What a great book! I went into it not knowing what I was signing up for. Vampires, that's it. But the multiple POVs were great and I loved the insight they provided. The characters were compelling and I was never bored, no matter who's head I was in. I was just swept away by this book and the way it was written. I love the plot of ladies running a funeral home and keeping the town safe. So glad I had that chance to read and review this one.

Don’t let the cover fool you. Bless Your Heart may feel a little cozy, but it’s also a horror-filled gorefest, and I was here for it! This book gave me “True Blood”, “Night of the Living Dead”, and “From” vibes. I loved the small Texas town setting, the vibrant characters (especially Ducey!), the creepy moments, and the disgusting imagery.

The story centers around Ducey, Lenore, Grace, and Luna Evans. They are a family of ghoul (called Strigoi) hunters. Strigoi are like a cross between vampires and zombies. They are terrifying blood-thirsty creatures. The Evans women are fierce and kick-ass, and I loved reading from all their perspectives. This book did have many perspectives, but it wasn’t confusing or hard to follow in my opinion.

I would’ve given this a higher rating but I wasn’t a fan of the ending. I wanted more from the ending and I didn’t like how certain things played out. It looks like this is the first book in a series though, and I am excited to continue on in this world.

If you like cozy horror mixed with gore and terror, definitely read this book.

3.75 bloody stars

I never, ever could have predicted how much I actually loved this weird little book. Bless Your Heart is set in Texas, 1999, and follows the women of the Evans family. The Evans women have been running the local funeral home for generations and as part of this gig, they also make sure anybody who happens to start turning into a strigoi (a type of vampire) after death becomes permanently dead. This can happen randomly to those who’ve had a particularly violent death, but this outbreak seems to be caused by something darker and more nefarious - a master strigoi. 

This is a multi-POV story and the reader gets to see things from the perspective of each of the Evans women, the sheriff, and one of the deputies. There are a few other POVs thrown in for dramatic effect, but they’re one-offs. The Evans women are a sassy, strong bunch and they’re hard not to love from the hard candy addicted matriarch Ducey, all the way to the dramatic teenager Luna. The sheriff is a gruff old drunk who’s seen too much and just wants his small town to be nice and normal and the Evans women prevent this, much to his chagrin. And then the deputy, Roger Taylor, who has his eye on Grace Evans, gets dragged into all the mess too and he’s unfortunately the one finding all the bodies. I really enjoyed each and every one of the characters and what they brought to the story. Even the side characters that didn’t get much page time were great and I suspect they might play a more important role in the next installment.

Bless Your Heart is certainly not for the faint of heart. It’s gory and the strigoi are a disturbing blend of vampire and zombie traits that will leave you thinking twice about eating whilst reading this book. This isn’t a suspenseful horror story - it’s a bloody one, but I think the somewhat humorous and personal elements balance this out nicely. It'll be easy to tell if this is going to be your cup of tea early in the story, as the Evans ladies have to dispatch not one but two recently undeceased that they've lived and worked alongside their entire lives. Nothing like a good trocar to the heart followed by a swift cremation!

I initially wasn’t really crazy about the idea of Bless Your Heart being the start of a series because I thought it was going to be a standalone, but by the end I was actually pretty delighted by the idea of returning to this world! It seems like Luna will be the central character in the next installment as she explores the heritage of the Evans women. Overall, I had a blast reading this book and couldn’t put it down. I’d highly recommend this, especially for folks who enjoyed Grady Hendrix’s book The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.

Thank you so much for my gifted copy from the publisher!

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, others go missing, and a very mysterious teenager moves to town. 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 Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Steel Magnolias and I think thats pretty accurate. The book takes place in 1999 and it was fun to see lots of pop culture references to that time. I was a little surprised by the ending but I'm looking forward to the next book and seeing what happens next!

I liked this book! It was definitely not what I pictured walking into when I started the book, based off of the blurb and cartoonish cover I expected it to be a bit more lighthearted beach read. There is lots of gore and violence and twists and turns. If you like Santa Clarita Diet you'd like this book.
The book definitely kept me guessing and I did not expect things to occur but they did!
This is written in a multi-POV style and at points can come off as a bit disjointed regarding the timeline of the plot. Strong, independent women with tight family values but a complex relationship is a huge theme and one I really enjoyed among the small town setting. The whole plot was very unique and I appreciated that.
The author did leave some plot threads laying loose to allow her to entice you into the next book.

Thank you to Minotaur & St. Martin's for the eARC!

This was such a fun and twisty read. I loved the character dynamics and their southern charm. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

In a previous review, I mentioned that books containing vampires are some of my favorites. I also mentioned that I very rarely review them. That was until last week when I read two ARCs that included vampires and vampire hunters.

