Hart and Mercy have hated each other since they first met. Hart is a marshal on the border of the town where Mercy manages her family’s business. They’re undertakers, and Hart often has to bring what are essentially zombies back to Birdsall and Son when he catches them roaming about.
It turns out, they’re both pretty unhappy – Hart’s lost his mentor and is fighting with his former partner, now his boss, over it. And Mercy’s not sure how they’re going to keep the family business afloat. Hart decides one day to write a letter to “a friend”, and Mercy ends up receiving it.
This book owes a lot to Pride and Prejudice, but it’s with great world building, and lovely side relationships. I really enjoyed the mythology of this world – the author got a lot in there without having to resort to a ton of exposition dumps. The romance is sweet, and Mercy’s family is a hoot. I very much enjoyed this book. It’s definitely more on the romance side of things, but if you enjoy good fantasy world-building, and don’t think you like romance, I still think you’ll like this book.