4.5 stars rounded up
I really enjoyed this audio a lot! Mia Sheridan’s stories are intense and emotional. There was always something big happening in this book. Lots to keep me on my toes.

The dystopian aspect kept my mind intrigued the entire time. Mia starts the book with a boom and I was hooked. Tuck and Emily’s story is a classic second chance romance…while the world is falling apart around them. I fell hard for Tuck and how amazing of a man he was.

The dual narration by André Santana and Annalee Scott was top notch!

Thank you NetGalley!

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁:

So I went into this one blind and wow 😱 that took a wild turn! I’m not usually a fan of post catastrophic societies but this one was done so well, it showed both the dark and good side of society. What an amazing book full of character growth, resilience, compassion, love and humanity. I binged this book and I want it made into a movie!

𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬:

Tuck and Emily grew up in California on neighboring orange farms, and their moms were best friends. But in hs Tucks mom developed cancer and his world started to fall apart. Shortly after her death his dad sold the farm and it began his spiral. He went to live with his uncle and ended up serving 6 years behind bars.

Now he’s out and he’s realizing there is no place in society for a felon, no one will hire him. So he returns to Emily’s parent’s farm in hopes they will show him some kindness and give him a job. But they are struggling and can’t help him, however they had Emily hook him up with a bodyguard job.

Emily always loved to sing from a young age and she was preparing to go on her first tour as the superstar Nova. They are headed to the east coast when their plane falls from the sky. Emily, her boyfriend and Tuck miraculously survive.

Unsure of what happened they start their journey home. But the world is no longer the same and they will soon learn they will need to fight to survive on the path from IL back to CA.

𝙁𝙖𝙫 𝙌𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚:

Tuck: “I promised you I’d keep you safe, didn’t I?”

Emily: “Yeah, but even you can’t protect me from everything.”

Tuck: “Watch me.”

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒅:

* Second Chance - Childhood Neighbors
* Pop Star x BodyGaurd
* Then & Now Timelines
* Six Years in Prison - Involuntary Manslaughter
* Solar Flares - Plane Crash in IL💥
* Post Disaster Survival - Grid Collapse
* Finding Way Home Through Obstacles
* Home “Citrus Row” in California
* Dual POV - Slow Burn w/ Mild Spice

☀️⚡️✈️💥 ☀️⚡️✈️💥 ☀️⚡️✈️💥⚡️☀️

Wow, I LOVE this book but this audio truly helped to put you into the setting. The narrators did an AMAZING job, the inflection in their voice and way they read the story just added so much meaning to the story.

Overall, loved the narrators and the style, but unfortunately the book just wasn't for me. Having switched between the ebook and audiobook, I definitely preferred the audiobook for this one.

Unfortunately, this ended up being a DNF for me at about halfway.

A huge thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing & Canary Street Press for the ALC.

Heart of the Sun is definitely one of Mia Sheridan’s most unique offerings—a second-chance romance set against a gritty, dystopian backdrop that’s both bold and unexpected. The blend of popstar glamour, bodyguard tension, and survival stakes makes for an intriguing setup, and the audiobook narrators did a fantastic job bringing these complex characters to life with the material they were given.

Tuck and Emily’s dynamic starts off with the kind of banter and emotional baggage fans of childhood-friends-to-enemies-to-lovers tropes love. The slow-burn tension is there, and their shared past adds weight to their reconnection. But while the bones of a strong romance are present, the chemistry didn’t quite land for me in the way I hoped. Their emotional beats felt more told than shown, and I wanted deeper, more visceral moments between them—especially in such a high-stakes setting.

The dystopian element, while creative, felt like it clashed with the tone at times. The world-building lacked grounding detail, and the shift from romance to survival felt a bit disjointed, making it harder to fully buy into either storyline. That said, I appreciated the risk Sheridan took in blending genres—it’s not something you often see in this space.

