This is my first time reading a book by this author. With that being said, let me review this book. Rosie was left at the alter. She only wants to find someone to love. Working in the bridal salon also adds some heartache. Plus she needs a heart transplant which she gets. Through donor connect she figures out who her heart is from. Daphne Thorne, married to Morgan Thorne a novelist. She really wants to meet him but there are rumors that Morgan killed his wife. The first half was good. The second half was okay. There is a major twist in this book. I received this book from net galley and the publisher as an ARC for an honest review. I gave it three stars because it was a little to long but it was a decent read.

This was a wild ride from start to finish with a complex FMC. Poor Rosie not only needed a heart transplant, but she was dumped while wearing her wedding dress. Her search for love and who donated to heart takes her on a plot twisted rollercoaster of a ride. Totally enjoyed this book!

Thanks for the opportunity to read!

Rosie just wants to be loved. Her last relationship left her with a broken heart, so broken in fact that she needed a heart transplant. When she starts talking with the donors husband through an anonymous donor site, she also suspects out that she is talking to the famous author Morgan Thorne. The more she learns about his wife and her death though, the more she questions if it was really an accident.

PHEW this book had lots of turns. Honestly, I truly hate to say this word the talking about women, but since these women were fictional….we were dealing with some crazy ladies in this one! Not that there weren’t men that made them that way, and I hated them too, but several of these characters needed some serious therapy! I could feel how desperate Rosie was to feel loved, and I just wanted to jump through the pages and be like girl…you don’t need a man! I did not see the story unfolding the way they did and fully enjoyed this ride!

Thank you to @atriabooks for my gifted copy of this book!

Wow… this book had me so hooked I read it in a day! This was a wild ride I did NOT want to get off. I didn’t know whether to sympathize with Rosie or to try to talk some sense into her, but I’ve settled on a little bit of both. I love a thriller that misdirects the reader and this one accomplished that without a doubt! My conclusion is that the only thing Rosie needs more than love is some serious therapy….

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy. Cross my Heart follows Rosie, a bridal shop manager, as she connects with the family of her heart donor. It is supposed to be an anonymous service but Rosie knows who she is messaging. It is Morgan Thorne, a famous author. Rosie develops a crush, and this starts a chain reaction. I enjoyed all of the references to Friends and Taylor Swift. I thought I knew where this was going, and there was a little twist. I do feel like maybe the story was little rushed. It did have similar vibes to You.

received a complimentary copy of this novel from the puublisher. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

To be completely honest, I wanted to like this novel more than I did. I connected with Rosie, and liked that she befriended everyone she met. However, I felt that the story became too far-fetched and found myself getting annoyed that no one believed her. I kept reading because I wanted to find out what happened and why, but by the end I did not really care. I was surprised by the twists and turns that the story took, but did not find them shocking.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the ARC!

Plot: Rosie got a heart transplant and begins communicating with the widower of her donor. She starts to get feelings for him, but quickly she learns that she may be in danger.

Review:

I loved the premise of this, and I started out the novel super engaged, but by the middle, I felt a little checked out. The writing was fine, but the plot became a little convoluted for my taste. I thought the ending was a bit predictable and not as twisty as I had hoped. But the author blew me away with her creativity, so I am excited to read more from her in the future. I think this novel will be very popular for a subset of thriller readers. I think if you like Charlie Donlea or Carter Wilson, you’ll like this author.

3🌟

Megan Collins is one of those authors who I can always count on for an entertaining thriller, and Cross My Heart is no exception!

Cross My Heart is a tale of obsession, twists, and thrills. Our main character Rosie gives a new and original perspective to the story. Even though Rose makes several cringy decisions, her unlikeability makes the story more interesting.

This book kept me quickly turning the pages and unable to put it down. I did figure out the who but I enjoyed reading along to discover the why. Without giving anything away I will say that the first half and the second half are very different and there is a major twist at the halfway mark.

Cross My Heart is the fourth book I've read by Megan and I can't wait to see what she comes out with next.

Cross My Heart by Megan Collins will be available on January 14. Many thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the gifted copy!

I work with transplant patients and found the premise interesting. The book quickly grasped my attention and it was a speedy read complete with me coming up with several theories. I do think the big real (as it began to happen) fell a little short, however. Either way, i enjoyed this one.

