My rating for this story is 3.5 stars (rounded up). The premise of a heart transplant recipient and the husband of the donor communicating via email leading to an obsession on the part of the recipient had me intrigued. Overall the story was a good read and a fun ride.

There were both twists I didn’t see coming and twists I predicted from really early on in the book. I did like the theme of being enough on your own and not needing to change yourself to match the people you want to love you.

This was an addicting, twisty and unique story that held my attention throughout! Filled with questionable characters, shocking reveals and unexpected turns, this unpredictable story was such a total binge read. I also loved the mixed media format which always makes the pages fly by! Definitely add this to your TBR and see if you can figure out this clever whodunit before the end!

Picked this up because my local bookseller was raving about it and it did not disappoint. Really unique and suspenseful read!

A solid 3.5⭐️ Cross My Heart intrigued me from the beginning. Rosie is a likable but somewhat unstable main protagonist. She has recently had a heart transplant and she starts corresponding with her heart donors husband. She starts falling for him but there’s a problem. There’s whispers around town and on the internet, that he might have murdered his wife. Add in one extremely unreliable narrator, plenty of people with motive, and a you’ve got a story that somewhat kept me guessing. Some plot points felt extremely unreal and hard to believe. Also Rosie wasn’t my favorite main character. Like girl please stop crashing out over every man that pays you attention. It’s exhausting! But overall, I enjoyed this one and I think others will also.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review of Cross my Heart by Megan Collins

OK everyone. I absolutely loved this book! This is hands-down my favorite by this author. It grabbed me from the first page and there wasn’t a dull moment in the book for me. I had some guesses some of them were right and some of them were wrong but overall, this was just a fantastic fast paced super interesting read and I loved. I highly recommend it!

Synopsis:

Rosie Lachlan wants nothing more than to find The One.

A year after she was dumped in her wedding dress, she’s working at her parents’ bridal salon, anxious for a happy ending that can’t come soon enough. After receiving a life-saving heart transplant, Rosie knows her health is precious and precarious. She suspects her heart donor is Daphne Thorne, the wife of local celebrity author Morgan Thorne, who she begins messaging via an anonymous service called DonorConnect, ostensibly to learn more about Daphne. But Rosie has a secret: She’s convinced that now that she has his wife’s heart, she and Morgan are meant to be together.

As she and Morgan correspond, the pretense of avoiding personal details soon disappears, even if Rosie’s keeping some cards close to her chest. But as she digs deeper into Morgan’s previous marriage, she discovers disturbing rumors about the man she’s falling for. Could Morgan have had something to do with his late wife’s death? And can Rosie’s heart sustain another break—or is she next?

I adored this book! Hooks you in right from the start and it draws you in, making you want to know what's going to happen next. I was literally suspecting everyone at some point. It was such an enjoyable, thrilling read! Plus point for the protagonist being relatable, and a Swiftie! Haha

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

I quite enjoyed this. It has the messaging between people as part of the story. The ending was solid.

Rating: 4/5

This book started off strong as a potential romance. Just as I was beginning to get bored, BANG! Part two! I know a story is going to be a wild ride when I gasp while reading and this was textbook wild.

I loved the twists and turns. The sudden turn from a romance to a double murder mystery was like a gut-punch. My excitement quickly grew and continued to build until this wild ride of a story came to an end. I pegged everyone as a potential suspect and loved how this story unraveled.

If you’re looking for your next thriller, pick up Cross My Heart. You won’t be disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Megan Collins for the opportunity to read an early DRC.

Wow, this story took my by surprise. I read alot of thriller books and find them to be rather repetitive. This was a unique plot and I just love how it was written. So good.

Thank you to Netgalley, Atria Books, and Megan Collins for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First, LOVED the tag line "She has his dead wife's heart; the one she wants is his."

