I recieved this audiobook in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley. I have read many books over the years by Mia Sheridan. This is the first book I have ever given under 4 stars. I loved the beginning of the book and up until the plane crashes. I thought everything was written great until that point. Where it fell short for me was the ending. I felt like throughout the book I had no clue where it was going. The ending felt very rushed and It felt underwhelming. I really liked Tuck and Emily's characters. I love that they had a past relationship and how they got a second chance at love. I love how Tuck shared how he ended up in prison and his past experience in jail. Overall I think it could have been better, but I did however enjoy it. I am so used to Mia Sheridan's other books blowing me away and was expecting to feel that way with this one, but was extremely disappointed.

Childhood friends to enemies to lovers… with a world-ending twist!
I love Mia Sheridan’s books, they always bring so much emotion. This one is a mix of romance, survival, and second chances, a story about finding light even when the world goes dark.

I give Mia Sheridan all her flowers when it comes to writing compelling stories with unique and interesting twists. Definitley a must read!

ALC Review

I think the book would've benefited from being marketed as a during-apocalypse/dystopian (idk the actual verbage here) with a side plot of romance rather than the other way around.

I don't think I can cohesively say how I feel about this book so this review may seem kind of disjointed.

Let's start with the romance; this is supposed to be one. I think the FMC's boyfriend (later ex) is around and too relevant in this book. I'm not joking he is here for probably the whole first 65% of the book, he is practically a main character, he is in almost all the scenes in the present time. Also because he's here, the FMC literally starts to fall in love with the MMC, while still dating her ex. Overall, very rushed romance, took a backseat major of the book because it's mostly about them trying to survive rather than actually having time to fall in love. There is a lack of chemistry; they had some in the flashbacks when they were kids I guess but like as adults no in the slightest. If anything, they're probably trauma-bonded.

Like I said above, MAJORITY of this book is spent trying to survive and get to safety. MMC kinda has to deal with FMC and her boyfriend because he's a good person and can't let them just die, but omg they are so entitled to him, like obviously he is her bodyguard, but the world practically ended I don't think you being his employer holds any kind of value at the moment.

I actually did not like the set-up of this book either, like we get the prolongue of the solar flare thing taking place and then where shot back into the past a few weeks/months and have to go through so many tendious irrevlant scenes to get to the part of the dytopian event to take place (I think this happened around 25-30% but it should've been way earlier at the 10-15% where the inciting indicident is suppose to take place). I honestly did not care much for the flashback scenes, like they added some context, but it wasn't critical. The book just had a lot of unnecessary scenes that made it longer, like those words could've been allocated to more important things.

I did actually grow to like the surviving part of this book, I honestly think it was interesting how they had to learn to navigate in this new and ungoverned world, which is why I would give it a 2.5 stars and now just 1. But I probably would have dnf'ed it if I hadn't received an ARC. I was at work listening to this, so only giving it my divided attention. A lot of my annoyance was about the lack of romance since that is what I was promised (yk since its a romance book), also I HATE when either main character has an SO that isn't an ex within the first 5-10% of the book and this guy stuck around for at least 60%.

As for the narrators, I think they did a pretty good job, Annalee Scott did an great job as the FMC and André Santana’s acting was pretty good, but I do think he didn't the character very much, but overall did a great job.

Thank you Harlequin Audio & Netgalley for the ALC of this book!

This was my first Mia book and I am not sure how to feel about it. This story unfortunately did not hold my attention and I was actually kind of bored reading & listening to the audiobook. I ended up DNF’ing it only a couple chapters in.

The narrators were okay. The voices could have been better, especially the male narrator's female voice.

Others may really enjoy this book but it unfortunately was not for me.

Thank you so much, NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press and The Hive for the gifted copy!

I will admit that I 100 percent did not read the blurb for this and saw the cover and was like oh this is going to be so cute. I do not associate the pink pretty sparkles with dystopian romance. So I was not expecting that.

It starts off with an introduction of the fmc and the mmc and we learn that they were childhood frenemies? Like they obviously liked each other but they argued. Emily is now a rising pop sensation and she is in need of security so her mother convinces her to hire Tuck. He just got out of prison--for what...she doesn't know..but you do learn eventually and boy does it boil your blood. Emily is in a relationship with an actor who isn't as he seems--but Tuck does.