I lost track of how many times I uttered"OMG!" while reading Cross My Heart. The plot of Cross My Heart is a dizzying ride of not just "who dunnit?" but also "why'd they do it?" and "is anybody who they claim to be???" To say Cross My Heart is engaging and engrossing from the first page to the last doesn't really do it justice-there are so many twists you may need a spreadsheet to keep score. I don't think even Sherlock Holmes could crack this case! Well done Megan Collins, very well done.

I seriously couldn’t put this down!! Why?? This has such creepy stalker vibes… so twisted… Obsession…and MURDER… 😳..Trust me… it was a wild ride… everyone is a suspect… The suspense kept ramping up in this game of cat and mouse…. That ending!! 😳🤯 I loved it! 👏 OH..and there might be some Taylor Swift too.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: I can't even lie, this book was a really good time. This is for fans of Freida McFadden, Alice Feeney, rather than like Ruth Ware. This is a fast paced, plot twisty, silly goofy time. There are many times you really have to suspend you disbelief. That being said I never once thought about DNFing this book, I was having too much fun.

Cross My Heart is a unique concept using the idea of organ donation for the root of the thriller. It does use several well known tropes but the plot twists were fun and exciting. There is one about halfway through the book that really threw me for a loop. I loved that the author used mixed media we get several different forms of it such as social media posts, emails, messages back and forth on something called "Donor Connect." Overall this book was really fun and although you will recognize some of the tropes a lot of the mixed media and heart (inside joke if you've read it) of the story will feel new and refreshing.

Read this when you just want a fun ride.

This was a dark, disturbing and totally fun read! A year ago, Rosie had a heart transplant. The anonymous donor was a famous authors' wife. Said famous author may have had a hand in said wife's demise. But enough about that. Rosie has been dumped by a man she thought she would marry. He has moved on. She has not. Rosie wants so badly to be in a relationship and starts to suspect that her donor is Daphne Thorne. She begins some correspondence with Morgan, the author/widower. And then it gets weird. I don't want to give anything away, so just read it. You will love to hate Rosie but feel a bit sorry for her too. She is so sad. I kept thinking I knew where this was headed but was wrong almost every time. Megan Collins was already a favorite of mine and this one just cemented that! Grab it quick! You won't be sorry!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Megan Collins and Atria Books for this much appreciated ARC! All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Facebook and other retail and social media sites upon publication day of January 14th, 2025.

I don’t know how Megan Collins does it, but yet again she’s blown me away. Right from the attention-grabbing beginning of Cross My Heart, the escalating pace easily pulled me in deep. Told through a mixed media format that including dual POVs, the deftly plotted storyline held one heck of a mind-blowing twist that quite literally had me uttering “Wait, what?!” as my jaw hit the floor. You know the kind where you don’t see even an iota of a glimmer of a hint? Well, this was one of those. From there, my reading speed rapidly increased until I had to restrain myself from skimming as I raced through the adrenaline-pumping climax right up until the soul-satisfying conclusion that left one heck of a smile on my face.

The characters were just as dazzling as the stunner of a plot, but Rosie easily took center stage as the best of the best. From her “Rosie-colored glasses” to her expertly crafted character arc, her behavior made me want to shake her but good while also understanding her just the littlest bit. After all, how many of us haven’t been guilty of borrowing those glasses—especially when it comes to love and hope for the future? I’ve surely looked over a shocking red flag or two. Through Rosie’s behavior, Collins created a persona that felt both realistic and over-the-top in a true-to-life way. It also didn’t hurt that all of the supporting characters bowled me over as well.

There was only piece to this psychological thriller that could have been expanded just a bit. You see, I would’ve loved to meet Morgan in the flesh, so to speak. While he had a definite purpose, a last chapter filling in the answers to my few outstanding questions would have been the cherry on top. That’s not to say that not having his unadulterated perspective took away from this novel. Oh no. It was deftly spun perfection beneath one gorgeous cover.

All said and done, Ms. Collins has most definitely done it again. With a well-developed plot, an original narrative style, and a deliciously unhinged protagonist, I was utterly hypnotized from beginning to end. And thanks to a dynamite premise that left me second-guessing EVERYTHING after that first huge, breathtaking reveal, my brain was left playing catch up on a whirlwind ride of never-ending suspense. So if it’s not already obvious, I highly recommend this mind-bending, poignant, unpredictable novel. Crazy with a capital C, you won’t be able to put this book down as you race to discover the who, what, how, and why in this masterful whodunnit. Or whydunnit? Or howdunnit? Or just maybe a bit of all of the above. Rating of 5 stars.