Overall, Heart of the Sun is an ambitious, genre-bending romance that will likely appeal to readers looking for something different. It didn’t fully hit the emotional highs for me, but it’s a compelling listen with strong narration and an original concept.

Thank you NetGalley and author/publisher for this ARC audiobook for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up!

This was a decent read! I was very intrigued by the premise and thought the characters and their development fit the plot well. My biggest hang up, though, is that this definitely wasn’t a romance. The core of the story was surviving this unexpected change in the world, leading to a dystopian landscape; the romance was a very VERY minimal sub plot.

Overall with the right expectations this would be a solid read.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC audiobook for an honest review.

This started off well with Emily and Tuck as childhood friends which is one of my favorite tropes. There is separation and circumstances that takes their lives in vastly different directions. Emily now a famous singer and Tuck an ex-con who is hired as her bodyguard. This is kind of a dystopian storyline of survival, mixed with a second chance romance. However, I never became fully invested in our couple. Emily has a (horrible) boyfriend for a lot of the book. Sadly, I just didn't feel a true connection, love story for the two.

I have enjoyed other Mia Sheridan books so I will still check those out!

2.5 stars

I really enjoyed this! The narrators were fantastic and they really played on the emotions they read. The book grabbed me right from the beginning and it held me! This was beautiful and full of ups and downs. I was in it whole heartedly!

Mia Sheridan is bringing back dystopian fiction with Heart of the Sun. It had fast-paced action, stressful survival scenarios, and an emotionally charged, sweet second chance romance. Tuck and Emily grew up on neighboring orange groves, but lost touch after Tuck’s family was struck by tragedy. He made some bad choices, but years later, is looking to get his life back on course. Emily has become a famous pop star, and at the urging of her mother, hires Tuck to be her bodyguard. While on a cross-country flight, the earth is struck by a solar flare, resulting in the collapse of society as they know it. Tuck adapts quickly to the new, brutal world and keeps Emily safe and alive as he fights to return her home. As they spend more time together, they get to know each other all over again and slowly fall in love as they learn to accept their new reality. I had a good time with it, especially the audiobook. André Santana and Annalee Scott did a great job voicing Emily and Tuck. They really brought the emotions and longing that these characters feel for each other to life and helped make this a compelling read.

Thank you to The Hive, Canary Street Press, Harlequin Trade Publishing, HTP Audio, Harper Collins, Mia Sheridan, and NetGalley for the ARC and ALC.

📔Heart of the Sun
✏️ Mia Sheridan
📆 May 20, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️

READ IF YOU LIKE:
🎤high stakes dystopian fiction
🎤bodyguard x pop-star
🎤childhood neighbors and friends
🎤second chance romance
🎤dual POV

✨ Arc Review ✨ Out 5/20 ✨

❓Predictive text: “ I survived a plane crash and ___________”
Mine- I survived a plane crash and now I’m not sure what I can say for the future of us!”

✨ In this dystopian love story we have Emily and Tuck. Childhood best friends with a strong seemingly unbreakabke bond…until life happened and shattered their perfect world.

13 years later… Emily, now Nova, is a world famous pop star with a famous top movie star boyfriend and Tuck is fresh out of jail and in need of a job stat. He goes to Emily’s parents for work, unfortunately for him they have nothing however, their daughter is in need of a bodyguard! Emily warily hires him on. They butt heads and bicker just like the old days. Their bond is still very much rekindling.
On the way to an event their plane crashes. Emily, her boyfriend, & Tuck survive & make the days long trek to civilization only to realize it wasn’t just a plane crash. There was a cataclysmic solar flare that disturbed the entire electric grid & plunged the whole world into darkness. They are stuck somewhere in Illinois and must make the long trip home to California.
It’s not easy as it’s every person for themselves and they encounter many thieves & people that want to cause them harm. Each encounter brings Tuck and Emily closer together. Will they find their way back to each other as they come to terms with all that they’ve lost?

