Spoilerish...

Thank you NetGalley, for this uncorrected ebook ARC of 'Cross My Heart' by Megan Collins - expected release date 01/14/2025. This is my 4th Megan Collins book and I just noticed that I've rated them all 3 stars.

'Rosie-colored glasses' was such a cute phrase used to describe how the main character, Rosie, saw life and viewed people around her. She's endured heart breaks + a heart transplant + loneliness, yet she still continued searching for love and friendships. Her tendency to take things too far or misconstrue things definitely made her seem unhinged, rather than seeing the best in people though...

The concept of the book sounded great, I couldn't wait to see how it all played out. While I couldn't connect with Rosie, or any of the other characters, because their relationships all felt off/odd/superficial, the book was still a decent read.

I wish the author wouldn't have had Rosie start that same creepy list thing with Jackson at the end of the book, it would've been nice for Rosie to have moved on from that vibe to start fresh after all the other stalkerish things that came previously.

I didn't see the Blair twist coming and I didn't really like that ending BUT I guess it is another good example of how love can make someone do crazy things (as if all the examples of Rosie's actions weren't enough).

This book made me want to neglect all responsibilities and curl up in bed with Rosie Lachlan. After a heart transplant that was perfectly timed, and her engagement ended in her wedding dress, her life is seemingly out of control. She’s living in the studio apartment above her parents garage, and working for them at the family business.. a bridal store. Connecting with the husband of the women whose heart now lives inside her… why not? The twists and turns kept coming, and I loved them! A good, fast paced read!

I really enjoyed it! A great thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. Suspenseful, and loved the twists.

Cross My Heart is the literal definition of a bingeable popcorn thriller. I inhaled this in 12 hours - and that’s a feat with a five year old and an almost three year old, okay. I truly could not tear my eyes from this book. I “one more chapter’ed” myself countless times because I just had to know what was going to happen next.

I swear, Megan Collins gets better with each book. Her writing more crisp and riveting. It’s like driving on fresh blacktop. Smooth, seamless velvet. Ugh, it’s just so good. And I learned so much about life after an organ transplant from this book, things I didn’t even know about, even with a family member who had a kidney replacement. What strength that takes to accept an organ knowing it will only extend your life for maybe a decade. And every single day of that decade will be a choice to continue to he strong. I cannot even fathom the steel of a person’s soul who travels that path. It is humbling.

Cross My Heart was just fun. It was clever, with twists that made you question the definition of “crazy,” and why women with powerful emotions are often dubbed as such.

I hope you can get your hands on this and read it asap!

"Her face was soft between my palms, but as we deepened the kiss, I felt the shift of her jawbone, reminding me that beneath that soft skin was a skull so easily crushed."

Cross My Heart by Megan Collins is a suspenseful thriller that will leave you questioning what is reality and what was created to tell a story.

I was hooked on page one when Rosie was introduced. The pink hair manager at her families bridal store loves to love more then normal. Almost possessive, obsessive and stalker like. Creating fictional stories to avoid the reality of things in her past relationships. Rosie has a heart transplant and gets in contact with her donors widower wanted to learn more about the woman who passed so Rosie could live. She figures out that the woman's husband is a famous author in her area and starts to dream of a possible romantic relationship with him in the future.
Sleuthing the internet to find out more about him she starts to question if he killed his wife. All while he starts a romantic relationship with a woman named Rosie with pink hair.

The twists and turns this story took was such a ride. I figured out some of what was going on early on, but that last twist 🤯 I did not see it coming! It was an easy read and book to dive in to. Highly reccomend for anyone looking for a good suspenseful thriller!!

*My copy of Cross My Heart was provided by NetGalley and Atria Books for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Cross Your Heart had an interesting plot, but I didn't love the execution. I enjoyed the drama, and I did enjoy the ending of the book, but I found the characters hard to follow, the pacing slow, and the story was a little too unrealistic for me. I don't mind having to suspend belief in thriller books, but this one didn't really work for me.
I appreciate the chance to read and review, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity.

