I really enjoyed Rosie's story and the premise to CROSS MY HEART.

Rosie gets in touch with the widower of the woman whose donated heart is now keeping Rosie alive. And from there the plot thickens....

The widower is an author and I enjoyed the various books-within-this-book viewpoint.

I thought the story was a bit slow for the first quarter of the book, but then it became fast-paced with a few twists and turns.

I love a good unreliable narrator and Rosie certainly fit the bill.

Most of the twists were surprising, but there were a couple I figured out.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an e-copy of CROSS MY HEART to review.

I rate CROSS MY HEART four out of five stars.

Cross My Heart is a pulse-pounding thriller! I barely glanced through the synopsis before reading and it was so fun to just be along for the ride as the story moved through the chapters. I never knew where it was going next! This is a bookish thriller featuring an author and I loved that extra bit of literary twist. Readers of Shari Lapena will love this1

3.5 stars!
I really enjoyed this book! While it started off a little weird and I was not exactly sure where it was going, I ended up hooked and reading it fairly quickly. There was one twist I did not see coming. For me, the ending was not super shocking but I already had my suspicions about who had done it. Overall, a very good thriller that kept me interested. This is my first Megan Collins book and I look forward to reading more form her!





Thank you Atria books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Well this was a wild ride.
Book opens to emails sent back and forth through Donerconnect. Probably not the best place to fall in love, but Rosie does it anyway.
I feel like I could spoil the twists so easily with a thorough review, so I’ll just say this…
In a reading slump? Read this.
Need a fast paced thriller? Read this.
Want something just a little different? Read this.
Loved it. Thank you netgalley for the ARC!

Definitely a fast moving suspense story. Loved the idea of the heart donor and meeting the family of the donor. And there were plots within the plot . I loved the twists and turns really kept me guessing. My first by Megan Collins definitely not my last. I questioned every character and loved that fact that the story kept me guessing. Rosie was a character but can she be trusted?

The vibes in this one were giving me the heebies. Our main character is dealing with a lot rn including a heart transplant and while she's not completely healthy physically she's also not completely mentally healthy. She's obsessed with the man who was married to her heart donor for one. Actually I'm not going to say more than that because spoilers but if you want a cat and mouse story where everyone and their mothers are a suspect or at least shady af then try this out.

I liked the plot, I hated all the characters and enjoyed the writing style.

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy!

I thought this one had a slower start but it ramped up for me and turned into a book I had to keep reading to find out how it was going to end. I've read other books from the author and she doesn't disappoint.

I was so intrigued by the premise of this and I have enjoyed other books by this author, but this wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t really care for our MC or her friends, and the chapters were a little longer than I usually like. The ending kind of went off the rails a little bit, not necessarily in a bad way if you like crazy twisty endings.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Wow this book ! If you love absolutely unhinged reads this is definitely for you!! I LOVED the format of this book. It is split between Rosie’s present day POV, email exchanges between her and the donors husband, excerpts from a thriller authors book, excerpts of poetry and a journal style emails sent from the author to his friend. The different formats flow so well together weaving an overall picture of the story as it plays out in real time.

There are some big twists which come as a SHOCK but there’s nothing that excites me more than a complete 180 in a book plot where I’m left racing to figure out just exactly what is happening before the author reveals it to you.

Overall I LOVED this book, it’s the kind of book you fight between savouring and taking your time with or racing through all the pages because you’re desperate to see how it ends.

This book takes you on a wild ride and I loved every second!! I love Rosie’s character because she makes you feel like it’s okay to be a little crazy sometimes!

Title: Cross My Heart
By: Megan Collins
Pub. Date: January 14, 2024

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Thriller,

Red Flags:
Domestic Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Murder, Mental Illness, Toxic Relationship, Stalking
*A few pages of sexual content throughout the novel. Begins in Chapter 9.*

Summary/Review:
A heart transplant offers love in a whole new way. Rosie, is the recent recipient of a heart transplant and thanks to donor connect she can reach out and thank the donor’s husband. Morgan is grateful to connect with Rosie online, and appreciates their connection. However, soon the connection becomes more than he bargained for, a novel with unexpected suspense.

I felt this novel was okay, the twists and turns were predictable for me, except for one. The most important twist felt out of place. The writing leading up to and after didn’t work for me, and left me wondering what was going on with the plotline. Some readers may enjoy this type of read, however, it didn’t work for me. I did like the main characters, and the overall premise for the novel. For this reason, I am giving it three stars.

Thank you to Megan Collins, Atria Books, and NetGalley for the Advanced Readers Copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#AtriaBooks
#reluctantreaderreads
#advancedreadercopies
#NetGalley

This is a gripping, fast-paced, addictive thriller you must read!!

I was hooked from the very first page! Megan Collins’ use of emails within the text add so much to the story. We get a second POV without having a second narrator.

This story is actually so unhinged and everybody in the book is a bit delulu but we absolutely love it. These characters add so much to the story.

The twists were twistin. I gasped about 100 times while reading this. Every moment, character and detail in this book are relevant and draw you in. I was unable to put this book down.

