The heart wants what the heart wants, and our hearts want books.

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Darling readers, you know that feeling when you finally get your book bestie to read one of your favorite titles… and then in search of confirming the aforementioned title did indeed make your “favorite of the year” list, you realized that you never actually did anything with the aforementioned list?  Just me, well it’s fine, focus on the first part of it – over a year later, Jamie B. Golden and I worked together (ish) to get Ashley to read The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen!  It was published in August 2022, and somehow (I wish I knew), I heard of it and read it in October, on vacation, very quickly, and then Jamie B. Golden included it as her greenlight in March 2023, and FINALLY Ashley read it this month!  Please know this novel has fantastic fall vibes, featuring souls, zombies (sort of), and our titular undertaker!  I’m sure it’s a delight all year round, but I do love reading, and rereading this story in the fall.  

Way back when, this is what I had to say after first reading of Hart-ache and Merciless:

I read this title quickly, on vacation, and it helped me recover from a slump, so it has a special place in my reading year, but the characters of Hart and Mercy are just amazing and dimensional, and the world they live in is so creative and unreal.  The writing is clear and engaging, with picturesque descriptions that helped me connect the dots before our characters did.  The story is gut-wrenching too, as our characters both grow into better versions of themselves, because, no spoilers here, but this is a romance complete with HEA.  

Now, after rereading it (partially because my memory is lacking and partially because I love it), I have more to say about The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy.  This is a grumpy / sunshine (but not to him), sci-fi / fantasy, open-door romance that includes a lot of doing the work for both of our lead characters.  If you’re not into fantasy / sci fi, please hear me out!  Mercy and Hart’s world looks similar ish to ours – he’s a Marshall, she’s an undertaker.  While the religion, cars, and fauna is very different from ours, the family dynamics, the internal struggles, and the general chaos of life found in this novel are so very relatable!  I think this might be a great toe-dip into fantasy / sci fi for folks who are curious or skeptical.  

Some of my favorite aspects of  The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy include the solid, lush writing, the dimensional characters (yes, even the supporting cast), and the witty dialogue!  I also adore the family drama on both sides, how found family and small town community come into play, and the ending is such a delightful bow!  

Yet again, I’m giving The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy five solid stars.  This might be an annual reread for me because it’s quick, moody, and an utter delight (also a great way to hack your cry – attuned readers will see that coming before it hits).  I’m super excited for the follow up, expected in 2024, and VERY interested in Bannen’s backlist.

What’s a title that just hit right with you, and stood up well upon a reread?

~Nikki

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is the first romance and adult novel published by former public librarian, Megan Bannen. She has written two other stand-alone YA novels, The Bird and the Blade and Soulswift. Known for her immersive worlds and character development, Bannen’s works have won awards and been on numerous ‘Best Of’ lists. She lives in the Kansas City area with her family and ‘more pets than is reasonable.’ I’m here for book two in the Hart & Mercy series, The Undermining of Twyla and Frank, a best friends-to-lovers romance – even though I think enemies-to-lovers is better.

And, oh, is the enmity between Mercy and Hartley deliciously thick with misunderstanding and secrets. It’s stated in the marketing copy, so I’m not afraid of giving you spoilers about anything, but after Marshal Hart Ralston leaves another nameless drudge (zombie) and nerve-wracking argument with undertaker Mercy Birdsall, he returns to the wilds of Tanria and pens a letter about his loneliness to ‘A Friend.’ Through the world’s magic, the letter is delivered to none other than his mortal enemy, and from there they begin an anonymous, emotional friendship/relationship through their letters. After Mercy divulges the secrets she’s been keeping for her father, brother, and sister, she writes to her ‘friend’ that they should meet, but when Hart shows up and realizes who his pen-pal is, he has a decision to make about how he will handle it. All of the drama of enemies being secret pen-pal friends makes my black little heart sing. My second favorite part of the entire book is the theme of life’s purpose. Each character runs into that question in one way or another throughout the book, not just Hart and Mercy, but Mercy’s brother Zeddie, her father Roy, sister Lil, and Hart’s apprentice Penrose Duckers. That’s a whole theme in my life now, too, and it’s always fun to feel a little less alone in that struggle. My third favorite part of the book is that the appendix houses the human soul, and in this world, if your appendix bursts or is removed, there’s a special tattoo that is created to house your soul within your body. I love that idea, cause I would need one of them, not having an appendix myself.

I’m giving The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy 4.5 rounded up to 5 stars. I typically like my romance to have a little more heat in the spice department, but everything else was top notch exciting. I’m likely to re-read Hart and Mercy before I read Twyla and Frank in the future, and I’m definitely interested in Bannen’s backlist, even though those titles are YA. (Surprise!) 

I can’t believe I waited this long to read this book.

~Ashley

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The following post includes affiliate links. More details here.  As you’re doing your Amazon shopping, we’d be ever so grateful if you’d use our affiliate link to do so as it helps pay the bills around here!