Rosie is a young woman who suddenly needed a new heart. Now recovering from her heart transplant and the end of her engagement, Rosie wants to learn more about her donor. She has suspicions that she received the heart of a local writer's wife, who passed away tragically. She begins communicating with him through the donor network and they connect. She wonders if it's her heart telling her what she wants, or something else? Working in her parent's bridal store and constantly being reminded of her previous relationship, she knows this is the road she wants to explore more thoroughly, but how close is too close? After all, the DonorConnect program is constantly reminding her not to disclose personal information.

This book was so fun and twisty! I loved the character development and point of views from both Rosie and Morgan. There were so many twists and turns, I definitely stayed entertained. You question what you know about the characters, question their motives, their sanity. A total mind bender that I must recommend others to read!

Rosie Lachlan wants to find love so badly that she sometimes she forces it too hard. She's one year out from her heart transplant and she is connecting with her donor's widower. The more she learns about him, the more obsessed she becomes. He's a famous author that lives nearby and Rosie can't help herself when keeping tabs on him. Then rumors start to circulate that his wife's death wasn't an accident. But Rosie may be in too deep to get out now.

This is a great suspense story to keep you on your toes. Just when I thought I figured it out, another twist came and flipped it all. Repeat for the whole book. I had a little bit of a hard time keeping all the women straight, but by the end it all came together. I really enjoyed this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC of Cross My Heart.

Cross My Heart by Megan Collins is a tale of love, obsession, and dark secrets. Rosie, unlucky in love and newly recovering from a heart transplant, is drawn to Morgan, the famous author and widower of her donor, Daphne. Intrigued by him, she reaches out through DonorConnect, convinced that their connection is destined.

While the first part of the book unfolds slowly, setting the stage with Rosie's journey and her growing fixation on Morgan, the second half accelerates into a more suspenseful storyline. As Rosie digs into Morgan's past, she uncovers unsettling rumors suggesting he may have been involved in his wife's untimely death. The story delves into themes of grief, identity, and the lengths people will go for love, keeping readers on edge as Rosie realizes she may have stepped into something far darker than she anticipated.

Megan Collins weaves emotional depth with psychological tension. Cross My Heart delivers a haunting and satisfying read.

This was a fast-paced read with a unique premise. It centers on Rosie, who becomes fixated on a man named Morgan after she finds out that she is the recipient of his late wife's heart. Rosie is lucky to be alive after a sudden heart condition overtook her and is determined to put the pieces of her life back together. She and Morgan start to correspond through the donor site, much to the chagrin of her family and friends who think she is making risky decisions, but the stakes get even higher when she can easily see Morgan in real life due to living in a small town.

I didn't really connect with Rosie as a character- I felt a little sorry for her at times but didn't feel like I really "got": her. I also didn't think her relationship with her best friend felt all that authentic. I did enjoy the mystery of the book, though, and Rosie's uncovering of information related to Morgan's first marriage as she tries to figure out how to get closer to him. There was a great twist that I did not see coming at all, which I really enjoyed. I did figure out who the villain was but greatly appreciated that there were a few different twists overall that kept me guessing beyond that. The ending of the book was satisfying and worked with the rest of the story.

Overall, I thought this was a decent read that moved at a fast-clip, even if I didn't necessarily fall in love with the protagonist. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

How fun was this book? It was my first book from the author and while it was not overly memorable (I read it about a month ago, and don't remember much of the details) it was so stinking fun. It felt like the first time that I picked up and adult thriller and I am always looking for that feeling.

I bumped the stars down, as I don't feel like it was super memorable. However if you are in a reading slump and need to pick up a quick and capturing book, this is it!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for my early copy.

