Bless Your Heart is a horror novel about four generations of women that help fight monsters in their small Texas town. 

The Evans women run the local funeral home and have been quietly putting the “restless” dead in their final grave. But over a series of days in 1999 bodies have been arriving showing signs of a violent attack and it’s possibly connected to the youngest Evans woman (fifteen-year-old Luna), the mysterious new boy in town and the secret buried under the rose bush. It will be up to the Evans women and the town’s deputy (Roger Taylor) to survive the escalating violence and stop it before it’s too late.

This is a different type of horror novel for me. It takes place in 1999, the lore of the “Strigoi” is a little more unique than your typical vampire or zombie and it has little touches of humor that make it feel like small town women’s fiction. But the violence and gore aren’t for the faint of heart and no one is safe from the bloodthirsty “ghouls”. I could definitely see this as a movie or a television series. 

Overall, this was an enjoyable horror novel that will also appeal to fans of both women’s fiction and mysteries. It looks like it’s the start of a new series and I look forward to reading more about the Evans women and the work that they do. 
3.75 stars rounded to 4 

🎧 Audiobook notes: Bless Your Heart is read by Stephanie Németh-Parker who does an excellent job with the Texas accent and characters of widely varying ages.