I was very interested in this book because of the premise. A second chance romance, but with a dystopian twist? Sign me up!

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this one the way i thought I would. I was lucky enough to receive the audiobook and eBook, so I switched between both for this book. The book had a lot of potential but unfortunately was not one of my favorites. I found the main characters a bit frustrating, I was loving the beginning of this book, but after getting to the middle I found myself finding the story repetitive. While this one wasn't my favorite, I can see how others may love it! 2.5 stars.

Note: I fully enjoyed the narration on audio!

Heart of the Sun had such an interesting premise as dystopian contemporary romance is not a prominent genre/trope. This book follows childhood friends who meet again as grown ups except their lives split off in completely different directions - one went to prison and is looking for a job to stay out and another is a mega famous pop star. Combine this with an apocalypse and watch the two slowly fall into love with one another.

I really wish I liked this but unfortunately this book was not for me. Although this was marketed as a romance… it felt more like a dystopian novel with a sub plot of romance. The characters especially the main girl and her boyfriend were so insufferable and made it hard to like “Nova” Emily to really want to see her fall in love with Tuck. Especially as she’s does so with her boyfriend still kinda in the picture…

Now for the audiobook narrators they both portrayed the emotions of their characters wonderfully! Annalee Scott did an amazing job as Nova/Emily and André Santana’s acting was great. My one qualm was I felt like André’s voice did not fit Tucks… I was imagining a deeper voice especially as the character is supposed to be a tougher man… and when he tried to mimic the female character I definitely cringed as it was a bit hard to listen to. He still did great but wish they picked someone that suited the character’s voice a bit more!

This book took me on a wild adventure I was not expecting! I was completely captivated and loved every bit of this book!! Heart of the Sun is a journey of friendship, hope, and the power of love.

The story weaves past life with present and how Emily and Tuck have been connected over the years. Their journey takes them from the middle of Illinois through various states back to California. Along the way they are piecing together the possibility of what might have happened when their plane crashed. They meet some interesting characters along the way and I loved the way these interactions shaped their character as they continued on their journey. It was filled with many action packed moments but also sweet tender moments in the inbetween. Tuck was such a softie and just loved his endearing moments with Emily.

The audiobook is narrated by André Santana and Annalee Scott. These two were fantastic voices for Emily and Tuck. I found myself getting so lost into this audiobook and felt like I was watching a tv show. The emotions and longing between the two characters could really be felt in the way they voiced the words of the story.

I was so excited to see another Mia Sheridan book, and knew that I wanted to read it, after loving some of her other books such as Archer's Voice. However, I was not expecting for her to go into a different direction with her love story.

She delivers yet another compelling story with Heart of the Sun, blending a unique survival-driven dystopian world with a slow-burning, deeply emotional second-chance romance. The world-building is immersive, pulling readers into a harsh yet fascinating setting where resilience and hope intertwine. I liked it more than I thought I would once I got my head around the concept.

The romance unfolds at a gradual, almost poetic pace, allowing the connection between the characters to feel authentic and deeply rooted in trust and survival. The emotional depth is signature Sheridan—raw and heartfelt. While the pacing in certain areas felt a bit drawn out, the end result was worth it, making the love story all the more powerful.

Overall, this book is a captivating mix of survival, suspense, and passion. If you're a fan of slow-burn romance set against a dystopian backdrop, Heart of the Sun is definitely worth the read! I read and listened at the same time and appreciated the narrators and dual narration.

I was fortunate enough to receive an early copy from Harlequin Audio, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press, and NetGalley.

When I saw Mia had a new book coming out, I was SO excited. I am a Mia stan and will read everything she writes. I had such high hopes going into this one and was quickly drawn in to the story. Where the story lost me is definitely my own fault. I went into this book blind (all I needed to know was that it was written by MIa), so things started to go downhill for me when we got to the post-apocalyptic stuff.

I was loving the small town, troubled guy with a past and the small town turned big star girl and couldn't put it down. Then it took a turn and it lost me. When I realized what was going on, I went back and read the synopsis and was like "oh, that makes sense." It was also here that I started to dislike Emily. I think I had built this picture of a free spirited girl who is an amazing, soulful singer in the background chapters, so it was hard to reconcile that with the high maintenance pop star she became. Don't get me wrong, I understand they all suffered trauma surrounding the plane crash and witnessing the remains of the area in which they crashed, but her and Charlie were a bit insufferable and it made it hard to get through this section and continue to read the story. By the time things began to change between Tuck and Emily, I just didn't feel at all invested in their story.

When the audio became available for this, I switched back and forth between physically reading it and listening. I loved the duet narration for the audio! Overall, I didn't connect with this story as much as I have with Mia's other books. I'm not sure if she was trying to go a different route with this one, but it just didn't feel that it had her signature stamp to it.

First, let me say I loved this book and haven’t been able to get it out of my head since the minute I finished. The characters and their situation felt so real, I’m struggling to process that it was just a book. Also, I am now hoarding water bottles.

Other than that, I don’t know how to review this book without seriously spoiling it, so I’ll keep it short and highlight the most important things to know when deciding whether to read or buy this one:
- Heart of the Sun is an apocalyptic work of speculative fiction that was 5% what I expected and 95% “WTF”. While it features a love story and some romance elements, labeling it a romance is misleading.
- Read the TWs — there’s a lot of violence in this book.
- The middle dragged a little and could have been tightened without losing impact.

