Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced reader copy. This novel comes out tomorrow, 14 Jan 2025!
This one kept me on my toes. This was a case of "what the heck is going on?" and trying to put the puzzle together. There was one reveal about 60% way in that made my jaw dropped and I did not see it coming. It changed my entire theory and I had to go back to my suspect list to re-analyze. All in all - I really enjoyed this one!

This book captured my imagination and just would not let go! Rosie and her heart transplant held me mesmerized with her quirky, not quite to be trusted character, her desire for love and her complete dedication to finding love in the most unlikely person, the man whose wife donated her heart. This story was head-spinning in its twists and I had no idea what to expect next from either Morgan, the author that Rosie is obsessed with, or from Rosie or even Blair, Morgan’s best friend. The plot moved along at a breakneck speed and the surprises barely gave me time to get used to one new thing when another eye-opener came along. I enjoyed that Daphne, the deceased wife, left clues about her death in her published poems. Following the clues was fun but could not always be trusted either, but the poems were well-written and added to the macabre tone of the plot. Filled with red herrings and characters who were realistic but not completely trustworthy, this book is one not to be missed by those who enjoy twisted thrillers, a quest for love and suspense that builds and does not disappoint either in chills or thrills or murders.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16th CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

I received this arc a while ago, and I have no idea why I waited so long! I absolutely loved it and read it in two sittings.

The book starts with Rosie, who received a heart translate. She begins to communicate through a donor app with the husband of the women she receives the heart from. She starts a connection and then starts to research going down the rabbit hole. From there, a lot of mysterious things begin to happen including the accusation that the husband killed the wife. I was racing to finish each chapter to see what would happen next. There are themes are obsession, delusion,

I absolutely loved Rosie. I loved all her flaws and was truly rooting for her. She felt so honest and raw. I also loved the mix of emails to give different POVs clouding the mystery even more. Some twists really had my jaw on the floor, while other were more obvious but that did not take away from the book at all. But it’s not just about the twists, the author does a good job adding layers of complexity that make the whole thing so engaging.

The first half of the book is more thriller, while the second have starts to put everything together.

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley. This book comes out tomorrow. Run to the bookstore tomorrow!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
❤️ multiple story-telling formats
❤️ single POV
❤️ single timeline
❤️ stalker thrillers
❤️ wide variety of characters
❤️ long chapters

Thank you so, so much to the author for the note at the beginning informing us that the neither the dog or cat in this story are harmed ❤️❤️❤️ I will not read any animal cruelty so I was so thankful to not have to worry about the animals the whole story!
I was really intrigued by the description of this one, as it’s a little bit different than the normal stalker thriller 😬
I loved that there were so many story-telling formats in this one!!! Narrated story-telling, dms between the 2 main characters, comments on social media posts, emails from one of the main characters and his (female) best friend, texts between many different characters… this just adds so much to the story and makes it so much more fun to read! The author even wrote poems!!! She obviously put so much effort into making this a really enjoyable book, and boy did she succeed 🩷🩷🩷🩷
Ok WOW!!! I thought I had an idea where this book was going but those TWISTS AND TURNS!!!! What an enjoyable read!! The ending was a little obvious if you know anything about anything 🤪🤪 but it was still a super fun journey of trying to figure out the killer.

“Um… Miss ma’am!?!?” This was me, page after page, trying to reason with Rosie Lachlan. Spoiler alert: she didn’t listen. And honestly? I loved every second of it.

Rosie Lachlan is giving off serious Joe Goldberg energy, and no one can convince me otherwise. She’s delulu (or should I say *passionately optimistic?*) when it comes to love, and her latest obsession - local celebrity and thriller author, Morgan Thorne. Here’s the kicker: Morgan is the widower of the woman whose heart now beats in Rosie’s chest. Yes, you read that right—Rosie received a heart transplant from Morgan’s late wife, who died under very suspicious circumstances.

The two connect through a donor messaging site, and what starts as an innocent exchange spirals into… well, a completely unhinged ride. Rosie isn’t content with just winning Morgan’s heart (literally and figuratively); she’s determined to unravel the truth about his wife’s death. Is Morgan the grieving husband he seems, or is there something darker lurking beneath the surface? The more Rosie digs, the messier—and more thrilling—the story becomes.

Rosie is an absolute riot to follow. Her inner monologues and daydreams are both hilariously naïve and endearing. You root for her because she’s so earnest, even when you’re shouting, “Girl, please! Get a grip!” She’s a perfect mix of lovable and exasperating, and her journey is one you can’t help but devour.

