Cross My Heart by Megan Collins @megancollinswriter @megancollinswriter.bsky.social @grshalan #chrisandrewciulla @simon.audio @simonaudio.bsky.social #CrossMyHeart

the setup…
Rosie Lachlan is a heart transplant recipient working at her family’s bridal salon. It’s been a year since the operation that saved her life and she’s been communicating with her donor’s husband through DonorConnect, an anonymous service that facilitates donors and recipients to message each other without disclosing who they are. But Rosie has already figured out her donor was Daphne Thorne, wife of famed author Morgan Thorne. Important to know that right before the transplant, Rosie was dumped by her fiancé while in her wedding dress (she still has it!), leaving her literally with a broken heart. Now, she’s thinking maybe Morgan is the one, even though he doesn’t know who she is.

the heart of the story…
Rosie and Morgan share quite a lot with each other, things one might feel comfortable doing anonymously but not openly. It has the effect of bringing them closer but she has the advantage of knowing who he is. At some point Rosie begins to wonder if Morgan might have had a hand in his wife’s death and begins to probe deeper into his and Daphne’s lives with shocking revelations. Everything turns on its head about halfway through the story with a head snapping change.

the narration…
Gail Shalan was great as Rosie, capturing all of her neuroses, hopes and dreams. She was the character. Chris Andrew Ciulla was also perfect as Morgan, keeping me off balance about whether or not it was his true nature. They both were wonderful storytellers.

the bottom line…
It’s a tale of two stories as the end of Part One had me gasp out loud, questioning everything I thought was true. I was all over the place trying to figure out who did what to whom and why. I should have stuck with my first instincts because that’s the closest I came. But the journey there was quite an experience and had me riveted to the end, all the while questioning the reliability of both narrators. Nicely done!

Book Info

• Release Date: January 14, 2025
• Narrators: Gail Shalan & Chris Andrew Ciulla
• Audio Length: 10 hours, 5 minutes
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

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(Thanks to Simon & Schuster Audio and Libro.fm for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)