Review – The Undermining of Twyla and Frank (Hart & Mercy, Book 2) by Megan Bannen (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Humor
Length: 407 pages
Publisher:‎ Orbit
Release Date: July 2, 2024
ASIN: B0CMQ9DJ1J
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Hart & Mercy series
Source: Borrowed ebook from library
Rating: 5/5 stars

“The entire town of Eternity was shocked when widowed, middle-aged Twyla Banneker partnered up with her neighbor and best friend, Frank Ellis, to join the Tanrian Marshals. Eight years later, Twyla’s rewarding career patrolling the strange land of Tanria remains a welcome change from the domestic grind of mom life, despite the misgivings of her grown children.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) a recent decrease in on-the-job peril has made Twyla and Frank’s job a lot safer … and a lot less exciting. So when they discover the body of one of their fellow marshals near an enormous footprint—and Frank finds himself the inadvertent foster dad to a baby dragon—they are grateful to be back in action.

Soon, the friends wind up ensnared in a nefarious plot that goes far deeper than any lucrative Tanrian mineshaft. But as danger closes in and Twyla and Frank’s investigation becomes more complicated, so does their easy friendship. And Twyla starts to realize that her true soul mate might be the person who has lived next door all along…”

Series Info/Source: This is the 2nd book in the Hart & Mercy series. I borrowed this on ebook from my library.

Thoughts: I loved this book just as much as the first book in this series. This book is set in the same world, and we do see Hart and Mercy some, but it focuses on a new couple and storyline. This is a wonderfully cozy fantasy with a lot of humor, some romance, and some adventure.

Twyla joined up with the Tanrian Marshals after the death of her husband as a way to make ends meet to support her children as a single mother. Her best friend Frank supported her along the way. Her kids are all grown now, but the job of Marshal has gotten a lot more boring without the undead walking around. That is until one of the Marshals is killed by what appears to be a dragon and Twyla and Frank end up investigating along with the help of a professor of dragon history (who struggles to believe a real dragon exists). Along the way Twyla and Frank realize they might want to be a bit more than friends…

I always enjoy more non-traditional types of romance stories and fantasy adventure with humor, so this was a perfect combination for me. Twyla and Frank are nearing retirement age and both have relationship baggage from their past that they are dealing with. They both value their friendship so much they don’t want to mess it up. It was wonderful both watching Frank and Twyla’s realtionshop evolve and watching Twyla’s relationship with her kids grow as well. Twyla is at the point where she realizes her kids need to do what’s right for them even if she has reservations. She is trying to cope with her kids starting to actually be responsible like the adults they are! All the characters in here feel genuine and are easy to engage with.

The whole dragon storyline was very well done. From the death of a Marshal to the hunting down of a (supposedly non-existant) dragon it’s a fun romp with some intriguing twists and turns. The way the dragon is tied in to some other ongoing investigations was well done too. The storyline is about the change happening in Tanrian as a country and the change happening in all the characters’ lives as well as they grow older and enter new life stages.

The world here is well-built and builds on the world we discovered in the first book. There is a lot about family and aging, a lot of humor, some dragon adventurers, and some romance as well. All of it is balanced very nicely. Mostly, this book is just full of heartwarming laughs and characters that genuinely want to make the world better, which I enjoy.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I loved this, it is a read that makes you feel hopeful and happy. I thought the balance between action/adventure, mystery, world-building, amazing characters, humor, and romance was perfect. I will definitely be picking up the third book in the series “The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam” as soon as I can get my hands on it. I have really been loving this whole series; it is quirky, cute, and just an all in all fun, feel-good fantasy read.