Rise and shine. The Evans women have some undead to kill.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for sending me a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I decided to DNF this book at 60%. I thought I would like this book because it’s set in Southeast Texas in 1999. I’ve lived in Southeast Texas my whole life and I was in 5th grade in 1999. This book has 90’s references so I thought it would be nostalgic for me to read. I like the Texas setting, the audiobook narrator and the 90’s references but I can’t get into this book.

The way a vampy read warms my heart!

BLESS YOUR HEART was such a fun story with eccentric characters, and with A Southern Bookclub’s Guide to Slaying Vampires vibes that were just spooky enough for me. I loved the small town Texas setting, complete with funeral parlor.

I listened to the audiobook, and loved the narration! Definitely immersed myself even more with this format.

*many thanks to Minotaur Books, Macmillan audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review.

Loved this! This read like a horror filled Steele Magnolias and i was 100% here for it. I love all the characters, they were well written and fleshed out. It was easy to understand who was narrating when. It was a fun book to read during Halloween season.

Horror meets Southern charm, female fortitude, and big family secrets in a small Texas town in 1999.

✨Book Review: BLESS YOUR HEART by Lindy Ryan ✨

🩸 Book Synopsis: The family of Evans women run the one funeral parlor in their small Texas town, but that’s a front for their real business. The family takes care of the dead, particularly when they rise again.

😳 My Take: I don’t usually read horror, but I’ll make an exception, especially in October, when the book features strong women and vampires. BLESS YOIR HEART by Lindy Ryan is all kinds of creepy in a way that I thoroughly enjoyed. The characters are really well written and developed, and the family secrets and final twist are no joke. I’m excited to read the next book in this new series, ANOTHER FINE MESS, out in April 2025. Definitely recommend if you’re looking for something on the creepier side (and you’re ok with a good amount of gore) this spooky season.

Read BLESS YOUR HEART for
💄 Southern hospitality and horror
🥊 Bad$$ women
🧟‍♀️ Undead monsters
🤫 Family secrets

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 stars)

😘 Thanks to @minotaur_books for the advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was the first ever gruesome book I’ve ever read… and I’m hooked!! This book is a mix of mystery/horror and was at times even comedic. It’s a perfect dive into something a little scarier than I’m used to without pulling me too far out of my comfort zone.

I was completely sucked into this story from beginning to end. I loved the characters and how much they added to the story, I found them to bring some light unexpectedly. I absolutely loved how this book was written. There was just enough suspense to draw me in but it was resolved quickly enough that I still enjoyed it and wasn’t running scared 😂

Run and pick this one up before spooky season is over - it’s the perfect book for this time of year!

I enjoyed this multigenerational vampire fighting family, and how the chapters were told from multiple points of view - not only the women, but other members of the community as well. There was a lot more body horror/gore than I was expecting from the blurb and cover; I was expecting 'chick lit' and this was more of a standard horror story but I just skimmed the parts that were a bit much for me. The ending was satisfying but also makes me look forward to the sequel!

I never knew I needed a cozy mystery with some horror mixed in. It made for reading in October perfect. It can get a bit descriptive which was a surprise, but it did not bug me at all. The Evans women were great. I love the 4 generations and their secret job of keeping the Strigoi at bay. Very unique story and I would not mind reading more of this world.

In a quaint, southern town, the Evan's women run the local funeral home and take care of the dead - in more ways than one. When a rush of disappearances and blood trails has everyone on edge, the women must figure out what's going on while handing local police investigations and dealing with family secrets that have returned from the grave.

This book is full of southern turns of phrase, a bit of horror, and a unique twist on the things that go bump in the night.

I honestly did not expect the ending - though after I finished it, I sorta thought I should have seen it coming.

I like Grace, Luna, and Crane the most.

Unfortunately, sometimes books are boring, no matter how much you try to make sense of them.

There's no point in keeping you here more than necessary, so this is my take: absolutely nothing happens for the majority of the book and then, in a matter of chapters, things start moving and end without any credibility nor answer to the readers’ questions.
The pace is just wrong, and the narration doesn't help at all: on one hand, we have the stereotypes, so many and so archaic that my eyes almost broke from rolling so hard; on the other, also based on the stereotyped narration, there’s the fact that half of it is just not-always-understandable metaphors, in an attempt of explain how people speak in Texas.

