Heart of the Sun is a well-written and imaginative book that will likely appeal to fans of its genre. The author does a great job of building a vivid world and crafting an intriguing storyline. The characters are well-developed, and the themes explored are thought-provoking. While I can appreciate the quality of the writing and the depth of the story, it wasn’t quite my cup of tea. However, for readers who enjoy this style of storytelling, it’s definitely a book worth checking out.

This was an intriguing read that really made me think about how unprepared I’d be if a catastrophic event ever occurred. My favorite part was the survival aspect was seeing the harsh realities of human nature and how quickly society can crumble without order. The romance was decent; I was rooting for Emily and Tuck to work through their issues and find their HEA. I didn’t feel the chemistry as much as I would have liked, but that’s life. Love isn’t always perfect, overflowing with infatuation and happy moments. Sometimes, it’s raw and difficult. Their origin story was really sweet, though, and I loved how Tuck always looked out for Emily.

That said, I wasn’t crazy about the romance and the love triangle in this one. Her boyfriend was awful, and I hated how quickly Emily took his side, immediately believing the worst of Tuck.

Overall, this was an exciting, fast-paced read. Perfect for fans of post-apocalyptic stories, movies, or shows. It gave me The Walking Dead vibes without the zombies! 🧟 🧟‍♀️

Heart of the Sun is a dystopian romance novel that touches on many favorite tropes while navigating a devastating landscape. Tuck and Emily were childhood friends separated by unfortunate life circumstances. Their reunion comes 13 years later when Tuck is desperate for a job after his prison release and Emily, a rising pop star, needs a bodyguard.

When a solar flare shuts down the electrical grid while the crew travels, Tuck, Emily, and her boyfriend Charlie begin a dangerous trek across multiple states to get back home. Nothing is certain, and people are desperate and dangerous. Old feelings spark between Tuck and Emily, adding to the friction and uncertainty of the times.

The book starts strong, and I was invested in the characters and interested in how the story would evolve. It flowed well, and the genre-blending felt natural and honest. As the book progressed, it started to feel more disjointed, but it still held my interest. Unfortunately, the climax of the story felt very rushed in comparison to the journey we took to get there. It didn't feel realistic and was wrapped up a little too perfectly for me to feel connected to the conclusion.

I loved the start of the book, but it started to feel like two separate stories as it progressed.

3 Stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC of this novel.

Not quite the Mia Sheridan style that I fell in love with, but I respect her attempt at crafting a captivating romance in the midst of a post-apocalyptic world. 'The Solar Flare' tells the story of Emily and Tuck, two individuals from different walks of life who are brought together when their plane crashes in a world ravaged by a solar flare. As they navigate the challenges of survival, they must also confront their own pasts and the secrets that have kept them apart for so long. The romance between Emily and Tuck is slow-burning and sweet, with both characters bringing their own unique perspectives to the table.

For those interested in homesteading and emergency preparedness, this book offers a thought-provoking look at what could happen if we're not prepared for disasters like solar flares. The romance aspect of the story is not as strong as I would have liked it to be for being fully invested in Emily and Tuck's relationship, but overall I still think it makes for an interesting read. As one reviewer noted, Mia Sheridan has once again proven herself to be an author who can write about anything and make it compelling.

She's a rising pop star, he's an ex-con seeking redemption, but they used to be childhood best friends. Growing up on neighboring orange groves, Emily and Tuck thought they'd be friends forever, but with the loss of his mother and the ensuing sale of his family's orchard, Tuck pushed her farther and farther away until he moved out of town to live with his uncle. They haven't seen each other for thirteen years but with his record he's having trouble finding a job. Emily needs a bodyguard while on tour so she gives him a chance. Their reunion is awkward and uncomfortable most of the time, but when tragedy strikes Emily relies on Tuck to get her to safety in this new world of darkness and struggle.
This is a slow burn friends to lovers romance set in a world after a solar flare destroys the power grid and anything electronic. As the population turns to madness and greed, the people willing to help really stand out. I love how Emily changes throughout the book, so materialistic and shallow at the beginning. Tuck is really great right from the start, leaving you wondering what exactly he did to land himself in jail. The action starts right off on the first page and never stops until the end. I loved this book!

