"Scientists Warn Solar Flare Could Hit Earth in Our Lifetime"

Tuck Mattice and Emily Swanson aren't actually ON Earth when the solar flare hits - they're somewhere arguably worse: on a private plane in the sky. Emily and Tuck grew up together, and were always incredibly close, but they don't really know each other anymore. He's just out of prison, and she's a famous pop singer who has been guilt-tripped into hiring Tuck as her personal security. When a solar flare hits, it's just Tuck, Emily, and her famous actor boyfriend Charlie left to figure out what has happened - and how to make it to safety.

Tuck and Emily can just about bear to be around each other, but they need to work together if they're going to survive. Emily could lose everything she has built up, but how important is fame and fortune when you can't be authentic? Tuck is struggling because of his past, does he even deserve a second chance?

A post-apocalyptic second-chance road trip with a difference.

This was my first time reading anything by Mia Sheridan, and I really enjoyed it. I found it very engaging, and I was immediately sucked in by the dual POV between Emily and Tuck. I loved both characters, I really warmed to them, and I found Charlie to be a good addition to the story. I loved the setting, I enjoyed the overall premise and the romance element. I would have loved some more scenes from Emily & Tuck's childhood, because I found those scenes really evocative and nostalgic. The pacing was good, although I'm not familiar with American geography so maybe they did travel across the country a little fast, all things considered?

It really made me think about what would happen if there WAS a solar flare - there were a couple of lines that stood out to me about how reliant we are on tech, and about what's really important for rebuilding society: "It's going to need folks who have already learned how to do without".

This was initially described as "Every Summer After" meets "Station Eleven", and I'd throw a little bit of "The Last of Us" in there too. It does lean a little more towards contemporary romance than dystopia, and leans a little towards YA at times (the characters are in their twenties), so I imagine fellow readers who had a fairly intense YA dystopia phase in the mid 2010's may also enjoy this. I really liked it.

Received with thanks from Harlequin Trade Publishing via Netgalley.

“All I knew was that I was completely entranced. And that if she looked at me again, I wouldn’t be able to hide it.”

“Then again, books had been bringing me a measure of comfort for my whole life.”

“You always did wear sunshine well.”

A book on survival, second chances, trust and loss.

I was really excited to dive into this story—the beginning absolutely drew me in. I loved experiencing the young POVs of the characters, and watching Emily begin to find her voice was a strong and engaging start. When the narrative shifted back to the present, I especially appreciated the bond between Tuck and Emily’s parents. Despite his difficult background, their love and acceptance of him added warmth and emotional depth to the story.

Tuck, in particular, stood out to me. His character felt grounded and sincere, and I found myself really rooting for him. His emotional connection with Emily’s parents was one of the highlights of the book for me, and honestly, he was the reason I continued reading. There’s something incredibly compelling about his resilience and quiet strength.

While the story had a lot of potential, I found myself struggling with the shift in tone and pacing as it progressed. The dystopian element caught me off guard, and the romance didn’t quite land the way I had hoped, especially for a second-chance, childhood-friends-to-lovers dynamic. I also had a hard time connecting with Emily in the later parts of the story, as her reactions sometimes felt at odds with the gravity of Tuck’s experiences.

That said, there were certainly meaningful moments throughout, particularly those involving Tuck. I think the book had some great themes and emotional threads—it just didn’t fully come together for me personally. Still, I can see how others might find it impactful, especially if they connect with the characters differently than I did

Mia Sheridan delivers a gripping, emotional powerhouse of a romance in Heart of the Sun—a story that’s both intimate and apocalyptic in scope.

I absolutely loved the setup: a pop star and her brooding, ex-con childhood friend forced into close quarters right as society begins to unravel. The chemistry between Tuck and Emily was off the charts—raw, complex, and completely believable. Their history made every argument sting a little deeper and every moment of vulnerability feel incredibly earned.

The way Sheridan portrays the collapse of the world as we know it—through a solar flare that wipes out the electrical grid—was terrifyingly real. It wasn’t just about the loss of technology, but the loss of structure, safety, and the illusion of control. And yet, what shined most was the emotional arc: watching these two people rediscover trust, forgiveness, and love in the middle of a crumbling world.

The romance is beautiful, the stakes are real, and the message? Hope survives—even when everything else falls apart.

Heart of the Sun by Mia Sheridan 💛
Standalone

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Adult • Dystopian/Romance
ARC Review
464 pages
🗓️ May 20

🩷dystopian romance
💛friends to strangers to lovers
🩷childhood friends
💛bodyguard/celebrity
🩷tortured MMC
💛surviving together
🩷one bed
💛slow burn

📌 “It was always leading here with us, wasn’t it?”

📌 “It always felt so d*mn good to make you smile.”

Mia Sheridan writes across genres — with usually a (at least) romance subplot. She’s also an autobuy author of mine. This means that I’ve read anything from small town romance to thrillers and suspense novels written by her. I usually don’t even read the blurb. I like to go into it blind. And that, kids, is how I found myself in a dystopian world.

