where people go about their everyday lives, and - since this is important to Bannen’s books - fall in love.

Above all else, I loved being back in Bushong and Tanria and learning more about the fantastical world. In <i>Rosie and Adam</i>, the story mostly takes place inside of Tanria (on the wrong side of the impenetrable mist) - it’s a setting readers of the series have seen before in snippets, so this was a new setting for Bannen to expound and develop - which she did brilliantly; Tanria felt very much of another time and mystical. I also enjoyed that the lore of the Old and New Gods got a deeper dive and took the plot in a direction I hadn’t anticipated!

<b>The Romance:</b> The plot sets Rosie and Adam up on a slowburn, forced-proximity, opposites attract path, and the build-up is done soooo well. But it seemed to me that Rosie and Adam kissed once around the 40% mark and were VERY MUCH IN LOVE all of a sudden. Outside circumstances and the plot notwithstanding, this relationship felt the most shallow of the series (the comparison was something I couldn’t help but make).

I felt like part of the problem with the relationship development was the lack of Dual-POV. As Rosie’s is the only POV in the book, the reader doesn’t get any of Adam’s internal dialogue that would have shown how his feelings were developing and Down Bad he was for Rosie pretty early on. There’s a reason for this - Adam’s <spoiler>true identity</spoiler>, but I do think it was a loss to not let the reader in his head after the reveal.
There is also a distinct pacing/plot shift about midway through the book where Zeddie and Duckers get out of Tanria and our beloved foursome becomes just the romantic couple. So much of the fun dynamic left when Duckers went through the portal, and while this was a great time for Rosie and Adam’s relationship to develop, I felt like it sped through all of that to the Undying Devotion.

<b>The Writing:</b> First thing’s first - Bannen is an incredible writer. As there seems to be a lack of quality writing coming out in newly published works, it was a joy and a relief to pick up this book and be treated to her prose. Her plotting is also stellar, and her foreshadowing is subtle but delightful (I totally called <spoiler>Adam’s true identity from the first hint, but Bannen kept me on my toes until it was confirmed!</spoiler>). I did feel like the message that Immortality is Bad was heavy-handed, but as Rosie is immortal and that’s something she is struggling to accept everyday, it didn’t necessarily feel overbearing. I was just like yes, Megan we get it. We GET IT. Nobody wants to live forever and it’s a curse upon Rosie that she did nothing to incur.

<b>Final Thoughts:</b>All in all, this felt like a solid conclusion to a series I’ve really enjoyed. I wish the Romance aspect had been a little bit stronger, but the fantasy elements and plot carried me through easily and I didn’t want to put the book down.

P.S.: I loved Gobbo so much. He walked on the page for the first time, spoke, and I was like “that’s my dik-dik son.”

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam was exactly what I expected from the world of Tanria - funny, emotional, and full of magic. Rosie, Adam, Duckers, and Zeddie are so much fun to hang out with, and I loved getting to spend a whole book getting to know them all better.

As usual, the fantasy elements in this book were wonderful. Tanria is such a wild place, even to the characters, and spending the majority of the book there was such a treat! I also loved learning more about the gods, both old and new, and the mythology.

The one thing that fell a bit flat for me was actually Adam himself. I enjoyed the tension between him and Rosie, but I saw the twist about his backstory coming pretty early on, and instead of feeling proud of myself for putting the pieces together I felt like it was the obvious conclusion. I’m not sure what else can be said about that really, but I did enjoy learning more about the specifics of his story after the main reveal happened.

I also wish we had a bit more time between Rosie and Adam. It felt a little silly for them to drop the L bomb after such a short amount of time, but when you have characters that are 100+ years old like Rosie I guess time is a little less significant? Not my biggest gripe, but still a little outlandish in my book.

Anyway, if you’re looking for a lovely conclusion to the stories of the characters you know and love, this is it! While H&M is still my favorite, Rosie and Adam definitely doesn’t disappoint. 3.75 stars.

I squealed when this ARC hit my Kindle—pure happiness! This book, like the first two, is absolute gold. The characters are sharp, hilarious, and totally lovable. You’ve got dragons, immortal gods, true love, and the ultimate savior complex… seriously, what more could you want? The worldbuilding is rich, the banter is on point, and the stakes? Through the roof. This author did it again—another unputdownable fantasy with heart, heat, and heroics. If you’re not already obsessed, get ready to be.

This book was delightful! Just as quirky and fun and cozy as the first 2! Rosie was absolutely full of fun. Adam is an adorable grump. They are cute cute cute.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for providing this digital advanced book! I am leaving this review voluntarily.

An entirely delightful and endearing return to Tanria! I loved the first two books in this series and feel no different with this new addition. In this story, we follow demigod Rosie and grumpy and uptight Adam Lee. Trapped inside the Mist with lovable Duckers and his ex-boyfriend Zeddie, Rose and Adam lead a heartwarming, funny, and exciting adventure to wrap up this wonderful series. Honestly, I'm super sad we didn't get a book about Duckers and Zeddie, but they are perfect supporting characters in this novel and really rounded it all out.

