Rosie receives a life-saving heart transplant, and begins an email correspondence with the donor’s husband, a local author who lives in the same neighborhood. But Rosie soon believes they are meant for each other, and her obsession with the husband takes a turn when she discovers information that he may be responsible for his wife’s death. Cross My Heart turned out to be one wild ride, and to reveal too much of the plot would spoil the fun. This is a true page-turner as Rosie’s life spirals, and she doesn’t know who she can trust anymore. There’s plenty of “oh wow” moments, and the tension oozes from each page in this twisty thriller. Definitely a must read, highly recommended!, I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes I find myself binge-reading from NetGalley and forgetting to do my reviews, then needing to go back and remember a book, but with this one, there was no need to push my brain for memories because I absolutely remembered this one! I read lots of thrillers and this one was really different and fast paced, but heart felt and also, the characters were drawn out perfectly. I’m a sucker for good characterization and good explanation of the atmosphere and this had both. The twists and turns were definitely awesome! Loved it!

Cross Your Heart by Megan Collins is Mad Woman by Taylor Swift (one of my very favorite TS songs) in book form. OH MY GOODNESS I absolutely devoured this book. I had so many theories, but I was still shocked by how some things played out. And the ending?!? Utterly brilliant! Obsessed. One of my top 3 thrillers of the year! Highly, highly recommend!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Mystery Thriller

Rosie Lachlan is a woman who receives a life-saving heart transplant. She is pleasantly surprised to learn that the donor's heart belonged to Daphne Thorne, the wife of renowned crime fiction author Morgan Thorne. As Rosie recovers, she feels an increasing pull towards Morgan, believing that a profound connection exists between them. Is this connection due to the heart of the wife she has received?

Rosie and Morgan start chatting on an anonymous online platform, and their conversations quickly turn into something deeper that makes it hard to tell what's real anymore. But as Rosie digs into Morgan's past, she stumbles upon some pretty unsettling rumors about Daphne's death. To avoid giving anything away about the mystery or the thriller parts, I will end my summary there.

This is my first experience reading a book by Megan Collins, and I must say it was a pleasant one. I initially thought the author was leading the story in a safe and predictable direction, but she surprised me by taking it in a completely unexpected direction.

The main characters are well-developed, and I found the use of different narration styles in this story to be not only effective but also crucial for building suspense. At certain points, the reader may begin to question the main character’s mental health, as this is a psychological thriller. If I were to offer a minor critique, it would be regarding the portrayal of several female characters who seem obsessed with a single man. At times, it felt like he must be the Don Juan of his time! LOL.

Overall, this was a very entertaining mystery and psychological thriller. The author did a great job with all its elements, keeping you guessing who is right and who is wrong until the end. I highly recommend it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this psychological thriller! Addictive, juicy and full of surprising twists. I flew through this one anxious to see what was coming next! Aesthetically, I love the cover. Solid ending! This was my first Megan Collins novel and I would definitely read another!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review eARC!

I ended up DNFing this. The writing was fun at first but not sure how I felt about the numerous mentions of Taylor Swift and Friends. It got redundant when it was only 25% in and was mentioning both of this again. If you're big fans of that you'll be excited though! I also didn't enjoy the main character so I felt like it was hard for me to connect and want to continue.

this was a fantastic thriller. i can't say I knew where it was going at all and that's just my kind of mystery. i was jaw dropping, on my toes, head hurting in confusion. i can't say much without spoiling but definitely check this one out when it releases! Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for the ARC!

I’m giving this 4 stars because I enjoyed this thriller but I had a few frustrations as I read. For one, I could put this book down and not be drawn to it. Second, I got really tired of the women’s identities being found in their relationships with men. I get that was probably the point! Overall good twists and turns.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for an ARC in return for my honest review.

I loved Cross My Heart by Megan Collins! It was such a unique thriller premise that had me guessing until the last few pages.

After a heart transplant Rosie becomes obsessed with the husband of her donor.

I’ve read a lot of Megan Collins over the years and this was my favorite yet. There were so many twists and turns. It felt fresh and a new take on a thriller. I love how the story weaved in emails and texts making it multi-POV. I will be recommending this to everyone when it’s released in January 2025!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy of this book!

This fun, twisty story threw me for a loop. Ha! I enjoyed but at times was wondering “what the hell am I reading?”. It kept me on the edge of my seat needing to know why happened next and was an easy, fun read
For sure.

The first half of the story felt more thriller and then once everything came together it felt a little different but still Enjoyable. Not exactly what I expected but to be honest I don’t know what you could expect from
This story :) lol!

This book was a very different from the typical thrillers that have been coming out. Megan Collins characters were so unique and fleshed out.
The story follows Rosie a young woman that has recently received a heart transplant after hers was irrevocably broken. She was dumped by her boyfriend who she thought she would spend the rest of her life with and then she becomes truly sick.
She starts corresponding with the widower of the woman whose heart she received through the donor service. It is anonymous but she is positive that her heart comes from the local celebrity authors wife.
Their exchanges get more personal and Rosie begins to catch feelings.
From there things get crazy in a vey fun way.
I had a lot of fun with this book and it helped me get out of my reading slump.

I jumped on this one when I got an email about it because it seemed like a cool concept that was different. But ultimately it fell kinda flat for me. I think the first part was supposed to end in a twist but I just found it confusing. What had been real and what wasn’t? The majority of the characters are unlikable so it’s hard to root for any of them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting access to this book in exchange for my honest review.