Some people seemed to have enjoyed this, and I'm glad for them, but I can't really understand why.
Especially after that very disappointing ending.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this title. Bless Your Heart was a quirky, fun, lighthearted horror novel and also gave cozy mystery vibes. I really enjoyed this book.

This book surprised me in more ways than one. I initailly though vampires but I can do zombies or strigoli, whatever they call them in this book. I was quite fond of the family business being the funeral home but also basically being monster hunters. I think what I liked most was the female empowerment. Mom's and daughters just taking over the family business. It was hard to get into at first, I felt like there were a lot of things going on but eventually everything seemed to fit in. I would definitely recommend this to my friends and fellow readers.
Thanks Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the chance to read this one!

Unfortunately, this one did not hold my interest. I admittedly did not get far into the story before I put it down but I could tell it wasn't meant for me as a reader.

Thank you to the author and MacMillian for this ARC.

I had a very hard time getting into this book and realized it just was not for me. It was somewhat cute but not what I expected

Such a good read that I enjoyed! I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. Bless Your Heart is a southern fried vampire tale with heart that may or may not have a stake in it. Funny, touching and feminist.

If you thought my review wouldn't contain a plethora of vampire puns then you, are a silly lil goose,  I am obsessed, is anyone really surprised?
Campy cozy horror at its finest, a perfect blend of horror, mystery, humour and family drama, with veins ( 👀) of 90s nostalgia running throughout BLESS YOUR HEART was an entertaining read that gave me the fuzzy wuzzies.
The undying ( 👀) solidarity of the Evans women in the face of life's most difficult challenges is at the beating (or not 👀) heart of this novel.
It seems obvious that most people would draw a comparison to Grady Hendrix’s The Southern Bookclub’s Guide to Slaying Vampires and whilst yes it is brimming with southern charm and biting ( 👀) wit, in reality, the two books are quite different. Specifically, the depiction of women, rather than being victimized the women in Ryan’s novel take control, strong and powerful and despite their differences their unconventional family dynamic adds a lot of sincerity to this story.

Rising like the dead ( 👀 ) to meet the recent resurgence of vampires in the literary world, Ryan has staked  (👀 ) her claim as one of the best in this heartfelt feminist monster yarn.

Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy of Bless Your Heart.

"Rise and shine. The Evans women have some undead to kill."

Bless Your Heart is for anyone looking for…
• Southern charm
• Vampires (or strigoi) and lots of gore
• Interesting family dynamics (with complicated motherhood)
• Small town setting

REVIEW
Bless Your Heart is perfect for readers who enjoyed True Blood or The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires! A "beginner horror" for those wanting to dip their toes in scarier books but need baby steps before diving in fully. However, it is quite gory so I wouldn't pick up during meal times or something. It's a fun read with charming characters and a touch of murder mystery! It is a multi-pov book, which I found adds depth to the plot while the mystery plot with the strigoi unfolds.

Overall, I highly recommend for vampire fans!

I will start this by saying that I don't really think that I was the intended audience for this book. I thought the cover was cute and the synopsis sounded charming. There were some really great elements in this book and some parts that I really enjoyed. The banter between the characters was humorous at times. The story its self just didn't seem to work for me. I thought the pacing was off and it really took a long time for things to really get moving. I was also really surprised at the level of gore in the story. Over all I think that this book will go over really well with a lot of people and it just wasn't my cup of tea.

When I saw the cover and read the blurb, I knew I just had to read this book, as it sounded totally up my alley. And boy, was I not disappointed!

The background "mystery," so to speak, regarding the Evanses takes a bit longer to finally be addressed than I would've liked, as it's built up and built up, mentioned and hinted around and then shelved once more, to the point that it just seems to drag out, but the "here and now" part was paced really well, and I loved going back to 1999. Interesting concept with an edge-of-your-seat ending, and I absolutely would not be opposed to there being more stories set in this world.

4 stars

**I received an advance review copy from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and comments contained within are my own.**

Oh. My. Lanta. This is one of, if not top read of 2024. This was full of southern charm and gory goodness and I couldn’t get enough of it. I cannot wait to see how the rest of this world unfolds in the coming books!