Our main character Rosie has just received a heart transplant and currently works in her family’s upscale bridal shop. She longs for a fairytale romance and her happily ever after. After a hard break up as well as the after effects of the transplant she is feeling a bit down and decides to connect anonymously, via DonorConnect, with her donors husband, Morgan Thorpe. He is a local author that is a bit of a celebrity in their town. As the messages progress things start to feel a bit ominous.

The story was broken into two parts and part one focused more on the messages and the relationship between Rosie and Morgan. This was my favorite of the two parts as the second was a bit slower in my opinion. This certainly held my attention and while not necessarily believable, it was still a fun read. Rosie made me cringe several times with her actions, but that’s what made the book was Rosie and her questionable decisions.

I enjoyed this and it certainly was a quick read. For fans of psychological thrillers with a little bit of over the top events this would be for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

There's something special about a thriller with an unreliable narrator that leads the reader down a winding path, grabbing for clues, and sifting through fact vs. fiction. Megan Collins does an excellent job of creating a complex character in Rosie, who has just gone through heartbreak, literally and figuratively. With her new blood-pumping heart and her mended broken heart, she finds herself in another situation that puts her to the test.

This book was interesting to me right at the start! It was different than any other stories I've read and I was intrigued! About halfway through it took a turn I wasn't expecting and I started to not enjoy the story as much. 3 stars from me for creativity and unexpected twists!!! Thank you to Atria Books for the ARC via NetGalley!

If you need a book to remind you that being delulu is dangerous, this is that book! 😂

Omg you guys. What a wild ride this book was and I also need you to read it!!

The plot was very interesting. Our female lead Rosie had a heart transplant and she became romantically obsessed with her heart donor’s husband. She started sending emails to him through Donor Connect and that’s pretty much how our story starts! PSA: DonorConnect is not an online dating platform, okay? 😂

After reading a good number of thrillers, you kinda get the formula. And so I love it when a book just surprises me out of the blue!

Honestly, I started with the audiobook and just flew through it so quickly. I love how unhinged and delulu our main character was 😂 And then I get to the end of part 1 and I had to literally be like “wait. What happened?” Then I had to flip back a couple of pages to make sure I didnt miss anything. I love a book that can confuse me without being confusing at all! Haha. The storytelling here was amazing! 😂

I honestly don’t like unreliable narrators and leads that are so frustrating in thrillers and this book had both but I still enjoyed it so much! 😂

The ending was okay, it wrapped up the story so you don’t get left behind with questions after you’ve read this but the best part of this one was thinking you’ve got the storyline figured out until you don’t and I loved it so much for that!! It was so bingeable too!!

This comes out next Tuesday and I need you to preorder it so you can read it and tell me what you think!

Thank you to NetGalley, Megan Collin’s and Atria books for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was an incredibly good read! I was binging this way late into the night; the plot was really twisted and kept me guessing until the very end. Such a good idea for a thriller! Loved it!

The suspense. The twists. The tension.
I received this book in the afternoon and was SAT until the evening to devour this book.

Cross My Heart was full of suspense, tension, and jaw-dropping twists. From the moment I started, I was completely hooked. The story follows Rosie, a heart transplant recipient, who connects with her donor’s husband through DonorConnect and their connection quickly spirals into obsession. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, a new twist blindsided me, keeping me guessing until the very end. This book dives into themes of dependence, toxic relationships, and the lengths people will go to fill emotional voids. I laughed, audibly gasped, and couldn’t put it down, this is a thriller that proved to be utterly unpredictable.

Megan Collins always delivers an entertaining read! This one was extra twisty and I was truly shocked at some parts! She completely pulled the rug out from under me and I loved it!! I really enjoyed the mixed media throughout with emails and how we alternated POVs! The pacing on this book is so perfect, immediately pulling you in and then has you racing to finish so you can figure out what is going on! The main character, Rosie is a complete nut case and I loved it! 😆 She is messy, obsessive, compulsive and addictive! The premise was so interesting to me that a heart transplant patient connects with her donor’s husband. I’ve been involved in harvesting and transplanting organs and it is such a bittersweet moment. So to get this twisted aftermath story was quite a treat! Megan is an autoread author for me!

CROSS MY HEART was one of my most anticipated releases of 2025 and I couldn't wait to dive into it. It met every single expectation and then some. Megan Collins is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors.

Rosie Lachlan simply loves...love. After she receives a heart transplant, she reaches out to the husband of her donor, Morgan Thorne, a local celebrity author. Rosie's convinced she and Morgan are meant to be. As the two speak via DonorConnect, a site created to allow donors' families and the donors' recipients correspond, Rosie starts to fall for Morgan. When she digs deeper into his marriage, though, some disturbing rumors start to emerge.

I was a really big fan of this format! The story is told through Rosie's POV, emails between Morgan and his friend, DonorConnect messages and excerpts from books. Though during the second part of the book, we only get Rosie's POV. The emails were my favorite section of the books. I thought the various formats flowed so well together.

The twists in this book were all amazing. There was one in particular that was JAW DROPPING. I spent a solid 5 minutes trying to working it out. It flipped the entire book on its head and I loved it. Megan Collins writes great psychological thrillers and this one is no different.

