The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy (Hart and Mercy, #1)

by Megan Bannen

Then again, she wondered which was sadder: losing someone you truly loved, or never loving someone to begin with.

Hart had seen their ilk a hundred times, boys who were old enough to think themselves men and young enough to forget how easy it was to die.

“I’m not a ‘good girl’ or a ‘sweetheart,’ Curtis, and you don’t have the right to be proud of me, especially since I know we wouldn’t be having this conversation unless you were terrified of me. Which you should be. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a business to run.”

The awkwardness was so visceral, it seemed to pull up a chair and order a drink.

He figured that if he could no longer love Mercy in person, he could at least love her through the pages of her favorite novel.

What did that mean, to take something hard? Mercy didn’t want to take it at all, hard or soft or in between. Whatever “it” was, she was certain to bash against its sharp edges and break.