Cross My Heart is all kinds of twisity and bingeable! The main character is slightly unlikeable and still you’re trying to figure her out but also rooting for her? She’s had a really rough year so that grabs your heart but your brains fighting the reasoning! I think a lot of us here on bookstagram can relate to Rosie and the bond she made online! I loved the pop culture references, they were fun! I’m still thinking about it all a week after reading!
4.5 stars

Thank you to @atriabooks and Netgalley for my #gifted copy!!

Rosie undergoes a heart transplant and starts talking to her donor's husband anomalously through DonorConnect, a service that connects organ recipients with the donor's loved ones. But it just so happens that Rosie figures out that the husband is a popular author in the area and starts to becoming obsessed with him. What follows is a rollercoaster of twists and turns that will leave you second-guessing everything. I absolutely loved the fast-paced narrative and the dual POV , which made this story so bingeable and captivating. It’s a must-read for thriller lovers who enjoy twisty, unputdownable reads! Highly recommended!

Thank you @atriabooks #atriapartner and @netgalley for my ARC!

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.

I love how this author makes you second guess Rosie. One minute you think she is a bit psycho and has lost time or just plain doesn’t remember. Then there is a witness that says it wasn’t her…so who did it!?!? But then there is Rosie’s obsession! I love a good guessing game.

Megan Collins has definitely created a unique mystery with just the right amount of second guessing!

I enjoyed another book by this author. You can read my review of The Family Plot here.

Need murder mystery with a kick! THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

I haven’t read a thriller, suspenseful, horror etc book in a very long time. They just haven’t been catching my attention lately. But this premise I was hooked from the start.
You don’t realize it at first but about halfway through the book you get super confused on what’s happening and you have to unveil the truth.
I couldn’t put it down. I ate up every word. Had my own theories, which ended up being right. But the way it unravelled was beautiful and suspenseful and unexpected.
I really really enjoyed this book.
Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this in advanced for my honest opinion!

Rosie Lachlan has had a heart transplant and she believes the donor is Daphne Thorne, wife of well-known author Morgan Thorne. Using a donor connection service, Rosie has been messaging Morgan anonymously hoping to learn more about Daphne. His responses are open and friendly and she is becoming quite interested in Morgan himself.

Rosie suffered heartbreak when her fiancé, Brad, broke up with her just before their wedding. She went through a very dark period after which she began feeling ill. That was when she learned her heart was failing and she was lucky enough to receive Daphne’s heart. Now, Rosie runs her parents’ bridal store.

Rosie’s friend, Nina, has known her for many years and she knows how Rosie tends to obsess on a prospective boyfriend seeing a future with them long before any relationship has been formed. She worries about Rosie contacting Morgan. But when Rosie learns that some people are saying that Morgan may have killed Daphne, she is surprised but not enough to avoid him….yet.

Well, I finally finished this book and feel like I need to pat myself on the back for doing so. The plot is quite confusing and none of the characters stood out as real. Rosie is a kook, plain and simple. She’s someone I could never have patience for. Her view of relationships with men is quite skewed. The comment that sticks with me and sums up someone like her is: “I pinned my happiness on someone else.”

Copy provided by NetGalley and Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and honest review.

When the author dedicates the book “to anyone who relates to The Prophecy by Taylor Swift,” I know I’m in for a good time.

“𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒. 𝐼 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒.”

I mean, the premise of a woman falling for her heart donar’s husband, already sets the tone, but add in multiple thoughtfully layered twists and you’ve got a fantastic thriller! I suspected a few plot points, was right about one twist and was pleasantly surprised to be wrong about the rest! For the most part, I truly didn’t know who to trust or where this was headed but it was such a fun ride and unputdownable, bingey read! I went the audiobook route for this one and with the dual narrations representing the dual POV, I listened in practically one sitting. It was excellent as an audiobook!

There’s obsession, murder, intriguing characters, and at the center of it all is Rosie, a recent heart transplant recipient who just wants to love and be loved. It’s a must read rollercoaster of a book, but it’s not to be missed! I’ve also read and loved The Family Plot by this author and can confirm she’s an auto buy for me!

•𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 •
+ dual POV
+ super twisty
+ bingeable with fantastic audio
+ if you’ve ever felt crazy in love
+ lots of Taylor Swift references
+ read if you like Blank Space by T Swift
+ unreliable narrator
+ a book about authors
+ heart transplant rep
+ online correspondence

Thank you so much Atria and Netgalley for my #gifted ARC!

I really enjoyed *Cross My Heart* by Megan Collins! The premise was super intriguing, and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. There was always this sense that something was off, like there was something I didn’t know yet but couldn’t figure out what it was, which kept me hooked. The writing was emotional and really pulled me in. That said, there were a few moments where the story slowed down a bit for me. Overall, though, it was a great read with plenty of suspense, and I gave it 4 stars because it kept me guessing until the end!

Thank you NetGalley! This was an interesting book, definitely different than others I’ve read. It kept drawing me in the further I read. Such a great novel!

I have been seeing so much hype around this book and it totally lives up to all of it! This was a fantastic and twisty thriller that I could not of predicted going the way it was going.

The main character Rosie had recently received a heart transplant and has begun a conversation online with the donor's husband, who she figures out is a well known author in her town. She begins doing some investigating about him online, which leads down quite a surprising road.

I was engaged in this story from the first page and I didn't want to stop reading once I started. I had so many guesses as to who the villain in the story was and I thought I had it all figured out, but I was shocked by what actually happened and how wrong I was. I had not read any other books by this author, but now want to go back and read her other books because I enjoyed this one so much!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC of this novel.

I have been seeing so much hype about Cross by Heart and was so excited to receive an ARC for an honest review.

