This is the first book I’ve read by Megan Collins and it will not be the last. The plot of this interested me immediately. I liked Rosie, but she was a stalker?! Crazy! The characters were so unique and the twists all caught me off guard. Definitely recommend!

THIS is the energy I want and demand from psychological thrillers. “Cross My Heart” was a wild ride with heart (heh) and an excellent cast of supporting characters. The author’s efforts to tell readers the animals in the books remain unharmed was a huge deal for me. This was my first Megan Collins but it will not be my last.

I'm a sucker for a pretty cover so it caught my eye but then when I saw it was the newest from Megan Collins I just knew I had to read it!

I was captivated from the very first page. If you're in the mood for a fast paced, intriguing, crazy wild ride, run to your nearest book supplier and get yourself a copy of this twisty domestic thriller. If you can listen to it as an audiobook even better! I think this just might be my favourite yet from Megan Collins.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing a digital copy in return for an honest, unbiased review.

✨Cross My Heart by Megan Collins✨

Genre: Domestic Thriller
Pages: 306

📚She has his wife’s heart; the one she wants is his.

Rosie Lachlan wants nothing more than to find The One.

A year after she was dumped in her wedding dress, she’s working at her parents’ bridal salon, anxious for a happy ending that can’t come soon enough. After receiving a life-saving heart transplant, Rosie knows her health is precious and precarious. She suspects her heart donor is Daphne Thorne, the wife of local celebrity author Morgan Thorne, who she begins messaging via an anonymous service called DonorConnect, ostensibly to learn more about Daphne. But Rosie has a secret: She’s convinced that now that she has his wife’s heart, she and Morgan are meant to be together.

As she and Morgan correspond, the pretense of avoiding personal details soon disappears, even if Rosie’s keeping some cards close to her chest. But as she digs deeper into Morgan’s previous marriage, she discovers disturbing rumors about the man she’s falling for. Could Morgan have had something to do with his late wife’s death? And can Rosie’s heart sustain another break—or is she next?

📝This was such a unsettling and twisty read. It’s got all the elements of a slow burn mystery/thriller - unreliable narrator, misdirection, ominous atmosphere, quick pacing and a huge plot twist.

I loved that the book changed at the halfway point. It caught me by surprise and kept me reading! (No spoilers)

This book was great! I had no clue what was going to happen next and I loved it. I finished it in my hotel room on the first night of my work trip. The twists had me guessing the entire time who-dun-it. I could not figure it out. All of the characters were equally likable and unlikeable at the same time. I think this might be my favorite book for May!

The twists were out to play here and I liked that the good guys won at the end and the bad guys lost. My only criticism is a compliment in its own right: the antagonist was so cloyingly creepy that it was hard for me to read him in a positive light at any point in the book.

Cross My Heart had me hooked in the beginning but took some time to get through. It did have some good twists though!

Rating: 3 stars

This book was just fine. At times, I felt like the writing was a bit cheesy, and the main character was a bit annoying to me. I wished I enjoyed this buzzy thriller more, but I was able to guess some key plot points early on, which dragged the ending for me.

Overall, interesting concept but not for me!

This was another great book from this author. I was gripped by this by this book and read it in a few hours. This book has an unreliable narrator that has you questioning her and was happening in the book. I really enjoyed this one, and is perfect book to read on an afternoon when you want to get lost in a twisty book.

After Rosie receives a heart transplant, she begins to anonymously write the the donor’s husband, Morgan, believing they are connected through his wife’s heart. Over time, she becomes a little obsessed and stalkery, but also uncovers information that leads her to believe that Morgan may have killed his wife. But when Morgan himself is in danger and Rosie is blamed, can she extricate herself from the dangerous game of cat-and-mouse she’s involved in? This thriller was so fast-paced and twisty, and I loved every moment! I was so confident I knew what was going on, but I was so wrong! Definitely add this one to your TBR!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for my copy! ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A little predictable but nonetheless still a great thriller. It was a good fast read with a few twist. I had the guilty person pegged early on. Didn't ruin the book for me though.

After receiving a heart transplant, Rosie dreams of finding true love. Through DonorConnect, she messages with Morgan, her heart donor’s widow, and fantasizes about developing a relationship with him. Soon though, Rosie learns that Morgan and his late wife, Daphne, have dark secrets in their past that change everything for her.

This book started out strong for me, and I especially appreciated the mixed media element, something I absolutely love to find in thrillers and mysteries. The book is divided into two parts, and while I really liked the first one, Part 2 was where things went off the rails for me. The characters became dull and some of the writing was very cliche (for example, “Rosie-colored glasses”). Despite this, the plot was pretty unique, so I would definitely give this author another chance and I think super fans of the genre will still enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Synopsis (from the publisher:
Rosie Lachlan wants nothing more than to find The One. A year after she was dumped in her wedding dress, she’s working at her parents’ bridal salon, anxious for a happy ending that can’t come soon enough. After receiving a life-saving heart transplant, Rosie knows her health is precious and precarious. She suspects her heart donor is Daphne Thorne, the wife of local celebrity author Morgan Thorne, who she begins messaging via an anonymous service called DonorConnect, ostensibly to learn more about Daphne. But Rosie has a secret: She’s convinced that now that she has his wife’s heart, she and Morgan are meant to be together. As she and Morgan correspond, the pretense of avoiding personal details soon disappears, even if Rosie’s keeping some cards close to her chest. But as she digs deeper into Morgan’s previous marriage, she discovers disturbing rumors about the man she’s falling for. Could Morgan have had something to do with his late wife’s death? And can Rosie’s heart sustain another break—or is she next?

