The work’s not the problem—Mercy’s good at it, better than any other Birdsall—but keeping all her family’s plates spinning singlehandedly, forever, isn’t how Mercy envisioned her future.

In her spare time, she apparently enjoys collecting graduate degrees from various Kansas universities. There are some interesting magical elements to Bannen’s world, but they primarily exist to further the character development of the leads. Packed with earnest characters, wit, action, and reluctant yearning, this is easily my favorite fantasy romance of the year . His story explores the idea of the death of the godlike parent figure and breaking the cycle of hatred.

Along those lines, one could never accuse Megan Bannen’s adult debut The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy of being anything less than wholly unique, although you might recognize some subtle homages to rom-coms of yore, all wrapped up in an imagined setting that will hook you in from page one and keep you reading until the catharsis of its ending. But working alone, Hart’s got nothing but time to ponder exactly those questions he’d most like to avoid. 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 just kept waiting for Mercy and Hart to have that same love/hate chemistry like Kathleen and Joe had, and I was sadly disappointed. I oversee operations where needed most across many different spaces including news, video games, board games, interviews.An unabashedly offbeat adventure full of dead gods and mostly-dead zombies, family drama, swoon-worthy love letters, and a Very Good Dog, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy oozes romantic fun like a corpse oozes dubious fluids. 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 T he House in the Cerulean Sea.