I really enjoyed Cross Your Heart. It’s a juicy, crazy tale and I thought that the plot was clever. Rosie is a heart transplant recipient who begins to correspond with the husband of her donor, a famous mystery writer. In a twisty tale, she begins to question whether what happened to his wife was an accident. The plot has several layers but it’s better to go in with less info! I enjoy reading a thriller that doesn’t follow the same cookie cutter storyline and I thought that the pacing and length were perfect. There’s also some mixed media elements in the writing that I really liked.

If you’re looking for an easy read that keeps your attention, this is for you! Thank you to Atria Books and Megan Collins for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!

What an excellent thriller! I was drawn in immediately, and I was sorry to see the story end. It was my first exposure to the author and now she joins my to be read list.

Rosie has undergone a heart transplant, and the one she received belonged to the wife of Morgan Thorne, a popular author. So when she has the opportunity to connect with him via Donor Connect, an anonymous messaging platform, she starts sending messages and he responds. She becomes convinced that they have the potential for the real thing.

Rosie has a history of a sort of relationship obsession and her best friend Nina, and also Rosie’s parents, are concerned that it could happen again. The writer does an absolutely masterful job of weaving messages in and out of the narrative, and for quite awhile I wasn’t sure about which ones were real. This was artfully done and served to enhance the suspense.

The mysteries keep on coming at first, and I could hardly wait to get back to the book each time. There are multiple twists! The ending was a little weak after such a strong beginning, but I still heartily recommend the story.

I’m giving this one 4.5 stars, rounded up!

Thank you Altria Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC of the book.

Romantic Rosie just recently received a heart transplant and decides to connect to her donor’s husband through anonymous service. The more they communicate the more Rosie is convinced that the widower is a famous local author and his wife’s death might not be an accident.

What a journey this book was for me. I loved how it made me to second guess all characters motives and their personalities. Is Rosie really that naive or is she crazy stalker? Did Morgan kill his wife or something else happened there? First part of the book was a little slow for me but with one twist I had to go back in the book and reread couple of chapters because the situation shifted.

This was such a fun and twisty thriller!! Definitely recommend for someone that’s a fan of cat and mouse chases and a slightly unreliable narrator!! I had a feeling about the killer and I love being right, but I’m more so love how we got there!! if you’re in the mood for a quick thriller, that’ll keep you guessing this is a good one

✨ BOOK REVIEW ✨

Cross My Heart by Megan Collins had an intriguing premise, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The story follows Rosie, who gets a heart transplant and becomes convinced she’s meant to be with her donor's widowed husband, Morgan. It’s an interesting idea, and the whole concept of connecting with him through an anonymous service, DonorConnect, added a unique twist.

However, I found it hard to fully buy into Rosie’s obsession with Morgan. The idea that she’s “meant” to be with him just because she has his wife’s heart felt a bit far-fetched. While Rosie’s journey was compelling at times, I didn’t always understand her motivations, and some of the suspense around Morgan’s past felt predictable.

The pacing was a bit slow, especially when Rosie and Morgan’s online conversations seemed to drag on. I also found that the characters, especially Morgan, weren’t as developed as I would have liked. I wanted to understand him more, but he never really felt like a fully realized person. The twists didn’t quite pack the punch I was hoping for, and the story didn’t have the depth I expected.

While I liked the premise, Cross My Heart didn’t deliver the emotional or psychological thrill I was looking for. It was a decent read, but I wasn’t blown away. I’d give it 3 out of 5 stars—interesting enough to keep me reading, but ultimately a little disappointing.

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

This is an unhinged story about a woman who is saved through a heart transplant and then becomes obsessed with the widower of the dead woman who gave her this heart. It's wildly entertaining, and I enjoyed flying through this story.

Rosie-colored glasses. Stalkers? Hearts. So good at sending you down one path only to pull the carpet out from under you and send you down a completely different one! I enjoyed the turns, the discovering, the details until the last second. Chapter lengths were perfect. The flow was smooth. The main character was a bit annoying but in the best way - in a way that the story needed. The supporting characters, a beautiful complement. Do I recommend this, yes, I do! Let the mystery unfold!

I loved the premise of the book. A husband dates the woman who has his wife’s heart from a heart transplant. The middle of the book twist was top notch! This is definitely a great book to binge read.

Cross My Heart is an addictive and twisty thriller. This book had me hooked right from the start, the story is gripping, interesting and you just need to know. What stalled me a little was the lengthy chapters, the fact that the book had so much added useless fluff to it which brought the pace of it way down. The story also did become confusing at one point, where I was feeling I was missing parts or not fully comprehending (probably a me problem).

All the characters in this novel are highly unlikable, I didn't like any of them. I couldn't trust any of them. I kept constantly going back and forth. Rosie the FMC is a little too childish and immature for my liking, preventing me from truly caring wjd empathizing with her. The plot ended up being a bit jumbled in the end for me and it just didn't work, the ending left me underwhelmed.

Overall, it was an okay read. Didn't shock me or surprise me, but addicting nonetheless.

🎧 The narration by Gail Shalan& Chris Andrew Ciulla was okay. It wasn't my favorite. Chris was definitely better but he only appeared in a portion of the book. Gail felt a little awkward and the way she voiced men just didn't do it for me. It didn't wow me as a performance.

✨️Thank you to @netgalley, @atriabooks & Megan Collins for my gifted ARC & ALC in exchange for an honest review.