lightreads

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

3/5. Fantasy romance that’s doing You’ve Got Mail in a sort of fantasy setting with zombies where he is a free range zombie hunter cop and she’s an undertaker.

I liked the world building here. It’s not revolutionary, but it’s more creative and textured than you get in a lot of fantasy romances, and it hits a sweet spot of practicality and deep emotion over death. Unfortunately, I didn’t much like the romance at all. It's enemies-to-lovers, but it turns out I like the kind where they have crackling banter from day one which continues past the point where they hook up because whatever fundamental thing they disagree on isn’t fixed by banging, but now they have to find other ways to live with it. This book, on the other hand, is the kind where they develop mutual hate for dumb reasons and are variously petty and cruel to each other until suddenly they’re banging and all the tension disappears. Meh. No thanks, coming and going.

Also, minus points for massively overplaying the nicknames you can get out of Hart and Mercy.