I love the Evan’s woman. It’s like practical magic and Buffy the vampire slayer with a dash of true blood. The Evan’s woman are back and better than ever. This story picked up pretty much where Bless your Heart ended Cannot wait to see what’s next for them! This series is a great choice for all different age groups there’s a character for all the ages. The books are mysterious and scary but not overly gory.

I wasn't able to finish this by the time it was officially published but what a crazy ride!

I truly didn't think it was possible to up the gore, drama and horror from book one but boy was I wrong! This picks up pretty much right where book 1 ends so that is a smooth transition. Kim and Ducey really carried this book for me. I didn't care for Lenore in book 1 and that continues in book 2.

It's incredibly well written when if I am reading at 11:00A.M on a nice sunny spring morning with birds chirping outdoors and I feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise or a sudden noise happens and I jump right up out of my seat heart racing a million miles a minute.

I would absolutely LOVE to see this adapted into a TV show, it deserves the chance to shine on camera as is it does in book form. Would recommend for spooky-tober.

I will sit quietly and see if she announces a third book because we still have so much journey to go on. PLEASE PLEASE we need another!

Book #2 in the Bless Your Heart series. These stories are a mixed genre that includes horror, mystery, thriller, humor and pretty much a small dab of every genre you can think of. Maybe it should be it's own?
Funerals are the family business and where the story kicks off. In the prologue, you'll get a little background then move quickly into battling the undead. There are lots of "oh,no" moments mixed in with the "ahhh" moments. All together, this was an excellent read that kept me engaged and entertained throughout the whole book. There are still plenty of continuing story arcs that promise more in the future.

The Evans women are back and forced to clean up after more monsters go on a killing spree in their small Texas town. This time they’ll have to unleash a secret weapon of their own to help clean house.

𝙄. 𝘼𝙢. 𝙐𝙣𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡.

I adored the quirky characters and campy horror of Bless Your Heart, and Another Fine Mess gave me all of that and upped the ante by introducing even more mystery and suspense into an already fabulous series.

Told from various points of view for a wide perspective of events, with a dash of humor, great 90s references, and just the right amount of gore, this one had me sucked in from the first page. I love the small town monster hunting alliance the women have with the local sheriff and some special new friends they bring into the loop. I’m drawn to the strong family ties and the layers of multigenerational trauma and grief that are slowly peeled apart. Throw in a couple crazy twists and turns followed by a bittersweet ending and I’m just left wanting more. I laughed, I cried (legitimately), and even though I saw what was coming I still need a hug and another sequel.

Check this one out if you love campy horror stories, strong female characters, and watched all 15 seasons of Supernatural. Pairs well with s’mores and friends around the campfire under a full moon.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC. Rounded up from 3.5 stars. Don’t get me wrong, I liked this book but it just did not hit as hard as the first. I didn’t like that seemingly every character we got to see the POV of died. It was less gorey than the first book because a lot of the violence happens off page. I did miss that a little bit admittably. I liked the characters and their relationship with one another. I didn’t see the reveal coming and I felt like there was a good amount of red herrings in this one that felt natural. The writing is fresh and fun. I highly recommend this if you have read the first one but if another book comes out, I’m not sure I’d continue this series.

Another Fine Mess was, well, fine. The cover designer is truly earning their paycheck here -- both this book and the first are immediately eye-catching, although they both evoke a more cozy mystery/light-hearted feel when this series is anything but. There's a lot of death, a lot of gore.

Also, unlike similar paranormal series, this is one that demands the books be read in order, no jumping around here! Readers starting with book 2 will have a hard road ahead of them; there's very little in the way of recapping or reintroducing characters.

A funeral home run by multiple generations of women, each carrying a secret the town can't know. A string of brutal attacks attributed to rabid wolves. The dead who won't stay dead. Another Fine Mess was quick and enjoyable enough, but like the first this one didn't grip me like I had wanted.

BLESS YOUR HEART #1, PAPERBACK - Entertaining but easy to put down. Set in East Texas, which drew my interest, with four generations of women running a funeral parlor and fighting Strigoi, (ghouls, part vampire, part zombie). A bit wordy and a Cozy to boot along with plenty of gory happenings and some humor. Paperback is large size, with thick pages, no chemical smell and an easy to read font. Source: Won a GoodReads giveaway. 3*

BLESS YOUR HEART, #1, AUDIOBOOK - This is the only way to enjoy this book. The narrator Stephanie Nemeth-Parker makes this book come alive, making it snap. I spent two days listening to both books, the second book Another Fine Mess, and enjoyed myself immensely. The characters, the story lines and the humor, although there are gory things that happen, which aren't graphic. Source: Netgalley. 5*

