OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Megan Bannen is a former public librarian whose YA debut The Bird and the Blade was an Indies Introduce Summer/Fall 2018 pick, a Summer 2018 Kids’ Indie Next List pick, and a Kirkus Best YA Historical Fiction of 2018 pick. While most of her professional career has been spent behind the reference desk, she has also sold luggage, written grants, collected a few graduate degrees from various Kansas universities, and taught English at home and abroad. She lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and their two sons.

FORMAT/INFO: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy was published on August 23rd, 2022 by Orbit Books. It is 416 pages long, split over 41 chapters and an epilogue. It is told in third person from Hart and Mercy's POVs. It is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook format.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Hart Ralston is a marshal, an individual who travels the wilds of Tanria putting down the undead and ensuring the bodies are taken to a local undertaker for proper burial. Unfortunately for Hart, the undertaker he has to deal with most frequently is Mercy Birdsall. Hart and Mercy have hated each other since the day they met, and loathe the times they have to work together. But both Hart & Mercy are each lonely in their own way and desperately need a person to share their emotions with. So when Hart sends an anonymous unaddressed letter to “a friend” and gets back a response, he finds himself drawn into a relationship with an equally anonymous pen pal. But what he doesn’t know is that the pen pal is Mercy, and she is equally oblivious to her friend’s identity. As undead attacks rise and secrets pile up, what will Mercy and Hart do when they finally realize the truth?

It’s strange to call The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy a comfort read when it is my first time reading it, but that’s exactly how reading this standalone felt. That is largely due to the fact that a part of the narrative was inspired by the anonymous pen pals trope from You've Got Mail and The Shop Around the Corner, two movies I adore with all of my heart. If you have a fondness for those movies, you’ll find many of your favorite story beats here, including a certain scene at a cafe. It doesn’t adapt the entire storyline, but large enough sections are the same that it felt like slipping on a favorite cozy sweater.

But while parts of the story are very familiar, they are woven together with a wholly original story. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy takes place in a fantasy world that feels like a mashup of American Wild West, 1950s aesthetic, and weird fantasy. There’s demigods, water horses, and cars designed to be equally at home in land and water alongside marshals riding on horseback with rapiers and crossbows. One of my few complaints about the story is that I wish some of the world-building had been painted in a little more; there’s enough explanation that you can get through the story without too much issue, but occasionally I found myself wondering about the geography of the world or clarification about what an autoduck (the cars in this world) looked like. These are minor nitpicks though, and didn’t majorly hamper my enjoyment.

Now if you saw the word undead and had any fears this was going to be a zombie gorefest book, let me rest your fears now. The zombies (called drudges) are mostly described as simply a shambling body, with very little detail about any state of decay. Your own imagination can supply as much or as little details as you would like. There are a couple instances of attacks, but again, the action is described like any other monster attack. I think I can honestly say that if stories of zombies make you at all squeamish, you won’t have any problems reading this story.

Lastly, the romance in this book is pitch perfect. Although I didn’t fully buy into why the two initially clashed, watching Hart & Mercy each discover someone who actually listened to their hopes and dreams and fears and who made them feel a little less lonely was a delight. Both Hart & Mercy grow into better people as a result of getting to know each other, and I really loved that aspect of the relationship. There was a little objectification from both parties in the initial chapters (descriptions of staring at ample bosoms etc.) that isn’t my cup of tea, but it was brief enough that it didn’t become grating. And if you were wondering, yes there is some spice, largely contained to one scene.

CONCLUSION: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is a lovely whimsical romance that takes a familiar trope and gives it an original fantasy spin. I simply couldn’t put the book down and really enjoyed my time with the story. Best of all, it's a standalone, so no series commitments here! If you need a break from more serious fantasy reads and want to find a book that’s going to give you a Happily Ever After, pick up The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy today.