Rise and shine. The Evans women have some undead to kill.

PLOT SUMMARY:

It’s 1999 in Southeast Texas and the Evans women, owners of the only funeral parlor in town, are keeping steady with…normal business. The dead die, you bury them. End of story. That’s how Ducey Evans has done it for the last eighty years, and her progeny—Lenore the experimenter and Grace, Lenore’s soft-hearted daughter, have run Evans Funeral Parlor for the last fifteen years without drama. Ever since That Godawful Mess that left two bodies in the ground and Grace raising her infant daughter Luna, alone.

But when town gossip Mina Jean Murphy’s body is brought in for a regular burial and she rises from the dead instead, it’s clear that the Strigoi—the original vampire—are back. And the Evans women are the ones who need to fight back to protect their town.

As more folks in town turn up dead and Deputy Roger Taylor begins asking way too many questions, Ducey, Lenore, Grace, and now Luna, must take up their blades and figure out who is behind the Strigoi’s return. As the saying goes, what rises up, must go back down. But as unspoken secrets and revelations spill from the past into the present, the Evans family must face that sometimes, the dead aren’t the only things you want to keep buried.

GRADE: A

REVIEW:

This was my first time reading a book from Lindy Ryan and it was absolutely fun! Bless Your Heart is an absolute gem, a Southern Gothic romp packed with horror, heart, and hilarity. At the center of it all are the Evans women, who are nothing short of a delight. They’re sharp-tongued, fiercely loyal, and totally unapologetic about their witchy ways. But it’s Great-Grandmother Ducey who absolutely steals the show. She’s tough as nails, wise in that wonderfully unfiltered elder way, and has more sass in her pinky finger than most people have in their whole body. Honestly, I’d read a whole spinoff just about her.

The story mixes scares and snark effortlessly. One minute you’re shivering from a ghoul attack, the next you’re laughing out loud at a perfectly timed one-liner or sarcastic spell. Speaking of ghouls, Ryan gives them a fresh twist that feels original and creepy in all the best ways. They’re not your garden-variety undead; there’s a lore here that’s genuinely cool and elevates the horror.

What makes this book really work is the sense of family and love that grounds all the supernatural chaos. The Evans women might fight monsters, but they do it together—and with style. It’s spooky, it’s funny, and it’s got heart. Highly recommend, especially for fans of Grady Hendrix.

I strongly recommend diving into this one as an audiobook—the narrator doesn’t just read the story, she brings it to life. Every character leaps off the page (or speaker), from Ducey’s razor-sharp wit to the eerie growl of the ghouls. It’s an electrifying performance that pulls you straight into the heart of the chaos. You won’t just listen—you’ll live it.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for the audiobook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

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