Week 38 Review: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

From Goodreads:

Hart is a marshal, tasked with patrolling the strange and magical wilds of Tanria. It's an unforgiving job, and Hart'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, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest. 

After yet another exasperating run-in with Mercy, Hart finds himself penning a letter addressed simply to "A Friend". Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return, and a tentative friendship is born.  

If only Hart knew he's been baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most—Mercy. As the dangers from Tanria grow closer, so do the unlikely correspondents. But can their blossoming romance survive the fated discovery that their pen pals are their worst nightmares—each other?

Set in a world full of magic and demigods, donuts and small-town drama, this enchantingly quirky, utterly unique fantasy is perfect for readers of The House in the Cerulean Sea and The Invisible Library.

My Review:
Oh, this book was so great! I absolutely loved Mercy and Hart, with their pen pal relationship that they don't know is with the other, and that the relationship that they have that they know about is so contentious! It was so great! 

Mercy and Hart do not get along. But he's a marshal, who collects the dead bodies, and the ones that haven't specified how they'd like their funeral rites to go, he takes to Mercy's place. So they see each other fairly frequently, with them snipping at each other.

I loved having both of their perspectives, where they're writing to each other, not knowing who the other is, until they arrange to meet up-and he finds out who she is. Which complicates things, what when they start falling in love in real life! 

Between the romance and the drama there, there were difficulties that they had. She had competitors trying to drive Birdsall out of business, and family members who didn't want to continue. Hart had his family history, and what was going on in this dimension, and I loved how things came together! 

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait for the sequel! 

Author: Megan Bannen
Series: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy #1
Read: September 20th, 2023
Source: Library
Reason Why: Love her writing, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2023 Book! 
Publisher: Orbit
Published: August 23rd 2022

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars