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.

This second installment of books featuring the Evans women picks up right where the first book left off. The narrator does an excellent job of voicing all the characters and building the emotional suspense of the horror facing this small town. Lily's parts of the novel are particularly heartbreaking and while the story is humorous at times, it is also gruesome and features a mystery at the heart of the story. I look forward to listening to more audiobooks in this series if it continues to see what the Evans women are up to next.

Lindy Ryan's Another Fine Mess audiobook delivers a unique blend of Southern Gothic charm, supernatural suspense, and small-town mystery. The premise of the Evans women being the guardians against the undead in their peculiar southeast Texas town is instantly captivating, and the audiobook format brings the quirky atmosphere and colorful characters vividly to life.

The story opens with a profound loss, leaving Lenore and her granddaughter Luna to navigate a world where burying the dead is more than just a ritual – it's a family responsibility. Ryan skillfully establishes the weight of this legacy and the vulnerability of the remaining Evans women in the wake of such a significant "Mess."

However, the rising dead are just the beginning of their troubles. When a new victim appears under the full moon, it becomes clear that a more sinister threat is at play. The audiobook effectively builds suspense as Lenore, Luna, and the new sheriff delve into family lore, uncovering secrets that hint at a deeper, more human darkness preying on their community.

Another Fine Mess is a compelling listen that seamlessly blends the supernatural with a compelling whodunit. Ryan's writing is rich with Southern flavor and a touch of dark humor, and the narration expertly captures the unique voices of the characters and the eerie atmosphere of the town. This is a captivating tale of family legacy, unexpected alliances, and the chilling realization that sometimes, the most dangerous monsters walk among the living.

3 ⭐️ I am not sure what I expected since the first book was just an okay read too. I was hoping this would be better but unfortunately it suffers the same fate as the first book, it’s just not interesting enough to hold my attention. It read very YA and not a ton happens. If the whole book were like the last 15% I would have loved it as it really picked up at the end. But the dangling cliff hanger of wanting more from the Evan ladies is lost on me, given how bored I was though most of these books. If there’s a 3rd book I have a hard time believing I’d want to read it. Which is a shame because it finally got interesting at the very end. I just don’t have confidence that the interesting bits will be written, it seems the author only wants to tease crumbs and that isn’t enough for me.

I also picked up the audiobook, which is a good production. I was able to listen at 2.25x and not feel like the narrator was talking too fast. The fast pace of the cadence is what kept me from DNFing this book.

Thank you again to Macmillan audio for the gifted ALC in exchange for my honest review. This book is out today!

This was my 38th book of 2025
Format: Gifted, advanced listeners copy

I request to listen to this book not knowing it was the 2nd book. So I’d hope Libby had the first book available for me to listen to in order to get that full story, and they did! I like the fact the story picked right up from the first book and we got to see more characters pov’s. The undead were definitely giving zombie vampires which was a cleaver take, I enjoy the humor of the great grandmother throughout the story. Love the lineage aspect of the Evan’s women and the family owned business as well as the secrets known and unknown. This was a comical horror book. A good time on the couch with some tea! I rate it 3.5

I wish I had reread the first series installment to refresh my memory. If you haven't read Bless Your Heart already, please put down Another Fine Mess until you have! The second installment still has gore, with occasional—perhaps fewer—moments of comic relief. I only took separate, special note of two passages. Based on the ending, I'm guessing there is a third installment planned, which I will read out of continued morbid curiosity. Overall, early ratings of book two are slightly higher than reviews of the first installment. I do not share that opinion. Still, I give this installment a soft recommendation.

The audiobook is again narrated by Stephanie Németh-Parker, whose talent gets a workout with a broad range of characters.

Audiobook/Book Review 🐺☕️🩸
Thank you partner @minotaur_books @macmillan.audio for the gifted copy & audiobook!

Another Fine Mess
Book by Lindy Ryan
Narrated by Stephanie Németh-Parker

About the book 👇🏽

Making sure dead things stay buried is the family business...

For over a hundred years, the Evans women have kept the undead in their strange southeast Texas town from rising. But sometimes the dead rise too quick–and that’s what left Lenore Evans, and her granddaughter Luna, burying Luna’s mother, Grace, and Lenore’s mother, Ducey. Now the only two women left in the Evans family, Luna and Lenore are left rudderless in the wake of the most Godawful Mess to date.

But when the full moon finds another victim, it’s clear their trouble is far from over. Now Lenore, Luna, and the new sheriff—their biggest ally—must dig deep down into family lore to uncover what threatens everything they love most. The body count ticks up, the most unexpected dead will rise–forcing Lenore and Luna to face the possibility that the undead aren’t the only monsters preying on their small town.

🐺 My thoughts:

“You deserve your own sparkle tonight.”

I love a good monster hunting! I seriously could not wait to get my hands on this. Bless Your Heart was one of my favorites of 2024, and Another Fine Mess did not disappoint. This was a hybrid physical read and audiobook listen and both were so so good! This is my favorite way to consume a book and consume I did. The narration was superb and would recommend this option if you enjoy audiobooks. This has to be one of the most fun, gory, and unique series I’ve ever read and I cannot recommend it enough. The world needs more of the Evans women. They’re lovable, funny, and will probably remind you of people you know. The secrets, supernatural aspects, and small town setting will transport you in the best of ways… completely submerging you into a monster hunting romp. This is a series you need to start this year if you haven’t already. Another Fine Mess is out TOMORROW 4/15/25!

Happy reading 📖🎧☕️🩸🐺

Another Fine Mess by Lindy Ryan is a fun and engaging read that really stands out thanks to its well-developed plot points and unforgettable characters. The story is smart, entertaining, and part of a series that keeps getting better. If you enjoy books with personality and heart, this one’s definitely worth checking out. Audiobook quality was crisp and clear and the narrator perfect.