The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen
Publication Date: July 2, 2024
Summary from NetGalley:
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, Twylaās 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 footprintāand Frank finds himself the inadvertent foster dad to a baby dragonāthey 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 soulmate might be the person who has lived next door all along…
ARC provided by Orbit Books via NetGalley for an honest review.
Confession:
This is technically the second book in a series, but you could read it without having read the first book. But I wouldn’t recommend that. The first book, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, has a lot more information about the world of Tanria, which this book is also set in. While the world building in this one is still great, I think a few things were better explained in the first book.
I really enjoyed this friends to lovers romantasy. It was a lot of fun and I just adored being back in the world of Tanria. But as much as I enjoyed it, it still seemed to be missing that certain something that made me fall in love with the first book. Not sure what that something was, but it was still missed.
One of the best things about this book was that it was about a middle aged couple. Both Frank and Twyla are in their fifties and have had very full lives. They have known each other for a long time, but only became friends after Frank’s divorce and Twyla’s husband dying. I really enjoyed their friendship and the very slow burn romance between them.
The story is only told through Twyla’s perspective, which I enjoyed, but it would have been nice to have seen it through Frank’s as well. As a woman of a certain age, I was really able to relate to Twyla and all of her feelings and emotions about her life, marriage and raising kids. She had a great sense of humor about it as well, which was nice. Even though we didn’t get Frank’s perspective, you could still relate to him and his feelings about Twyla. Frank comes off as such a sweetheart and a very kind man. He also was a great dragon daddy.
Speaking of dragons, I just adored this version of them. I loved that they were pink and spewed glitter instead of fire! It was hilarious and they just sound scary and cute all at the same time. The storyline of the dragons and the theft ring that was happening in Tanria, was a little far fetched and at times overshadowed by the romance, but it was still fun.
We had some characters from the first book making appearances in this one, some had more of a role than others. I loved Duckers in both books, but he really stole the show in this one whenever he was on page. His comments were quite amusing and his issues with his boyfriend Zeddie, were a nice counterpoint to what was going on with Frank and Twyla. Hart and Mercy do make appearances, but are not central to the story.
The writing was wonderful, the world just comes alive with the descriptions and dialogue. The pacing was a bit slow, especially in the middle, and it would have been nice to have their slow burn romance, heat up a little sooner than it did. The steamy sex was just about perfect with its being steamy without a lot of explicit explanations of what was going on. I really enjoyed how attentive Frank was to Twyla’s needs throughout the book, but especially in that scene. The conclusion of the the whole theft ring and the big villain reveal was a bit of a let down, and seemed awfully silly. But I loved how Twyla and one of the dragons saved the day.
Overall this was a solid read and one that I enjoyed. If you enjoyed the first book in the series, you will probably enjoy this one as well. I you have not yet read the first book, now’s your chance before this book comes out in July. I really hope there are more books set in this wonderful world, maybe one with Duckers as the main character please!
Confessions of a Serial Reader 
You’re making me so excited to read this (and the first one of course)! ā¤ Honestly you had me at dragon daddy. And I always love it when a book doesn’t try to make these mythical creatures so edgy all the time. š I might have to wait for this to come out so I can read it immediately after the first one!
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I hope you enjoy both of them!
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