I was sucked into the book in Part 1. I enjoyed the email conversions between Rosie and Morgan and the back story on Rosie and all of her exes. Part 2 is where it started to go downhill for me. It started to get so unbelievable and I felt it was dragging on. I pushed through to see it to the end to find out who was killing people and what would happen to Rosie.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

Rosie has recently received a heart transplant and has entered into a private online conversation with the donor's husband to share their thoughts. Not divulging the names of either party, Rosie figures out that the donors husband is a famous author in her hometown of Boston. She then begins her online investigation to find out more about Morgan Thorne, which leads to a little spying on him & eavesdropping at a coffee shop.

The story quickly engaged me and I could not stop reading. I had a number of guesses as to who the murderer was and how it would all play out. Although I didn't figure it out until just before it was revealed, I wasn't surprised by this point. It got pretty wild at the end!

My thanks to Net Galley and Atria Books for an advanced copy of thiis e-book.

This one wasn't for me unfortunately. I would recommend it to readers who enjoy popcorn thrillers with unreliable and very unlikable characters. For me the twists were just.... they didn't really make a lot of sense. I also strongly dislike when books use Taylor Swift as a marketing ploy when the book, the plot, the characters, and the theme- are nothing like Taylor Swift. It feels gimmicky.

However it's a quick read with enough twists to be entertaining even if you know where it is going. I just think a lot more could have been done with this plot idea. It's a good airplane read and you can easily binge in one sitting.

The narration was ok. I did not like the male narration at ALL but it was mostly read by the female.

Thank you to Simon Schuster for the audio copy.

Megan Collins captured my attention and my heart with this one. As a major swiftie I admired the (not so subtle) nods to Taylor Swift throughout the book. But I also truly enjoyed the twists and turns inside. Rosie Lachlan and her "rosie-colored glasses" see nothing but the best in people and she definitely finds herself in trouble over it. I simply couldn't put the book down. We've all suffered heartbreak and heartache, but Rosie's felt palpable.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity for this ARC.

Rosie has had a rough time, she was dumped by her fiancée wearing her wedding dress, then her heart literally broke and she needed a transplant. After receiving a donor transplant, she’s working on herself. She works at her parents’ bridal shop and spends her days surrounded by other women’s happiness and their hope for perfect wedding. Curious about who her donor was she decides to join DonnerConnect anonymously. This is where she meets the husband of her donor. Soon Rosie has it figured out her donor husband is a local mystery writer celebrity, Morgan Thorne. The more they communicate their emails become personal, Rosie begins to imagine a romantic future with Morgan , who but there is a cloud of suspicion that surrounds his wife’s accidental death. The more she digs and obsesses she wonders if there is some truth in the pages of Morgan Thorne’s murder mysteries, and could Rosie be in danger….or is she the dangerous one?

Megan Collins in an auto buy author for me. I loved this twisty thriller. It was fast paced and such a page turner! I am so glad I had the ARC and ALC. I even bought the finished copy I loved it so much!

What a twisty little thriller.

Rosie, obsessed with love & recovering from a quite literal broken heart, is on the mend. When she connects with Morgan, the husband of her heart donor, through a service called DonorConnect Rosie convinces herself that her and Morgan are meant to be together. As they’re relationship deepens, Rosie begins to suspect that Morgan’s wife’s dead was no accident & if it wasn’t an accident than is Rosie next? Rosie is the epitome of an unreliable narrator. She might be obsessive but all she really wants is to be loved and it’s hard to not root for that in a character. It was interesting being insider her head, and Collins did a great job of making it hard to distinguish what was in Rosie’s head and what was real life. Which makes for a suspenseful read.

That’s all I’m going to say about this book because I don’t want to give anything else away. With plenty of red herrings, this book will keep you guessing. While it’s sometimes a little far-fetched, it was a fun and fast read!

Cross My Heart comes out January 14, 2025. Thank you to Atria for my advanced copy in exchange for my review. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting myInstagram @speakingof.books.
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Website: SPEAKINGOF.ORG

I loved this book. It was a twisty thriller that I couldn’t get enough of and it was the perfect read on a cold winter night. Can’t wait to read more from this author. Highly recommend!

If you’re looking for a crazy, obsession-filled psychological thriller, this one’s for you!

Rosie works at a bridal salon and has always been on the hunt for The One. Her plans were derailed by an awful breakup and then she unexpectedly needed a heart transplant. Now that her health is better, she starts to have conversations anonymously with her donor’s husband online. She realizes he’s a local author and wonders if her new heart could attract its former flame…

Like any good thriller, there are SO MANY TWISTS, and I’m wondering if this whole town should be on anti-psychotics. I really enjoyed this one even though the plot sounds ridiculous! I gave it 4.25 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Thrillers for an ARC of this book.

This was a good mystery! It had me guessing the entire time. After I finished Part 1 I was like "what did i just read" and I had to keep going. Pick this up if you want a good twisty thriller that keeps you guessing!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by Megan Collins. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Rosie was dumped in her wedding dress, and dreams only of finding that one true love. She's a year out from a life-saving heart transplant and working at her parents' bridal shop. She begins messaging local celebrity author Morgan Thorne, through an anonymous service called DonorConnect, to learn more about Daphne, his deceased wife who she believes was her donor. She becomes convinced that they are meant to be together. But then she discovers rumors that Morgan might have had something to do with Daphne's death.

This was a great thriller and just what you would expect from Megan Collins. Rosie was such a fun main character - heart of gold, but with a history of obsession and bad decisions. I loved the plot and it kept me guessing as to just what was happening and who was trustworthy. Text messages were incorporated into the storyline as well, which I always enjoy. Definitely a must read if you love twisty thrillers!