✨Read if you love:

😘Enemies to lovers
🫶🏻Slow Burn
😘Second Chances
🫶🏻Dystopian fiction

✨My thoughts: This was nothing like what I thought it would be. I wasn’t sure I would like the dystopian vibe but it truly made the relationship with Tuck & Emily more satisfying. The character growth they both had shown throughout was impeccably written. I do not normally enjoy a slow burn romance, but the way that it’s written was crucial to the story. I highly enjoyed this and recommend it to everyone! You’ll laugh because the banter is great. You’ll cry because there’s a lot of tragedy. You’ll swoon because their bond/love is one worth fighting for. Worth surviving for.

✨Thank you to @netgalley & @miasheridanauthor for the advanced copy

If you read this, share your thoughts!

Thanks to the publisher for the gifted audio copy.

I've been reading this author for years now, and her books consistently offer an angsty but not over the top romance with an engaging plot. This one has a dystopian/apocalyptic twist that was an interesting change from her normal MO. The romance is second chance and a slow burn, but when it finally happens it's well worth the wait. I liked how we got background on Emily and Tuck's friendship when they were younger. I think the fact that they had history together had more of an impact on the story than if they had just met and it was insta-love. Good choice with that!

At first, I was a bit concerned about how the story would play out because I was worried she wrote too deeply into this tragedy. I was really hoping it wasn't going to be an easy fix, and for sure it was not! It did drag a bit in the middle, because Illinois to California is a LONG way and she needed to fill in that time, but the story flowed pretty well and kept my interest. The characters that were introduced along their journey were interesting and had an impact on the story, and also on Emily and Tuck.

I'm glad I listened to this one, because it was almost like listening to a movie. The narrators did a great job, and conveyed the emotions the characters felt very well.

I will say that I miss the punch that her older books threw - Archer's Voice, Grayson, Travis, Leo, Eden, Ryland...those were fantastic. This one was entertaining but not quite the same for me.

3.5 stars rounded up

⭐️⭐️½

I really wanted to love Heart of the Sun, and there are definitely some bright spots worth mentioning. I especially enjoyed Tuck—such a grounded, likable character who brought a lot of heart to the story. The audiobook narration was also really well done; the narrators brought good emotion and depth to the characters, which kept me engaged even when the plot felt a bit overwhelming.

For me, the biggest challenge was the pacing and sheer volume of dramatic events. In just the first quarter of the book, there are about 17 major, life-altering moments, one after the other, without much breathing room. It became a little hard to suspend disbelief at times, and I struggled to fully connect with any single thread because new twists kept coming so quickly. There are definitely good ideas and compelling pieces here—it just felt like it could have been three separate books, each focusing on a few of the events, rather than everything packed into one.

Overall, while this one didn’t fully come together for me, I appreciated the narration and some of the emotional moments along the way.

Audio was good, no problems with the narrators!

Book is not my vibe. Didn’t really connect with either MCs. Kind of really just feels like miscommunication from the beginning. Not a big fan of the FMC either

Let's just say that Heart of the Sun was not what I was expecting. Especially by the cover. And the tag line of "A Love Story". But it surprised me in a GOOD way and was such a unique take on what one might consider a love story. I honestly couldn't put it down. If Mia Sheridan writes it, I will read it, so I tend to go into her books blind. And I'm glad I did.

Tuck and Emily were childhood friends until life separated them and they are literally living completely different lives. One as a pop star and one as an ex con. But who would you want on your side when the world turns upside down?

Even the hardest parts of our lives provided positives from which to draw

I don't know what I was expecting but what I call a "survival romance" was not it. When a plane goes down and Tuck (the ex con), Emily (aka pop star, Nova) and her boyfriend Charlie (Hollywood star) are the survivors looking to be rescued and survive, I had no idea where the story was going to take us. A love triangle perhaps, but surely not a 'end of the world' scenario. It was about survival and trust in the midst of a world "turning dark".