ANOTHER FINE MESS, #2, AUDIOBOOK - Starts up a month after BYH ends. I love the narrator Stephanie Nemeth-Parker. As with the first book, the narrator makes the characters come alive and the story pop. She is the perfect person and unfortunately, she does not have a Texan accent, which I understand the rest if the world appreciates. There's plenty of ungraphic gory stuff, humor, love, family and doing the right thing. Source: Netgalley. 5*

Another Fine Mess by Lindy Ryan is the second book in the Bless Your Heart series. As I quickly discovered, it is best to read Bless Your Heart before embarking on Another Fine Mess. You need to know information and characters from the Bless Your Heart to read Another Fine Mess. I found Another Fine Mess to be this odd combination of True Blood, the Twilight series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie, not the show) as well as a pinch of paranormal mystery. I could envision the author tossing those elements into a pot along with the characters and stirring until they were slightly mixed (I imagined a partially mixed batter that was full of unmixed chunks). I began reading and I kept going “huh.” I was determined to get through the book, but the story never became easier to read. I felt like I was slogging through partially solidified concrete. Another Fine Mess is an overly complicated story that seems like it will never end. The storyline felt muddled and juvenile. I quickly tired of the repetitive details. Another Fine Mess was not an enjoyable story to read (as you can tell). I have been trying to branch out to discover new authors and genres. Another Fine Mess left me hanging from a cracked tree limb. I was grateful when I reached the last page.

Silly Southern fantasy. It's cozy, and fun...the undead in Lufkin/Port Arthur country? I am not only in, I'm pretty convinced it's factually correct...and resonant with the East Texas matriarchal culture I know well.

I haven't read Bless Your Heart, the first in the series, but I felt the ringing curse in its bones on first reading the title. The subtext of those three words is brutal in my childhood culture, and not obvious to non-Southerners. It sets up perfectly the basis of the series: These women, the Evanses, are restoring ma'at, are guarding the rightness of the world against Evil and evildoers. That's a story I always enjoy reading.

As is so often the case in families, there are a lot of secrets in the Evans line and some that never made it to those who need them most now. There are undead beings to slay and, unfortunately, no one alive who knows for sure how to do the slaying. The present duo of survivors must thus root around and find out what they need to know on their own. Their support system is robust. They learn both to expand family and how to let others help them heal from last book's events.

There is gore, there is a dread in the atmosphere, and a lot rides on the Strigoi (Romanian undeadies, see Eliade's Miss Christina for some background) not staying risen for one instant longer than can be managed. It's the kind of fun I had with True Blood, with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and all transposed to a part of East Texas I know well enough to feel the story in my water.

If fun's the aim, and gore's not a deal-breaker, here's a good read. Expect the storytelling to mirror the characters' perceptions of events, ie not everything is linear and none of it is spoon-fed to you. This was an enhancement to me after I settled into the rhythm of the story, but that took some time. I can't quite say I bought into the ending's motivating factors but it was certainly of a piece with a series on this kind of supernatural-inflected topic.

I'll offer a solid four stars with a push to anyone in Southern culture to check it out.

3.5/5 stars, rounded up

Thank you Minotaur Books for the advanced reading copy!

Fun sequel to follow up BLESS YOUR HEART! This was another gothic 90's monster story, with a mystery at the back and drama front and center. The Evans girls are so fun to follow and I'm glad that, despite the ending of the last book, we got to see some great interactions between these woman.

I feel similar about this book as I did the first -- there were lots of characters and it could be hard to keep up with what storyline belonged where, which makes it hard to care deeply about some of the characters. The characters I DO care a lot about feel like they aren't featured as much as I would like to, and in this book I was let down by the way things turned out for some -- IYKYK.

Overall, these books have been consistently creative, fun and unique. While I wouldn't call them ground breaking, I do enjoy them, especially on audio, and I look forward to reading more of this series in the future!

This is my first foray with this author. It was quite interesting! I found out about the first book after the fact, so I’ll probably go back & read that. The Evan’s women were full of intrigue, zest & had a whole lot going on! I look forward to starting from the beginning

While I thought the first one was missing some of the humor I had expected, this one more than made up for it. Yes, the story was scary, as it should be, but there were moments where some of the absurdity (in a good way) just got to me and I couldn’t help but laugh, particularly when it came to any scene with Ducey. The monsters were more horrific than the first and this was the perfect mix of horror, mystery, and humor. Highly recommended but start with the first one to get the full story.

Another year and more undead ghouls and monsters causing havoc in Texas. (Rating: 3.5)

Another Fine Mess starts off directly after the events of Bless Your Heart. We are introduced to some new characters and some minor characters get more screen time in this newest installment. I don't want to say too much because it's really essential that you read Bless Your Heart before Another Fine Mess. Although I found Another Fine Mess a tad too long in parts, I liked that we saw even more POVs in this book. It does leave it on a slight cliffhanger so I'm hoping we'll get another book in this series next year.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for review consideration.