Emily, her boyfriend --some actor guy that I don't even remember his name because he was so whiney, so useless, he is literally the most irrelevant character I have ever read that his name wasn't worth remembering-. and Tuck are flying to--honestly I don't remember that either because it wasn't really important either. They experience some trouble and their plane crashes, the pilot doesn't make it and the three go off in search of help. Their phones aren't working and there doesn't seem to be anyone or anything nearby. When they finally encounter people things are not good. It's like the whole world has gone insane. People are do unfathomable things for food and water. Bodies litter the streets and inside cars--everything is..dark.

I enjoyed this book enough to have my eyes glued to the 460 pages of length this book was. Honestly I enjoyed the narration but about halfway I turned it off to read with my eyes. No matter the speed adjustment I couldn't get it right to read at the speed I wanted to because I needed to know the information asap.

One thing that I did and I think it helped me genuinely enjoy the book was not think too hard on the timeline and how quickly everyone began freaking out. Which was pretty much immediately, if I had thought too hard I would have been rolling my eyes. Most of the chaotic things take place within the first couple of days. As someone whose been in a few natural disasters where communication was cut off, I find that most natural response to these scenarios is working together not trying to murder everyone. So I really had to ignore that part of my brain and remind myself this is not realistic. This is basically the purge/walking dead had a baby. Except there was zero announcement of anything that happened, things just broke. You learn quickly a lot of the small towns work together as best they can and use an honor system where big cities are dangerous because gangs took over. Living in a big city myself I really had to ignore this bit because a majority of the people are nice and we look out for each other. I'm giving this 4.5 stars despite the unrealistic nature and believability of it because I had a good time. I had a good enough time to consume this whole book in one day.

I really enjoyed the dystopian vibes. The character development throughout this book was to die for. I loved how the fmc and mmc love blossomed through you the book. I also really enjoyed how raw characters were and how Mia Sheridan showcased how people can act when times are tough.

This book was probably one of my favorites so far this year. I personally love speculative thrillers and combining that with a romance is perfection to me. I actually went into this one blind thinking it was just another romance. But I was pleasantly surprised by the turn of events when Tuck and Emily’s plane crashed during a solar flare. Once they realize what happened, they fight their way back home over thousands of miles, all while rekindling an old flame. This book gave me all the feels, knowing that the stakes were so high and rooting for them the whole time. This is for sure one that I will be recommending! I listened to this as an audio and loved the performance by the two narrators. I could feel the emotion in their performance as if they were in the characters shoes the whole time. 100% recommend the audio!

The biggest thank you to Harlequin Audio, NetGalley, and Mia Sheridan for providing me with the gifted audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

DNF at 20%

Try as I might, I could not connect to either of the main characters. I didn't find myself needing to know what happened to them. Maybe it was the ex-con/pop superstar dynamic? Maybe I needed to know more about how they moved from their childhoods to adult lives in order to maintain that connection? I usually like character-driven romance epics, but for some reason, this one was a miss for me.

Heart of the Sun is a second-chance dystopian romance that follows childhood best friends—Tuck, an ex-con, and Emily, a world-famous pop star—whose lives have taken wildly divergent paths.

This novel explores themes of trust and survival at the end of the world. We are swept into an unpredictable journey filled with chaos, danger, romance and mounting tensions.

The story masterfully depicts both the brutality and beauty of humanity in times of crisis. For fans of dystopian romance, this is a must-read.

🎧🎧🎧🎧
The audiobook, narrated by Andre Santana and Annalee Scott, was a revelation. Though new voices to me, both delivered exceptional performances that captured the emotional depth of the characters. Their narration added layers of vulnerability and strength, pulling listeners deeper into the story. It was a pleasure listening to them narrate this novel.

Unfortunately I did not get to listen to this audiobook before it was archived but I did listen with my Everand app so will include my review here and also, thank you for the opportunity.

I found this to be beautifully written and emotional. Instantly was intrigued when I read the synopsis and it stated orange groves of California because I am a California valley girl. This story wasn't just about a romance, and as much as I enjoyed the pop star x bodyguard dynamic of childhood friends getting a second chance. it was also raw, real and vulnerable. It delivers the message that even the most wounded hearts can still bloom and the narrators did an amazing job at capturing all the emotions and really making us feel it.

