This audiobook had me hooked from the start of the story. It also lowkey scared me a little. That is what I get for starting this audiobook in the middle of the night.
This is a very unique story in my eyes, something I have never heard of before.
The ending is amazing.
It’s 1999 in Southeast Texas, and the Evans women, owners of the only funeral parlor in town, are keeping steady with…normal business. The dead die, you bury them. End of story.
But when town gossip Mina Jean Murphy’s body is brought in for a regular burial and she rises from the dead instead, it’s clear that the Strigoi—the original vampire—are back And the Evans women are the ones who need to fight back to protect their town. Past into the present, the Evans family must face that sometimes, the dead aren’t the only things you want to keep buried.
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- thank you, netgalley, and MacmillanAudio for allowing me the ALC for my honest review | opinion.

This was such a fun and enjoyable listen. This story was a kooky mess unfolding and I enjoyed every second. It’s not often you find a suspenseful page turner that also makes you laugh like a crazy person and I am so glad I saw this in Shelf Awareness and requested ARCs! The narrator was especially animated and had the perfect southern twang for this book.

The Evans women are a force to be reckoned with and I truly enjoyed their varied personalities and the way they all fit together. Ducey is a spitfire great grandma and matriarch of her Strigoi fighting family. She’s definitely my favorite of the Evans women and looked forward to each of her POV chapters.

I know some people might write this off immediately when they hear vampires are involved, but I really believe that any kind of reader could enjoy this. This was not only fun, but also a wonderful and heartwarming family story between women of multiple generations and the lengths they go to protect each other.

The only reason this isn’t 5 stars is because there were a couple predictable factors, but the ending still surprised me and this was definitely a great and original tale!

“I was fortunate to receive this ARC. While the book didn’t align exactly with my initial expectations from the blurb, it turned out to be a thrilling and fast-paced read, rich with monsters and folklore. The dynamic relationships and witty banter among the family of Evans women were a highlight for me. I’m grateful for the opportunity to delve into this story and would highly recommend it to fans of light horror.

Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan
Pub date: April 9, 2024
Narrated by Stephanie Németh-Parker
Length: 10H 30M

I loved this throwback to the late 90’s! In Bless Your Heart, the Evan’s women own the only funeral parlor in town but these ladies have a secret outside of burying bodies. They’ve been keeping their eyes on an evil that once fell over their town and took their loved ones. The Strigoi are not your Twilight version of vampire. They’re vicious and bloodthirsty and they’re back!

This is definitely a gruesome book and yet, it’s charming, too! I loved the Evan’s women, all four generations, with all their faults! They are strong, independent women who’ve kept things secretly safe despite the whisperings from towns people about their chosen profession.

Quickly paced and packed with all the vampire gore a horror lover could ever want, I also found myself rooting for the romantic themes in the book! I’ve heard this is going to be a series and I certainly hope so!

Read by Stephanie Nemeth-Parker brilliantly! She hit every character out of the park! Numerous southern women, each with distinctive sounds! Bravo, Stephanie!

My thanks to @MacMillan.Audio for this gifted ALC!

This book was a bit outside of my comfort zone, but the premise intrigued me. There were parts throughout the book that seemed to drag, while the end seemed very rushed. The last two chapters, although at the climax of the story, seemed abrupt. I think if there was an epilogue included to tie up all the events that occurred at the end of the book it may have felt a bit more complete.

Overall, interesting premise and worth the read for anyone interested in gory paranormal mysteries.

Got zombies, vampires or ghouls? Nope, you’ve got Strigoi! Oh, my, what a fun read! This is the first Lindy Ryan book I’ve read, but it won’t be the last! And I seriously hope this is the first of a series! Small town and a family of women who, for years, have kept the townspeople safe from the Strigoi. Not that the town knows. The Evans women run the town funeral home and are regarded by most of the town as creepy and kind of weird. Things have been pretty calm in their neck of the woods for years. But recent events seem to suggest that the Evan’s women may have another situation to deal with. Unfortunately, the youngest Evans, teenage Luna, has no idea that her family is thought of as weird and creepy for any reason other than the fact that they own the local funeral parlor. There’s a new boy in town that doesn’t quite fit in. He’s interested in Luna, and she’s kind of fascinated by him. Is he the cause of the Strigoi rising again? I’ll never tell, so you’ll have to read (or listen to) it! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was wonderful! I REALLY am hoping for a sequel! I feel like Lindy Ryan left this wide open for a second book. I’m dying to know where the Evan’s women will go from here!