Thank you to Atria, Megan Collins and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Rosie Lachlan is in love with love. She manages her parents’ bridal salon, and remains steadfastly determined to find "the one". She thought she had found him. In fact, she even bought a wedding dress..... then got dumped in said wedding dress. Then she had to have a heart transplant because of cardiomyopathy that wasn't diagnosed until she was an adult. After receiving the transplant, she goes on DonorConnect, and begins messaging the widower of the woman whose heart she received. They begin exchanging messages, and she not only learns a lot more about her donor, but she really begins to feel a connection with him. She does some sleuthing and discovers that he is local celebrity author Morgan Thorne. She’s convinced that now that she has his wife’s heart, she and Morgan are meant to be together.. She begins to hear some disturbing rumors about his wife's death, implicating him. She will have to decide whether to continue to pursue this potential romance, or stop all correspondence before she becomes another one of his victims.

I LOVED this book! I couldn't put it down. It was impossible to tell whether or not Rosie was an unreliable narrator, because of all of the strange things that kept happening that were implicating her, and things that kept happening that she didn't remember doing. She was impossible not to like, while at the same time, she was frustrating the way she would latch onto men with the slightest bit of attention and be convinced they were "meant to be". I get the whole wanting to find "the one" I have been there. So that was relatable. But it consumed her, and it was almost her entire identity. The book was told in alternating parts between the main story and then messages on DonorConnect. The mystery kept me guessing, and the suspense kept me on the edge of my seat. If you love a good psychological thriller,, then you will love this!

Rosie is the kind of character I both loved and wanted to aggressively throw my kindle at! She’s so sweet and caring but honestly a bit bonkers at times. When her life gets turned upside down after a heart transplant and a failed relationship she seeks comfort in the husband of the woman whose heart now belongs to her. But when she starts getting too invested in him, things start to go sideways. A fast paced thriller with lots of twists and turns!

Rating 4.25 ☆

Cross My Heart by Megan Collins is a gripping thriller that I could not put down. It has been a while since I have actually not been able to fully predict a thriller or at least have some idea of what direction the story was leaning towards. I have missed feeling like I had to know more, like I had to find out what was happening in the exact moment I was reading, and that book made me feel that.
It's fast-paced, and not too much twist and turns, quite the contrary, The way the book is written (so far, considering it's an ARC) is really well executed. I could feel the eerie vibes from across my screen!

Due out next week, January 14th.
4.5 rounded up

This was a wild start for 2025. One of those books where you're just getting into enjoying the setup and characters and then the author tweaks the perspective ever so slightly and WHAT?!

Rosie had been feeling awful, when her fiancee dumped her after seeing her in her wedding dress. Then quite a bit worse as her health began to rapidly deteriorate. Now, after receiving a heart transplant, life is slowly getting easier for her. She's begun to correspond via a site called DonorConnect, where donors and their loved ones can anonymously message with recipients. She's known that her heart came from a local woman, the wife of an author, though that information is confidential. Now, as they've reached out in email via DonorConnect, some of the things the husband tells her in their emails don't quite match up with the way his wife's death was reported, but Rosie has become infatuated with him, and wants to move forward with meeting him IRL even though some things seem not quite right.

As a transplant RN in my pre-childbearing life, I was so glad that the author went to the trouble of getting things right, from the importance of meds and regular biopsies, to discussing surgical nerve interruption as well as rejection. I love that the reader can learn a bit about why organ donation is so valuable and also that a new organ isn't all that's involved for a recipient.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this one a lot -- it was a little twisty but the writing was good! I especially liked the emails written back and forth between some of the characters. Although I think the blurb for this book makes it sound a lot cheesier than it actually is, the plot was well done and I'd definitely read more from this author. Give it a try if you like thrillers!

Cross My Heart comes out next week on January 14, 2025 and you can purchase HERE.

I've decided there's no way to begin this message that isn't either (1) creepy or (2) awkward, so I'm just going to dive right in to the Creepy/Awkward Pool and hope I don't drown.

One year ago today, your wife saved my life. And it breaks my heart that, in order for me to live, she first had to die.

Actually, I shouldn't say that. I know it's just an expression-breaks my heart—but it feels a little reckless for me to use it. Because, this time, I plan to be careful with my heart. With your wife's, I mean. I plan on keeping it whole.

I don't remember a lot about the day of the transplant. For that whole week, I'd been in and out of consciousness. But I remember the light in the operation room, just before they put me under, so sharp and bright it felt like a slap of sunlight. I remember realizing, then, that it had been months since I'd felt the actual sun on my face, because even before the hospital, before my symptoms, I'd been in such a dark place. From November 16 to that day, May 3, I'd barely stepped outside.

Sorry if that's too bleak or too much. I just want you to know your wife gave me even more than her heart. She gave me light again.
Gave me the reminder that, despite all the darkness I'd indulged, there was still, somehow, sun.

A tangled web we weave when an unstable “Single White Female” plans to deceive! This was a wild delulu ride, very entertaining and that first twist got me! I loved the addition of emails and texts, they made the story all the more Intriguing and twisty.

