The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

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Hart is a six foot nine marshal that stabs zombies and drags their rotting corpses to Mercy, an undertaker who salts her dead and sings incantations over them before respectfully setting them off to their final destination. And they absolutely HATE each other. *cheers in dystopian*

You gouge your customers by upselling mass-produced boats at a criminal markup, and you convince people that they need to be preserved in Tanrian heartnut sap because it’s ‘sanitary.’ And then you gouge them for that, too. Honestly, these secondary characters really made the story shine. Each had their own quirks, interests, and sense of humor that kept the story rolling. I had some trouble picturing this world, which made it more difficult for me to feel immersed on it. However, the characters are spectacularly well developed, and they make the story shine. Horatio is a snooty, know-it-all owl that delivers Mercy’s mail and isn’t afraid to speak his unfiltered mind and help himself to the tip jar.One of my favorite personality traits about Hart is the fact he is a dog lover. I mean, come on, an attractive character who loves dogs? What’s not to like? Even when he hated Mercy, he still dropped bodies off at her business just to hang out with her dog Leonard. Loneliness is a feeling we all can relate to, so I found myself having sympathy for him right from the start. I fell hard and fast for Hart, I loved Mercy’s commitment with her family and her passion for work. I admit I was mainly on Hart’s side, and I think he deserved more most of the time, but I still loved their romance and was on the edge of my seat for their happy ending.

I was absolutely psyched when I read the description for this book. Make romance weirder and more imaginative! Make fantasy have more romance! I was hoping that this would be true love, but both the romance and fantasy parts fell under the “good, but not great” category for me. I had fun reading it, but it didn't sink its teeth into me like a ravenous zombie. A truly outstanding romantic fantasy’ India Holton, author of The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels The Princess Bride meets You’ve Got Mail in this enchantingly quirky, completely refreshing fantasy with a rom-com-worthy premise, perfect for readers of The House in the Cerulean Sea. Hart adores Mercy’s dog, Leonard (who is a very very good dog) but he does not like Mercy on sight, merely because she’s an undertaker. He’s got the same negative opinions about the mortuary industry in his world that I do in mine:

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As much as this is a story driven by character, there is also a lot of plot. I was concerned early on that the characters surrounding Mercy and Hart would be uniformly one-dimensional, only present to perform a role in the conflicts initially surrounding the protagonists. But everyone develops with such nuance and humanity and foibles that I wanted to read about all of them. to have applied the weight of my loneliness to a piece of paper rather than to my own heart for a change. THE UNDERTAKING OF HART AND MERCY is warm, compassionate, and compelling... It's a deeply charming, intelligent exploration of the macabre that brings with it solid worldbuilding and characters you want to cheer for.” Vivian Shaw, author of Strange Practice Despite my qualms expressed above, I was still swept up by Mercy and Hart’s relationship when Megan Bannen wasn’t trying to fit them into marketing bullet points. There is such genuine affection and tenderness expressed throughout this book. Actual tears might have leaked from my Sahara-dry tear ducts?? It was easy to root for these characters and their happy ending.

The enemies to lovers aspect was just delicious and the worldbuilding was fascinating! It kinda gave me Ilona Andrews levels of crunchy, deep-dive worldbuilding mixed with the super-satisfying romance. It's not out for a few months but if you like your romance with really intricate world building and plot, and you love a penpal romance mashed up with enemies to lovers and and and JUST ADD THIS TO YOUR LIST, SERIOUSLY. The letters could have been better, but I preferred the toned-down version. It also helps that I didn’t even think of You’ve Got Mail. The letters suit the characters (who aren’t philosophical), so no complaints. I showed up for the fantastic, fun fantasy setting but it was Hart and Mercy that kept me reading.” —Ruby Dixon The fantasy and the reality of this book are absolutely fascinating. There are ships that carry the dead, multiple gods, a magic cloud veil that surrounds Tanria, and, yes, talking animals who deliver the mail (as you do). The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is one of those lovely books that almost defies description. I mean, you can say the words You've Got Mail with extradimensional zombies—but then you'd also have to add "but it's really cute, actually, and the hard-drinking anthropomorphic rabbit that delivers the mail is probably my favourite character, and—"This book is a gooey (and hot!) romance immersed in a tasty layer of quirky fantasy, like some decadent chocolate treat. A little sweet, a little spicy, a little sharp and entirely moreish!” Davinia Evans, author of Notorious Sorcerer