What a fun book! It has a Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibe to it. I really enjoyed it! Can't wait for a part two! Highly recommend!

Bless Your Heart is a fun, light, mystery horror novel, which I enjoyed taking a bite out it! The characters are quirky and fierce. I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narration and found to it be an entertaining listen.

1999, Texas

The Evans women (Ducey, Lenore, Grace, and now Luna) run the only funeral home in town. They have buried a lot of bodies; they have also had to deal with those that come back. When a local woman is brought in for burial, she rises from the dead. Here we go again! The Strigoi is/are back and the Evans women will need to take care of business yet again! Plus, Luna will learn more about herself in the process.

I enjoyed this audiobook and story. It's the first book in a new series and left me wanting to know what will happen next. I enjoyed the spunky Evans women and their banter with each other. If you enjoy mysteries and some light horror this book might be for you. I found it to be fun, captivating and nicely paced. Plus, its not scary, this book wont keep you up at night but it will entertain and maybe have you cracking a smile or two.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley qnd Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this book.

I wasn't particularly a fan of thr blood and gore described in this book. I am not sure if going into such detail was nessisary to the story line.

I wasn't the biggest fan of this book due to a lot of rambling.

I did enjoyed the humor and wit throughout the book as well as the story being told from other perspectives.

This book has a fun, interesting premise, but the graphic descriptions of blood and guts made it difficult to get through. Perhaps hearing it described was too much for me, but I had to skip through the particularly gory parts. The premise did not play out in a way that I was satisfied with. Overall, it was disgusting and lackluster. Thank you for the opportunity to read this.

It’s 1999 in Southeast Texas and the Evans women, owners of the only funeral parlor in town, are keeping steady with…normal business. The dead die, you bury them. End of story. That’s how Ducey Evans has done it for the last eighty years, and her progeny—Lenore the experimenter and Grace, Lenore’s soft-hearted daughter, have run Evans Funeral Parlor for the last fifteen years without drama. Ever since That Godawful Mess that left two bodies in the ground and Grace raising her infant daughter Luna, alone.

This was gorier than expected, but weirdly slow and anticlimactic despite all the action in the book. I didn’t feel a real closeness or family vibe between the Evanses, and all the butterscotch-ing drove me absolutely nuts. Overall, this is good but could be much improved upon.

TW: Blood, violence, cancer, Columbian mention, bullying, family drama, f*g slur, homophobia, smoking, language, blood, gore, toxic relationships

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
It’s 1999 in Southeast Texas and the Evans women, owners of the only funeral parlor in town, are keeping steady with…normal business. The dead die, you bury them. End of story. That’s how Ducey Evans has done it for the last eighty years, and her progeny―Lenore the experimenter and Grace, Lenore’s soft-hearted daughter, have run Evans Funeral Parlor for the last fifteen years without drama. Ever since That Godawful Mess that left two bodies in the ground and Grace raising her infant daughter Luna, alone.

But when town gossip Mina Jean Murphy’s body is brought in for a regular burial and she rises from the dead instead, it’s clear that the Strigoi―the original vampire―are back. And the Evans women are the ones who need to fight back to protect their town.

As more folks in town turn up dead and Deputy Roger Taylor begins asking way too many questions, Ducey, Lenore, Grace, and now Luna, must take up their blades and figure out who is behind the Strigoi’s return. As the saying goes, what rises up, must go back down. But as unspoken secrets and revelations spill from the past into the present, the Evans family must face that sometimes, the dead aren’t the only things you want to keep buried.
Release Date: April 9th, 2024
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 298
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Cover is adorable
2. Mentions of amazing bands
3. Writing style was fun

What I Didn't Like:
1. Quigg's constant ticking of his mouth drove me crazy on the audiobook
2. Rambling a lot
3. Crane calling Luna Moon Girl
4. All the butterscotch mentions

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer I write my review as I read}}

Why wouldn't they have stabbed the heart when they put Boone in metal cooler? That would have some time since they knew he was going to come back anyways.

Oh if I could count how many times I rode around listening to Type O Negative in 1999.

Ohhhhh Luna is half ghoul and half human

Usually I write a huge review but I don't know what happened here. I guess it felt like nothing was really going on where I had much to think on.