Megan Collins has done it again!! She is back with another fantastic thriller. This is a thriller that could probably be considered for the list of best thrillers of 2025 (and yes I know it is early to say this, but just trust me). If you are looking for a fast paced thriller, I highly recommend this book.

Additionally, if you enjoy audiobooks, check out the audiobook narrated by Gail Shalan and Chris Andrew Ciulla,,,I definitely am planning to listen to this one...the book is just that good.

What a fantastic thriller... I can't recommend it enough!

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publishers, and Megan Collins for an ARC of Cross My Heart. I was truly obsessed with this book. Honestly genius plot for the story and this can be read in one sitting because you’re hooked from the first page. I honestly thought I was going crazy during the book going wait what?? I can see this easily being picked up as one of the best books of the 2025 year. Anytime I was away from the book I was thinking about it like what is going on?! Don’t forget to take off your Rosie tinted glasses before reading this!

Rosie Lachlan, a heart transplant recipient, manages her family's Boston-area bridal shop and desperately wants to find "the one." She believed she had found love with Brad, but it was not to be. Through an anonymous service called DonorConnect, she is corresponding with the husband of her heart donor, a woman who died in an accident at home. After uncovering his identity, Rosie starts falling for Morgan, a thriller writer. While Rosie tries to learn more about Morgan, who she has become obsessed with, she finds online gossip about him and digs deeper into his life and marriage. Despite all the warning signs, Rosie pushes forward believing that she and Morgan are destined for one another. Will Rosie get her happily ever after, or is tragedy going to strike again? 

I've read Megan Collins' last four novels, and she consistently delivers a highly suspenseful, effective thriller. Her latest nail-biter, Cross My Heart, features Rosie, a great character. She's kind, a hopeless romantic, and often misguided. Rosie sees life and relationships through "Rosie-colored glasses." It's no wonder she frustrates her friends and family, who all care deeply for her. Some creative plot twists will catch you off guard and keep you on edge. 

4.25 stars.

Look what you made me do 🫀
Thank you, Atria Books, for the gifted copy of Cross My Heart by Megan Collins {partner}

Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Format: 🎧📖
Pub Date:  1.14.2025
Pages: 313
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆.5

"Some days, love makes you look in the mirror and admire your own reflection; others, it makes you a monster in the glass."

After a tough few days, I needed something to take my mind off things. Thrillers are my go-to when I need a pick-me-up, so I decided to dive into Megan Collins' latest novel, Cross My Heart. And guess what? I was instantly hooked! To be honest, the author's note at the beginning really grabbed my attention 😉

There's something so hypnotizing about a story with an unreliable narrator that they grab me and refuse to let go. I love figuring out the direction the book will go; an unreliable narrator makes that almost impossible. Then, can you add in a few red herrings? It's like cat nip to me. And Cross My Heart had both. I can't tell you the number of times that I knew I had it figured out, only to be proven entirely wrong. 

There was something endearing about the FMC Rosie, albeit a bit unhinged. She ultimately pulled me into her world and took me for one wild roller coaster ride. Cross My Heart felt like an ode to Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do." 

Read if you enjoy:
👏🏼 Twisty AF
🤯 Unpredictable & Unreliable Narrators
🤔 Red Herrings
💻 Stalker Vibes

Behind the Red Door has always been my favorite book from Collins, but Cross My Heart has taken that spot. You'll want to add this one to your 2025 reading list.

This one was GOOD. Slow to start, but then once I got going I was hooked! This was on the lines of Megan Collins's first novel which I loved. Great job, Megan!

Cross My Heart is such an interesting read. It’s about a woman named Rosie who gets a heart transplant and starts semi-stalking her heart donor’s husband, who is a handsome yet known-to-be-clueless-about-women thriller author whose wife died under mysterious circumstances. All red flags aside, Rosie is going through a breakup of her own and works at a bridal salon (brutal), wanting nothing other than a loving relationship of her own.

It’s everything you want in a thriller, but it’s mostly about heartbreak. A few women in this book change themselves to be lovable to men who don’t deserve it. I’ve never understood pretending to like something for someone else, especially a man. I know why people do it because it’s instinctual to want to be liked, but we don’t have to be shapeshifters. Trying new things is one thing but making someone else’s hobbies or life or job or fill-in-your-blank your whole personality is another. I’ll get off my soapbox now because I also know wanting companionship and keeping it even if the guy is the worst, but this is a thriller so the wanting expressed here is... homicidal, ha. Individuality is never a bad thing and is there anything worse than someone else trying to be you? Let’s just say someone has their eye on Rosie while she has her eye on red-flag author and they like what they see.

5/💓💓💓💓💓 It’s a very well-executed whodunit and I loved how the present affects the past and affects the future. It’s an interwoven mystery that would keep any reader’s attention, and it does keep you guessing until the very end. I would love to see this onscreen! The themes are so relatable and all my thriller girlies would love this one. The ending made me tear up! Just a reminder: you don’t have to be the “cool girl,” you already are! You are also never alone.

Cross my Heart comes out on January 14, 2025! Don’t miss it. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Atria Books for the e-arc!

I thoroughly believe @megancollinswriter wrote this book specifically for me. I loved everything about this book - I loved the Taylor Swift and Friends references! (I knew exactly what episodes she was talking about) I loved the story telling using emails, and text messages. I loved the YOU vibes it gave, and the twist!!! So good!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this read. This was good. I felt like it was quite detailed in places making it a slow burb but fast in others. It worked which I don’t find in a lot of books. This book gave me the creeps many times. I was sitting there with my eyes wide open many times. This was a fun read ( in parts) :).