Thank you to Megan Collins, Atria Books, and NetGalley for my complimentary physical and digital copies. All opinions are my own.

4.5. It was so fun to read that I was able to finish in one day. I think my reasons for not giving it 5 stars are just solely based on the elements of the plot. I thought this was a very unique thriller and I would be interested in reading more from this author.

When I started reading this book, I was instantly hooked by the mystery surrounding the murder—who did it, and why? The suspense kept me engaged from the very first page. I loved how the story unfolded with so many twists and turns, keeping me guessing the entire time. Every time I thought I had it figured out, the author threw in another surprise, which made the reading experience exciting.

Yes, there were moments when things felt a bit confusing, but I think that’s part of what made the story so gripping—it wasn’t predictable, and it kept me on my toes. The characters were fascinating, and I enjoyed unraveling their secrets as the plot progressed.

If you enjoy intricate mysteries with lots of twists, you’ll love this book. It’s full of suspense, and even though it’s complex, it’s incredibly entertaining and worth the read!

Really enjoyed the book and would give it 3.5 stars. There were so many twists and turns. At times I had no idea what was really going on. Part Two completely had me guessing everything I previously read and believed to be true. I'm pretty sure Rosie felt the same way. Was Rosie lying about everything? She does have a problem about telling the truth. Is she delusional? Maybe she has some sort of amnesia. Morgan Thorne is not exactly a catch. So many of the women were fawning all over him. I don't know why. The best thing about hime was Sickle, his adorable kitty. I was extremely suspicious of all of the people in Rosie's life, especially Edith, Piper and Nina. I wasn't expecting what really happened between Rosie and Brad. With all the information Rosie and Morgan shared with each other on DonorConnect it wouldn't be hard to figure out the identity of each other. Their whole relationship seemed a bit creepy. I was not expecting the ending and was shocked when the truth about everything was finally revealed. Honestly, I don't think most of the people in the book were playing with a full bag of marbles.

Definitely recommend the book. I enjoyed the characters, story and writing style. It was a good mystery/thriller and kept me guessing until the end. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Atria Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book had layers upon layers of WTF am I reading!

Rosie is an unlucky in love almost 30 year old woman who has been reeling from a bad breakup, and a heart transplant. When she reaches out to the husband of the woman whose heart she has, she finds herself obsessing over everything about him. Morgan Thorne is an accomplished thriller writer, and when Rosie is stalking his Instagram one night, she sees a theory that he had something to do with his wife's death. The theory pulls her deeper into her obsession, and the secrets she unearths are truly terrifying.

This is one of those books you want to go into as blindly as possible, because the twisty turns and reveals that unfold are juicy and unique!

If You by Caroline Kepnes and the movie Return to Me had a baby, it would be this book. Fans of stalkers, obsession and mixed media will love this one!

New life, new attitude is good to have following heart transplant, but perhaps Rosie is taking it too far! The premise is intriguing as the protagonist to start to have feelings for her donors husband. Similar to what they say of a recipient of a stomach transplant starts to crave their donor’s cravings…

Any who it gets to be a little bit weird to start romanticizing someone via an anonymous donor-recipient website, which has mentioned, makes for an interesting story.

It did take me a minute to get into it. I enjoyed the change of perspectives throughout the chapters. As the novel progresses. It did start moving along quickly.

When the first twist happened, it had me for sure. Then, as we approached the ending, it became a little bit predictable, but that did not take away from my overall impression of the novel.

Megan Collins continues to be one of my favorite novelists!

3.5 stars rounding up to 4

Cross my Heart by Megan Collins
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One year ago Rosie had heart transplant surgery to save her life. She has reason to believe that her donor was the late wife of a local author, and she can’t help to become enamored with him.
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What I liked:
-I loved how I thought I knew exactly where this book was going and then it proved me wrong. 😂 Love that books can still surprise me.
-I felt so bad for this poor sweetie. Rosie’s back story was cringeworthy and heart breaking.
-The ending was pretty crazy.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I don’t want to say more, so I’ll just leave things with saying that this book really hooked me and I loved that it went in a direction that I didn’t anticipate.