As Sheridan has written a little bit of everything, I knew she would take us on an unpredictable ride. From a crash, to surviving and making ends meet with so little, we get to see how humans react differently in a post apocalyptic world. How they come together, or how they ultimately sacrifice others for themselves. I appreciated the way Sheridan seamlessly brought those ideals into the story as we we get to better understand each character and see their growth or their downfall. I did find that one character was around for way too long, but it did help open the eyes of another character.

Not only was Heart of the Sun all about the characters and their growth and realizing what they had to offer this new world they were in, but obviously the setting and the cross country trek played a huge role in the overall plot. The connections along the way, the danger, the back stabbing and ultimately the love and trust you put into the hands of others. I wouldn't call it so much a love story as a story of survival.

While the beginning grabbed me right away, the middle was filled with A LOT. Maybe a bit much. Chaos, danger and a world all looking to survive by their own hands. I really wanted to see the love story come to fruition earlier than it did, but that's not to say that the tension didn't build and have me biting at the bit. I just wanted it sooner and more of it. With all the action and danger lurking around every corner, I liked the way the ending came together, although it did seem to wrap a little too quick. With so much middle, the end could've been a little stronger.

Lastly, the audiobook. I was blown away by the performances of Andre Santana and Annalee Scott. I had not heard of either narrator before, but the way they brought strength and vulnerability to their characters throughout made the story that much more special. I could FEEL the emotions of the characters and what they were going through. It was real and raw and brought the characters to life. They did a tremendous job of connecting with the audience.

Overall, I really liked the character growth for Tuck and Emily in their own unique ways and what they came to offer the new world. The story surprised me and I enjoyed all the twists and action along the way. With the mix of danger, romance, suspense and survival, this was a story that kept me on my toes. I just wish we would've gotten more of Emily and Tuck as a couple and less of the chaotic middle.

Heart of the Sun was my first Mia Sheridan book, and honestly... it was just okay. The idea had potential: dystopian setting, childhood friends reconnecting, a touch of romance, but the execution didn’t totally work for me. The beginning dragged, and even when the story picked up, the pacing felt kind of messy. I kept wondering what kind of book it was trying to be.

Emily and Tuck were okay, but I never felt connected to them. Their romance was more of a slow simmer that never really got hot, and the survival stuff felt repetitive after a while. There were definitely a few sweet or interesting moments, but not enough to make the story stick.

I listened to the audiobook, and honestly, the audio helped make the experience a little better. I really liked the female narrator. Her voice fit Emily’s character well and brought some emotion to scenes that felt flat. The male narrator, though, didn’t work for me at all. His voice didn’t match how I pictured Tuck at all, and it pulled me out of the story a few times.

This wasn’t a terrible read, just not super memorable or something that I’d rush to recommend. I’m still open to trying other books by Sheridan in the future. This one just didn’t win me over.

This dystopian book finds a popstar crash landing in the middle of the woods after a flash of light brings them down. Only to find that all of the electricity is down, no phones, no technology what so ever is working. Pandemonium ensues and it every man for themselves. This book takes a look into humanity and how quickly we turn on each other and also how quickly others show kindness and human decency

💕 childhood friends
☀️ second chance
💕 slow burn
☀️ pop star x bodyguard
💕 enemies to lovers
☀️ dystopian fiction

I loved Tuck, his values and loyalty, and seeing him trying to build a new life after incarceration. His kindness in helping not only Emily and Charlie (who, frankly, didn’t always deserve it) but also everyone he encounters was so lovely to see.

Unfortunately, he was the highlight of the story for me, and most everything else fell flat. I couldn’t connect to Emily, and felt like it took awhile to see her true self instead of her Nova persona. And I downright disliked Charlie. I wish the Charlie aspect was wrapped up sooner, but instead, he stuck around for over half the book. I ultimately liked that Emily found strength and came back to herself, and she and Tuck found each other.

