This was my first Mia Sheridan book. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this one. I didn’t realize it was going to be an apocalyptic romance. I don’t think I’ve ever read one before. It took about 60% of the way in for me to start liking the story and feel invested enough to continue but once I got to that point, I really wanted to know how it would all come together. That being said, it was less about the romance for me and more just wanting to know how they’d survive.

I listened to this as an audiobook. It was dual narration which I hate. I did not like the male MMC’s voice. If you don’t mind dual narration, you’d be fine. I wished it had been duet style.

Overall, 3.5 stars rounded up for 4.

The beginning of this book was strong, I enjoyed the narrators voices (especially Tuck's). Childhood friends reunited after one gets out of jail and needs a job and the other is a pop star who coincidentally needs a bodyguard. Tuck was trying to assimilate himself back into society after prison, and Emily is chasing her dreams of being a singer.

As a dystopian survival novel I was hooked, the survival as they slowly hiked across the country to get back to California had me constantly turning the page. As well, as a romance I kept waiting for Tuck and Emily to discuss their relationship more as i wanted to see growth between. The romance felt very very slow burn and almost stood out as unnecessary in the world that was built. I also wasn't the biggest fan of Emily, her attitude and judgement of Tuck was hard to put up with as long as it continued. I did start to really enjoy them together as a couple the longer I listened.

I did enjoy what the author attempted to do here but unfortunately I just didn't enjoy the blend of the two, I wish I could have just read Tuck and Emily's story as a popstar + bodyguard romance (as I enjoyed that dynamic), or separately read a dystopian fiction novel about the power grid being completely knocked out. But the combo of the two just didn't really blend or work as well for me.

Mia Sheridan delivers yet another emotionally gripping and thought-provoking story, but this time, she ventures into dystopian territory—and does it with remarkable realism and heart. Heart of the Sun is unlike anything I’ve read before. The premise is terrifying in its plausibility, yet Sheridan grounds it in humanity and hope, making the journey feel both urgent and intimate.

Emily is a pop star, glamorous and adored, while Tuck is freshly out of prison, trying to rebuild his life. When Emily’s mother suggests hiring Tuck as her bodyguard to help him reintegrate, both are hesitant. Old wounds and lingering tension resurface—Emily, still caught in the emotional echoes of their youth, and Tuck, quietly ashamed yet determined to move forward.

Their dynamic shifts dramatically when the two—alongside Emily’s celebrity boyfriend—survive a plane crash. From there, the novel becomes a survival story, but more importantly, a story of rediscovery and redemption. As they navigate a world suddenly thrown into chaos, stripped of fame and status, Emily and Tuck are forced to confront who they truly are and what they mean to each other.

Tuck’s quiet strength and level-headed heroism shine, while Emily slowly unravels the emptiness of the life she thought she wanted. Their connection, forged in shared history and rekindled through hardship, is beautifully developed. Sheridan doesn’t rush their romance—it unfolds with tenderness, respect, and emotional authenticity.

Admittedly, the middle of the book dragged a bit as the survival encounters began to feel repetitive. Around the 70% mark, I was ready for the journey to progress toward resolution. Still, the emotional core of the story kept me invested, and Sheridan’s character work carried it through.

Though dystopian fiction isn’t usually my genre of choice, Heart of the Sun felt grounded and plausible enough that I didn’t have to suspend disbelief. The themes of resilience, forgiveness, and self-discovery resonated deeply, and the narration brought the characters vividly to life.

While it may not be Sheridan’s most unforgettable novel, Heart of the Sun is a powerful, hopeful story of two people finding their way back—to each other, and to themselves.

The narrators truly brought these characters to life. Their performances added depth and emotion, especially during tense and vulnerable moments. While the middle portion dragged a bit with repetitive survival scenarios, the emotional payoff and character growth made it worth the ride.

Not my usual genre, but Sheridan made it accessible, raw, and surprisingly hopeful. A solid, well-performed listen.

This audiobook was amazing to listen to! The narrators did such a good job and I was interested the whole time! I think the voices matched the characters perfectly and the narration went smooth. I was able to stay captivated the whole time and also imagine what was going on in the book.

This was an interesting one! I was really into the story and then it kind of dragged on for me towards the end. I thought it was a tad longer than it needed to be but I still enjoyed the overall redemption story as well as the second chance. Even more interesting to see it set in a kind of dystopian type world. So scary to actually think about!

Rating: 4.25⭐️ | Spice: 2🌶️ | Audio: 5🎙️
What to Expect:
Childhood Best Friends
Enemies to Lovers
Second Chance
Popstar x Bodyguard
Slowburn
High Stakes / Survival Romance
Dystopian

Thank you so much @canarystreetpress and @harlequinbooks for the free ALC & ARC!

