Readers, watch out for Another Fine Mess by Lindy Ryan. It's out now and will be one of your favorites.

This is the second book in the series., I really enjoyed the first book, but found it a little slow in the beginning. The second book did not start off slow for me at all. In fact the first book kind of left the story on a "what the heck" moment. SO I was happy to get the second.

In this installment I felt I did get more of what I was looking for than I did in the first book. I did like the first book but this one I loved.

I was able to get to know all the main characters more, I was able to find out a bit more about the family and their past., and more about the world of monsters they live in.

In a way this a normal vampire book but in a way it is not. I love the setting of the 90's. I love the setting of the deep south. I love the fun of the characters and the generational stories. It was just a great book.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

I didn't get into this one quite as much as the first one but still enjoyed it, and thought it was an interesting story. I would continue with this series!

I really enjoyed this wild story. I have not read the first book in the series and I didn't find that it hurt my understanding or enjoyment of this story at all. I look forward to reading any future installments in the series. The story and its characters are compelling and unique without feeling unrealistic. The magical system is an interesting one, and I can't wait to find out more about the disaster that set the evil dead free in this town all those years ago.

I could listen to the stories of the Evans women forever. Lindy Ryan continues to do a fantastic job blending horror, humor, family and fear in this sequel tale of the Evan’s women. If she keeps writing ‘em I’ll keep reading ‘em!

The Evans women are back, and Lenore Evans makes the bold decision to bring in an outsider to augment the staff at the funeral home. It's soon after the end of book one, and though Lenore and Luna are still dealing with their grief, the Evans' duty to keep the peace of the town by making sure the dead stay dead never stops. Roger, the former deputy Sheriff, was unavoidably brought into the secret and now also shares in the Evans duty, by making sure weird occurrences are hushed up.

This becomes a little hard, as something new is in town, and people are dying in messy ways, and pets are disappearing. Though the conventional narrative is of a rabid wolf, Lenore knows something else is up. There's also a wolf expert in town from the university, and it's getting harder to keep the rabid animal story going the more bodies turn up shredded.

Much like the first book in this series, author Lindy Ryan is playing with the horror and cozy mystery genres, by keeping the tone light even while the mutilated body count rises. Lenore and Luna must cope with the situation, and we also have others, including Luna's black-coated friend from book and a couple of surprise additions, who must deal with the steadily worsening problem.

I went back and forth between the book and the audiobook, and loved the way Stephanie Németh-Parker brought all the characters to life. We get the wry humour and determination of the matriarch, the tense unhappiness of Lenore, and Luna's grief and struggle to meld what she knows about herself with understanding the new threat in the town.

I love the strength of the bonds within the Evans family, and how ordinary their mission is treated by them, no matter how gruesome and scary it gets. Ryan injects lots of humour throughout, and balances the dark with the funny, and with the poignant, making this a touching story that moves fast and totally entertains. I hope we get more stories about the Evans women.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for these ARCs in exchange for my review.

Another Fine Mess is the 2nd-book in Lindy Ryan's Cozy Horror-Mystery series, Bless Your Heart. This adorable, yet slightly graphic series, is set in small town-Texas in the 90s. It's a series my Horror-loving, Cozy Mystery-obsessed heart didn't know it needed, but now adores with wild abandon. I can't say too much about the plot without potentially giving away important aspects of the 1st-book, Bless Your Heart, so I'm going to keep this short and simple.

Basically, these books follow the women in the Evans family, who own and operate a Funeral Home. This is a very important job, because in their small town, the dead sometimes rise and they're not happy. It's the Evans job to make sure they stay dead and buried. While the 1st-book was more of a vampire-esque story, this one has the town believing that some sort of hybrid-wolf is on a rampage, killing townsfolk and possibly stealing pieces of their bodies. It's a bloody mess.

We follow the Evans women, and a few of their allies, as they try to determine what's actually going on, and stop it before more innocent lives are lost. The deeper they dig however, the more it seems this killer may be somehow connected to them, but how?

I thought this was so entertaining. I listened to the audiobook again and love Stephanie Nemeth-Parker's narration. It's such a great fit for this series. I highly recommend the audio format.

To me these books have the perfect mix of Horror, heart and Mystery. The Horror aspects are mainly contained within the kill scenes and the supernatural elements. Other than that, it is all Cozy Mystery. I think Ryan does a great job of blending those two worlds together, and I know a lot of Readers, myself included, absolutely adore both genres. Having them together like this is just such a delight.

Even though I don't find the mysteries to be particularly memorable, I still love reading them. It's not something that's going to stick with me until the end of time, but I don't really need it to. I read for entertainment and to escape from real life for a while, and Ryan definitely provides me that escape with these stories. I walk away a happy girl!

Thank you to the publisher, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I'm really hoping this series continues. I would love to spend more time with the Evans women. I feel closer to them now than ever!

I just finished Another Fine Mess by Lindy Ryan @lindyryanwrites Book 2 of Bless your heart series and here are my thoughts.

Evan's women have an important job… Making sure the dead stay buried and after the loss of 2 of their family members… It’s up to Luna and Lenore to keep the fight going. Trouble is… Something is out there tearing people to shreds.. It’s not something they have seen before but the trouble is coming right to their door and they are the only ones who can fight whatever monster it is and keep the town safe.

I liked the first book. I went into it blind and had no idea it was a southern vampire horror with cozy vibes.. But I enjoyed it. So this time round I got the audio and the kindle… When I read a book, I have a tone and voices in my head… Moving into audio upset my balance haha. Once I got past the change the audio was soooooo much better than I could have hoped for.

