—childhood friends

—she's a hot singer; he's her new bodyguard... with a past

—solar flare dystopia

—us against the world (very literally)

Heat Index: 6/10

The Basics:

Rising pop star Emily does her former childhood friend, Tuck, a favor—by hiring him as her bodyguard when he's fresh out of jail. The gig seems fated to be short-lived... until Emily's plane goes down in the midst of a solar flare. With the world rocked by this catastrophic incident, Tuck and Emily are left with no one to truly rely upon but each other... and they might as well be strangers.

The Review:

First off, let me say—the premise of this book is wild, and it does get off to a great start in the midst of the action... and then it catapults you into the "before" times, rebuilding toward the solar flare. Which I get in theory, but I personally found to be a choice I would've advised against.

It does set the tone for the book, however, because this is... very much a dystopia-set romance. Buildup aside, the vast majority of it takes place after the plane crash, in this barren wasteland. It kind of gave me vibes reminiscent of Laura Thalassa's Four Horsemen series in that sense. Our hero and hero trekking across a dystopian world, running into problems.

Except... I found Tuck and Emily rather basic as people. It was a bit discombobulating to have this really different, wild plot, and then two people who felt very Hallmark, in a sense? Like, yes. Tuck has a tragic backstory that's on the dark-ish side, but there is very much a "uptown girl who was once a small town girl gets reminded of what's Authentic by the down home boy" thing here. Which isn't exactly my thing, personally. It felt a little condescending.

Don't get me wrong—there were moments when I was feeling it. I do think Tuck and Emily had chemistry, and I appreciate the risks Sheridan took. I've never read her books before, but based on what I'm seeing, this was a bigger swing for her?

But it felt like she fell back on some small scale tropes and cadences when writing a big world story. Like, for example, the character of Charlie—Emily's boyfriend, who may as well have been made of cardboard.

The Sex:

It takes a good while for the sex to get going in this book—it lives up to the slow burn claims. Once we got there, it was pretty good. The sex felt true to Emily and Tuck, which is to say, not bad but quite vanilla.

Conclusion:

I wish this had gone all in on the freaky premise. It was a swing, and for me, it was a miss. But I have a feeling that those who want something on the milder end of dystopia will enjoy it more. I know Mia Sheridan has a large readership—it's also possible that if you are really into her books already, this could suit you perfectly.

Thanks to Canary Street Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I....have no words. I'm not sure what I expected from this book, but this wasn't it. The first couple of chapters held a lot of promise, but then.....this just was not it. The plot fell very flat and drawn out, and most definitely should not be marketed as a love story. I mean, they truly despised each other for most of it. And the fact that "Nova" was so blind to Charlie's real personality super annoyed me. Also..like..what happened to Charlie? Maybe if this book had been marketed as something different, and I expected something different than a full blown romance going into this, then I could see a higher rating. I do feel like there was a lot of potential, but it just was not for me.

Tuck and Emily are childhood friends, living on neighboring citrus farms in Southern California. Emily has big dreams of becoming a famous singer and Tuck has a love of reading and wants to learn as much as he can. As their lives unfold, they both go down different paths in their later teenage years. Emily finds her fame, but circumstances in Tuck’s life find him imprisoned for six years. When an opportunity arises for Emily to put together a security team for her new found fame, Tuck gets a second chance to prove himself, and possibly the opportunity to rekindle their friendship. But a catastrophic weather event puts them in impossible situations, and as they struggle to return home to California, they will have to fight for their friendship, their morality, and their survival.

I found Heart of the Sun to be an interesting dystopian story. It’s not new in terms of the events that unfold, with the collapse of society and fight for survival, but I was invested in the storyline of Emily and Tuck being childhood friends, now thrown together as adults under dire circumstances. The story did remind me of The Stand at times, with Emily and Tuck having to travel the country to return home.

I liked Emily and Tuck’s characters, and Sheridan gives both of them some great character growth throughout the story. Emily is initially still caught up in the materialism of being a celebrity, but comes to value what is important as they encounter others that are affected by the weather disaster. Tuck deals with a lot of guilt from his past choices and the events that led to his imprisonment, so he’s constantly looking for ways to atone for the mistakes he made. But, he is eventually able to come to terms with his past.