“If I could go back, I’d find you in the dark”

Review Title & Vibes:   
What an absolutely wild ride! I’m notorious for going in completely blind on a book… definitely should have at least read the blurb!

On the outset - I thought this was a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers rockstar-bodyguard romance. I mean - it does kinda still have that theme, but it took a hard right turn into an extremely realistic dystopian/apocalypse storyline.

Tuck and Emily have such a complex history - neighbors in a family-owned orange grove in California. When tragedy happens, Tuck moves away and self-destructs. Years later Emily is at the top of the (proverbial) ladder living her best life as “Nova” a highly synthesized pop star version of the singer song writer she longs to be. She gives Tuck a second chance as her body guard.

But when the lights go out… the tables turn. No longer are societies elite at the top, but those with knowledge, experience, and muscle. Their fight to stay alive and make it home is brutal. Lots of beautiful human moments - sharing what you can, but also the reality that life threatening situations can turn society to its worst.

Audio Notes:
{dual} wonderful performance. I was captivated and dialed in the entire time. Some characters were meant to annoy (and succeeded to drive me insane) I would highly recommend!

Recommended to...  
All the high stakes romance readers who crave a tension filled slow burn.

Narrated by @andreonthemic @soundslikeannalee
Produced by @harlequinbooks

Heart of the Sun by Mia Sheridan is a beautifully written novel that had me completely hooked from the beginning. As always, Sheridan’s prose is immersive and emotionally resonant—she has a rare talent for drawing readers in with her characters and storytelling.

I want to be upfront that I went into this book blind, and while I was initially captivated, the story eventually shifted into a dystopian direction that just isn’t my personal preference. This isn’t a reflection on the writing—Sheridan’s skill shines throughout—it’s simply a matter of genre not aligning with my tastes.

That said, for readers who enjoy dystopian fiction with depth and heart, I absolutely recommend this book. Mia Sheridan brings a unique voice to every story she tells, and Heart of the Sun is no exception. While it wasn’t quite right for me, I still rated it highly because of the quality of the writing and my continued appreciation for this author’s work.

Fans of Sheridan and dystopian tales alike will likely find much to love here.

Im not a huge Mia Sheridan fan, but I loved this. I’ve read many of her books, and this is easily in my top three.

I loved the characters and the tension and connection was just there. It all made sense and nothing felt forced.

1.5 Stars

This one follows Emily and Tuck. They were childhood friends many years ago until Tuck's life took an entirely different path than Emily's. Now, Tuck is fresh out of prison and searching for a reliable source of income. In talking with Emily's parents, Tuck is hopeful to get a job working for her as a bodyguard. Emily has risen to fame as the popstar, Nova. Nova dates a well known movie star, Charlie. Nova is gearing up to hit the road for a tour and needs extra security. Emily begrudgingly offers Tuck the position even though she can tell he's out of his comfort zone, but she finds it in her heart to help an old friend out. Once they take off on a flight from California to New York, things will never be the same again.

On this flight, Emily, Tuck, and Charlie start to notice a strange image outside the planes windows. It looks like there are fires everywhere on the ground. Just as they see this terrifying imagery, they start to get bad turbulence that ends in a crash landing. The three survive, but find themselves stepping out into a world unlike any they've known before. It seems that a solar flare has taken out the electrical power grid. Nothing works and there stuck trying to walk or hitchhike back to California to their families. They cling to one another in this odd time when Tuck takes the lead of the group and works on getting them back to safety.

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This one was an utter flop for me. It was marketed as a new adult dystopian romance and doesn't do either of those themes very well. At the beginning, we got a small glimpse of life when Tuck and Emily were kids and their friendship dynamic before we time jump to Tuck getting out of prison. It felt like the childhood scene was far too quick to really feel the connection between the pair and how they care for one another. Presently, I was starting to get invested in the messy dynamic of Tuck getting integrated back into Emily's life with the addition of her boyfriend Charlie. I was instantly wanting to know what had happened to Tuck and why he was in prison, which we eventually learn but not until far later in the book.

Once the airplane crashes, this really starts to lose steam. It becomes a repetitive narration of how they are walking, hitchhiking, and foraging to stay alive while trying to get back to California. The amount of dialogue about them being miserable and hungry in this apocalyptic scenario was mind-numbingly boring. The romance aspect of the book has been completely forgotten about at this point. It was too bogged down by the environmental aspects and the fact that Emily still had a shitty boyfriend.

