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I love an unhinged character story arc, but I thought the dialogue in this one was far too unrealistic, and many characters were insufferable. I think I would have liked this more if the story went darker and MORE unhinged, calculated, or if the reader and characters were all being duped and the MC wasn‘t unhinged or delusional at all. The unrealistic, junior-high-crush-I-daydream-about-being-something-more-unhinged didn‘t really do it for me.

This must be my year of reading books where everyone in it is batshit crazy. Everyone seems slightly unhinged and people just accepted it. This novel was fun, but I wish not every character so off kilter.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I let the spin wheel pick my next read and it picked a thriller!

I liked the inclusion of emails within the narrative. They broke up the story well and gave me a glimpse into who Rosie and Morgan really are and what motivates them. This one definitely kept me guessing; everytime I thought I had something figured out something else would happen. I liked the narration in the audiobook; having two narrators for the two main characters gives each their own personality and made the audiobook more enjoyable.

There was A LOT going on here: is our main character a little too obsessed with the husband of the person whose heart she now has? Did that husband have anything to do with his wife‘s death? Is there something else entirely different going on? This book will give you whiplash, but if you just go with it it‘s quite entertaining. Worth a listen! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book was so convoluted I could hardly follow it. A woman gets a heart transplant from a woman who died and then connects with that woman‘s husband. There are four other women involved in this, most of whom seem to have no identities beyond what their connections to men give them. This whole story…pretty implausible. All the characters…pretty bland.

My March #bookspin and #doublespin picks!

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@TheAromaofBooks

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It‘s my March #bookspin pick!

@TheAromaofBooks
#bookspinbingo

This was a very entertaining psychological thriller about Rosie, a heart transplant recipient, who is obsessed with the donor's husband. The despair some feel after being dumped and their deep desire to find someone else is central to the plot. The book reads a bit like a rom-com until about midway, at which point there is a surprising twist and the thriller aspects become obvious. I really enjoyed the book. Thanks to Edelweiss+ for the ARC. 4/5!

4.25⭐
•This audiobook started with the author assuring us that the pets depicted do not come to harm, which I found awesome. I had just finished another book and worried throughout if anything would happen to the dog. It was nerve-wracking, and not in a good way. This one took me for a ride, and it was an interesting take on the donor-family/donor-recipient relationship concept.
• Gail Shalan and Chris Andrew Ciulla performed the narration well.

I didn't care for the first half. Yes the first 50%. The second was great. It made the first better. I almost DNFed this book because I don't like to read other people's messages or text in books but held out. It was great for the last half. I figured out a lot of it but not the killer.

Full review:
https://lsmoore49.blogspot.com/2025/02/cross-my-heart-by-megan-collins.html

This thriller is a fun one. The author injects enough question marks to make it believable without veering into silliness. I thought I saw where it was initially going and was glad to be proven wrong. It does have a bit too much of women fawning over wedding dresses for my taste (I‘ve never understood that), but that‘s a small thing.

The organ recipient getting involved in the donor‘s family‘s life is an enjoyable trope for me, so it was no surprise I rated this highly!

Rosie is a romantic and when she loses a long-term bf, she‘s heartbroken. But she finds out she‘s developed cardiomyopathy, too, and needs a transplant. Her donor is the wife of a local author. She starts corresponding with him by anonymous email, but his wife‘s death may not have been an accident. #aardvark

Could having someone‘s heart cause you to feel what they felt?

The book gets very tense and good even though it was slow for the first half of the book.

It will have you trying to figure out the mysterious author, the murders, and how Rosie fits into all of this.

A good psychological thriller - stay with it!! P4/5

https://tinyurl.com/ysspbheu

@megancollinswriter

I never wanted to put Collins‘ 5th book down! With an engaging multimedia aspect from emails, DonorConnection communications & texts, Rosie‘s story hooks you in & provides some gasp-inducing twists along the way! A year earlier, Rosie received a heart transplant & knows the identity of the donor via her nurse BFF. This sparks Rosie‘s obsessive side as she learns more about the state of the emotional damage that her new heart had sustained. Twisty!

Book mail #2 #aarkvark

💙📚💙REVIEW IS UP!💙📚💙

📚📚QUICK THOUGHTS📚📚

⭐️Love Rosie and her ambiguities!

⭐️ A good guessing game.

https://reecaspieces.com/2025/01/15/cross-my-heart-by-megan-collins-bookreview-a...

I recently discovered Jordaline Reads on YouTube; she‘s a queer horror book tuber. She‘s inspired me to branch out into trashy genre fiction. So I got this book about a woman obsessed with her heart donor‘s widow. The plot is totally ridiculous but that is the point. Such a guilty pleasure! #aardvark

Rosie Lachlan, a heart transplant recipient, becomes obsessed with her donor‘s husband. The creep factor on this one was high and I loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC.

Phew! January Aardvark Book Club books are live. I was able to snag a signed copy of Reformatory. I'm excited to read it. And I also picked the new Megan Collins.

#aardvarkbookclub

A woman has a heart transplant and she meets the donor‘s husband a year later. She begins to have feelings for him, but what happened to the wife to make her heart available?

I'm giving this 4 stars because I enjoyed this thriller but I had a few frustrations as I read.
For one, I could put this book down and not be drawn to it. Second, I got really tired of the women's identities being found in their relationships with men. I get that was probably the point! Overall good twists and turns.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for an ARC in return for my honest review.
Book 83 of 2024

1/17

A good psychological thriller.

Was it Rosie‘s imagination or did she think the transplanted heart she received from Daphne Thorne had her falling in love with her husband?

The book gets very tense and good even though it was slow for the first half of the book - stay with it!! P4/5

@megancollinswriter
@atriabooks
@simonandschuster