I did enjoy the dystopian feel of the story, and if you like The Last of Us, Sweet Tooth, and Fallout, then I think you would enjoy Heart of the Sun. Sheridan delivers a haunting account of what a catastrophic event like this, would mean for the world, and shows the complexities of human nature when presented with a fight for survival.

If you enjoy dystopian settings, with suspense, romance, action, and the good and bad of humanity, then I would definitely recommend Heart of the Sun.

Heart of the Sun was a very unexpected read. I didn’t know the impact the solar flare would have on the entirety of the book. I expected it to be part of the rising action but not the plot. However, it was intriguing as I do not typically read sci-fi. It led me to reflect on what I would do if I were in the same situation. The slow burn between the main characters seemed prolonged at times but when they finally came together, it was chef’s kiss! I felt that it was written perfectly. The ending left me with many questions. For instance, what happened to Charlie (I know he’s the worst but I still want to know what happened to him!)? What happened to the other people Tuck and Emily encountered on their journey- Hosea? The Goodfellows? Lavina and Abram? Etc… Does Tuck ever reunite and make amends with his father? Also, we see how everyone is surviving one year out from the solar flare, but long term, are they ever able to get things up and running as before? Perhaps the author left the ending ambiguous on purpose. The author gave me a lot to think about, mostly due to the state of the country. However, I really enjoyed reading the development of Tuck and Emily’s love story from childhood to adulthood and all the ups and downs in-between.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mia Sheridan, and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐️’s

I usually really love second chance romances and books about survival and overcoming hardships but unfortunately I just couldn't connect with the characters and it made me not really care for the characters

I did want to like this book but unfortunately I just couldn’t get into it. The first thing I would say is the apocalypse was very unnecessary and threw me off the story. I was not expecting a ‘Man vs. Wild’ romance story. I just feel like the pacing was off and Book couldn’t decide where it wanted to go. The main characters had a lack of chemistry which left me not being connected to them and it didn’t help that I found the FMC annoying and the MMC bland.

It's been a while since I've read a Mia Sheridan title, a fact I'm regretting now. Heart of the Sun, in all of it's dystopian glory isn't my "normal" genre of reading but I really enjoyed this book so much so that I found myself sneaking chapters any spare moment I could find throughout the day. The second chance coupled with enemies to lovers tropes for the main romance were engaging and full of chemistry, longing, wistfulness and mystery. Add of all that to the on-going plot being unraveled and the book turned out to be a real page turner. I enjoyed every character and setting for most of the duration of the story. The last 10%'ish up until the epilogue got a little wonky and disjointed for me which kept me from rating this a full five stars but it's a great read for fans of this author and this type of story. If you're looking for flat out romance you won't find it here. Instead it's a slow burn mysterious kind of romantic that gets its hooked in you from the beginning and doesn't let up. A great story that I'm glad to have been given the opportunity to read.

Not going to lie--this would've been five stars if it had given me more of a look into the future and also what caused the "flare". Otherwise, it was perfect and almost had me prepping a go bag. LIstened via audio as well, and loved the narrators.

4.75 ⭐️
.5 🌶️

The plotline for this book was an absolute 10/10 like???? I didn't realize how much I needed a dystopian/post apocalyptic romance until I started this.

The slow burn between these two??? This was absolute *chefs kiss* and I adored this story, especially Emily & Tuck from start to finish.

Now the narrators???? They were both new to me narrators and I'm an instant fan of these two and the way they brought the story to life. I really enjoyed Tuck the most and the emotion he brought forth with his parts.

Thank you again Harlequin Trade pub for the arc & alc *all thoughts are my own*

sadly, this one was not for me. i thought it started out great but the whole plane crash and power outage thing kind of threw me...? i really couldn't get back into the story once that happened.

Took me by surprise. Went in blind and once the power went out it kinda lost me. Realized at that moment I don't think I'm into stories like that.

I wanted to like this one. But I couldn’t get myself to connect with the story. It lost me when the power went out and it became apocalyptic. It felt so out of place and out of the blue and so unrealistic I just couldn’t get past it. It felt like there was a hidden agenda behind the plot line.

Heart of the Sun is not a typical love story. It begins with Tuck and Emily, childhood friends and neighbors growing up in the San Fernando Valley in California. As Tuck and Emily begin to enter adolescence, their constant fighting begins to develop into something new as unexpected feelings develop. However, before they can explore this new change in their friendship, tragedy strikes and they grow apart. Now adults, their paths cross again when Tuck agrees to be Emily’s personal bodyguard on her first tour as a professional musician.

