I'm here for all the various takes on vampire novels and this cozy mystery was hilarious and really fun. I think Stephanie Németh-Parker nailed the tone of this book with her narration as well.
Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the ALC!

I can not tell you when the last time I enjoyed a " horror " book more than I enjoyed Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan.

When I sat horror, I say it loosely, sure it has vampires, and murder, and morticians, and all that other creepy stuff, but more importantly, it has laughs, this is a fun horror story and I could not get enough of it.
Being a Southerner I love any book that has a Southern voice. Those voices, many times, are women and Bless Your Heart is no different. It takes place in a small southeast Texas town ( to be honest, more than half my family live in East Texas, and I read the whole book in their thick accent ) Also, I listened to it part time also, the narrator was a great reader and help make the audio.

The Evan's women Ducey, Lenore, Grace and teenage Luna, own the towns only funeral parlor. Soon people start dying and they realize they are rising, this is where the fun begins.

There is a lot to like about this story besides the vampires . The women in the book are strong and the family is dynamic, the characters are likable and humorous. There are times when I think it could have had more mystery and suspense , but the dark was there, lurking underneath all the fun.

This is so fun, I recommend it to anyone who wants a quick and enjoyable read.

P.S.-- Bless Your Heart is the first of a new series and even me, a non series reader can't wait for the next one!

Is cozy horror a thing because that is where this book belongs? This is definitely more slow moving and character driven. Each chapter is narrated by a different character which got a bit confusing at times. The reveal of the big bad was not surprising and a bit of a let down. It felt like we needed more pages here and less earlier about conflicts that were superfluous. Overall, I did enjoy it and I thought the audiobook narrator did a good job.

This was a fun read and gruesome and I can't wait for the next book in the series to come out! This was my 1st book by Lindy Ryan, but it will not be my last. I am adding all of her books to my TBR and anxiously waiting for the next book in this series! I want to know how Luna takes to the family business.

Lindy Ryan's Bless Your Heart combines horror, humor, and mystery in a delightful story of Strigoi infiltrating a small Southern town. The perspective shifts from Luna to her mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Four generations of women hard at work protecting the town from an enemy most townspeople don't even know exists. Luna learns of her part in the story late in her teens-at a time when the dead have started to wake. This is a quick read that I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys vampire fiction. The ending is full of twists and I couldn't put it down.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for the copies to review!

Oh my goodness, let me tell you how much I loved this book and how much I loved these Evans ladies! These southern Texas gals are not to be messed with, whether you are living or dead. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, including the shenanigans these ladies found themselves in and how they got themselves out of them. I am so glad this is the first book in a series as I was not ready to be done with this book that is for sure. The audio was also very well done and I very much enjoyed listening to this one while following along with the physical copy. The narrator did a truly fabulous job here, and while this is classified as horror it is on the light side and I think most would enjoy this one, and I absolutely recommend it.

I was definitely expecting something more along the lines vampire diaries, or even maybe a little bit of true blood, but it didn’t feel like those for me. It was definitely a force myself to keep going kind of book. I think if it weren’t for the audiobook format I might have DNFd. I guess I wanted to connect more with the characters. I think there is definitely an audience for this book I just don’t think it was for me.

Picture it: 1990s, small town in Texas, mysterious deaths…vampires!

Bless Her Heart is told through alternating perspectives from the Evans family women. They each represent a different generation for the family and a different perspective on their family responsibility to fight vampires. I loved getting to know each of them, their quirks, their motivations, their fears. In addition, readers also get to spend time with a handful of townsfolk who find themselves caught up in this most recent vampire outbreak.

Ryan did a great job of taking advantage of the small town vibes for this story, as well as channeling the culture of the 90’s. Nothing was over-the-top or felt forced, but instead served to set a backdrop that aided in making the story feel realistic and plausible. I could easily see how the Evans women were able to keep their vampire-fighting side hustle a secret!

I had no idea that this was going to be the start of a series until I left my star rating on Goodreads after finishing reading, but it makes so much sense with the way the book ended. I look forward to seeing what book two brings in the future!

What an absolute delight this book is! I'm not much of a horror reader, but this was almost so light and enjoyable that I will look into more. I found it to be funny and almost a breath of fresh air. It was entertaining to a fault, even the somewhat gory stuff. I loved the setting of 1999 Texas. It gave almost Lisa Frank nostalgia vibes, which is impressive when writing a horror book. I chuckled at every mention of a pager. It made my millennial heart fill with joy. Plus, listening to this as an audiobook was absolutely the best because the narrator did such a fantastic job of giving each character a specific voice. I was truly blown away how well she did! The book read as almost a mystery, trying to figure out why the people in this small town were turning up dead, and how they were all linked to the Evans women. There were breadcrumbs that were left so strategically along the way that it made me keep wanting to listen. Also, the ending seemed to indicate that there will be more in this series, which I love. I am very excited to read more from this author, especially more in this series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers and Macmillan audio for providing me with an advanced copy of this audiobook. All opinions within this review are my own.

I listened to almost half this one before DNFing. I loved the pairing of the funeral home & cemetery with the purging of the undead that the women in this story did. I loved that it had a strong female storyline. The sense of humor and irreverence was fun, but I wanted more of this. It had lots of POVs which amped up the spookiness of what was happening, but also led me to not really feel invested in any single character. I think the policing angle also didn't really resonate with me. People who love Grady Hendrix's books, especially The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires will love this though. I just wanted more to make me feel invested.

Lindy Ryan's upcoming novel, BLESS YOUR HEART, is the perfect combination of Elle Cosimano's Finlay Donovan series meets Grady Hendrix's A Southern Bookclub's Guide to Slaying Vampires. I knew this book would be a bit campy, but I had a total blast listening to the audiobook.