This series is 10000% my exact taste when it comes to horror. I was cautiously excited when I saw it would be continuing on into a series because I definitely wanted that to happen, but sometimes it isn’t always for the best. In this case, it absolutely was. I adore these characters, the small town, the southern tid bits, and, of course, our friendly neighborhood monsters. I really think fans of True Blood (the TV show, at least) would really like this series.

If there is one thing that I personally love, it is the Evans women and their strange abilities. I absolutely loved being back with this cast and crew of characters. This is the second book in the series, and I think it was just as good if not better than the first one. The reader is plopped right back into Texas in the late 90s a month after the last book ended and with a new victim when they thought everything was tied up. From there, the story progresses and more victims are found. The townspeople are starting to get worried again, and it is up to the Evans women to solve the mystery and hopefully stop the attacks with the help of Roger, the sheriff. I really enjoyed this sequel. I found it to have the same nostalgic tone of the first book, and I appreciated the humor along with the horror scenes. I could not read the book fast enough to figure out what was going to happen, and the reader is left on another cliffhanger that can only indicate more to the series is coming. I can only hope, at least. I truly had a blast reading this book, and this series is one that I cannot quit thinking about! Highly recommend it if you enjoy an easily readable horror-light book that definitely feels like it could be on 90s era VH1 or MTV. So much fun! 4.5/5 Stars!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced reader copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

Make sure to read the first book - Bless Your Heart - to appreciate the Evans women and their cohorts. By turns humorous and terrifying, with a mix of suspense and dare I say cozy mystery, this book is a page turner that I did not want to put down. As soon as I finished reading Another Fine Mess I wanted more!

Fun and horrifying and bittersweet. It was good to be back in this world and I like the path the story is taking. Belle is definitely my favorite!

This is a reminder to self to check where in a series the book is. I.e. I didn't read book one (and obviously this is majorly spoilery for that). That said, it doesn't take too long to figure out what is going on. This runs with an idea I've had for a long time i.e. wanting someone to incorporate funeral homes with fighting the undead, which is actually what the Evans women are doing in a southeast Texas town.

Lenore and Luna, grandmother and granddaughter lost a lot in book one including Lenore's mother and her daughter, Luna's mom, along with the previous sheriff who blamed them for the weird goings on. The new sheriff Robert was sweet on Grace, Lenore's now-deceased daughter and is more of an ally to the Evans women than his predecessor. Luna is of mixed heritage, human and strigori (sort of a vampire so she's technically a dhampir)

Lenore opens the story thinking about breaking one of her mother Ducey's rules: she brings in an outsider to the funeral home, Kim the goth hair dresser who'll help with making up the bodies for presentation because Lenore is drowning in work. Because the weirdness hasn't stopped. Something is killing people and stealing body parts and teeth, something she and Robert aren't going to be able to blame on a 'ghost coyote/wolf' hybrid and rabies for much longer, especially not with a canine expert in town.

Luna is on her own arc trying to figure out what sort of monster she is with the help of her friends like Dillon (Kim's brother) and Crane (Luna's boyfriend and another goth). The bodies start piling up and without spoiling it, the Evans women have some huge surprises heading their way.

I enjoyed this. I liked the premise and the characters. A few things did bother me. It seemed to drag a wee bit as it went over the same territory more than once (and there seemed to be a few holes in the worldbuilding that kept being summed up as Grandma Pie didn't tell us enough about these rising dead people.) Also I wasn't a giant fan of the climax because it felt a touch cliche, bad things going down at a school dance.

Maybe it bugged me because Luna was allowed to go to this vs sneaking out. Seems a little weird they'd let her with a mass killing monster out there. Also something huge happens with Luna's band of friends that we didn't spend enough time on in Luna's point of view, in my opinion. It lost some punch being seen by one of her relatives.

Still, really good story (though I think the blurb talking about humor might be misleading or my sense of humor is not this). I would absolutely read on in this series.

Another Fine Mess is book two in the Bless Your Heart series by Lindy Ryan.
I loved book one Bless Your Heart by Ryan. And was so excited to read the second title.
This was so much fun and bizarre and a total blast!
A humorous horror with a murder mystery underneath.
Lindy Ryan has such an incredibly unique and compelling writing style that I was sucked into this book so quickly and was honestly sad to see when it ended!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a totally captivating read.
It was quite unusual and I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen.
I literally couldn't put it down.

Thank You NetGalley and Minotaur Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Ducey may be down, but she’s not out quite yet. When Lenore and Luna need her most, she finds a way to help them when they need her most.

I actually find this series to be absolutely brilliant. I can’t put it down, yeah, a little bit of me is appalled in someway. But I can’t put it down. I love it. Mostly I love how strong the Evans women are and how they are always there for each other. I hope there’s more to come in the future.