Emily didn't even come to the realization that she didn't like Charlie anymore until 52% through the book. It wasn't until 60% that they actually called it quits. Things continue drudging along until Emily and Tuck start having inner monologue about how much they want the other one, and yet they never have any open communication with each other about it. Not until their "tension" just bursts and they must have one another right then and there. And to be quite frank, the sex scene gave me the ick. It just felt unnecessary and forced. I didn't feel any connection between the two characters and it felt more like an adrenaline/trauma fuck. Then there was the conflict of those two splitting up to go different ways and then trying to make it back to one another once they both figure out separately that they love one another. *eye roll* I just truly did not care about them, nor did I feel like they belonged together. Why I insisted on finishing this? I have no idea. It felt like there were so many good possible plot points that could've been developed into something better, but they became too jumbled and lost where it was going.

*Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for my honest review.*

One of my favorite reads of 2025! 🌞

Heart of the Sun is a love story wrapped in dystopian adventure. The tension, sparks, and smoldering between Tuck and Emily were next level. With the end of the world (as they knew it) looming, it was an emotional rollercoaster ride.

Mia Sheridon’s eloquent storytelling is highlighted with the dystopian event, memorable side characters, and character growth. At times there was a bit too much internal dialogue, but it was easy to overlook when the yearning was SO WELL DONE. 😮‍💨

The narrators were wonderful. Their inflection and emotion added to the drama and fueled the fire of an already dramatic book.

🔥Tropes You’re Going To Get:🔥
Slow Burn
Second Chances
Enemies to Lovers
Childhood Best Friends/Friends to Lovers
Pop star/Bodyguard (kinda)
Bad Boy/Good Girl (…maybe a stretch)
Dystopian

Thank you @netgalley and @harlequinbooks for the audiobook!

I didn’t finish this book… and believe me, I tried.

I gave both the ebook and the audiobook a fair shot, but I just couldn’t get into it. Where was the romance?!

I know it’s supposed to be a slow burn—but there was no burn. Not even a little smoke. I was 60% in and still waiting for something—anything—to happen. And unfortunately, the rest of the plot wasn’t compelling enough to keep me going.

4.25 ⭐️

Tuck and Emily grew up together on a small farm in southern California, but their lives took them in opposite directions. Emily became a rising pop star and Tuck became a felon. When Tuck gets released from prison and is in desperate need of a job, Emily reluctantly hires her estranged childhood friend as her body guard. However, the playing field levels out when a solar flare hits Earth, knocking out the entire power grid. Tuck and Emily are forced to work together and reconcile their differences in a new changing world where humanity is on the brink of collapse.

Mia is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. While this didn't compare to Archer's Voice or Unwanted, I was still addicted to the pages. Emily really annoyed me for the first half of the book, but she's supposed to. We see so much character growth from her. Tuck is selfless and was the sole reason they survived. This is told as a second chance romance, though we barely got a glimpse into their past. I wish their "young love" was more fleshed out so that them coming together as adults made more sense (other than there being no one else amidst an apocalypse). This read more as a dystopian novel with a splash of romance, since that wasn't the main focus. If you know that going in, I think this book is powerful and addictive.

I switched reading this between the audio and ebook because I seriously couldn't stop reading (typical Mia Sheridan for me). The narrators were perfection 10/10.

oooo this book was so good! The world needs more dystopic scifi romances. The romance just hits so hard when the world is ending and people can come together in the end!

In the beginning I'll admit that I didn't care for Emily, but I really loved Tuck. I appreciate how we had so much of Tuck's point of view. But by the end I liked Emily a lot more and I think she really grew throughout the story.

The audiobook was super well done. I thought the narrators portrayed the characters very well.

There’s just something about the way that Mia Sheridan writes romance that makes me feel like I am falling in love with these characters myself. From each character being so thoroughly written to the way the romance and the plot flow so seamlessly, you cannot help but love every aspect of this book. While there are slower moments that do feel choppy occasionally, the rest of the writing making you feel as though you are in the story makes up for it. I was honestly so sad to see this book end, but it is one that made me fall in love with Mia Sheridan all over again.

Thanks to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the advance listener copy. Loved the story and the narrators! I loved the end of civilization as we know it setting and the journey home through an ever changing and dangerous landscape. The character growth on Emily and Tuck's part was great to see but I feel that they didn't act on that growth until a bit late in the book. The story was fast paced and I was really invested in them reaching their destination. I loved all the interactions with the people they met along the way. The love story was great and I really wanted them to forgive each other and get together and the author made us wait until almost the 80% mark for that payoff. I really liked that Emily and Tuck were childhood friends and each other's first crush. I didn't like the fact that it took so long to find out what happened to separate them six years age and what we did learn felt a bit vague. I think that their journey home was really detailed and well paced but I felt that the ending was rushed and not as well developed.