After reading Mia Sheridan's "Archer's Voice" and "Unwanted", her newest book "Heart of the Sun" gave me major whiplash. "Archer's Voice" is a small town romance novel where the characters have traumatic pasts. "Unwanted" is slightly different where it is a romance but running paralell to that romance is a murder mystery involving both main characters , who again both have trauma. However the romance is still a big part of both plots. Here with "Heart of the Sun" theromance aspect feels almost like an after thought. This story just felt like a bunch of ideas crammed into one book and they didn't all fit. Emily is a pop star and Tuck is an ex-con. They used to be childhood friends. Emily brings Tuck on to her security team. Okay, solid story. I would read that as a strictly romance story. I did however feel the pop star and ex con was a little of strange duo but that may of just been me. Then we add this whole other piece where a solar flare caused all the electrical grids to go out and everything is dark and crazy. I think if these two ideas were their own books it would have worked better. Then the romance would have been more fleshed out and existence. Then the survival story could have not had a romance tacked on it and drew in more readers who enjoy dystopian fiction.

“You always did wear sunshine well.”

I absolutely adored this story! You have a second-chance, bodyguard romance meets post-apocalyptic world.

Tuck is the sweetest male lead. His backstory is so sad, and he is just getting out of a stay in the slammer. However, when their plane goes down in smoke, he is the person they all look to, I love how protective he is - of everyone.

Emily is a singer/star that slowly starts to realize what really matters in life is not the fame, or the hair, or the nails, but the music and the people that actually matter.

Together, they will navigate a world that is totally upended by a solar flare - will they make it?

While I did enjoy this book, I do have a couple of caveats. First, I wish the characters and even side characters were a bit more developed. Charlie made it too easy to hate him, and his character was super flat and boring. Second, navigating through a world without electronics, cars, or literally any way to get more food would be way more challenging than the author made it out to be. While she mentions them being hungry, you don't "feel" the hunger with them. It did need a bit more development, but I guess they can get away with this as a famous author of Archer's Voice, etc. Did I have fun? Yes. Was it better than her other books? No.

4 1/2 stars

Mia Sheridan will continue to be one of my favorite authors. I'm convinced she can write just about anything she sets her mind to. With this book, she handily gives us what felt like an apocalyptic romance and she did it well.

Our two main characters, Emily and Tuck grew up as neighbors with their parents as best friends so they always knew each other. They both had a crush on the other person but both had been nervous to pursue it. Just when they were starting to figure out that they might have something there, tragedy struck and threw Tuck's world sideways. When his world changes, he doesn't respond well and ends up getting himself into trouble. In the present day, Emily is an up and coming singer who is still holding a grudge against Tuck for how he behaved years before. Tuck is disappointed with Emily for "selling out" in his viewpoint and not singing her own music but rather doing whatever her label tells her. When something happens and most electronics stop working, Tuck, Emily and her current boyfriend are stranded after a plane crash. When they start trying to work their way back to California across the country, it will show everyone's true colors. Over the course of the trip, Emily and Tuck will both remember things about the other person that made them friends before. And gradually they both open up about that time and what happened.

I would have probably liked to see a little bit more about the apocalyptic side of things although I felt the author had definitely done her research about solar flares and so on. However, I did love the storyline around salvaging their relationship.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: I was also fortunate and received an early copy of the audiobook. It's really enjoyable with good, solid narration which keeps you immersed in the story. I was so caught up in the audio version that I listened whenever possible.

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the audiobook and ebook.

I just finished this book last night and have already recommended it to everyone I saw today. Not only was the romance aspect of the book great, but the dystopian aspect of the book was eye-opening as well. I know that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but for someone who is really into homesteading, and emergency preparedness this spoke to me in allllll the ways. Not only did it immediately pull me in, the slow-burn of Tuck and Emily’s romance added a level to the story that made it so much more compelling. First I’m going to share it with everyone, and then I’m going to add on to my plans for canning…because this opened my eyes to a world that I don’t want to come, but very well could.