Autoducks, dragons, equimaris, pink grass! All of the quirky bits of what makes Tanria and these books so funny and charming play a role in the story. We see cameos from the two previous books and it was lovely seeing how everyone is doing. There are great conversations and themes on immortality and parent/child relationships. I found the author handled everything with great tact and humor and love. There is an ease and acceptance in how I read the characters of these novels and I love them so much. I will revisit Tanria and this series time and again.

5/5 stars.

This was just as charming as the others in the series. I loved Rosie and Adam's story, with a big helping of Duckers and Zeddie as a bonus!

For the 3rd book in this quirky, cozy series, we are back in Tanria with a new mystery to solve - what are the shadows appearing in the portals and are they the reason the portals are breaking down? When Adam Lee, the portals creator, is called in, Marshall Rosie Fox's immortal life is turned on its head as they race together to evacuate Tanria and get out themselves before the last portal goes down.

A sweet, silly, and surprisingly deep meditation on the meaning of life, Undercutting brings back some some old favorites (Duckers and Mary-Georgina) and introduces new faces but holds on to what readers love about this series: beautifully written, whimsical, fantasy rooted in profoundly relatable human experience.

While Twyla and Frank's story is still my favorite of the 3 books, I loved Rosie as a leading lady. The pacing of the emotional connections and revelations was a bit uneven but the quality of the writing was solid throughout.

The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam is the third and final book in the Hart and Mercy series. I call it the Tanria Trilogy. This book wraps up the story beautifully while also giving humor, romance (x2!) and dragons! Like all of the books in this series, this book has so much heart. I adore these characters and being able to see them fall in love while also visiting past book characters and their happily ever after was a real joy.
The conflict in this book was harrowing, fast paced and exciting. The book did a great job of mixing heartfelt character building moments into the plot that was pretty fast paced and critical.
I did not see the twists of the book and character reveals coming. I should have as looking back there were plenty of hints.
I absolutely love this world and Tanria will always have a place in my favorites.

"The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam" by Megan Bannen
Thank you so much to Orbit and Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for a fair and honest review!
5/5

This book has everything you can possibly want out of a cozy fantasy. It literally had me laughing out loud, giddy and kicking my feet over the romance, while still hitting hard during its serious moments (I definitely shed a few tears!).
Rosie is our quick-witted, demigod FMC who has recently started to struggle with her immortality. She has a wonderful life and beautiful friendships, but finds that even these things can start to feel lacking when there is never going to be an end in sight.
Enter Adam, the perpetually unruffled and very dry MMC. Without giving too much away, both of their lives literally end up being turned upside down as they race to save the magical land she loves, and everything in it.

Oh, and there's dragons. I don't think I even need to say any more!

4.75 on StoryGraph

This one was my favorite in the series!

What a fantastic way to end this trilogy. Like the two books that came before, The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam deals with some tough topics around family, death, and life while keeping love the center of the book. There are so many forms of love on display in this book. Yes it is a romance, and I loved the romance, but I was crying already at the beginning of the book as we see characters we’ve loved over the past couple books change.

Now, our main couple was absolutely lovely. We only get Rosie’s POV for this book, and she’s such a delightful firecracker. Her humor is infused into every page and her relationship with Adam unfurls beautifully. I adored them both, but I’ll always have a soft spot for Rosie.

The side characters in this book are so wonderfully handled, and it’s so fun to see our favorites through Rosie’s eyes. I was very happy to see how their stories wrapped up.

Once again, the themes around this book are intense and heartbreaking. Like the others that came before, this book deals with death and complex family dynamics. Despite getting me to cry MULTIPLE times through this book, I still feel like the humor, warmth and kindness portrayed in the book balance these heavy themes beautifully.

Overall, this was a fantastic way to end the trilogy. I loved this book, thank you for taking us on such a lovely journey, Megan!

This book was such an emotional roller coaster! I loved getting to be back in this universe with all the characters I loved in previous books. We saw little bits of Rosie in the previous books so I was excited to learn more about her in this book. She was such a funny, strong character and I totally felt for her and all the things she’d had to deal with on her life. She had the best attitude about everything though (even if everyone else maybe would’ve preferred she took things more seriously).
I also really enjoyed Adam’s character. For the first part of the book he was kind of this quiet, mysterious character that we knew nothing about but the more I learned the more I loved him. He had such an interesting life with so much going on but I loved that even with all that he was mainly focused on pining for Rosie. The way they were so clearly into each other but wouldn’t act on it was so entertaining and then just got even better when they finally did act on their feelings.
Rosie and Adam were such a good pair and their whole storyline of getting trapped in the portal and everything that came after made me so much more emotional than I was expecting. I loved how this book played out and even though it was bittersweet it felt like the perfect ending for these characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC!!

This was a wonderful visit back into this world and a very different story than the others. I really loved this story and Rosie and Adam are just perfect! <3

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for the opportunity to read this eARC