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.

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Bless Your Heart is a Cozy Mystery-meets-Horror novel that I never knew I needed!

This was so stinking cute. My Horror Heart adored it. It was way more graphic than I expected and I loved the small town Southern vibes. Bonus: it's 1999!

Set in Southeast Texas, this story focuses on the Evans women, who are the owner/operators of Evans Funeral Parlor. Their small town has a bit of a history with the dead becoming restless and the Evans are well-versed in making sure they meet their final rest. The town has spent the last 15-years in peaceful normalcy. That's a pretty long stretch, and it's about to end.

When the town gossip, Mina Jean Murphy’s, body is brought to the Evans for a regular burial, yet she rises from the dead instead, it’s clear that the Strigoi problem is back. We then follow along, both with the Evans women, and with a local Deputy, Roger Taylor, as they try to figure out what has caused this recent unrest, and as they try to stop it.

This was so fun. The small town vibes, family dynamics and the horror elements, were all very well done. I was actually surprised at how graphic some of the darker scenes actually were. It was great, just the dichotomy between the cozy and the dark. I loved that part. It was giving me Sunnydale, but the Texas version, and it was giving me The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, mixed with a touch of Designing Women. I was here for every minute of it.

I listened to the audiobook and absolutely recommend that format if it's an option for you. The narration style of Stephanie Nemeth-Parker fits the overall story so well. For me, the only critique is that I wanted a bit more of the mystery. I wanted more substance, more suspense, but I am hoping as the series continues the balance between the other elements and the mystery will balance out.

Speaking of 'the series', I'm so happy to learn this is going to be a series. I feel like the more time we get to spend with the Evans, the more attached to them we'll become and the more we'll see them grow and change. I'm particularly interested in Luna, as she's the youngest, so it'll be interesting to watch her learn about their powers and responsibility and see how she is going to use it.

If you are someone who enjoys Horror, but also love Cozy Mysteries ((like me)), you have to check this one out. I don't think I've ever really read anything like it and I'm definitely looking forward to more in this charming Southern setting.

Thank you to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Lindy Ryan, you've impressed me. I can't wait for more!

When I saw the fangs on the cover of 𝗕𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁, I knew I had to read it. I am a sucker (see what I did there?) for a good vampire story and the cover of this screamed Desperate Housewives meets The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. I liked the Evans family enough and the funeral parlor aspect had my attention, but the story itself wasn’t really suspenseful or scary so I would not put this in the horror category. I do think that Lindy Ryan is a good story teller, and I will read more of her work, but I probably won’t read anymore of this series. I listened to this one on audio and I think that the narrator did a phenomenal job with all the characters and kept it interesting. Many thanks to Minotaur Books for my advanced audiobook. 𝗕𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 is available now.

This was an audio read for me. And I think that fact truly allowed me to finish the book and not DNF it and the voices kept me going. It was a cute book. The audio reader was tremendous. It was more of a lighthearted horror book, if you will. I’m not sure I’ll continue on with the series but it was an okay book for me.

I’m not sure this is a good fit for me. Small town. Vampires. Southern charm. Readers that love a cozy mystery that’s a little bit different will love this.


Thank you to netgalley for a copy of this book.

I am not normally a fan of horror, but this was a fun and easy read, neither too gory or heavy on details. I enjoyed the characters and their interactions and the overall plot as well. I can't wait to see what's next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my advance copy of this audiobook

There is something going on in this small town, and The Evans so.en are the only ones who can fix it . I enjoyed this read, part zombie/vampire, the characters wre great, loved their personalities, not sure if this will be a series, but would love to see this story evolve . I really liked the narrator, brought the story to life .

Gah, I’m so mad I didn’t like this as much as I was expecting to. I love a good vampire story, but this almost felt zombie-ish at times. I also found the characters hard to keep track of and the story was heavier than I was expecting based on the cover. However, the narrator did a great job with this performance. I think that’s the reason I kept going when the middle got slow. I’m so sad it didn’t work for me, but I will definitely share with those that I know would enjoy this type of story.

This was an excellent horror story with a gripping plot! The Evans women have to keep their town safe by making sure that the dead stay dead and killing them properly when they don’t. This second task can be especially hard when the newly risen strigoi looks just like your friend and is calling your name.
Luna is 15 and the youngest of the Evans women. Over the course of this book she has to come to grips with the multiple family secrets she’s just learning about and make some important decisions about who she wants to be. The inclusion of Luna’s coming of age story along with the stories of the older Evans women makes this a good read for both fans of Young Adult and Adult horror/fiction.
I listened to the audio version of the book and the narrator did a marvelous job.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Macmillan Audio for a free advanced copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

Audiobook/unabridged/Dramady: This novel is a funny horror book. I loved it. The narrator was terrific Thank you Netgalley. The humor was that of Christopher Moore. That's all I'm saying because I don't want to ruin it.