Book Review Wednesday: Cross My Heart by Megan Collins

 It's been a minute since I read a hardcore thriller so when I was deciding my next book after the Fourth Wing series, I knew it had to be one that would satisfy that urge. Ever since reading The Family Plot by Megan Collins, she's become one of my favorite thriller authors so when I got an ARC of her latest novel, Cross My Heart I knew I would be in for a treat. 

Cross My Heart was published on January 14th, 2025 so yes, I am a little more than a month late but it was worth it. This was one of the most interesting book plots I've ever read and had the hairs on the back of my arms standing up more than once. 

If you need an interesting, thoughtful and thrilling book to sink your teeth into, that isn't predictable or too gory, Cross My Heart is that book.

Publisher's Summary

She has his wife’s heart; the one she wants is his.

Rosie Lachlan wants nothing more than to find The One.

A year after she was dumped in her wedding dress, she’s working at her parents’ bridal salon, anxious for a happy ending that can’t come soon enough. After receiving a life-saving heart transplant, Rosie knows her health is precious and precarious. She suspects her heart donor is Daphne Thorne, the wife of local celebrity author Morgan Thorne, who she begins messaging via an anonymous service called DonorConnect, ostensibly to learn more about Daphne. But Rosie has a secret: She’s convinced that now that she has his wife’s heart, she and Morgan are meant to be together.

As she and Morgan correspond, the pretense of avoiding personal details soon disappears, even if Rosie’s keeping some cards close to her chest. But as she digs deeper into Morgan’s previous marriage, she discovers disturbing rumors about the man she’s falling for. Could Morgan have had something to do with his late wife’s death? And can Rosie’s heart sustain another break—or is she next?

My Thoughts

This was an odd book and I don't know if I was expecting it to be so strange. The summary sets it up in a way that you don't realize what is happening at the core, you just know that a heart transplant patient is going to find the husband of her donor.

What I wasn't expecting was that Rosie is a little cuckoo! Sure, you might know that from the summary since she thinks her and Morgan are meant to be, but when you dive deep you see how nuts she really is. It was a little off putting, to be inside someone's head who seems so unstable because it makes it a little harder to root for them. But, once you suspend reality, it becomes easier. 

The first half of the book was a little slow, and I was getting slightly bored because it felt like the same thing was happening with every turn of the page...until you realize that what you thought was true simply is not. There is a wrench thrown into the middle of the plot that was not what I was expecting, but that's what Megan Collins does best. 

She takes a creepy story, takes you on a journey you think is familiar and then pulls the rug out from underneath you. From that point on, I was hooked and couldn't read fast enough. New villains come out of the woodwork, and Rosie starts to stand on her own two feet, even if she can't see it quite yet. 

The hits just kept coming and without spoilers I can say that no one will see the ending coming. Even if you read between the lines, like all good thriller lovers do, I doubt you'll recognize what's coming. 

Rosie is a complicated person who loves deeply and Morgan is...well, I'll let you figure that out for yourself. 

Cross My Heart wasn't my favorite thriller ever, but it definitely held my attention and put me in the mood for a scary story.

xoxo
B