This fast-paced thriller has such a unique storyline involving a heart transplant, one woman’s “love” infatuation, and her obsession with it. Rosie loves-to-love TO THE EXTREME, and after her transplant using the heart of famous thriller writer Morgan Thorne’s wife, she becomes obsessed with him. Two things to know in this scenario.. some people think he killed his wife, and is Rosie a murder suspect or the next victim? I loved the crazy twists, the guessing, how distorted and twisted it became, and the added bonus that some is also told through emails and texts. Excellent. 5 stars — Pub. 1/14/25

I received an arc copy from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Cross My Heart was extremely creepy. I didn’t know who to trust, who to believe, or who to root for!

3.75 stars

This was a wild ride! Rosie works at her parents' bridal shop and is obsessed with love and weddings. More specifically, her own love story. In fact, she already has the perfect bridal gown...but no fiance. She was planning her future wedding, but that relationship ended with a thud. Now, Rosie has recently undergone a heart transplant and her donor's husband has reached out to her via the donor portal. Although anonymous, she quickly figures out that she is messaging with a well-known author named Morgan, and she becomes his biggest fan. Yet, there are some mysterious circumstances around his wife's death, and now that she has been given this woman's heart, Rosie needs to find out the truth. There's no way that charming Morgan could have been involved in her accidental death, could he?

This novel features several women who are nuts, yet Rosie takes the cake. On one hand, she is sweet and caring - she even comps brides' wedding gowns whenever she can. However, as she reveals more about her past with men, she seems more and more unhinged. Then, something happens with Morgan and the blame shifts to her. Although she is certain she wasn't involved, her actions look suspicious and Rosie begins to play detective. She questions everyone she's been in contact with lately, and feels that she can't trust anyone (herself included!). I was truly shocked by a twist in Part Two, yet the final chapters were over the top. Either way, I enjoyed the ride while simultaneously feeling stressed over Rosie's every move!

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! This book publishes in January 2025!

We follow the POV from our MC, Rosie, who hasn't had much luck in love (an understatement) or really in life. When Rosie falls in love, she really becomes borderline obsessed. Her last relationship really sent her over the edge to practically a mental breakdown. She started having weird things happening (shortness of breath, tightness in her chest, etc.). Because her symptoms were chalked up to the mental distress she was in, no one knew that she had a heart issue until it landed her in the hospital. Rosie ended up receiving a heart transplant. A little while later, she was connected to the husband of her heart donor via an anonymous website (DonorConnect) that connects the transplant recipients to the families of donors. She figures out who her donor's husband is based on the clues in their email conversations and develops somewhat of an obsession with him. She learns he is a writer named Morgan Thorne, who she happens to be a fan of as well. She starts to dig into his past and wonders if he could have had something to do with his late wife's death.

I don't want to say much more than that to not spoil the twists and turns this book takes. This type of story has been done before, but sometimes it's not the what but how you do it. This book was well written. It was written in such a way that it had me thinking one thing until 50% through and then threw a major curveball at me. 

This book had me hooked from the beginning. I found myself looking forward to picking it up to figure out what was going to happen. Was it a little outlandish, yes? Did I love it? Also, yes.

A story of obsessions, trauma, healing, drama, and romance. This book really has it all.

Thank you, Megan Collins, Atria Books, and NetGalley, for the ARC of this book.

Megan Collins is such a great author and I was so excited to be approved for her novel. This did not disappoint! This kept me on my toes all night and I had to finish!
Thank you to the publisher for allowing me advanced readers copy.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I started this one (especially since I never learn my lesson and usually go into books blind), and what a wild ride this one was!!!!

after reaching out to her heart donor’s spouse, rosie goes a little off the deep end to get to know morgan 😅 and right from the start, I said to myself “this girl is obsessive” as she started to dream about having a whole life with a man she’s never met….