I really love Luna in this installment. She didn’t sit well with me in the first book but I really started to warm to her and now I love her! It’s a lot to bury family and she managed to stay on point. Lenore was great the whole time and I absolutely adore Ducey. She is cranky and a bad ass! It’s hard to blend genres and keep a balance but there was some really emotional moments, some chuckle worthy moments and some carnage! It’s a win win win.

Yes it’s a cozy horror. I know that seems oxymoronic but it was so good. I don’t even know if it’s a real genre but it’s coined now haha. I love the southern charm, the generational family magic and the fact we were introduced to what appears to be some kind of werewolf!! HOWLLLLLLL…..

It was great. I cannot wait for book 3! Honestly if you love southern vampire reads.. Give this a go.

4 stars

Thank you to @netgalley @minotaur_books and #macmillanaudio for my gifted arc and alc!

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I was so happy to be back in the Evan’s family! The audiobook is fantastic and the way to go, since you can hear the southern accents. This book was more gory than the first but I did enjoy it. I am hoping another book will follow because I need more! I love the Evan’s women’s from Pie down to Luna. All are unique and quick witted!

Lindy Ryan has brought us back to East Texas and the Evan's all-female-run funeral home in her second installment of the Bless Your Heart horror series, Another Fine Mess. As with the first book, Another Fine Mess oozes with Southern Charm, which is one of the most endearing things about this series. For me, it is like driving down to Texas and visiting my East Texas family. I even tend to read their words in the thick accent of all my cousins.

The Evan's family is still healing from the events of the first book, but secrets begin to rise, along with the dead, and they have to turn their attention elsewhere and save the town.

Ryan is a master at her world-building in these books, and her imaginative storytelling is key. You get a horror novel with all the suspense, creepiness and bloody things you would expect in most horror stories, but this goes beyond that and gives you something different, it gives you a family that loves each other deeply, even in bad times, and for the most part they love all the characters, wacky or not, in their small Texas town and will do anything to make things right.

Another Fine Mess has multiple POVs that keep the story rolling. At times, it does seem a bit choppy, but it gets the story out there and makes it a quick, easy read. New elements and characters are brought in, so it is not a rehash of the first book. But let me stop for a minute and change course.... This is the second book of a series, and I highly recommend reading the first one before you pick this up. It will give you back stories that will make this one more understandable to you, as it does have items and feelings that carry over.

Ryan is not afraid to kill people off in her stories either, so you never know who will be left standing, but in a horror book, you know, murder, no matter who you are, should be expected.

Another Fine Mess is spooky, full of secrets, full of laughs, full of strong women and full of fun. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!!

Another Fine Mess is grislier than the typical small-town whodunit—but it’s rare that bloody supernatural thrillers are quite this much fun. It can definitely be messy at times, but the Evans women and their expanding circle of allies make for such likable characters that they’re great walking buddies. If you can handle the darker aspects of the story, you’ll enjoy listening in on your morning walks.

Full review published on WillWalkForCoffee.com.

I was so excited for the second book of the series and it did not disappoint! I love the Evan’s women and how they deal the turmoil following bless your heart. And still try trying to run the funeral home, live their lives, and deal with those supernatural creatures that don’t wanna stay down. All the characters are great and you stay entertained. Cannot wait for the next one.

An interesting story with the potential for a much more interesting next installment. I probably would've rated it higher if I'd read the first one, but I had a hard time caring about characters like Crane because the author relied on the first book to carry through their characterization to this one. This book also felt a lot like it was set up for a later installment i.e., introducing very interesting ideas but not doing much with them. I expect the author will pick those back up if/when the next book in the series comes out.

Listen, if your family has been keeping the undead from rising for over a century and suddenly the body count starts ticking up again… you know it’s going to be a rough week.

This one’s got small-town weirdness, generations of messy women (dead and alive), and a funeral home family legacy that somehow feels both heartwarming and deeply cursed. 💐⚰️ I loved being back with the Evans women—grumpy grandma Lenore, sweet but steely Luna—and honestly, I could read 300 more pages of them just roasting each other and raising hell.

This series lives in that strange little liminal space between cozy mystery and cozy horror—which is both the charm andthe challenge. I kind of wish it would commit harder to one vibe, but I’m also here for weird genre soup when it’s this fun.

✨ Bonus points for vampire-adjacent creepiness, prickly emotional beats, and some beautifully devastating moments.

Thanks to the publisher for gifted audiobook #MacAudio2025

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

God Bless Lindy Ryan for giving the girls what they want: strong, complex, funny female characters and fascinating paranormal stories. I just love the Evans women, I loved diving back into their world. I hope this series goes on, because as much as I savoured every morsel of knowing more, there was still more I wanted to get to know. This was a great read!!! I need more from this author.

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*

The Evans women are back and have gotten themselves into 𝘼𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙈𝙚𝙨𝙨. The women in the Evans family run the local funeral parlor and have kept their small Texas town safe from the undead for many years. A new threat has risen and they have to work together again to save their town before it's too late.

While I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as Book #1 in the Bless Your Heart series, I still had fun listening to this book and would continue to read books in the series should it continue. I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys horror mixed with paranormal and comedy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me an ALC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

3.5/5 stars, rounded up

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening 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!

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.

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 listening to this book, and this series is one that I cannot quit thinking about! Total props to the narrator too who had to bring SO MANY characters to life but honestly did a fantastic job of it. She did an amazing job bringing this story to life. 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 listening copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.