Cue Taylor Swift’s “Don’t Blame Me” but also… don’t call girls crazy!

Cross My Heart revolves around our main character Rosie who has recently had a heart transplant. Shortly after the surgery she guesses just whose heart she has inherited and her curiosity gets the best of her as she becomes close with her donors husband through a series of anonymous emails. Only she thinks she knows who she is talking to… but does he?

This was a whirlwind of a plot driven guessing game! I could not put this book down. A classic uh oh it’s 2am now and I have work in the morning 🤣 if you’re a girlie who enjoys thrillers you CANNOT miss this one!

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC! Cross my Heart publishes next week on January 14

This one will have you scratching your head halfway through. Told through emails and by Rosie, it's the story of a woman who becomes obsessed with the husband of the woman whose heart she received when her own failed. Rosie first writes to Morgan via a site for donors and donees but she quickly realizes who he is and that he lives close to her. She's been living at her parents' house and working as the manager of their wedding boutique as she recovers from the transplant and from the devastation of being dumped by her fiance. But now she's focused on Morgan and whether he actually did kill his wife as some have suggested. And then.....no spoilers! The second half of this will have you asking what's really happening, wondering about Rosie's mental health (a very fair question) and turning the pages looking for answers. It might get a little implausible in spots but go with it. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This made a great read on a snowy day (and will be just as good at the beach!)

I’ve been a big fan of Megan Collins since THE FAMILY PLOT and still was taken by surprise as she knocked the socks off of me with CROSS MY HEART! The plot twists left me gasping and I adored how such small details gave me a whole horde of goosebumps. I’ll be shouting about this book to everyone I see!

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc of this book. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

First, I love the dedication: "For anyone who relates to "The Prophecy" by Taylor Swift....." This song totally fits the FMC Rosie.

Rosie Lachlan recently had her heart broken twice, once when her ex Brad ended their relationship and then again when her heart physically quit working. A year after receiving her heart transplant, Rosie connects with her donor's husband, Morgan Thorne, a famous author in the area. Rosie, desperate for real love, gets attached to her communication with Morgan quickly and finds herself fantasying about the relationship they could have. However, the more she learns about him, the more she questions if his wife's death was an accident or murder. When Morgan ends up murdered, the police immediately suspect Rosie and she must prove her innocence before it's too late.

I devoured 80% of this book in one sitting. It's a classic "who done it" with some fun twists. Rosie was a bit much and very stalkerish in some instances, but it didn't prevent me from reading the book.

I’ve seen a majority of good reviews and I am curious why but not enough to make myself push through. Also, anyone else have “cross my heart, hope to die, to my lover I’ll never lie” by Halsey stuck in their head every time they see the cover

Is he The One or is more thIan her heart in danger?

Rosie is a romantic, someone who as her friend Nina always says wears "Rosie colored glasses" through which to see the world. Her romantic history however has not been good....she is the perennial dumpee, never the dumper. Her last relationship ended when her fiancé Brad backed out on their wedding day when she was in her wedding dress. She thought her heart was broken, but it turned out that it was actually infected and dangerously enlarged. She was lucky enough to receive a new heart, a donor transplant, a year ago and is working to build back her life. She is convinced that her donor was the late wife of famous local author Morgan Thorne, and through a company which allows organ recipients and donor families to communicate with one another anonymously begins an online exchange of emails with him which convince Rosie that Morgan is The One. Since she also has a history of going a bit overboard early on in relationships (and staying there) Nina counsels her to back off, that a relationship with the man whose late wife's heart is now hers is not a good idea. It doesn't seem like Rosie is going to follow that advice, not even. when she reads online speculation that Daphne's death was no accident. Is Morgan the man Rosie thinks she is, the kind and funny guy who will be her partner for life? Or is he someone darker, someone who might have killed his wife....and might be setting her up to be the next to die?
Cross My Heart is a twisty thriller with a touch of rom-com, featuring a dyed-in-the-wool romantic who thinks she's Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle when she's actually Julia Roberts in Sleeping WIth the Enemy. She's warm-hearted and sweet, but also very insecure and needy (not traits likely to endear her to me). I suspect that most women (maybe men too) have had a period in their life or been involved in a relationship with someone which was more about what you wanted it to be than what it actually was, though hopefully it was a stage or relationship from which you learned some valuable insights and moved on to wiser choices. Rosie hasn't quite nailed that lesson yet. although she has just made a friend who has recently been dumped too and she's trying to help Esther through the painful recovery process. There is humor sprinkled throughout the story to balance out Rosie's growing suspicions and brushes with danger. The plotting is well-paced and Rosie's physical and emotional fragility are a counterbalance to the, well, really odd obsession she develops about Morgan. Once I picked the book up I didn't want to put it down, and although I had my suspicions about different characters there were plenty of turns that I didn't see coming. Readers of authors like Kate Alice Marshall, Lisa Unger and Leah Konen will find Cross My Heart right up their alley, as should anyone looking for a suspenseful thriller lightened by some humor and romance. My thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me early access to author Megan Collins' latest female-centric thriller.