I was absolutely invested in this train wreck of a story, as I knew it was only going to get worse before it resolved! and boy was it a hot mess express 😳

I will say that the plot twists were a bit predictable and I did guess them all far before the reveal, but I also chalk that up to me simply reading so many thrillers… I did binge the entire story in two days as I couldn’t look away from the unlikable characters, the messy relationships, and of course the whodunnit mystery

thank you to netgalley and atria books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! this one’s out next year!

rating: 3 stars
wine pairing: sonoma coast chardonnay

This was my first read by Megan Collins. I really like her style of writing. This book felt pretty fast paced while reading. I overall story was really good, I was engaged throughout the entire read. I was a little annoyed with the choices of the main character, but in the end it wrapped up pretty good and I did not see the ending coming. I loved that multiple twists that there were and thought it worked really well with the story.

I LOVED this. I had no idea where this was going. I loved the drama and tension and all the characters.

Wow! I was not prepared by how many twists and turns there were in our storyline! I predicted some of them, but the way this book was written - fast-paced, detailed - made reading about them much better than what I pictured when predicting it. I loved our unreliable narrator Rosie and the entire story’s premise was a hit from the start. Will definitely recommend to anyone looking for a suspenseful read! 4.75/5

Thank you Atria Books for the ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

Cross My Heart has love, obsessions, stalking and TWISTS! You might think you understand who loves who and who is obsessed with who and who is stalking you, but you don't! Rosie has struggled with heart-break and heart issues, but thinks she may have found her soul-mate, but does her soulmate know?! And what exactly are all of the other characters roles or motives in her life? The author brings a variety of characters together in ways that you can't predict. This was a good read, and a good story!

#CrossMyHeart #NetGalley

SYNOPSIS
- Rosie, a heart transplant recipient, uses DonorConnect to anonymously connect with her donor’s husband, Morgan.
- Rosie works at her parents’ bridal salon, and she lives an apartment above her parents’ garage. She has had a bit an ✨interesting ✨dating history. She loves love & relationships, and she wants to find her person.
- Morgan is a famous author. His wife, Daphne, was a poet, and she died about a year ago.

MY THOUGHTS
- OMGGGG that was so good!!
- Realistic & well-developed characters.
- Loved the different perspectives. We get Rosie’s POV, the DonorConnect messages between Rosie & Morgan, emails from Morgan to his friend (which are more like diary entries), a few voicemails from Morgan, & excerpts of Daphne’s poems.
- Expertly plotted & paced.
- Satisfying ending.
- Impossible to put down. Lots of infatuation, obsessing, & unhinged behavior.
- At times, Rosie reminded me of Joe Goldberg in You, but why was I also ready to fight for her?! My girl was delulu, but I loved her still.
- Unreliable narrators everywhere.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️READ THIS ASAP!! OMG SOOOOO GOOD.

Thanks to Atria Books & Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchanges for an honest review. This book will be published on January 14, 2025.

This was soooo good. I could not put it down. Loved the twists and turns. Lots of surprises. And the ending - chef's kiss!

really surprisingly great thriller from Collins! i didn’t expect it to have such an emotional layer to it, and that’s really what made this book strong for me - i found myself really resonating with Rosie and her issues with relationships. the story itself is fast paced, bingeable, and a unique premise, but it’s definitely the characters that set it apart from an average thriller.

Heart transplants that come with a whole lot more. Cross My Heart written by Megan Collins brings a suspenseful story with twists and confusion, perhaps too many. A woman with pink hair and an obsessive personality has a heart transplant after a break-up. Slowly we learn all the things she did prior to getting sick and it shows she needed help to cope better with the curve balls being thrown at you each day. Fast-forward to learning her heart came from the wife of a famous author, and she died under somewhat strange circumstances. Collins brought in so much drama with double identity and hidden agendas, it became hard to follow when two characters, in some ways, had the same name. Readers can keep track of it, but you still want to know what's really happening. So I found myself both loving and not loving the plot. Otherwise it was a good read, just not clear/clean enough to match the author's prior caliber. Will continue to read more from her tho.