Speaking of devouring—I tore through this book in one sitting. Once Part 1 ended, there was no stopping me. The twists come at you fast, and the story doesn’t let up. It’s a wild, whiplash-inducing ride in the best possible way. My advice? Go in blind and buckle up.

The tagline of this book hooked me, and I’m glad it did because I loved it. So many twists and turns and new information dropped all the time. Rosie was a completely sympathizable but unreliable narrator. She’s so fixated on finding love that she goes way overboard sometimes. At times, I didn’t even know what was real. If she was going crazy or if I was going crazy! This book was a wild ride right until the very end.

This was my first Megan Collins book, and I definitely recommend it! Thanks to Atria Thrillers for the arc.

4⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy of Cross My Heart.

Rosie has just received at heart transplant and has connected with her donor’s husband online through DonorConnect. Through the conversations they have she starts to have feelings for him. She is also able to figure out who he is and that he is a famous author. She also sees online that people think he killed his wife so she starts to do an investigation of her own.

This book was so good and literally had me guessing until the end. I did not see any of the twists coming at all. I really enjoyed the characters and the writing style. This was a really good thriller/mystery!

This was my first book by Megan Collins and it certainly won’t be my last. This book kept me up past my bedtime to finish it last night. The plot twists at the end, I did not see coming. Unexpectedly at the edge of my seat from the start. A book to put on your TBR in 2025.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. One can always count on Megan Collins for quick, twisty, fun reads that top the genre of domestic suspense.

Cross My Heart by Megan Collins is another phenomenally written story that will suck you in.
High on my most anticipated reads of 2025! And it definitely delivered!
This one had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.
The characters are intricately developed, and their complex, flawed natures make them all the more relatable and intriguing.
This book had fantastic characters and a plot that kept me guessing.
Collin’s has brought a cleverly plotted and compelling new mystery with unique characters and truly surprising twists.
An absolutely riveting, well developed psychological mystery from the creative mind of Megan Collins.
She never disappoints!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an Advanced Reader Copy

Thank you to Atria Books, Megan Collins, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I wanted to love this, and for the first 50% I did! It started off with so much potential I was really interested. Then it went a little downhill, I feel like the author ran out of steam. The beginning was amazing, the plot was interesting, the characters were unhinged but likeable, the writing was great. Towards the middle and end it seemed rushed and less thought out. The twists were predictable and lacked any real excitement. Some were so unrealistic that I lost interest briefly. The ending was boring in my opinion, I think there could have been a better way to end that. I did love the transplant storyline and whose heart it was. I found a lot of this book to be really repetitive and it could have been shorter with the same impact. There was also some quotes I enjoyed and highlighted to future reference.
I’d say this was 3.5⭐️.

Definitely a popcorn thriller. I will say I didn't expect all the twists...maybe 2 outta 3, but I was surprised by one and I enjoyed the information about heart transplants

I applaud Megan Collins's take on the "crazy girl" who really was just crazy in love. Love certainly has the capability of bringing out the best (and worst) in us all.

Although I found the plot to be pretty predictable, and the end to drag a little with repetitive themes, I appreciated the aspect of taking a new look at the ones we call "crazy". There were lots of girls girls in this book and that's a concept I can get behind any day. F the patriarchy 😇 (IYKYK)

DonorConnect isn’t meant to be a dating site—but someone should’ve told Rosie Lachlan that! After surviving a life-saving heart transplant and being left at the altar in her wedding dress, Rosie is struggling to embrace her new life. Drawn to the mysterious connection she feels with her heart donor, Rosie becomes determined to uncover more about the woman who saved her life but she soon begins to suspect that there might be more to her death than what everyone has been told.

Cross My Heart by Megan Collins took me by surprise with its unexpected twists and turns! It’s a heartfelt and captivating read that’s definitely worth exploring.

I would like to thank Atria Books & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

A well crafted and well written thriller. The author does a fantastic job of blending humor and creepiness. I love how the plot line is written partially from the protagonists POV and the email correspondence. This was a roller coaster ride!!
♥️The dog is the book is an Australian Shepherd so points for that!!♥️
I want to express my gratitude to the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

I so related to Rosie. The way she felt about her breakup brought back a lot of memories and feelings. I could feel her desperation. I loved that she watched Gilmore Girls to get thru it. The author really hit it home. "It comes down to a simple truth: it's easier, sometimes, to be miserable in love than it is to be alone." "People say that phase, start over, like a new start is even guaranteed. Like there's always someone out there who's definitely going to love you. But what if you're stuck at the end of the last finish line? What if your time runs out, and in the end, you're stuck with only yourself?" We get multiple POVs in the story with Morgan's being done by emails which was a good tool. There is a big twist about half way that made me want to go back and re read the first half. The mystery kept me guessing. Things get wrapped up at the end with one open thread, does Rosie find happiness with another. I like to think she does.