Color me surprised from head to toes. An apocalyptic version of the modern world taking shape in front of me was indeed quite the surprise — this started out as a bodyguard/celebrity romance — but, honestly, very on par with 2025.

What a ride this was… with ups, downs and surprising turns. What remained the same?

Tuck Mattice.

I don’t think I was ever so fiercely rooting for a character as I was with Tuck. In an unwavering, unrelenting, let everybody else be d*mned kind of way. And I do mean EVERY SINGLE OTHER PERSON. He was the hero the world needed, the force who kept moving things forward, the kind soul in a soon to be disaster of a world. I adored him, and I just wanted someone to hug him once every few pages.

I haven’t watched the Last of Us but I can see the vibes being all there.

I think that this is the first Mia Sheridan book that I didn't love. Heart of the Sun is a dystopian-ish ,enemies to lovers, child hood best friends(ish), second chance romance. The description says that the main characters Tuck and Emily share a bond that seems unbreakable until something ripped them apart, but after reading this book I don't feel like they had a super close bond as children and when they meet again the FML is awful. Then a world changing event happens, that makes both of them reevaluate their lives.

That being said I still enjoyed this book and think you still can't go wrong with any of Mia Sheridan's books

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the early copy.

Thank you to Canary Street Press for the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest view.

I really wanted to like this. The cover is pretty and the premise is interesting (though the author admits in the acknowledgements that it was not actually her idea), especially for this genre, and I have heard that Sheridan writes some excellent novels... but this was just not it for me. The whole book was so. slow. The main characters spend most of the book walking across the United States, and with all that time on their hands, I really hoped for more character development and emotion. Unfortunately, that didn't come across for me. The writing felt so stiff and I just felt nothing: no attachment to the characters, no horror at their situation, no hopeful optimism that anyone in particular might survive. The plot twists weren't twisty, the science behind the natural disaster was not explained, and the ending was predictable.

This one was not for me, but I will give another Mia Sheridan novel a go at a later date.

This book will be released on May 20, 2025.

Content Warnings:
- Death
- Grief
- Gun violence
- Classism
- Death of parent
- Cancer / terminal illness
- Confinement
- Drug use

Heart of the Sun by Mia Sheridan

4.5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and Mia Sheridan for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts! I went into this completely blind and it took me on such a wild ride that I was not expecting! A massive solar flare destroys the entire power grid, resulting in chaos and leaving everyone to fend for themselves. I was terrified reading this because all I kept thinking was how terrible an event like this happening in real life would be. My mind kept racing and taking notes as I was reading on what worked and what didn’t, as a way to prepare 🤯 The story follows our main characters, Tuck and Emily, as they travel around the country in a post-apocalyptic setting, trying their best to survive, figure out why the world stopped and helping those that needed help along the way. The attention to detail that Mia Sheridan uses is incredible, it felt as if I was on the journey with Emily and Tuck and there was a whole movie going on in my mind as I was reading!I had never read anything like this and I love, definitely recommend!


Tropes:
- Dystopian Apocalypse
- Popstar x Bodyguard
- Second Chance
- Slow Burn

I went into this book blind and was completely surprised by the dystopian/ apocalyptic vibes. But also I was completely hooked. I cannot stop thinking about this book!

Thank you to the publishers for an early copy of this book. I realized pretty early on that this book wasn’t for me. I thought it was going to be more of a romance and it ended up being more of a survival novel with very little romance. I didn’t care about the characters at all and didn’t find them very well developed. I wasn’t very invested in this and this was just a bit of a miss for me.

I read and listened to the audio, simultaneously, and it devoured my life for 2 days. How can one finish this book unscathed? My mind is still hungover and I just know that I will never forget this epic love story.

Ok. Wow. I don't know what I was expecting but that wasn't it. However, I loved it. I loved the characters, except Charlie. What a jerk. The pace was good, the plot was great. It really just makes you stop and think....what if?
Mia Sheridan is one of my favorites and this book didn't disappoint me at all.

Heart of the Sun by Mia Sheridan is a post-apocalyptic, slow-burn romance that had me hooked! Childhood friends to enemies to lovers, survival, second chances, and ALL the feels. Couldn't put it down.

Thank you to the Hive for the E-Arc and ALC of Heart of the Sun. This is my first book I have read from the author and I definitely see some potential here! I gave this rating a 3.5 stars for the book but I did like the ALC which was a 4 star for me. I enjoyed the focus on how others would react to a disaster. This definitely reminded me of vibes of The Last of Us and The Walking Dead. I think those who enjoyed those shows would appreciate the vibes this book brings.

This definitely felt more YA and a little rushed in my opinion of the love focus on Tuck and Emily. I wish it felt more organic and not rushed. The narration was nice! It felt easy to engage with the narrator and was easy to follow. He really set the scene for you as you listen!

I had the chance for a sneak preview of this book last August, and it definitely left me wanting more and to read it. Skip ahead and I was lucky enough to be selected for an eARC of Heart of the Sun.

This book was a journey! A dystopian setting where the world is plunged into darkness. Planes have crashed, cell phones and cars stopped working... former childhood friends turned pop star and bodyguard ... Tuck and Emily are trying to make it back to their homes in California.