The cover and the blurb attracted me to Bless Your Heart. I was interested to see how a book about women funeral parlor owners and vampire hunters would read, if I could connect to any of the characters, and if the storyline was good. I am happy to report that it was a yes to all of those.

The main storyline of Bless Your Heart was interesting, and it kept me glued to the book. The storyline centers on the Evans women (Ducey, Lenore, Grace, and Luna), their family life, The God Awful Mess-which took place fifteen years earlier, and their history with vampire hunting. Bless Your Heart was a well-written and gut-wrenching book that had me up reading late.

The author did a fascinating job of telling the storyline. She chose a different family member/law enforcement/victim and had the chapter revolve around what they were feeling/doing. The chapters containing Ducey, Lenore, and Grace were self-explanatory (with the funeral parlor business and killing the vampires). Those chapters also gave insight into how The God Awful Incident affected each woman. Luna’s chapters were a little different. In the beginning, it showcased how she was an ordinary teen. But, once she learned about the family’s side gig (the vampire killing), her chapters got dark, fast. The law enforcement chapters showed the confusion and the different theories floated around. And lastly, the victim’s chapters were the most heartbreaking to read, mainly because the people who were killed and turned were doing nothing but going about their daily (or nightly) chores.

The Evans women were unlike any characters I have read. They each had their own personality, and the author allowed those personalities to shine. At the same time, I saw how dysfunctional they had become after The God Awful Incident. But even with that, I liked how they banded together to protect each other and Luna.

The horror angle was on point. There was a point where I started to dread when a new body was found. Each scene was worse than the last. I don’t get grossed out easily by stuff like that, but I got close in this book. Blood and gore spread across the pages; by the book’s end, it was one bloody scene after another.

The mystery angle of the book was good. I was taken by surprise by who the master vampire was and how Luna figured into it. While that was going on, The God Awful Incident was revealed, and it indeed was A God Awful Incident. It was the revelation that led to a shocking revelation about Luna. Both of those revelations took me by surprise. I did have the master vampire pegged on someone else and was happy that I was proven wrong.

The end of Bless Your Heart was heartbreaking. I’m not too fond of it when there are deaths involving main characters. But the ending scene gave a glimmer of hope. Because of what was shown, I am super curious to read book two.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and Lindy Ryan for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Bless Your Heart. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

I enjoyed this book, especially the beginning. It starts off with a quick witted east Texas charm that had me giggling. I enjoyed the storyline of the Evans women, Deucy is hoot, and their secret. I did feel like it was slow going with the backstory at times and some of the plot went off track, or nowhere at all. It felt a bit like it was mucking along and although it was a bit predictable, there was one part at the end that I didn’t see coming. I think the main reason I liked it is because my best friend is from southeast Texas and It was relatable enough to make me laugh out loud.
Thank you to Minotaur Press for my digital ARC in exchange for my review.
TW: Violence, gore

As soon as I saw the fun vampire-y cover, I *knew* I would be reading BLESS YOUR HEART. It delivers on being a unique combination of horror and mystery with a lighter hearted tone all brought together in a small Southern town setting.

It's no surprise that the vampire hunting, funeral home owning Evans women are quirky and a bit eccentric, which helped keep the story fun and I liked the different perspectives from the 4 different generations of the family.

BLESS YOUR HEART is a compelling story with a murder mystery at its core. It was a light slow moving for my liking, but I think that was partly because it's the first in a series and there was a lot of history and characters being established. Be prepared for lots and lots of POVs as the book jumps into the heads of many of the characters living in the small town.

The ending was lower on the shock value scale, but at the same time, it pulled on my heart strings and left me curious to see how things will play out in the next book.

This one sounded like something different I might like, however I think I have decided horror isn’t for me. This is a me problem not a book problem.

I tried for a week to get into this book. It could just be me. At 38% in, I just didn't care about any of it.

Bless your Heart is totally not what I thought it was going to be. A little practical magic , true blood and some walking dead. A granny restless dead hunter i found this story to be fresh from the 90s a little fun and gory. Definitely cannot wait to read the next one!

1999 small town Texas- but make it night of the living dead. Add an all female-funeral parlor owning-family, a goth transplant, a couple cops, and a love story or two for some ✨extra✨ depth.

⚰️🧛🏼⚰️🧟⚰️🧛🏼⚰️🧟⚰️

Well … this was … unexpected. I don’t know what I was expecting with this one 😅 but it was way gorier than thought it would be. And teeth (ALWAYS TEETH). I did think the gore was balanced by the other elements of the plot and it was never gratuitous so that definitely helped!