Final Thoughts:
My attention for this book started failing as I got to the halfway point. I wanted stuff to happen, but it was all just stale at that point.

At the end it felt repetitive and predictable, but it was just meh. Meh isn't bad. It was entertaining and I didn't hate it. I just don't know if I will remember much past reading this book and years later.

IG | Blog


Thanks to Netgalley, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Bless your heart was the book I didn't know i needed to listen to! This story follows the Evans women who run a funeral home where something is going on with the dead. This book was funny, supernatural, witty with a touch of light horror. I couldn't put this down and highly recommend it as I just had to know what was going to happen next.

3.5

I really liked the how much gorier it was than I thought. However, it was a bit slow. And some of the twisted were better off revealed earlier for context. I think it will be a love it or hate it kind of book. If it was to become a series, I might read the next one to see if the pace picks up now that the foundation is built.

**would have benefited (a lot) by having multiple narrators with labeled points of view.

3.5 stars
Four generations of Evans women run a funeral home in southeast Texas in 1999. Lately there have been some unexplained freakishly gory deaths. Grandma Ducey knows what is happening and her teenage great granddaughter Luna may be the key to making them stop. A white rosebush, some ash, and a trocar may help stop what appears to be a zombie invasion in this small Texas town. Luna has to accept what her family is and find a way to help stop the invasion.
The Southern Gothic genre is an interesting genre that is not easy to create. “Bless Your Heart” has some elements of the Southern Gothic genre, corruption, innocence, freakish and grotesque moments. Overall, the book was good, but it didn’t quite meet the expectations I had for it. I was hoping for either a full out Southern Gothic or a Southern Gothic light with dry humor. Grandma Ducey was a character I would have liked other characters to have been more like. The Grace relationship and Luna conception is still a bit murky for me. The story was easy to follow with multiple viewpoints. I liked the characters, Ducey was my favorite.
The narrator was good and did the multiple voices for each character. Listened at 2.0 speed.
I would recommend this book to those who enjoy ghoulish books or those who want to tiptoe into the horror light/fantasy/ghoul/zombie genre. This is not a romance so there is no ghoul/zombie spicy time.

First I would like to thank Macmillan audio and Netgalley for giving me early access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

The blurb is right in my confort / popcorn zone: a family of strong women fight the undead.
The narrator was great, bringing the characters and the southern vibe to life.

It was overall a nice book and a good story, but it felt too much like a first installment to me, which it is.
Not enough happened to my taste, but again I had a good time.
IMHO, more of a vibe than plot book.
But I'm still curious about next book.

Horror and southern charm? Yes, please! The Evans women are owners of the only funeral home in a small town. Everything is business as usual until Mina Jean is brought in for burial and she rises from the dead. The Evans woman are more than initially meets the eye in this mystery meets horror novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this book in exchange for my review.

Set in 1999, the story follows the Evan’s women as they battle strygori in their small Texas town.
I absolutely fell in love with Ducey, the plucky, butterscotch chomping great grandma. I felt like if Buffy the Vampire Slayer lived to be 80 she would be fun like Ducey.
Each chapter Is narrated by different characters in the story. I felt that helped me to fully visualize the town and dynamics.
The narration was great on the audiobook. I felt the accents weren’t too overdone and the tones made it easy to follow the conversation
For someone who didn’t love Grady Hendrix’s The Southern Book Club Guide to Slaying Vampires (I know, I know that’s blasphemy), I was pleasantly suprised and delighted by this book.

A solid 4.5/5 stars for me (rounded up for goodreads). I received an advanced review copy of this book.

I wanted to love 'Bless Your Heart' by Lindy Ryan; however, it felt like reading a blur for me. Not that the story lacked noteworthy moments—it did. However, they were few and far between. Some of the writing seemed like filler, making it a challenging read for me personally.

Nevertheless, it boasts a captivating plot involving four generations of southern women fighting vampires, which alone draws you into a compelling storyline. While the book may not necessarily have humorous moments, it is still good.

I express my gratitude to NetGalley and the author/publisher for providing me with an ARC reader to complete this review. These thoughts and opinions are voluntary and my own.

This is a fun, easy read. I selected this hoping it might be like Grady Hendrix's The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires and it brings the same vibes. The monsters are slightly different than true vampires, but its a fun touch that the hunters work at a mortuary.