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Review with Spoilers for Cross my Heart

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My Review with Spoilers for Cross my Heart discusses this suspenseful book about toxic love that’s a new January 2025 release. How do you feel about (fictional) obsessive heartsick stalkers? I’m here to reveal all and help you decide if this suspense story is for you. Let’s discuss it!

Review with Spoilers for Cross my Heart by Megan Collins. The book, which shows hands typing on a laptop, on an indigo blue background

Jen’s Quick Take on Cross My Heart

Original photo collage with a pink haired woman and the cover of Cross My Heart by Megan Collins, which features hands typing on a laptop in an eerie neon light
  • Cross My Heart is a twisty suspense story that also has an amateur detective element
  • It’s a story about obsessive love (I can’t go into many details without spoilers, which will be under protection below.)
  • I wished the plot had been pared down just a little to give the story more psychological depth, but maybe that’s just me. Her fans seem to love this one!
  • And is a VERY well-known suspense author shaded in this book? Maybe that’s just me again. (I will discuss that below because it’s not a spoiler.)
  • To be published on January 14, 2025 by Atria Books. 320 pages. Thanks to the publisher for the advance copy for review.

Review with Spoilers for Cross My Heart by Megan Collins

The initial premise of Cross My Heart was so intriguing:

A patient with an IV in their hand lies in a hospital bed.

Rosie, a young woman who just had a heart transplant learns, through a friend who works in the ER, that her new heart might have come from Morgan Thorne, a popular thriller author.

So cool, until Rosie is on Thorne’s Instagram and sees comments from people wondering if he killed his wife.

Right off, I was getting ALL the Verity vibes.

But Cross My Heart wasn’t really like that. Heavily plot-driven with some surprising reveals, the book seemed more like a defense of the “crazy in love” woman.

My next prediction was that the book would veer into the horror lane

I thought maybe Rosie would start suddenly feeling and acting like Morgan’s late wife, Daphne. Even Psychology Today says that organ donor recipients can experience personality changes. But … no.

At its heart, this book is really a wacky murder mystery

Rosie is an unconventional detective who tends to become obsessive about guys. And it wasn’t the heart transplant. She has a long history of changing her personality to get and keep guys.

Were authors Riley Sager and A.J. Finn shaded in Cross My Heart?

Another character describes Morgan Thorne, the thriller author character, as a male author who “appropriates women’s voices and stories.” This character mentions that Morgan uses his gender neutral name to make readers think he was female.

This 2017 Wall Street Journal article called “These Male Authors Don’t Mind if You Think They Are Women, discussed Sager, along with fellow male thriller authors S.J. Watson and A.J. Finn.

Screenshot of an article called These Male Authors Don't Mind If You Think They're Women

There is a quote in Cross My Heart and this article that are VERY SIMILAR.

Cross My Heart says: “[Morgan] didn’t have his photo on his book or website, and his bio didn’t use any pronouns. It’s a disgusting sales grab.”

The Wall Street Journal article says: “Is Riley Sager a woman? The author’s gender-neutral name won’t answer the question. Neither will the author biography on the book’s back flap, which avoids male or female pronouns, or the book-jacket photo, which is nonexistent.”

Cross My Heart says: Women made this genre what it is. Gillian Flynn with Gone Girl, Paula Hawkins with The Girl on the Train… so when readers see someone named Morgan writing thrillers about women, they’re going to assume the author is a woman.”

The Wall Street Journal article says: “Female authors like Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) and Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train) have been leading this booming genre in a realm dominated by women readers. The problem for men: some fans doubt the authenticity of the female narrator’s voice when it is delivered by a male author.”

Hmmm…

Maybe the shade is on Finn, as he has been accused of some shady stuff, like this and this.

Okay, that’s all I can say without spoilers so the rest of the review will be be spoiler protected!

SPOILERS BELOW! To protect readers who HATE being spoiled you will need to click on the blue “Show Me” box below and log in with a Grow account, Facebook, or Google. By doing so, you will be added to my email list and receive weekly updates about new books! For more information on why I protect my spoilers, please read this post! If you are having any issues check this tutorial OR leave a comment below as I want to help!

Review with Spoilers of Cross My Heart

Well. My main question is: how many lovesick, obsessive women can be in one book? And the answer seems to be many!

Here are all the things that happen in Cross My Heart:

  • Rosie has a long, flirty exchange of anonymous messages with Morgan, facilitated through the donor organization.
  • Rosie also proceeds to stalk Morgan on social media at his favorite coffee shop and spy on his conversations with his best friend, Blair.
  • Morgan sends long emails to Blair, in which he describes meeting Rosie and falling for her.
  • But Rosie still has a bad feeling about Morgan. She meets Piper, a woman who was close with Daphne, Morgan’s late wife.
  • Piper says that Morgan was terrible to Daphne. He appropriated the tragic story of her sister’s death for his book.
  • Morgan ends up dead
  • Rosie gets blamed, as Morgan has a pink hair in his hand (and her hair is pink)
  • But Rosie insists she’s innocent AND never met Morgan in person. What?
  • She didn’t! A recently dumped bride-to-be named Edith (who met Rosie at the bridal salon she manages) was ALSO obsessed with Morgan (obsessive woman #2). Inspired by Rosie’s advice to change her hair after a break-up, she dyed her hair pink and staged a meet-cute with Morgan.
  • But Edith is innocent too. What?
  • At this point we are running out of suspects in Morgan’s murder (we seem to have forgotten about Daphne’s.)
  • Who is left? Piper and Blair!

Cross My Heart by Megan Collins Ending Explained

  • Blair was the killer of both Daphne AND Morgan.
  • Though Blair had a girlfriend named Vanessa, she’d long been obsessed with Morgan (obsessive woman #3.)
  • She tormented Daphne by claiming that Morgan was writing a sequel to the book that stole her tragedy
  • They fought and Blair pushed Daphne, who hit her head on the bathroom vanity.
  • Blair fled and Daphne died.
  • Then (after trying to kill Rosie once) Blair decided to confess her love to Morgan. When he rejected her, she killed him. Then she tried to kill Rosie, but Rosie survived.

For me, this was just too much obsessive love AND too many women obsessed with a man who was famous but a terrible person. (What was that song that said “a crush is just a lack of information?”)

While Cross My Heart was a little too wacky for me, if you are a fan of books like You by Caroline Kepnes, you might love it!

Check out all the New January 2025 Thrillers and Mysteries

Graphic for New Mysteries and Thrillers for January 2025

About Jen Ryland

Over 12 years of book blogging and reviewing, I have read over 1500 books. A fair and honest reviewer who loves book discussions, I'm here to help you find a book you'll love to read AND give you a place to talk about it and ask questions.
Find me on Instagram and Pinterest as @jenryland!

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