I’m still not sure how I felt about the dystopian storyline, but it did add an interesting plot. i

⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you HTP The Hive for the ARC and Harlequin Audio for the ALC!

Thank you to NetGalley and @Harlequin Audio for this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Heart of the Sun by Mia Sheridan starts off by giving us a peek into the childhood of Emily and Tuck, two best friends who grow up in the laid-back orange groves of Southern California. The story then jumps ahead to the present day, where Tuck is out of prison and Emily is now a famous singer. The contrast between their worlds is captured really well. Tuck is struggling to move on from his past, while Emily, surrounded by yes-men, has become both self-absorbed and insecure, typical of the celebrity lifestyle.

The tension between them really kicks in when Emily’s mom convinces her to hire Tuck as a bodyguard. There’s a lot of friction here, as both characters carry a lot of judgment and blame toward each other. To make things even more awkward, Tuck has to deal with Emily’s movie-star boyfriend.

The real conflict unfolds when a disaster strikes—without giving too much away, their plane crashes, and suddenly, nothing is the same. The group is left to navigate an apocalyptic world as they travel from Indiana to California. It’s an interesting setup, but it never fully hooks you. The story stays mostly on the surface, and while we’re told about the characters’ emotions, it’s hard to really feel them. That lack of depth makes it tough to become deeply invested in their journey or in their relationship.

The narrators definitely deserve credit for their performances—they really bring the story to life. Still, while Heart of the Sun is an enjoyable listen, it never quite rises above the average. It’s good, but it doesn’t quite tap into the emotional depth you might expect from an author of this caliber.
3.5 Stars!
#NetGalley, #HarlequinAudio, #MiaSheridan, #Dystopian, #HeartoftheSun

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the ARC audiobook of Heart of the Sun by Mia Sheridan. This was my first Mia Sheridan book, although Archer’s Voice has been on my TBR for a long time. The book is a Dystopian New Adult Romance, and it was definitely a slow start. I wasn’t a huge fan of the narration, but the plot was decent. This book follows Tuck and Emily (Nova) through the events that follow a plane crash. Tuck has had his run-ins with the law, resulting in some prison time. When he is released, it’s hard for him to get or hold down a job. That’s where his childhood friend, Emily, comes in. Tuck is definitely one you want by your side when there is a problem, keeping cool in every situation. I enjoyed the plot after the 40% mark, but before that I considered a DNF. If you are able to handle a slow-burn style romance, this is the book for you. After you get through the first 40% or so, you will really enjoy this one.

Um i’m sorry, what was that??????

This book was all over the place, truthfully. Maybe I just went into this with the wrong expectations. I was actually excited about the security team X pop star romance trope. It had potential but frankly there was too much emphasis on “apocalypse” for me and also it was just…bad. In no particular order, my gripes:

The writing was dry, somewhat repetitive, and overall the book was way too long. The main characters were INSUFFERABLE (the amount of times I cursed Emily under my breath is unmeasurable). Emily and Tuck each had the emotional awareness of a scavenging sewer rat, and the times they intimately interacted (way less than a normal romance book) they had the chemistry of sandpaper. Charlie was in this for way too long, I mean 60% of the way through and she’s just NOW fallen out of love with him? The scene with the old truck and consequently the buggy — sure, I get why they were necessary but WHY WERE THEY LIKE THAT?! I don’t even want to get into the spicy scene(s) (but really?) What happened to all the bikes? Did nobody own a bike anywhere? I understand by nature of the final book that was produced why we dropped characters and never heard from them again but we don’t even know what happened to San Diego and that group after Merrick.

I think the wording the cover used was “A Love Story” which I guess isn’t wrong. It was also classified as a Romance, which again, isn’t technically wrong, but it should be qualified as a dystopian survival adventure romance.

I’m sure there’s more i’m missing but this was the main stuff. I should’ve DNF’ed this.