I went into Heart of the Sun with a lot of hope but ultimately it was a miss for me. A book that struggled to find it's own identity it wasn't really a romance and it also wasn't really straight dystopian. While I was initially hooked in the beginning, even through the first couple days post-crash, it would become a revolving door of get to new place, find supplies, get into trouble, escape trouble, get to a new place, find supplies, get into trouble and so forth. There wasn't much built up tension or sense of adventure once I realized it was going to be the same circular plot just with a different setting.

Another issue I had with the book was it's inaccuracies during the Amish buggy incident. As a form Missourian, by way of the Army, the Amish absolutely live in Missouri and the fact that Sheridan chose to use this as a plot point took me fully out of the story. Like full stop, what? My favorite booth at our weekly farmers market was the Amish family and I was even invited to shop in their village during the off season. Also, while I understand geography can be difficult for some to grasp Google is always an option. In the book it stated the horse and buggy traveled from Indiana to Missouri in four days. That's impossible. Even in the perfect of conditions the most a horse can safely travel in a day is 25 miles (without a buggy attached). That means, in optimal conditions, at most they went 100 miles. Indiana to Missouri is closer to 400 miles. We also know they stopped at points because of the alluded SA, the roads were packed with disabled cars, and with minimal supplies for the horse it would not have traveled at top speed the entire time. While it may seem nitpicky, this type of detail pulled me right out of the novel because it just wasn't realistic.

The ending didn't bring me the ah-ha that I expected it to have, but I think that is because I was pretty over it by the end. After reading a few reviews I realized the authors note said this wasn't Sheridan's unique idea and once I learned that, I understood why it was so disjointed.

Thank you HTP Hive for the gifted ALC.

Heart of the Sun is a dystopian romance that was unique and kept me intrigued. It had a bit of a slow start, but once it picked up, I couldn’t put it down

Alright now while I did enjoy the audiobook and listening to it on my drives to work, I overall just was not a fan of the book, story, or characters. This had all of the potential and I picked it because it was giving me “The Fifth Wave” vibes which was a movie I really enjoyed when I was younger and so disappointed when it wasn’t continued. This one was a let down for me… the pacing was off and honestly a little bit all over the place and it really struggled to hold my attention. The entire time all I could think about was picking up another book. The romance? I just didn’t feel it and the chemistry was lacking. While I have only read one other Mia Sheridan book “Archer’s Voice” (and absolutely loved it!!!) this one was just a let down for me personally. I ended up DNF’ing the book because I just could not get myself to pick it up and get through it :(

Heart of the sun was a unique twist on adventure and romance. This was outside my typical genre but the audiobook narrators made the story enjoyable. The story could have done without the odd celebrity boyfriend element adding conflict.

Overall worth the listen. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ALC.

🎧 Title: Heart of the Sun-a standalone

✍🏾 Author: Mia Sheridan-an auto-buy author for me

📅Publication date: 5/20/25 | Read 5/19/25

🗣️Narrator: Andre Santana and Annalee Scott voice all the characters with standouts from Emily and Tuck. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrators worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrators paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along.

🏃🏾‍♀️‍➡️Run Time: 14:30

Genre:
*Dystopia
*Contemporary Romance
*New Adult

Tropes:
*friends to enemies to lovers
*2nd chance romance
*slow burn
*forced proximity
*childhood BFFs

👆🏾POV: 1st person dual

⚠️TW: plane crash, death, drug use, incarceration, parental death/estrangement

🌎 Setting: CA

Summary: Two childhood friends Emily and Tuck live on an orange grove farm kiss at fourteen and later go their separate ways. Over a decade later, Emily is a famous singer while Tuck has just got of prison. Emily's mother sees Tuck and his need for a job, so she calls Emily. Tuck is hired as her bodyguard, but things go south when their private plane crashes as a solar flare takes out the electricity grid.

👩🏾 Heroine: Emily "Nova" Swanson-a pop star about to start her 1st headlining tour

👨🏾 Hero: Tuck Mattice -ex-con, spent 6 yrs. in prison, hired to be a bodyguard

🎭 Other Characters:

* Charlie-an actor, Emily's boyfriend
*Emily's parents-Phil and Jenna Swanson
*Tuck's parents-mother Mariana deceased, father remarried w/ another child
*Josea-an ex-con Tuck knows-I just loved his character

🤔 My Thoughts: This was a what would you do kind of story for me. If the world as we've known it ended, how do you survive? Tuck was the answer for Emily having spent time in prison but still has a moral compass. Emily's fame meant nothing, so she had to depend on Tuck to keep her safe.

Rating: 5/5 ✨
Spice level 4/5 🌶️

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Audio, and Mia Sheridan for this ALC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.