That said, I really enjoyed it and do recommend it to those who enjoy apocalyptic stories.

Audio: The two POVs are performed by different narrators (a must, IMO!). Andre Santana voices Tuck, and Annalee Scott voices Emily. Both are engaging and easy to listen to—I completely lost myself in their performances. The deeply emotional scenes were especially powerful, as their voices carried the weight of every moment, heightening my own emotional response. Absolutely brilliant performances and a terrific audiobook.

𝑩𝑶𝑶𝑲 𝑰𝑵 𝑬𝑴𝑶𝑱𝑰𝑺:
👧🏻👦🏼⛓️‍💥🎶👩‍🎤✈️💥🎒😰😭💕

👍🏻𝑳𝑰𝑲𝑬𝑫 / 💗𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑫: 💗

𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫 𝑰𝑭 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑳𝑰𝑲𝑬:
♡ Popstar + Bodyguard
♡ Slow burn
♡ Second chance
♡ Childhood friends
♡ Apocalyptic setting

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑼𝑮𝑯𝑻𝑺:
This was an incredibly heart wrenching and heart warming story of not only a second chance romance but the goodness of the human spirit. I really loved it 🥹

Emily and Tucker were childhood friends that went two separate ways, only to be reunited after Tucker gets out of jail and she hires him as a bodyguard. When a massive solar flare not only crashes their plane but essentially changes the world as we know it, we see their relationship slowly evolve from survival to what was always meant to be.

I loved the storyline and the details of this book! It’s not often that I’m super interested in the plot outside of the romance but this was AMAZING. I was so dedicated to their journey across the country and I loved how Mia showed us how GOOD humanity can be too, even in the face of such tragedy. I even got my HEA by the end 🧡

Mia Sheridan is hit or miss for me. This was more of a miss. The story was fairly juvenile, and the dystopian aspect just didn't work for me.

I unfortunately dnf’d this read…I felt zero connection to the characters and story. This is such a different genre than her other books so I think I expected more of a love story rather than survival. Maybe I will try it again another time!

This was unlike anything else I’ve read by Mia Sheridan. A romantic dystopian novel and honestly liked it more than I expected. I instantly gravitated towards Tuck and his story. But I have to admit for about 60% of the book I found Emily insufferable. The book focuses on the their journey back to Emily’s parents. I loved how Tuck stepped up and took care of Emily and made it his mission to get her home. Along the way she started to notice that Tuck was still the same person she fell in love with as a kid. The journey lead them to realizing how they always felt for one another.

The narrators did an incredible job of capturing the essence of the characters. I love to do immersive reading and this audiobook really brought forth the movie playing in my mind.

I really enjoyed what Heart of the Sun had to offer. This was one of those upcoming releases I was eagerly hoping to get my hands on, and when I saw the ARC in my inbox, I couldn’t have been more excited!

So, let’s dive in... For me, the standout aspect of this novel is its premise, which offers a unique take on a theme I’ve seen explored in movies, TV shows, and games (raise your hands, Last of Us fans 🙋🏼‍♀️), but rarely in contemporary romance. I loved how the story seamlessly blends romance with survival, giving the love story an added layer of depth. The themes are tightly woven together, and at no point did it feel like a “romance trying to be a post-apocalyptic story” or vice versa. It’s a beautiful love story set in a world where survival is the top priority—and what’s more human than that? Nothing but praise for this premise (also, trying to avoid doom-scrolling about EMPs + solar flares 🙃).

That said, I do have a few notes. I loved almost everything about this story, but there were moments when I couldn’t help but feel that it might have benefitted from being expanded into a duology. The characters were compelling, but more space to develop them would’ve made their journey even more impactful. I wanted more time to dig deeper into their personalities and backstories.

Additionally, I think a dual timeline could have added an extra layer to the narrative and provided more context for Tuck and Emily’s lifelong connection. It would have been fascinating to see glimpses of their past and how it shaped their present.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book—it was a great read—but I did find myself wishing for just a little more. I’m really excited for you all to get your hands on it!

I went into this basically blind. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Little did I know that this would be perfect for the mood I was in. I did an immersion read I had the audio and the ebook. First I loved the narrators. I thought they did an amazing job. I highly recommend getting the audio and doing this one that way if you can. It is a dual narration so they switch off when it is their characters chapter.
It really drew me into the story even more and I sometimes have a harder time with romance audiobooks. This one just worked for me.

The story. It is a post apocalyptic a solar flare happens, and now they have to figure out what to do and kind of like you would in a fantasy book. They have to go on a journey and that’s just you know my kind of book minus this isn’t a fantasy. They were childhood friends now it’s enemies to lovers. He’s an ex-con. She is more of a famous singer. There is one character in this book that I found absolutely annoying and I believe that was the authors intent because it is not a main character so good on Mia Sheridan. You will know exactly who I mean when you met them. I thought the pacing was great. I read it in one setting and could not put it down. I thought the characters showed development throughout the book. This is definitely what I’m going to have to get a physical copy of when it comes out.
Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advanced review copy!