Cross My Heart

August 1, 2024

Collins (Thicker Than Water) offers another psychological thriller. Heart-transplant recipient Rosie is convinced that she is meant to be with the husband of her organ donor. But as she falls for him and learns more about his marriage, she starts to wonder if he might have had something to do with his wife's death--and if she could be next. Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2024 Library Journal

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 25, 2024
The recipient of a heart transplant develops an obsessive crush on the husband of her donor in this spine-tingling suspense tale from Collins (Thicker than Water). While using an anonymous email service to message her heart donor’s husband, Boston-area bridal shop manager Rosie Lachlan comes to suspect that the man she’s messaging is famed local author Morgan Thorne. Rosie has always enjoyed Morgan’s novels, but after she starts following him on social media, she begins to fall for him. She develops a plan to go to Morgan’s home and tell him that she received his wife’s heart after she supposedly died of a head injury, secretly hoping that the revelation might spark a romance. Soon, however, her research into Morgan’s past unearths some unsettling dirty laundry in his marriage, and before long, Rosie lands at the center of a murder investigation that requires her to prove her innocence while dodging the real killer. Collins expertly homes in on her characters’ complexities, nailing the way Rosie’s vulnerability gradually slips into obsession. With a pulse-pounding finale and plenty of exciting plot twists along the way, this is difficult to put down. Agent: Sharon Pelletier, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

Starred review from January 1, 2025
Collins, who specializes in fiendishly clever psychological thrillers (including The Family Plot, 2021) outdoes herself here with a jaw-dropping premise that tightens into a deadly cat-and-mouse game. What would happen if a heart transplant recipient were to fall in love with the donor's widowed husband? Rosie Lachlan, who works at her parents' bridal salon, has vast experience in getting her heart broken, both figuratively and literally. After she receives a heart transplant, Rosie uses DonorConnect to thank the donor's husband for her new life. But she has an agenda beyond expressing gratitude. She already has a crush on the widower, Morgan Thorne, a handsome, well-known mystery writer, whose wife died in a fall at home. As the two grow closer, readers will wonder if they're both falling in love, or if one of them is falling into a trap. Collins uses both straightforward narrative and a host of clues from Morgan Thorne's mysteries--from his emails and texts to his dead wife's poems to Instagram posts and a podcast interview--all to keep the reader guessing as to who is the predator and whom the prey. There's plenty of evidence for this being a match made in hell as the two draw ever closer. Collins keeps the suspense at cauldron-bubbling intensity throughout. A bravura performance.

COPYRIGHT(2025) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.