Early Review – The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam (Hart and Mercy, Book 3) by Megan Bannen (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Humor
Length: 428 pages
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: July 8, 2025
ASIN: B0D91T34GP
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Hart and Mercy series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 5/5 stars
“Immortal demigod Rosie Fox has been patrolling Tanria for decades, but lately, the job has been losing its luster. When Rosie dies (again) by electrocution (again) after poking around inside a portal choked with shadowy thorns, she feels stuck in the rut that is her unending life.
The portal’s uptight creator, Adam Lee, must come in person to repair the damage. But when all the portals break down at once, Rosie and Adam wind up trapped inside the Mist. And the reticent inventor in his bespoke menswear seems to know a lot more about what’s happening than he lets on.
Maybe two people who have found themselves stuck in this thorny, tangled life together can find a way to unstick each other … just when their time on this earth seems to be running out.”
Series Info/Source: This is the third book in the Hart and Mercy series. I got this ebook for review from NetGalley.
Thoughts: This is the third (and sadly final) book in the Hart and Mercy series. I have absolutely loved this world, the characters, and the adventure in these books. This book was absolutely spectacular. I wasn’t sure how I was going to enjoy a book that focused on Rosie since she has always been a bit wild for me, but I shouldn’t have worried. This ended up being an amazing read. Not only does this tie into the previous books beautifully plot and world-wise, I absolutely loved getting to know Adam and Rosie.
Rosie is an immortal demigod who is getting tired of immortality. However, when the portals between worlds start breaking down, Adam (the creator of the portals) is called in to help fix them. Rosie knows Adam as a buttoned up stick-in-the-mud. However, when Rosie and Adam get trapped with Ducky on the other side of the portal, Rosie starts to learn that there is a lot more to Adam than she ever could have imagined.
This is an amazing world with such rich history. Each book in this series has seen major changes happen to the world and allowed the reader to learn more and more about the history of this world and how it came to be. There is also an element of adventure to each book as our characters venture into the unknown.
I wasn’t sure about Rosie at first; I wasn’t a huge fan of her in previous books. However, I quickly grew to love her as a character. She has a love of beautiful things, an adventurous spirit, and is tired of being immortal. Rosie has no filter when it comes to saying what’s on her mind and is rash. She is a fun character to get to know. Adam was also a bit hard to read at first, but as I learned his history, I also grew to love him. He made some bad choices a very, very long time ago and is living with those consequences. To distance himself from people, he keeps himself very contained; physically and emotionally. He was another awesome character to get to know, and I really enjoyed him.
Rosie and Adam have amazing chemistry together; watching them dance around each other was killing me (in a good way). I absolutely loved watching them get to know each other, fall in love, and unravel each other’s mysterious histories. I also really enjoyed the puzzle of the shadow vines and how that tied into the portals and Tanria as a whole. It was impressive how well this tied together into the other two books. I really appreciate how well this whole series was put together. It is a wonderful balance of excellent romance, intriguing characters, adventure, and world-building.
My Summary (5/5): Overall I adored this book and this series as a whole. This book was wonderful all on its own but also did an amazing job of tying in with the mysteries and the world presented in the first two books of this series. Rosie and Adam were intriguing characters that I was worried were going to be hard to engage with but ended up absolutely loving; the chemistry between them was off the charts. I love the world of Tanria and how much it changes throughout the series; I also love the adventure in these novels. This whole series has a cozy and heart-warming feel to it while also having excellent world-building, an intriguing mystery, and a steamy romance. It is just very well balanced. I am eager to see what Bannen comes up with next.