2 stars! 🌟 Huge thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press for the eARC & Harlequin Audio for the ALC! 💌

Oh boy. Where do I even start? This was my first Mia Sheridan book, and let’s just say... it did not go well. I came in with expectations—after all, people rave about Archer’s Voice—but yeah, those expectations? They crashed and burned harder than the electrical grid in this book.

Let’s talk about the romance (or lack thereof).
This was supposed to be a second-chance, childhood-friends-to-lovers romance, but I swear these two had the chemistry of two wet socks in a washing machine. I didn’t feel anything between them—no tension, no passion, nothing. Like, was I supposed to believe they were in love? Because I didn’t. At all. And since I didn’t believe in the romance, I didn’t care about the relationship, which meant I didn’t care about the book. Oops.

The characters?
Everyone was either unbearable or just straight-up bland. Emily, our pop-star FMC, was insufferable for most of the book. And Tuck? I wanted to like him, I really did, but he was just... there. No depth, no personality beyond “brooding ex-con.” And the side characters? I already forgot their names. That should tell you something. 🤡

The pacing was a mess.
This book could not decide what it wanted to be. Was it a romance? A dystopian survival story? A road trip novel? A guide to how to properly saddle a horse? Because there were way too many descriptions of that. The apocalypse was more like an inconvenient roadblock than actual chaos, and the “action” felt like someone was making up problems just to give the characters something to do.

Now, the narrators.
I switched between the eBook and audiobook, hoping one would make the story more tolerable. It did not. 😩 I didn’t vibe with the narration at all, and that only made an already frustrating read worse.

Final thoughts?
This book was just not it. ❌ Boring characters, unbelievable romance, slow plot, and an overall lack of emotion. And then I read the acknowledgments and found out the idea wasn’t even Mia Sheridan’s own?! 🤯 It all makes sense now. Maybe I’ll give Archer’s Voice a try someday, but as of right now? Yeah, no. 🚪➡️

Mia has done it again. She has a way with words and writing like no other. The kind of story that will leave you speechless and clinging to every word.

Hmm, this was interesting read. I will say my love for Mia Sheridan started with ‘Unwanted’ so this was an immediate read for me. The 2nd thing that peeked my interest was the plot. A dystopian second chance romance sounds right up my alley. While I did enjoy this book as well as listening to the audio - it was just okay in my eyes.

Seemed more dystopian with a little romance/tension from an old flame. But not heavy on the love story.
I did enjoy the journey and the people they met and how they gained information.
I was fully expecting it to be some else from previous books by the author, but had a good ride.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Canary Street Press for this eARC. All opinions are my own, and this review is written voluntarily.

Heart of the Sun is such a unique romantic thriller that follows estranged childhood friends Emily and Tuck who find themselves in the middle of a national emergency when a solar flare causes the U.S grid to go completely dark. Tuck has just been released from prison, while Emily has been climbing the social ladder, gaining fame as a pop star. Tuck finds himself in need of a job, while Emily needs reinforcement on her security team. The pair have a lot of history and pent up feelings that have been lingering over the past decade. The emergency situation they find themselves in allows them to learn more about each other and how each of them got to where they are today. As they navigate getting back home, they witness first hand how desperate times can bring out the best and worst in humanity. This story is one filled with redemption, passion, deep love and a hope for a better tomorrow.

Overall, I give this book 4 stars. I really enjoyed the journey the main characters go on, and how strong Emily and Tuck are as a team. I really enjoy Mia Sheridan’s writing style, and her narration provides great insight into what the world might look like if a situation like this were to arise. I often found myself putting myself in the character’s shoes, questioning my own judgement and how I would make choices with little resources and danger at every turn. This story is a beautiful reminder that we are ultimately not in control, and it's important to live in the moment and find even little moments of peace whenever and wherever you can. We are all faced with choices every single day, and we can’t change the past. Life is full of loss, but it's so important to chase after love and cherish every moment we have in this short life on earth.

I love the plot of Heart of the Sun and the concept is so incredibly cool but curse words (d-word, s-word, taking the Lord's name in vain, etc.) were used much too frequently for my liking.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the free e-ARC of Heart of the Sun in exchange for my honest opinions.

