GOODREADS SUMMARY:
Rise and shine. The Evans women have some undead to kill.
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.
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.
TEE'S THOUGHTS
I can not tell you when the last time I enjoyed a " horror " book more than I enjoyed Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan.
When I sat horror, I say it loosely, sure it has vampires, and murder, and morticians, and all that other creepy stuff, but more importantly, it has laughs, this is a fun horror story and I could not get enough of it.
Being a Southerner I love any book that has a Southern voice. Those voices, many times, are women and Bless Your Heart is no different. It takes place in a small southeast Texas town ( to be honest, more than half my family live in East Texas, and I read the whole book in their thick accent ) Also, I listened to it part time also, the narrator was a great reader and help make the audio.
The Evan's women Ducey, Lenore, Grace and teenage Luna, own the towns only funeral parlor. Soon people start dying and they realize they are rising, this is where the fun begins.
There is a lot to like about this story besides the vampires . The women in the book are strong and the family is dynamic, the characters are likable and humorous. There are times when I think it could have had more mystery and suspense , but the dark was there, lurking underneath all the fun.
This is so fun, I recommend it to anyone who wants a quick and enjoyable read.
P.S.-- Bless Your Heart is the first of a new series and even me, a non series reader can't wait for the next one!