The story focuses on the Evans women, a family who runs a small Texan town funeral parlor. They have an interesting, yet pivotal role within their community. Their role within helping settle the dead becomes apparent when they have a body rise from dead and shows that the town is in trouble. It becomes clear to the Evans women that the Strigoi, the original vampire, is back and they're the only women who know how to fight back. As more bodies begin to pile up, the local police get into the crosshairs of the Evans women, but the two forces definitely have a contentious relationship and both want to keep their secrets buried.

This book was a bit slow, but a total fun ride. The audiobook's narration was expertly done and I really enjoyed how the story developed. The book alludes to this being a series and I definitely can see that being the case with how the book ended (although still can end as a standalone if needed). I am unsure I will continue with this possible series, but I can totally see this being a television or streaming series. Definitely a high-point for the year so far with my reading!

Is light hearted horror a thing? Because that’s how I’d define this book! It’s certainly not dark but it’s a mystery type of horror that packs a bite 😉

It was a smart, sharp and original debut and I enjoyed how cleverly gruesome it was and the wittiness and banter sprinkled throughout!

Looks like this is the start of a new series and I’m definitely curious to see where it goes next!

Bonus points for the fun promo package! Love a good little coffin box, too cute!

I really enjoyed the narration for this book.

This was a fun read!

Four generations of Evans women run the local funeral home, and each one of them is full of secrets. Some of which may come back to bite them, pun intended lol

I knew of the legends of the strigoi but had never read a book that cast them as the main baddies.

This one has many POV, which at times slowed down my progress through the story because I sometimes got Lenore and Grace confused. But the chapter headings of the names really helped keep them separate!

Full of good old southern charm and sass - I definitely recommend giving this one a read!

Thank you @minotaur_books for sending me a @Netgalley widget to read an e-ARC of this book.

"Bless Your Heart" by Lindy Ryan is a captivating tale of love, loss, and redemption set in the heart of the South. A poignant and uplifting read.

not the book for me

I really don’t do blood/gore/guts in books, it just makes my skin crawl and prevents me from getting into the story

additionally, I just felt their were too many characters for me to keep track of

all in all, I can definitely see how some would enjoy this novel, it just wasn’t for me

This book was darkly humorous, just so fun to read - reminiscent of Southern Bookclub's Guide To Slaying Vampires, a very fun horror comedy.
As readers we meet four generations of Evans women in 1999 in Southeast Texas. I loved getting to know their world as they have been running the local funeral parlor for generations since that helps them stay on top local Zombie/Vampire population whenever there's an outbreak.Each generation of Evans women has her story and has had her life shaped by their strange connection to death and the dead having a clear craft and path has complicated their mother - daughter relationships.
This story takes off when the youngest Evans Luna who still doesn't know all her family's secrets starts starts developing an independent streak and a crush on a new boy in town, and the recent dead have been quite a bit more restless and things are getting a bit out of control, threatening to reveal the secrets of the Evans' women's' pasts if they can't figure out what on earth is going on.
The police is getting involved and this is actually in nobody's best interest. They need to figure out a way to work together before the dark powers become too powerful but that means also letting Luna learn the secrets the elder Evans have been keeping from her ...
This was the best mix of funny and horror I have read or listened to in a long time - and the one time a dog was hurt in the process, he got an unusual emergency surgery and made a miraculous recovery (I don't like cruelty to animals or children even if it's fictional so this was a plus in my book)
I loved the audio for this book, Stephanie Nemeth-Parker made this a very entertaining and engaging listen.
Thank you so much to @NetGalley and @macmillan.audio for my advance listener copy. All opinions voiced are my own.

This was such a fun book! I really enjoyed the plot of this book and it had great twists and turns. There were definitely some times where I wasn't super confident in what was going on but I just kinda stuck with it and said I'll figure that out later. I thought the presence of Crane as a red herring was kind of fun but also felt like he was kind of irrelevant by the end of the book. Overall I'm excited to know this is going to be a series and I'm looking forward to seeing where the story going! Also the narrator was wonderful!

Is cozy horror a genre? Aside from some fairly gruesome descriptions, Bless Your Heart has the same vibes as a cozy mystery - small town, quirky characters, law enforcement that needs some "help" from citizens.

The Evans women run the funeral home in town and also keep the undead at bay. As the undead become more restless and family secrets start to come out, the women have to come together before it's too late. In the midst of it all, humor and southern sayings abound!

The narrator did a good job and was easy to follow.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for a free copy of #BlessYourHeart by Lindy Ryan. All opinions are my own.

Thank you so much for my gifted copy from the publisher! I was able to listen to the book through the NetGalley app and had no issues with quality. I enjoyed the narrator and her voices for each character especially the Evans women.

The Evans women have always run the funeral parlor in their small southeast Texas town. Ducey, her daughter (Lenore), her granddaughter (Grace), and her great-granddaughter (Luna) work hard to make sure everyone gets a proper burial and that the dead stay dead. The women in their family have been fighting the undead for generations but things start to get strange when multiple community members rise and others go missing. The same thing happened 15 years before and the Evans women if history might be repeating itself.

I didn't realize that this book is the first in a series and I really enjoyed it. It's "light horror" if that's a thing, but it was a great mashup of genres! I've seen it described as a Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Steel Magnolias and I think thats pretty accurate. I was a little surprised by the ending but I'm looking forward to the next book and seeing what happens next!

This was such a fun and interesting audiobook. I loved the storyline and the characters.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with the subject matter but it really was a great mystery.