Cross Her Heart

A Novel

By: Sarah Pinborough

Narrated by: Antonia Beamish

""Sarah Pinborough is about to become your new obsession.""—Harlan Coben

The New York Times bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes returns with a twisty, hair-raising psychological thriller about a single mom, her daughter, and her best friend, the secrets they hide, and the danger they can’t escape.

Lisa lives a very quiet life. A single mother nearing forty, she devotes herself to raising her sixteen-year-old daughter, Ava. Wary of men, Lisa doesn’t speak of her past or Ava’s absent father. Her best friend Marilyn wishes she would open up more and maybe finally go on a date—with the sexy new client who’s obviously keen—but Marilyn has problems of her own.

Ava is getting tired of her overprotective mother. She wants to live like a normal teenager—chill with friends, go to swim practice, study for exams, have a boyfriend. Her mom would freak if she knew that Ava’s already got someone special, someone who makes her feel sophisticated—and wanted.

Lisa has spent a long time looking over her shoulder, but lately she’s been especially uneasy. Small things from the past have begun to appear in the present, feeding her anxiety. As her life begins to unravel, Lisa knows that the only way she can protect herself and her daughter is to face her fears. Yet courage won’t be enough. She’ll need help from the only person she can trust—Marilyn. Between them they have to save Ava, and to do that, they have to be honest with each other. Truly honest. Marilyn did promise she’d do anything to help.

But a long time ago, Lisa made a promise too. Then she broke her word. And that betrayal hasn’t been forgotten—or forgiven.

Now, someone is going to make her pay for her sin.

Didn't see that coming

The way this starts off allows you to believe its a fairly predictable domestic thriller. It is not. I didn't see the plot twist coming at all. If you are at all sensitive to swearing this probably is not the novel for you. Personally, i dont mind it. However there are parts of this novel that pertain to graphic enough child abuse. Some parts were a little hard for me to listen to. Although i do see how it was essential to the story. Overall this was unique and twisted. It wasnt very believable but i dont read fiction novels for the believability. I liked how it explored the concepts of redemption and complex relationships. Very twisty, turning, shocking. This was definitely worth a credit.

Wow!

Pi borough comes through again! Lost sleep to listen as this story was that engaging. Behind Her Eyes was the first I’d read by this author and it was one of the best thrillers I’d read; her genius continues with this story. It isn’t often I find a book that I don’t guess the end of but this author delivers!

Frustrating

Too hard to distinguish the mother speaking from the daughter. The voices are the same.

My new favorite author!

I love all of the books (3) that I’ve read/listened to so far. Behind Her Eyes is my favorite but this was amazing too!!! Love love love!

Unfortunately Forgettable

NO SPOILERS REVIEW! I loved Sarah's first book, Behind Her Eyes but Cross Her Heart was not so great. Her first book was so unique and considered a psychological thriller even though the plot was very much paranormal. I guess I expected this one to also have paranormal elements, but that’s not the case and not why I didn’t love it. I hadn’t expected the paranormal aspects with Behind Her Eyes yet there it was, which is why I loved it.

This book is a straight up mystery and a straight up psychological drama thriller. There are some mysteries to be unfolded but the story is just ok. It's been only 3 days since I finished it and I'm already having a hard time remembering the story so with that in mind, it just didn't stand out.

If you like stories about complex relationships this would be a good one. Some may have difficulty listening to the parts involving child abuse. It should have been placed with the psychological thrillers instead of suspense.