My first book from Megan Collins and it won't be my last! The story is gripping and eery - perfect for a winter suspense read!

This plot is absolute madness. When the recipient of a heart transplant begins correspondence with the husband of the heart doner, she falls in love and creates a very odd situation.

This book hooked me from the beginning. I love that it starts with letters back and forth between Rosie and Morgan. This is such a strange relationship and as the reader we know pretty quickly that this is NOT GOOD. Rosie becomes obsessed with Morgan and tries to "run into" him out and about in town. Throw in that Morgan is a famous writer, whos books seem too close to reality, and you have a recipe for a good thriller!

I really enjoyed this one. It had enough twists and turns to keep me on my toes, but didn't feel too unrealistic.

4.5 Stars - rounding up
First off, let's take a moment to appreciate this stunning cover! The vibrant colors are breathtaking! Now, let's dive into the premise—it's not just captivating, it's irresistible! Rosie receives a heart transplant and becomes enthralled with the widower of her donor. Is this a sweet romantic tale or a creepy delusion? Read this twisty thriller and decide for yourself!!

I wish I had read this one with a group because it's the kind of book that sparks lively discussions. I'm sure you'll feel the same way after reading it.

I was especially hooked by the online platform that facilitates anonymous connections between organ donors and recipients, and the exchanges between Rosie and Morgan bring an amusing twist to the narrative. Their dynamic dives deep into Rosie's thoughts and emotions and keeps you devouring the pages! It's pure gold!

Rosie discovers that her donor's widower is a local author. She becomes convinced their fates are intertwined, destined to be together through the heart she received. Things get complicated when she begins to hear rumors about Morgan. He may not be the perfect man she idolizes. Then the twists come--oh, the twists! Brace yourself for the unexpected, they come at you so fast you'll be left dizzy!

I've read all the author's works, but this one is hands down the best. That ending? It's so chilling and spot-on!

Thanks to the author and Simon & Schuster for providing this gifted ARC through NG and EW. All opinions are my own.

#CrossMyHeart #MeganCollins #NetGalley #Edelweiss #AtriaBooks #SimonSchuster
#ARC #capcut #lefttoread #reader #read #honestreview #thriller #bookreviewer #thrillerbooklovers #thepulse #thrillerfriendsunite #thrillerobsessedbookishclub #lovetoread #lovebooks #booknerd #readaholic #bookstagrammer #booktok #bookish

My first read by this author! Rosie is a frustrating FMC and that leads to you yell “OMG WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?” several times throughout this book. This book is divided into and part 1 and a part 2 which are fairly divided in their content. The synopsis largely details part 1.

Yes, Rosie has secrets, loves to a fault, without question, and rather naively, but how bad will it hurt her this time? When she gets caught up in something that will take away her new lease on life… what lengths will she go to in order to protect herself?

Overall a very engaging read with some twists/turns I didn’t see coming (which I never do).

*4.5 Stars On My Instagram Account*

"You have his wife’s heart...You can’t have her life, too.”

"I find that beauty and brutality often go hand in hand...I worry that everything beautiful, even love, eventually ends in bloodshed.”

You might think you know where this story is going but trust me, the highly engrossing Cross My Heart, by keenly deceptive psychological thriller author Megan Collins, takes so many turns that all the twists will leave you a bit dizzy; but also giddy with the thrill of it all.

Rosie's mental and physical health is declining after being dumped while dressed in her wedding gown. A year later she needs a heart transplant. When she connects with the husband of her heart donor through the anonymous DonorConnect portal she's convinced she's been emailing the famed author Morgan Thorne whose wife died in an accident.

Always a romantic, she starts imagining staging a meet cute for them, laughing about how they met online, and their immediate connection because her heart already belongs to him. The only problem is Rosie's not in a RomCom and she's not prepared to be in her own WTF psychological thriller. Did I mention the rumors that Morgan had something to do with his wife's death? Yeah you still don't know where this is going because it's off the rails!

Voice actress Gail Shalan embodies Rosie with all her insecurities, panic driven decisions and jumping to conclusions life. Voice actor Chris Andrew Ciulla plays Morgan precisely as ambiguous as he was written by this author.