📖 Book Review 📖

📱 "Cross My Heart" by Megan Collins

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
published January 14, 2025

Whoa- a psychological thriller that made me keep guessing what was going on. When Rosie gets her heart broken by her boyfriend, she really gets it broken. She soon realizes she has can't get out of bed due to cardiomyopathy and needs a heart transplant. Fast forward one year, Rosie is getting back to her life, working at her parents bridal shop, taking the family dog on walks, seeing her bestie Nina and now corresponding anonymously via DonorConnect with the spouse of her donor's heart. With a little bit of googling and the details shared in emails on DonorConnect, she figures out her donor was Daphne Thorne, the wife of local celebrity author Morgan Throne. And Rosie decides that her and Morgan are meant to meet in person, fall madly in love and live happily ever after. Rosie is an unreliable narrator and the whole novel is her point of view. We get a little of Morgan's POV through his emails. A fun, quick romantic suspense read that kept me up late into the night. 

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As someone who was diagnosed with heart disease at age 33, the premise of a heart transplant patient falling in love with her donor's husband was intriguing to me. However, I feel like it fell short a little bit. I found the female main character hard to relate to and not super likeable. In all honesty, none of the characters were very relatable for me. I felt more like I was watching a lifetime movie, than reading a psychological thriller. I do have to give the author credit though. The amount of suspects will keep you guessing until the very end and I definitely didn't get it right. I chose the obvious suspects but I wasn't even close. The story line was a good idea and the writer is obviously talented as the book is definitely well written, but this is a story that won't stick with me. Towards the end I was ready for it to be over because it just didn't hold my attention well enough. This was the first book I've read by this author so I do plan to give her other works a try but for me, this one was just okay.

As an avid thriller reader, I love a good twist. The twists in this book were outrageous, but didn’t really make much sense to me. Also, none of the characters were likable. I did love this author’s “The Family Plot” much better.

Imagine receiving a second chance at life, literally! After the tragic death of Daphne, Rosie finds herself with a new heart and an obsession that spirals dangerously out of control: Daphne’s husband. You can feel Rosie’s desperation for love and connection, and it pulls you right into her whirlwind of emotions.

This twisty tale is packed with unreliable characters who take you on a wild ride through their unhinged actions. What I absolutely loved was how Megan Collins cleverly weaves in emails, interviews, and texts, adding layers to the storytelling that keep you guessing.

Cross My Heart is a true page-turner! With its unique premise and fast pace, I found myself glued to the pages, desperate to uncover the next shocking twist. I couldn’t put it down until I knew how it all ended!

If you’re in the mood for a gripping read that will keep you on the edge of your seat, this is the book for you!

Cross My Heart is an excellent thriller. It starts with a fantastic concept, which Megan Collins executes flawlessly: Our heroine, Rosie Lachlan, reaches out to the widower of her heart donor through an anonymous web site called DonorConnect – but little does he know, she has already parsed his identity and developed an ever-so-slight obsession with him. His name is Morgan Thorne, and he’s a famous writer. And as the book’s tagline says, Rosie has his dead wife’s heart – but she wants Morgan’s, and she’ll stop at nothing to get it.

Oh, Rosie. Rosie, Rosie, Rosie. It’s been quite a while since I had such a good time being inside a character’s head. Rosie is just…well, she can be A LOT at times. Collins’ character work with Rosie is absolute perfection, striding the finest of lines between a woman you can relate to and sympathize with, and a woman who is becoming unhinged in her quest for romance. All Rosie wants is to be in love, to find her person – and she’ll do whatever is necessary to get her happy ending. The book is written from her first-person point-of-view, so it’s fascinating to read how Rosie justifies her actions and then to see how they are perceived by the people who care about her. And we also get Morgan’s perspective through his emails, which adds a chilling, unsettling undercurrent to the story. It was hard to figure out who to believe at times, which kept me completely riveted.

Cross My Heart is tightly-plotted and written with urgent suspense, and although I figured out a few of the twists, I was still surprised at the overall direction of the story. Collins is effortlessly weaving between a couple of different genres here, and it made for a propulsive reading experience. And a purely fun one, all the way through. Thank you to Atria Books for the complimentary reading opportunity.

This is a fast paced twisty little number! Add in an unreliable narrator with bubblegum pink hair and a love of Danish pastries and you’re in for an unpredictable ride. She’s kind of a female Joe from You. I will for sure check out more from this author. Overall recommend!