Thank you to Atria Books for the ARC of this novel!

I’m not usually a mystery/thriller sort of girl, but the premise of this one intrigued me immediately so I gave it a shot and boy am I so glad I did. This one was a WILD ride. I read it in one sitting cause I couldn’t put it down. There were so many twists; each time I thought I knew where it was going, something new was revealed and it shattered that prior expectation. In particular the reveal at the end of the first part shocked me (IYKYK). By the time I got to the final 30 pages or so, I could predict the final reveal (hence the 4 stars rather than 5), but I still was impressed enough by the earlier twists and found the ending satisfying enough that it didn’t bother me.

I enjoyed the incorporation of the emails between Rosie and Morgan and Morgan and Blair, especially the way they factored into a major plot point later. I also enjoyed the little Taylor Swift references scattered throughout the novel! Although I seem to be the in the minority on this one, I found Rosie compelling and *mostly* endearing (minus the stalker tendencies, of course).

I’m going to have to check out Megan Collins’ other books! If they’re anywhere near as gripping as this one, I’ll be in for a real treat.

I have read most, if not all, of Megan Collins' books, and they have NEVER EVER disappointed. In fact, I think her books keep getting better and better. "Cross My Heart" is no exception.

Rosie has had a rough couple of years. She falls into a deep depression after a terrible breakup. While battling her depression, Rosie begins to have some pretty significant health issues, and everyone attributes it to her declining mental health. After some time, it is actually determined she has cardiomyopathy and needs a heart transplant. Over the next year, she begins to heal both mentally and physically. It has helped moving back in with her parents for additional care and going back to work at her family's wedding dress shop.

When Rosie's best friend, Nina, reveals she thinks the heart donor was the wife of Rosie's favorite author, Morgan Thorne. With this seemingly innocent revelation, a twisted series of events rapidly unfolds. Rosie begins to talk to Morgan via DonorConnect, an anonymous way for an organ recipient to talk to the family of the donor. She finds it so easy to talk to him, partly because she is anonymous to him but knows who he is. She knows a lot about it. Will this come back to haunt her in the end? And what about the rumors surrounding Morgan's wife's death she keeps seeing as she dives deeper into the world wide web to know more about Morgan?

Let me just say this....I gasped at the end of part one. I would do that many more times throughout the book. I loved the use of multiple POVs, emails to push the plot further, and the deeply hidden twists. The use of strained and sensitive relationships I think really helped with the twist, at least for me anyway. I honestly thought I had it all figured out....just to find out I was really, really wrong. Also, as a heart warrior myself, I knew instantly I wanted to read this book. I definitely could feel the rawness of Rosie's emotion in dealing with her delicate health, not only with herself, but with her loved ones as well. Megan did an amazing job portraying the range of emotions that can come with this, which is not easy to do. Such a great read!

This was riveting! There were so many quotes in this book that spoke to me. Have you ever compromised so much of yourself in a relationship to where you didn't even know who you were anymore? I know I've done that, and our FMC Rosie has too. Always giving all of herself, wearing what her friend Nina calls her "Rosie colored glasses" to describe how she sees the best in people while overlooking the flaws & obvious red flags of those around her. She just wants to find love and when she finds out that the donor of her heart transplant was the wife of one of her favorite authors, Morgan Thorne, she can't help but reach out. She wants to learn more about the person whose heart is now beating in her chest & more about the one, Morgan, that loved it. As she gets closer to Morgan, she has to wonder about the unusual circumstances in how his wife Daphne died.
Is she getting closer to danger or to her happily ever after? Def enjoyed reading this.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for my eARC of Cross My Heart by Megan Collins. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

I really enjoyed Cross My Heart by Megan Collins. We're following Rosie, a heart transplant recipient, who is communicating with Morgan, the husband of her heart donor and local author celebrity. Things become complicated for Rosie when she becomes determined that she and Morgan are meant for each other--and rumors begin circulating that he may be the reason for his wife's death.

This thriller was a nice quick read and kept me wondering what was going to happen next. There were a few twists I saw coming, but also some that I didn't see coming. I liked the unreliable narrator we got with Rosie. That's one of my favorite tropes and Collins did a good job with this. There were several characters that we were following but I didn't have an issue with keeping up with who was who. I also appreciated that we got the backstory of our character and felt like I understood motivations, etc.

If you like thrillers, mysteries, and unreliable narrators, this one is for you. I definitely recommend it.

Thanks Atria!