FIRST OF ALL: thank you SO very much to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC copy of this book! This was my very first Mia Sheridan book and it won’t be my last.

Now, onto my review. Overall I’d give the experience of reading this book somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars. Rounding up to four because I adored the characters and the ending so much. And…

I finished it!!!! I felt like I was never going to make it to the end of this story.

Okay, let me start out by saying this book hooked me from the first moment I stared reading! I was fully invested in Emily & Tuck and thought it was so charming and different.

And then the plane crash happened and I was just like what… just happened?!

Maybe it was my fault because I went into this story 100% blindly (I don’t like spoilers) but I in no way/shape/form thought I would be reading a story about a post-apocalyptic event. Like, at all. So I was really thrown?

And then I think the pacing was just weird for me without my being able to put my finger on it. Things seemed to drag on that maybe I wouldn’t have cared to focus on.

BUT! I never wavered from adoring Tuck and Emily! I really loved the characters in this story. Their slow burn was scrumptious!!!!!! I was so damn happy when Charlie exited the picture! And this book kept me guessing, that’s for sure!! I couldn’t figure out what was going to happen next from moment to moment.

To refresh— I loved the beginning and adored the ending… it’s the long middle of the book I struggled with. The characters are so wonderful; they are going to stay with me for a long time. And truly the story was unique! I say give this book a shot after fully reading the description — if it sounds like something you’d like then give it a go.

This was exactly what i expected, a second chance, childhood friends love journey. Plus a total blackout that has them fighting for their lives, very intriguing. The characters are likable and relatable throughout the book. I appreciate the dual POV and enjoyed the time jumps in the beginning they set up the foundation for the main characters really well. Though the plot was well executed overall, I think the ending was too simple. I wish it would have been more flushed out, for it being 400+ pages I think the journey should have been cut sooner to get adequate closure.

I was immediately drawn to this book by the emotional weight of Tuck and Emily’s story. I found their journey from childhood friends to estranged adults incredibly compelling, and I couldn’t wait to see how their lives would intertwine after all these years apart. I loved how their reunion felt both fiery and tender, as their banter and unresolved emotions leapt off the page. As I read about Emily’s glamorous yet vulnerable world as a pop sensation and Tuck’s struggle to rebuild his life after prison, I found myself rooting for both of them to find redemption. When the solar flare hit, I felt a palpable shift in the story’s tone. I was completely immersed in the chaotic, post-apocalyptic landscape and captivated by how it tested their resilience. What resonated most with me was the emotional depth of their connection. I felt the bitterness and heartbreak they carried, but I also saw the warmth and hope that slowly rekindled between them. Overall, I was deeply moved by this book.

This book gave me a perfect mix of romance, tension, and high stakes, set against a fascinating backdrop of both sunlit California and a darkened world without power. I left the story feeling inspired by its messages of resilience, love, and finding light even in the darkest moments.

"Amid the sun-drenched orange groves of California, childhood friends Tuck Mattice and Emily Swanson shared a bond that seemed unbreakable—until life ripped them apart.

But when a cataclysmic solar flare disrupts the electrical grid, society is suddenly plunged into chaos and darkness. For Emily, the familiar comforts of fame and fortune crumble, but for Tuck, this stark new reality could be the chance he needs to finally prove himself. As they come to terms with all they've lost and the bitterness that's kept them apart, they must find their way back to one another and discover a new place, under the sun."

Heart Of The Sun was a deep dive into the reality of what could happen at any time. To me Tuck and Emily's story took back stage to the real story of surviving an event like a complete failure of the grid. And honestly I was here for it. The devastation, confusion, survival and hope were all present.

This was my first Mia Sheridan novel and I will definitely be adding more to my shelves. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this great story.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC opportunity!

I really enjoyed this! I wouldnt say it was a second chance in my opinion because they never started before, BUT its a really wonderful old connection romance.

I loved the dystopian touch. I actually hadnt read a dystopian story before and this one was good. It felt very true to how those types of changes would affect people’s psyche and dynamics.

Another hit for Mia!