Well....I liked the narrators for this book, but I ended up DNFing it when Emily talked badly about Tuck. I know that it would change later on in the book, but her outlook on the loss of everything he knew.....I was just angry.

So, just know it was a me thing. You should give it a chance because the idea behind the story sounds really good. I love a good dystopian and romance anything, but I gave up before it reached that point. You continue though and let me know if I should try again.

I enjoyed this book and the audiobook narrators were absolutely perfect. The dystopian/apocalyptic aspect was different from other books I’ve read by Mia, but it definitely kept me on my toes. I went in not knowing what to expect, my favorite way of reading, and was pleasantly surprised!

Emily and Tuck are childhood friends that grew estranged when Tuck moved away and then ended up in prison. Now she’s a hot shot pop star with a movie star boyfriend and she reluctantly agrees to him being her new bodyguard. On a flight to an event, their plane crashes and suddenly the whole world goes dark. As they navigate their way back to California, the tension and old feelings come to surface when they’re forced to travel miles upon miles and stay close together to avoid the new dangers lurking around.

I was really hoping to see the devolving of Emily and Charlie’s relationship sooner as anyone with eyes could’ve seen from miles away that they were terrible for each other and the tension between her and Tuck was undeniable. The character development also occurs later in the story and I wish we got to see a bit more of those changes earlier on with as high stakes as the plot was. But regardless, the book was gripping and when Charlie finally dipped out, that’s when everything turns and starts to get really good!

Lastly, I enjoyed the survival aspect and the sense of adventure that comes with this type of story. It made it more interesting to watch how the characters responded, but also to put it in the back of my head to think of how I would have reacted in a situation similar.

If you’re looking for a sweet romance like many of Mia’s other books, you won’t find it here, but instead you’ll find a high-stakes, dystopian, adventure-filled novel with a slowburn childhood friends to lovers subplot!!

I ended up loving this unique dystopian romance way more than I expected. It starts off like a classic second-chance story—a painfully awkward reunion between childhood friends—then quickly shifts into an edge-of-your-seat survival tale you can’t possibly imagine living through. The storyline had me hooked the entire time, blending heart-pounding moments with a deep, thoughtful look at love, resilience, and connection.

The chemistry between the characters felt real, and I appreciated how much this story made me think about the “what if” scenario it presents. Mia Sheridan crafted a romance that’s both emotional and thrilling, and the narration by André Santana and Annalee Scott brought it all to life. A standout listen for fans of romance with a twist.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I loved how unique the plot was. It’s totally unlike anything I’ve ever read! Mia Sheridan is so good at writing situations that pull you in and get immediately hooked! This made me want to become a pepper for when the world crashes haha

I love a good dystopian novel. I actually liked that the romance was not the main plot, even though the author does romance well. It was developed well.
The narration worked. for this book.

Thank you Mia Sheridan for the arc copy of Heart of the Sun.

I truly love Mia Sheridan books but man was this one a little outlandish for me. This book felt like if you mixed Lost with a post apocalyptic world. Although that sounds like a great plot I felt as if there was almost no conflict. The two main characters have to be the luckiest people in the world especially in an apocalyptic world to run into so many people they know who have exactly what they need in that moment.

I usually enjoy that I can place myself within Sheridans romance books but this one had me constantly saying “yeah okay absolutely no way would that happen”.

Two stars because I still liked the story all around just have higher expectations at this point.

I am a Mia Sheridan fan- I absolutely loved Archer’s Voice. However, I made it 47% through this story before I ultimately didn’t finish it. It was interesting but it was dragging on and on. It gave me walking dead vibes but it just didn’t keep my attention.

I enjoyed this book even more than I thought I would. It brought all of the feels. I liked that it combined the post apocalyptic, walking dead survival type of story, as we saw our main characters come together to survive, and have feelings for one another. The tension between Tuck and Emily was brought together perfectly.

Mia you've done it again. There isn't a book that you have wrote that I haven't fallen in love with while reading. This is one of those that I could read over and over again without getting bored with the book. Everything was there for me. Thank you for allowing me to read.