The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy
Books | Fiction / Fantasy / Romance
4.1
(223)
Megan Bannen
'Megan Bannen has created a world that you'll never want to leave and characters that will carve a spot into your heart. This series is playfully unique, delightfully steamy, utterly romantic, and overall unmissable!' Ali HazelwoodThe Princess Bride meets You've Got Mail in this enchantingly quirky, completely refreshing fantasy with a rom-com-worthy premise.Hart is a marshal, tasked with patrolling the magical wilds of Tanria. It's an unforgiving job, and he's got nothing but time to ponder his loneliness.Mercy never has a moment to herself. She's been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart-ache Hart, the man with a knack for showing up right when her patience is thinnest. After yet another run-in with Merciless Mercy, Hart finds himself penning a letter addressed simply to "A Friend". Much to his surprise, he receives an anonymous reply, and a tentative friendship is born. Little does Hart know he's baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most. . . Set in a world equally full of magic and demigods as it is donuts and small-town drama, this utterly unique fantasy is sure to sweep you off your feet.Praise for The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy:'Romantic, wildly creative, and utterly charming, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is a fantasy unlike any I've read before' Lana Harper, author of Payback's a Witch'The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy broke my heart, put it back together, then tucked me into bed with a forehead kiss. Packed with earnest characters, wit, action, and reluctant yearning, this is easily my favourite fantasy romance of the year' Jen DeLuca, author of Well Met'A uniquely charming mixture of whimsy and the macabre that completely won me over' Helen Hoang, author of The Kiss Quotient'Megan Bannen remains the queen of swoons upon swoons upon swoons! The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is a playful, quirky gem-full of feels and guaranteed to deliver the perfect grumpy/sunshine fix!' Sierra Simone'An unabashedly offbeat adventure' Freya Marske, author of A Marvellous Light'A lovely, macabre fantasy romance about life, death, and Actually Living. I cried twice and smiled plenty' Olivia Atwater, author of Half a Soul'Megan Bannen broke me, made me laugh, then put me back together again. . . The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is one of those books you'll be thinking about long after you've read the last page' Manda Collins'A truly outstanding romantic fantasy' India Holton, author of The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels'A little sweet, a little spicy, a little sharp and entirely moreish!' Davinia Evans, author of Notorious Sorcerer 'I showed up for the fantastic, fun fantasy setting but it was Hart and Mercy that kept me reading' Ruby Dixon, author of Ice Planet Barbarians'Megan Bannen has found her voice with this incredibly smart, and hilariously weird debut. A must read' Nisha Sharma, author of Dating Dr. Dil 'Warm, compassionate and compelling' Vivian Shaw, author of Strange Practice
Romantic Comedies
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More Details:
Author
Megan Bannen
Pages
448
Publisher
Little, Brown Book Group
Published Date
2022-08-25
ISBN
0356518655 9780356518657
Community ReviewsSee all
"At first I was a little unsure about this book. It was slow to start but I am happy I stuck with it! It turned out really good and the ending😍😍"
Skye Edelson-Bennett
"Full review on YT"
Z G
Zariah Grant
"Death positive western with romance! Doesnt get much cuter! Love love"
Ruby
"This took me a while to get into it. Honestly, it took a while to get to the start of the relationship, and then it went from 0 to 100. I wished that it was more of a slow burn type thing. Idk.. it just wasn’t one of those books that makes you want to dance around the room during the cute parts. Also, it had really good twists and drama, but then they were resolved within like 2 chapters. ⭐️⭐️⭐️"
Olivia Tarver
"4.5 ⭐️ The beginning of this book gave serious “You’ve Got Mail” vibes…right up to the infamous meeting at a cafe scene! IYKYK. “Enemies” who become anonymous pen pals in a fantasy world. Mercy is an undertaker and Hart is a marshall who must protect the land from deadly zombie-like creatures. Both must overcome their own challenges while also admitting they may have misjudged each other. I loved it so much. Made me both giddy and misty eyed. Hart definitely has my heart! "
CeeCee
"This story had the makings of awesomeness. I'm not sorry to say I bought it just on the cover appearance alone. But there was very much a lackluster of world-building here. I guess you would call it a Romantasy. To be fair I did give this a four star but stepping back and thinking about my decision I reduced it to three a week later. In the beginning, it was a bit hard to read. The words seemed not to flow well and also the author didn't give much explanation for things.
Even so, the romance was very relaxed and enjoyable. Well except for the love interests dungarees haha. I'm sorry but I looked up reference pictures and could not find it sexy in the least. Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite genres so I did enjoy the bickering. And Mercy was voluptuous which I found very sexy but the author didn't use it as a plot driver which was quite refreshing.
In the end, it was cute and atmospheric but I think it could have shot to the top of my list with some depth, history, and world build-up.
Quotes:
Her shirt was unbuttoned to her sternum, and Hart had to will his eyes away from the resulting cleavage. That is enemy cleavage, he reminded himself."
Ashley
"3.5 stars - The world building in The Undertaking of Heart and Mercy was phenomenal!! It was honestly one of my favorite parts of the book, along with the relationships developed throughout. Seeing Hart open up and Mercy begin to stand up for herself was super satisfying. Their nicknames for each other were also an adorable little detail! The one downside was the pacing of the romantic relationships. I felt that they moved way to fast and felt more like immediate gratification than something fought for and earned.<br/><br/>Thank you to Edelweiss for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review."
A C
Alyssa Czernek
"⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
(This review will contain #spoilers)
I really wanted to love this book, I did, but I unfortunately liked it only for the romance. It drags up until the 30% mark. The world building is nothing short of confusing and it poorly connects to the story. There are modern and fantasy elements mixed together that leave a lot to be desired and more questions than answers. There is a random 2-3 page blurb about the Old and New Gods that just didn’t make any sense, and neither did the ending when (big spoiler) Hart returns to life. Also the whole Cunningham is the villain arc was so anticlimactic.
Like I said, the enemies to lovers was super sweet and I loved it at first, but one scene in particular was lifted right from You’ve Got Mail (restaurant scene) which was tactless on Bannen’s part. Mercy’s lack of accountability in the end really irked me; she told Hart not to bother explaining himself and to never come back, yet a few pages later she’s wondering why he hasn’t come begging for forgiveness with explanations. Later on, she also does the same thing when he wakes up, chastising him for taking what she said in anger seriously. Like sorry he was respecting the boundary you laid down girl, what? Absolute brat. The entire miscommunication trope was *vomit*, but I truly loved Hart, he was such a sweet and vulnerable character.
I think this story could have been so much better if Bannen chilled with the world building, or at least included a map and a glossary. The story dragged on for no good reason, so cutting a lot out would have also improved the flow. Overall enjoyable but Bannen isn’t going to be revisited by me anytime soon."
Kaju Katli
"I’ve never read a book quite like this and I adored every word. So romantic and touching while also fantastical and macabre. Megan Bannen is so incredibly creative! I love Hart and Mercy’s story. Just beautiful!"
Candace
"Charming, sweet, funny, smart and at times beautifully sad. I purchased this on my E-reader but will be buying paper copies to share with people. My only wish is that they had taken Hart’s mystery, and Mercy’s mystery and split them into two books, so they each could have been more prominent and had more details."
Erin Doucette