This book is full of suspense and tension (romantic and otherwise). Think - Last of Us or Walking Dead vibes - where you are trying to survive and just make it back to your loved ones.

While I enjoyed this book and found it to be a quick read, I did at times question where this was headed - were zombies gonna jump out? Are they gonna die in the end and leave us gutted? What is even happening?! So there were a few parts where I was just wanting it to get to the end and tell me how it ends. The journey to get to the end was long, but then the end felt almost a bit too quickly wrapped up (and left me with some questions...)

I'd say this is a 3.75-4⭐ read. I was a little unsure of how I felt when I learned that the author was given the plot idea and didn't come up with it entirely on her own, but maybe that happens more often than we think anyway.

Childhood friends, second chances and a dystopian journey all in one novel. Emily and Tuck were pals as kids but they went down different paths. She's now a musician and he's an ex-con who she hires as her bodyguard. So what happens when they're in a plane crash and the world goes to pot? They must trek though all sorts of bad things but they find each other along the way. This has a lot going on but the dystopian part, which had promise, isn't as well fleshed out as it could be (think dystopia lite). Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. While this wasn't for me, I'm sure Sheridan's fans will enjoy it.

This book started out really strong, there was a lot of angst between our main characters that I was looking forward to seeing what would happen between them.
Things started to really pick up after what happened with the plane and we got dropped into this dystopian world where the characters had to fend for themselves.
I found myself very entertained and really wanting to find out what exactly was going on and how on earth these characters would end up being ok.
Once I was about halfway through the book, it really started to go downhill and I felt like there was a lot that was being repeated and honestly I was just bored.
I was bummed out because the first half of the book was really good, but the second half really sunk it for me.
Possibly it just wasn’t for me?
I am thankful to the Hive for my arc copy and these opinions are my own.

3.5/5 ⭐️

This dystopian romance was a different read than I’m used to. I have read a few of Sheridan’s books so I was excited to read this ARC.

It started off a bit slow but I enjoyed it as it progressed. I wish there was more romance in the beginning of the book and I feel like once the romance progressed it happened pretty fast. The concept of the book was interesting but it fell flat to me. I like Tuck as a character but I didn’t like Emily at all. I did enjoy the second chance aspects of this book.

Book Tropes:
-Second Chance Romance
-Childhood Best Friends
-Pop Star + Bodyguard
-Slow Burn Romance
-Dystopian Romance

Thank you to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for the gift eARC.

I am not 100% sure what I just read.

I would like to start with a thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade for the advance copy of Heart of the Sun.

With that being said, I really should have paid attention when reading the description/blurb, my fault. For my first Mia Sheridan read, I was not expecting this. It got me at pop-star/bodyguard, second chances and childhood friends. The first few chapters I was liking it, especially Tuck's POV. I really liked his character, he was a little nerdy and loved his family orange grove and being a teen was feeling things towards Emily. With Tuck coming into the present and having being released from jail months prior he was a little lost and didn't know what do, he really didn't have anyone, I was still liking it.

Then came Emily's POV as an adult and I just did not like her. She had no sympathy, she compared Tuck's loss being equal to her and everyone else's, he lost his mother and she mentions her mother's promise to take care of Tuck when her mom's best-yet dead friend. That right there, I didn't feel like there was anything to redeem her. Emily kept getting annoying as the story went on worrying about her raise to stardom and being replaced after a plane crash, taking about being survivors with her movie star boyfriend doing benefits and whatnot. Her and Charlie (the boyfriend) were just irritating. I will say she got a little better towards the end, it wasn’t a high bar to be a good person at that point.

I was going to give this 3 stars because of Tuck, I really liked his character. Until he became all knowing, he was still the better part of this but I just couldn't get into after the plane crash and apocalyptic event and everything they went through to get back home. Like I said I really should have paid attention to the blurb and seeing where this was going, it really did have the chance to really engage me with something interesting and something that wouldn’t normally grab my attention but it didn’t.

Why not just DNF it? I have a hard time with that so I powered through and Tuck was still the better part of the story.

In the end it just fell flat and I hard time connecting what was happening with the characters and everything around them.

I gave this book until the 50% mark and it just wasn't doing it for me. There wasn't anything inherently bad about it, but it just wasn't working for me in any way shape or form. The first 25% were basically just backstory and the like. Considering this is supposed to be an apocalypse novel it took a LONG time to get tot he apocalypse part. There's also the fact that while this is also supposed to be a romance we still have the FMC with her (terrible) boyfriend (who is not our MMC) at the 50% mark. I'm sure there are some people this book will work for, but I was not one of them. I've heard good things about Sheridan's other books though, so perhaps I'll try one of those down the line.

I had the opportunity to read the e-ARC for this book through Net Galley and Harlequin, and I really enjoyed the story! I thought it was very sweet how childhood friends re-connected in a new relationship after they both had matured and grown. I thought it was interesting going from their childhood into adulthood and how second chances can mean everything! The setting also made the book unique and different from other books I had read previously. Thanks for the read!