Welcome to our first No Spend November title!  This author has been on our radar for a while, and we were finally convinced to give her a review slot earlier in the year. One can only put off one of mom’s favorite authors for so long.  Please let me state for the record – Mama Rousselle, you are correct, this title was quality and I’m here for more!  

Yes darling readers, Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict came to be on our list courtesy of Ashley’s mom and I’m only sorry it took us so long!  I adore a good historical novel, and I love a deep dive, so when I learned this is the tale of Benedict’s idea of how Andrew Carnegie could have been inspired to become a philanthropist, I was here for it (but also, have you seen Benedict’s catalog?  I’m here for all that!).  A potentially, maybe factual, but really a fictional guess at how our beloved Carnegie libraries came to be?  HERE. FOR. IT!  Yes, that is our tale, Clara Kelley immigrated to the US to be the backup plan for her Irish family to survive after the potato famine ravaged the land and their community, amidst the backdrop of the Civil War happening in the US.  She accidentally found her way into service for Mama Carnegie (my phrase, definitely not Clara’s) in Pittsburgh and is in over her head, having only served in kitchens before.  What’s a girl to do when she doesn’t know how to complete her task?  Get herself to a library to figure out what she’s supposed to be doing of course!  From there, antics ensue, she finds a friend below stairs and one above, and it’s a fun ride, and an interesting journey into the social dynamics of Pittsburgh and New York society, as well as the standings below stairs and the struggles faced by many immigrants in the 1860s.  

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of Carnegie’s Maid.  The scenes were well described, the important characters were dimensional, and the writing was concise and engaging.  I didn’t love the (factual enough) ending, but I did appreciate the bow on the story at the end.  I’m giving this novel four solid stars.  I highly recommend it, but am not likely to reread it.  I am likely to pick up Benedict’s backlist though.  This was just the right mix of fact and fiction to get me really interested and excited.

What’s a book someone recommended to you and you only regret it took you so long?

~Nikki 

These are my confessions…

Mom has been asking me to read a Marie Benedict novel for a while now. Nikki and I struggle to balance all of our reading goals, and Benedict doesn’t check boxes when it comes to nonfiction or diversity. Nor do her historical fiction novels fit into the Heart.Wants.Books comfort read category like modern fantasy and romance novels. So, we made the time. My confession…I had checked out Carnegie’s Maid from Prime Reading July 12, 2022. I don’t think this confession is as much of a surprise as the information that Marie Benedict is the pen name of Heather Benedict Terrell. A litigator for 10 years, the Boston University School of Law graduate published her first novel, The Chrysalis, in 2007 and left law to write full time. She published seven novels under Heather Terrell and eleven as Marie Benedict. Starting with 2016’s The Other Einstein Benedict’s novels have been chosen for popular book clubs, been on numerous bestseller lists, and translated into 29 languages. Benedict’s mission is “to excavate from the past the most important, complex and fascinating women of history and bring them into the light of present-day where we can finally perceive the breadth of their contributions as well as the insights they bring to modern day issues.” She lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and children.

I think Benedict has achieved her mission with Carnegie’s Maid. Clara Kelley isn’t based on a real historical person, but Benedict does state that she used the familial stories of her Irish immigrant family members as inspiration – both for Clara’s mistaken identity and the way life was for immigrants in the 1860s. Margaret Morrison Carnegie, the indomitable mother of Andrew, is a force. More interesting to me than Clara’s story is the story of the immigrant Scots family who was able to climb financially and socially by the work ethic instilled by the matriarch. I had such empathy for Margaret, trying to fit in as nouveau riche in America and struggling to understand the details of what the upper class does. Clara says at one point:

“Would I always live in this nether space of service? Always present but never seen, never engaging, my presence interchangeable with any number of others? I’d overheard Mr. Holyrod lecture the rest of the staff about the dignity of service, but I couldn’t see the dignity in invisibility. Where was the dignity in constantly suppressing your own needs, views, and rights for others?”

I think this is the question that is felt deeply in Benedict’s mission, this is what women have done for time immemorial to the whims and needs of men and their children, families, and society. [cough, patriarchy, cough] And it is up to us to change that story going into the future. To be seen and appreciated for all the work, visible and invisible, that women do and have done to keep this world running. Benedict is using her voice to do this. And that’s something I can always get behind.

I’m so annoyed I waited this long to listen to my mother. She was right, and I, like Nikki, am giving Carnegie’s Maid a solid four stars. Benedict’s backlist will find a place in my reading life as soon as I can fit them in. If her other books are anything like Carnegie’s Maid, they promise to be filled with dimensional characters, interesting plots, and quick, solid reads. Not as much of an escape as a romance novel or some fantasy tropes, but not anything I’ll regret having read.

Moral of the story: Listen to Your Mother.

~Ashley

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