I was a bit confused until the first flabbergasting twist. I just wasn't ready for what followed after it. I promise you will be highly entertained; cross my heart and hope to die!

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair & honest review. All opinions are my own.

Very big thanks to both NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC copy of this addictive thriller!

This one is out now - and you should def pick it up!!!

I absolutely loved how twisty and manipulative this story was. We chose this for our book club read for January and it did not disappoint on anything. The deception, the crazy, the twist and the turnout - I mean come on!!!

I recommend the physical read for this one due to the nature of the plot as well.

I absolutely tore through The Family Plot so it was a no brainer for me to request an ARC of Cross My Heart, especially after reading the description. In today's society -- where everyone posts everything on social media -- I found the plot to be both inventive and also terrifyingly plausible. A modern day Single White Female meets Fatal Attraction. Once again Megan Collins delivered an exceptional domestic thriller, the perfect start to your 2025 reading list!

When Rosie begins to fall for the husband of her heart donor, the lines between love and obsession are quickly blurred. This thriller was so twisty and fun and definitely had plot twists I did not see coming! It was a unique plot-- I've never read anything else like it before. I'd definitely recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This thriller is a must read! A woman gets a heart transplant and then states messaging anonymously on an app with the donor's husband. What could possibly go wrong?

Oh my gosh this is one of my favorite thrillers from the last year or so. As someone who reads a lot of thrillers, I always love and appreciate when a mystery/thriller really shocks and surprises me. The storyline of this book was completely unique and compelling. I enjoyed the narrative structure with the email exchanges. This was also a fun take on the "unhinged woman" kind of trope. I could not put this book down and loved learning about the heart. transplant topic as well. Highly recommend.

This was a really fun popcorn thriller. I do think it was a little bit long to get the characters and story plotted but once it did get started it was a really good mystery. It was interesting to read about two people that have issues getting together and then watching the whole thing implode.
There were a lot of twists and turns in this story and each one drew you deeper and deeper into the story and made me feel more invested in the story. I highly recommend grabbing a bunch of snacks, getting in your comfiest clothes, a cozy blanket and sit down for a day of reading to uncover the killer in this addicting story!

Cross My Heart by Megan Collins

Thank you to @atriabooks, @megancollinswriter, and @netgalley for the chance to read this #advancedreadercopy in exchange for my #honestbookreview! This book is available now on Aardvark and where books are sold.

This is a slow burn that builds to an intense thriller! Is our narrator reliable? Does she have split personalities? Who is the villain?! It has an incredible formula: fan to potential lovers, feelings of being watched, an author drawing inspiration from very messed up events of real life, a spiraling mystery, and a narrator who is a Swiftie! I highly recommend for someone looking for their next great suspense read!

TWs: loss of a loved one, trauma, health issues, g*slighting, st*lking, more

✨ - 4.5/5

Holy moly. This was the equivalent of that big scary rollercoaster that’s inviting you to sit in front of the cart because deep down you’re an adrenaline junkie, your heart is racing a million miles a second on the way up and all of sudden you go over the edge and around the sharp curves and you’re screaming for your life. Yeah, that was this book.

This was full of twists that will give you whiplash, different formatted chapters that made for easy reading, and a unique plot. I really enjoyed the book overall, however, some parts were way too convoluted and I lost a bit of interest.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this eArc of Cross Your Heart by Megan Collins. This was my first book by her and definitely won’t be my last.

I’m just really unsure how to feel about this book. I liked the storyline and thought I’d love the book, but I’m honestly not a huge fan of it. Rosie is so set on finding love that she becomes obsessive throughout the book. She tries way too hard and it’s off putting. I had a wtf moment when part two of the book started to unfold and it drew my attention a little more than the first part did which was nice. It has a little bit of a twist to it, but I found myself skimming pages just to get to the end & find out what exactly happened. There was way too much going on all at once.

Another great thriller from Megan Collins. This one is so compelling, feels fresh in a genre that is hard to find something unique! I was guessing the entire time, and still couldn't place my finger on what was happening (in a good way, not a confusing way). This was a great one for my book slump!

