BOOK INFO

Title: Cross My Heart

Author: Megan Collins

Publisher: Atria Books

Publish Date: January 14, 2025

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

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 REVIEW

Rosie wants to find love, and thinks she may have found the right man. Rosie is a heart transplant patient, and starts emailing Morgan, the husband of the woman whose heart she received. She believes Morgan is the one for her, but she starts to hear some disturbing rumors as she learns more about him.

Cross My Heart is told primarily from Rosie’s point of view, but also includes email exchanges, phone messages, and book excerpts. Rosie is an intriguing, though sometimes frustrating character. Her “Rosie-colored glasses” viewpoint is somewhat unreliable. She is a romantic and has a positive outlook toward everything.

Cross My Heart is a well-crafted and suspenseful psychological thriller.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Books by Megan Collins:

1. The Winter Sister
2. Behind the Red Door
3. The Family Plot
4. Thicker Than Water
5. Cross My Heart

BOOK INFO

Title: You Will Never Be Me

Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: August 20, 2024

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

Influencer Meredith Lee didn’t teach Aspen Palmer how to blossom on social media just to be ditched as soon as Aspen became big. So can anyone really blame Mer for doing a little stalking? Nothing serious, more like Stalking Lite. Then, Mer gets lucky; she finds one of Aspen’s kids’ iPads and swipes it. Now, she has access to everything: the family calendar and Aspen’s social media accounts. Would anyone else be able to resist tweaking things a little here and there, showing up in Aspen’s place for meetings with potential sponsors? Mer’s only taking back what she deserves—what should have been hers. 
 
Meanwhile, Aspen doesn’t understand why her perfectly filtered life is falling apart. Sponsors are dropping her, fellow influencers are ghosting her, and even her own husband seems to find her repulsive. If she doesn’t find out who’s behind everything, she might just lose it all. What everyone seems to forget is that Aspen didn’t become one of TikTok’s biggest momfluencers by being naive. When Meredith suddenly goes missing, Aspen’s world is upended and mysterious threats begin to arrive—but she won’t let anything get in the way of her perfect life again.

MY REVIEW

Meredith and Aspen are social media influencers and former best friends. Aspen’s influencer career has taken off and Meredith envies her for it. Meredith gets the opportunity to improve her own social media accounts, and takes it, even if it hurts Aspen. Meanwhile, Aspen’s image starts to fall, and she’s not going to let her perfectly curated life go away so easily.

Meredith and Aspen are both unlikable characters. The story alternates between their two points of view, and it’s hard to choose which one to root for. The story is well-paced, and the influencer storyline is entertaining.

You Will Never Be Me is an intriguing and creepy psychological thriller.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK INFO

Title: Ladykiller

Author: Katherine Wood

Publisher: Bantam

Publish Date: July 9, 2024

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

When an heiress goes missing, her best friend races to unravel the secrets behind her disappearance using clues left behind in an explosive manuscript…

Gia and Abby have been best friends since they were girls, forever bonded by the tragedy that unfolded in Greece when they were eighteen. In the aftermath, bookish Abby threw herself into her studies while heiress Gia chronicled the events of that fateful summer in a salacious memoir.

Twelve years later, Gia is back in Greece for the summer with her shiny new husband and a motley crew of glamorous guests, preparing to sell the family estate in the wake of her father’s death. When Abby receives an invitation from Gia to celebrate her birthday in September beneath the Northern Lights, she’s thrilled to be granted the time off from her high-pressure job. But the day of her flight, she receives a mysterious, threatening email in her inbox, and when she and Gia’s brother Benny arrive at the Swedish resort, Gia isn’t there. After days of cryptic messages and unanswered calls, Abby and Benny are worried enough to fly to Greece to check on her.

Only, when they arrive, they find Gia’s beachfront estate eerily deserted, the sole clue to her whereabouts a manuscript she wrote detailing the events leading up to her disappearance. The pages reveal the dark truth about Gia’s provocative new marriage and the dirty secrets of the guests they entertained with fizzy champagne under the hot Mediterranean sun. As tensions rise, Gia feels less and less safe in her own home. But the pages end abruptly, leaving Abby and Benny with more questions than answers.

Where is Gia now? And, more importantly, will they find her before it’s too late?

MY REVIEW

Gia and Abby have been best friends for years. When Gia goes missing in Greece, Abby travels there to find out what happened to her friend.

Told using alternating timelines and points of view. The present day point of view is from Abby, as she searches for her friend. The past is told from Gia’s perspective through a manuscript she wrote and left for Abby to find. Intriguing characters and an inviting setting.

Ladykiller is a compelling thriller with drama, secrets, and intrigue.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK INFO

Title: You Know What You Did

Author: K. T. Nguyen

Publisher: Dutton

Publish Date: April 16, 2024

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

Annie “Anh Le” Shaw grew up poor, but seems to have it all now: a dream career, a stunning home, and a devoted husband and daughter. When Annie’s mother, a Vietnam War refugee, dies suddenly one night, Annie’s carefully curated life begins to unravel. Her obsessive-compulsive disorder, which she thought she’d vanquished years ago, comes roaring back—but this time, the disturbing fixations swirling around in Annie’s brain might actually be coming true.

A prominent art patron disappears, and the investigation zeroes in on Annie. Spiraling with self-doubt, she distances herself from her family and friends, only to wake up in a hotel room—naked, next to a lifeless body. The police have more questions, but with her mind increasingly fractured, Annie doesn’t have answers. All she knows is this: She will do anything to protect her daughter—even if it means losing herself.

MY REVIEW

Annie’s life unravels after the death of her mother. Her OCD and PTSD return, and the police suspect her in a crime. Her self-doubt forces her to distance herself from family and friends. Unsure of what is real and what is not, she struggles to uncover the truth.

You Know What You Did is told from Annie’s point of view. Annie seems to have a great life, but things really unravel after her mother’s death. Annie is an intriguing unreliable narrator.

You Know What You Did is intense and suspenseful. Recommended for fans of slow-burning psychological thrillers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK INFO

Title: I’m Not Done with You Yet

Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: August 22, 2023

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

Jane is unhappy.  

A struggling midlist writer whose novels barely command four figures, she feels trapped in an underwhelming marriage, just scraping by to pay a crippling Bay Area mortgage for a house—a life—she’s never really wanted. 

There’s only ever been one person she cared about, one person who truly understood her: Thalia. Jane’s best and only friend nearly a decade ago during their Creative Writing days at Oxford. It was the only good year of Jane’s life—cobblestones and books and damp English air, heady wine and sweet cider and Thalia, endless Thalia. But then one night ruined everything. The blood-soaked night that should have bound Thalia to Jane forever but instead made her lose her completely. Thalia disappeared without a trace, and Jane has been unable to find her since.

Until now. 

Because there she is, her name at the top of the New York Times bestseller list: A Most Pleasant Death by Thalia Ashcroft. When she discovers a post from Thalia on her website about attending a book convention in New York City in a week—“Can’t wait to see you there!”—Jane can’t wait either. 

She’ll go to New York City, too, credit card bill be damned. And this time, she will do things right. Jane won’t lose Thalia again.

MY REVIEW

Jane and Thalia became friends during a creative writing course at Oxford. Their friendship ended after a tragic incident, and they haven’t seen each other for years. Jane has been unable to locate Thalia over the years, but now Thalia has a bestselling book, and Jane knows how to find her.

I’m Not Done with You Yet is primarily told from Jane’s point of view. Jane is an unreliable narrator. Unlikable characters and unhealthy relationships make for an entertaining read.

A dark and twisty novel. Recommended for readers who enjoy psychological thrillers with devious characters and toxic friendships.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.