During a routine flight across the country, a cataclysmic solar flare occurs and their plane crashes, throwing them and the rest of the country into chaos and uncertainty. With no electricity and no way to communicate with the outside world, Tuck, Emily, and Emily’s boyfriend Charlie begin to make the long journey from the Midwest back to California. Experiencing the best and worst of mankind along the way, Tuck and Emily learn to trust each other again as they fight to survive, heal their inner wounds, and move forward into an unknown future.

This was unlike any love story I’ve read before. The apocalyptic nature of this book is terrifying, and the author does a fantastic job of outlining the fallout of a catastrophic solar flare event, from the very first hours to days and months later. I didn’t realize just how much of our livelihood would be halted immediately and how little we are prepared for such an event. There is a lot of death, destruction, and violence as Tuck and Emily make their way back home. But the author does highlight the good in humanity as well. There are glimpses of hope, survival, and community in the midst of chaos.

Tuck and Emily’s relationship grows throughout their experience, and I enjoyed watching them work together and ultimately find their way back to each other in the novel. As I mentioned before, this is not a typical love story, and some parts were hard to read because the reality of this happening feels a little too close. While the middle did drag a little in pacing for me, it ramps up towards the end. Overall, I’m glad I read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this gifted eARC, in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars rounded up

This book was such a wild ride.

I went into this book completely blind and after a few minutes I was like oh it’s a cute second chance romance between a bodyguard and a popstar! but plot twist!! It is so much more than that.

This book has honestly unlocked a new fear in me, and made me realize how incredibly unprepared I am for a disaster. (But in a mostly enjoyable way?) hahaha

I enjoyed this book, and it was also a little bit all over the place plot-wise. I got slightly overwhelmed at certain points from the amount of plot points.

Thank you harper collins & harlequin for the earc!

This novel started strong but quickly lost me in the plane crash scene. I hadn't connected with the characters yet, so throwing this significant event in the book's first quarter made it difficult for me to care about them being stranded. Fortunately, I have the audiobook, so I might try to continue through the audio, but if I only had the physical ARC, this would be a "DNF" for me. I made it through 40% before deciding to stop.

I will not be rating this title on my Goodreads. Thank you so much for the opportunity; I am sad this one was not for me.

I received this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion and review. I didn’t really know what I expected when I learned this was going to be a dystopian, but for the first half I was super into it. I loved the “world building” and how everything was set up, but the longer I got in the more it fell flat. I think I just didn’t like how real it felt, how much violence and murder there was. I just know this would be realistic if this were to truly happen to us now.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc! All opinions are my own. I gave this book three stars because I feel that the plot was unique and one that isn’t seen too often but I personally felt like I could not connect with the characters as well as I would’ve liked to. I enjoyed the romance aspect as well as the slow burn. I also feel at times there was a little more filler than necessary. I would still probably recommend to individuals who enjoy a plot type like this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This book was a wild ride that kept me on my toes. The second chance, slow burn romance was sweet and endearing. The plot felt unique and different. The only reason I gave it 3 stars was because it’s not my preferred genre in some ways and I didn’t always feel sucked in. That’s a reflection of me and not the book or writing though.

I really enjoyed reading this book! I enjoyed both the main characters - especially Tuck. Emily did take me a little while to warm up to, but once I did I found her a great FMC and quite entertaining. I will say, I don’t believe this book is for everyone, but as someone who is really intrigued by post apocalyptic/dystopian novels I really enjoyed that plot and have never read anything like this. I found this to have great pacing and enjoyed the flashback chapters and that this was dual POV! I think Mia Sheridan is a super talented writer and love the emotion she’s able to evoke from her writing.

I went into this book blindly not knowing the storyline. I was surprisingly happy to find out it was a dystopian/post apocalyptic world. It’s a type of romance novel I haven’t seen written before and was happy to explore.

The good:
Tuck. A love able, down on his luck guy. Just trying to find his place in the world.
The suspense, A story of love and survival is a great twist for a romance novel.

The bad:
Emily. I get she was a character who was ever changing, but at times was a bit grating, borderline annoying.
A few plot and timing issues for sure as well.

Overall I did enjoy this book It gave The Last of Us/Walking Dead vibes and was a nice change of pace from a “normal” romance.