My thoughts:
I think I'm an outlier when it comes to Cross My Heart by Megan Collins. This is my first Collins novel and I went into this one excited because the synopsis sounded really intriguing. I felt like the story started off quite strong. I enjoyed the correspondence between our two characters and the glimpses into their lives. I was thrown a little bit by the switch from part one to part two...it felt a little awkward/clunky/jarring to me. I was really disappointed that I disliked ALL of the characters. I'm not one to shy away from dark or damaged characters, but to have a book where literally ALL of the characters were so unlikeable is a little unusal for me. I also felt like the chapters were extremely long and wordy and the storyline got a bit repetitive.

I hurried to finish but was sure I knew "who-dun-it" and I was correct, but the ending wasn't worth the time spend slogging through so much filler.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I would give this book 5 stars just for the Taylor Swift references alone. BUT with that being said....it is getting 5 stars from me. Because i simply could NOT put this book down. One of the best thrillers I have ever read. I feel like this will be in my top 5 reads for this year. The twists & non stop suspense from start to finish had me enthralled. Unreliable narrators are one of my favorite tropes. If a book makes me audibly gasp....I know it's a great read. I'm going to actually purchase a physical copy of this one because I loved it that much. Look forward to reading more by Megan. Bravo!

Thank you to NetGalley for this free digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. I was so excited to receive this book! Cross My Heart is a fun, fast paced thriller told from the point of view of an unreliable narrator and filled with plenty of twists and turns.

Rosie Lachlan is working at her mother’s bridal shop and recovering from both, a recent heart transplant and an ended engagement. A women’s comes into the shop who also had her wedding called off and the two women decide to become friends.
Rosie becomes connected to Morgan Thorne, the husband of her heart donor and becomes a little infatuated with him. They being emailing on a donor connect service and Rosie realizes he is a famous thriller author. As she learns more about Morgan she finds that many people think his wife’s death wasn’t an accident and maybe he had something to do with it. When another tragedy strikes Rosie finds herself a suspect under investigation and realizes someone may be impersonating her.

The story is told through Rosie’s point of view as well as email exchanges between Rosie and Morgan. There are also email exchanges between Morgan and his best friend where he details his budding relationship with Rosie.

I really thought I had this book figured out but the twist half way through had me gasping out loud! I read about 70% of this book on a plane and finished it in my Uber because I literally couldn’t put it down! This book is a mix of the show You and The Staircase.
If you’re looking for an addictive thriller, love unreliable narrators and shocking twists this book is for you! Cross My Heart is available now!

This book was another great classic Megan Collins read! There were so many twists here and at no point did I actually know what was about to happen. The characters, plot, everything. Just so well written. This author is a fave and continues to not disappoint.

Overall, this was an unhinged, unique storyline where I wasn't sure what was going to happen next. I liked how the book was broken up into different formats and that it didn't feel super predictable. For me, it was just too slow of a burn. I need a bit more tension or maybe to feel like the stakes were higher as it kind of lost me at points. Overall a solid thriller and I'll continue to check out Megan Collins books!
Thank you Atria Books for the copy through NetGalley.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬💭:
Well here’s an awesome thriller with a twisty romance to boot to add to your TBR. This book was insanely good, and so so bingeable! I was absolutely sucked in, and found it so unputdownable.

Thank you @atriabooks for my #gifted copy, and @simonaudio for the audiobook!

𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛📝:
Rosie received a life saving heart transplant, and she forms an obsession with her donor’s husband Morgan. When she messages him via an anonymous service to communicate with your donor’s family called DonorConnect, she is convinced that they are meant to be since she has his wife’s heart.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫 /5. I haven’t been so captivated by a book in such a long time, and this book just got me so glued to the story. With such an interesting concept, it will leave you engrossed as the story unfolds. Once i got to Part 2, I was floored! Talk about insanity and being so delulu. If you like unreliable narrators and a huge mystery with some romance (ish) thrown into the mix, this book is for you. I was happy to have these themes involved in the book i was coincidentally reading for love month. If you’re still in the Valentine’s mood but want a thriller instead, this is the perfect read.

This fast paced thriller was also amazing on audio. The narrator brought the thrill to life with such excitement when the heart pounding events started to unravel. Highly recommend in this format!

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚: 𝘜𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺, 𝘮𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢

This has a thriller movie written all over it! It's part stalker, part romance, and part medical drama. I can't imagine being stood up at the alter and working at a bridal salon is a good thing for mental health, that has to be difficult. I did enjoy reading this and I think most thriller lovers will also enjoy it!

This book was good! I liked it but didn’t love it. I definitely see potential in it and look forward to seeing what else the author does.