Not to say I didn’t enjoy it-I did! The banter, the legend building, and the strong women- all good. The paranormal universe Ryan created in the middle of 1999 - good. I am still confused if we have vamps or zombies or a combo in this one- but those were good too !

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 .

Small town Texas in 1999 (so much nostalgia), strong female characters, the undead, lots of POVs. This has it all.

The restless dead have a resurgence in a small Texas town circa 1999. I mean, sure, the town experiences a restless member of the nonliving cropping up every now and then, but these are numbers the women of the Evans family haven’t seen in years.

Three generations of Evans women are about to introduce a fourth generation to the family calling. As proprietors of the only funeral home in town, they are used to being the last stop before town members are laid to rest. Some of their clients just need a little extra help getting there.

This one is told in multiple POVs. Strap in for something kind of wacky, and I recommending avoiding eating while reading.

Bless Your Heart would be good for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who are open to impalements staged in a Southern setting.

I received an advance copy of the ebook from Minotaur Books and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

Thank you to @netgalley @macmillan.audio and @stmartinspress for the gifted copy of this book.

I just love the Evans women! As the owners of the local funeral home, they make sure that the dead stay dead. These women have big hearts, are tough as nails, and approach every situation with witty humor. They’ve seen it all, fought it all, and refuse to back down from a challenge. They prove that sometimes popping a butterscotch candy and wielding a sharp object is all it takes to get through the day.
This isn’t your typical vampire story, I mean there are vampires and gore, but at the heart of it is a family that will do anything to protect each other and their community.

I had such a great time reading this book. It’s well paced with a great mystery and even better cast of characters. If you’re looking for a fun, easy read - this is the one!

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 (4.5)

Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan-debut author
Publication 4-9-24, read 4-9-24
E-book 301 pgs. and audiobook 10:48
Genre: Adult Fic, Paranormal, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Thriller
Tropes: Vampires, Family Drama, Hidden Secrets

Thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for this ARC & ALC❤️! I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are mine alone.

The narrator Stephanie Nemeth-Parker read in a Southeastern Texas accent that fit all the characters . The voices brought this fantasy to life with quick pacing by the narrator and the author. I loved all the different POVs-mainly the four Evans' women. The narrator paused and announced every time a new chapter came. The book had a table of contents which helped me follow along with the e-book and audio.

It's 1999 in TX where the Evans' women run a funeral parlor that protects the town from the Strigoi-the "original" vampires along w/ ghouls they create. The matriarch is Ducey Evans(80) along with her daughter Lenore, granddaughter Grace, and great granddaughter Luna. Grace has raised Luna alone and kept her father's identity from her, along with the events leading up to the death of Grace's father Jimmy. The killings and rising dead have started again so the Evans' women know the past has creeped back into their lives. The side characters gave the story some charm, loved Sheriff Buck and Belle . I would definitely read more in this world!

I loved this small town human/vampire story very much in the vein of The Southern Vampire Mysteries and The Dead Don't Die-both the book series and movie highly recommended. I suggest listening to the audiobook because you can adjust the speed, skip parts easily (if desired), and picture the characters more vividly.

Rating: 5/5

"Bless Your Heart" by Lindy Ryan is a chip off the ol' modern horror comedy block. It's not too scary but just bloody enough to keep you interested. If you liked THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB GUIDE'S TO SLAYING VAMPIRES and THE VIOLENCE, you will probably enjoy BLESS YOUR HEART.

Ryan skillfully blends elements of family drama, small-town dynamics, and the supernatural to craft a humorous, horrific tale. The characters, particularly the Evans women, are very enjoyable to spend time with, though I confess I got them mixed up from time to time. I liked the late '90s setting very much and *really* liked Crane. I definitely would have had a crush on him in high school.

Give this book a whirl if you are looking for a horror novel that has more laughs than gasps! Don't forget to bring the butterscotch candy.

Thank you very much for the ARC in exchange for this review.

A fun and fast paced romp through a multi-generational funeral parlor with a big secret.

The story was original and interesting with a host of unique character-all of the Evans women are a real delight. The issue for me was the pacing; some places felt rushed, like the narrative was scrambling to get these plot points out so we could move one, which resulted in some characters (Crane especially) feeling flat. Other pieces were dragged out too long, like what exactly the "Godawful Mess" was. Most readers should have pieced every bit of it together by the time it's explained so the revelation doesn't feel at all revelatory.

Nevertheless, it was such a charming horror-mystery that I'm excited to see how Lindy Ryan might really make these characters and this world shine with a little more elbow room.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.