Rosie Lachlan is the recipient of a heart transplant. Before her heart transplant, her heart was broken by her boyfriend when he dumped her. Rosie believes her new heart is from Daphne Thorne, wife of best-selling author Morgan Thorne. Rosie e-mails the donor family using the DonorConnect system, which allows the recipient and the donor family to remain anonymous unless they decide to reveal their identity. She is obsessed with sending messages to Morgan Thorne and reading the messages she receives from him. Rosie believes her new heart will automatically know Morgan Thorne, and that Morgan will feel connected to her because of Daphne’s heart. However, Rosie learns that not everyone loves Morgan Thorne and some even believe he killed his wife. Although she hasn’t met him yet, Rosie starts to wonder if she could be putting herself in danger. Regardless, she forges ahead with learning more about Morgan Thorne and Daphne. Rosie is in love with love and will do anything to find “the one”. I found the story engaging from the first page, and I enjoyed the mostly short chapters. At the halfway point, there was a big change in perspective that I found confusing. Things do wrap up at the end, but I just didn't enjoy that switch in the middle.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC for review.

This was a great thriller type book. Fast paced and well written with lots of romantic over the top feelings. At first I was very shocked by Rosie’s perspective but as a whole arc it shouldn’t have been so jarring which makes it a great story in both directions.

Rosie receives a heart transplant and gets in contact with the window of her heart. They email back and forth and she starts to picture meeting him and connecting in person. She is just off a break up so her emotions are high. She meets another gal also off a break up and they bond. As she gets closer and deeper into her romance with Morgan he ends up dead.

Now she investigates further to find out why someone is framing her. Truly so unique of a story line and I really liked the wrap up to gain perspective to the beginning where she really did come off bad!

I loved the concept of Cross My Heart a lot, but unfortunately this suffers the same feat as many thrillers I've read lately where it tries to do too much and goes off the rails in the end. I also feel like the way the book is marketed in the blurb is different from the execution of this novel, which feels a little like false advertising—if that's even the right word for it.

I found the writing to be easy to digest and engaging, but I was totally thrown off and fatigued by the constant Taylor Swift name drops/song references. I know there are adult women who enjoy her music and persona, but her and her music come across as very childish to me so I, in turn, felt like Rosie was incredibly childish as well—it didn't help that she had some of the worst logic and reasoning skills, which made her difficult to root for.

As is the case for many thrillers, Morgan, the MMC and object of multiple women's affections, did not feel like an engaging or interesting enough character to warrant all the hullabaloo. Nina was the worst friend in the world, and I'm glad she's not mine. The storyline with ~other Rosie~ was a bit challenging to understand in the sense of the "why" behind it. I like the best friend is jealous trope, but it was a stretch here.

Overall, I didn't mind the writing style and would read more from this author again, but too many moving parts makes for a chaotic read.

3 ⭐️

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

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?

This one had everything that I love in a psychological thriller. It was a big surprise! I was OBSESSED and captivated by the story. This one is truly mind-blowing! It was Amazing!

This is a twisty read! One of the twists had my jaw dropped to the floor. This book was CRAZY!

When I first started reading the book, I noticed that there were email messages and text messages throughout the book, which is not my cup of tea and I was worried. But these messages were so good and interesting and I ended up loving them.

My favorite character was Rosie. I just loved her. All she wants is to find the one. She wants to be loved. She had a heart transplant. She has pink hair and I can't wait for you to meet Rosie.

I was flipping the pages fast. I couldn't put this book down. It was a page turner. This was an unpredictable read.
OMG! OMG! That ending!! I didn't see it coming.

I want to thank Netgalley and Atria Books for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Cross My Heart by Megan Collins
Rosie, a heart transplant recipient contacts her donor's husband via email. Is it a love connection or a deadly connection? Wow. This novel had me on the edge of my seat. Just when I thought I had it figured out, I realized I didn't. Told through multiple POVs, fast paced, unreliable characters and so many plot twists. Written in multiple POVs in email format for most of the story which was unique. Thank you to @netgalley @atriabooks @megancollins for the ARC ebook of Cross My Heart