I enjoyed this book very much, I liked all the main characters and it definitely surprised me with the revelation in the first part of the book, Lisa really wasn’t who I thought she was. The description of abuse and the description of what happened to Daniel was quite harrowing and heartbreaking. It is due to the well written story and well developed characters that I cared so much and felt so sad for poor Charlotte and Daniel.

Brilliant. A thriller where I couldn’t see the twists in advance - I thoroughly enjoyed this. Well written and grasped me from the start.

Cross Her Heart is a dark thriller which touches on some disturbing topics but it is a well written book which really had me turning the pages, After a traumatic childhood Lisa is living a normal life with daughter Ava and life plods along for them both but they are both keeping secrets from each other,and when those secrets are exposed one day their lives are torn apart.A great read full of twists and turns with an excellent ending but if you don't like strong language and subjects which might offend you then this is not the book for you.I enjoyed it and u a definite 4 star thriller for me.

Absolutely fantastic book! So many twists and turns and kept me gripped right up until the end. I’d definitely recommend

Absolutely thrilling ride when you read this book! It makes you think about your judgement of people and I loved it. Highly recommended #NetGalley #CrossHerHeart

This is the first time I’ve read anything by Sarah Pinborough and certainly won’t be the last. I loved her style and the way she wrote. It was easy to immerse yourself into the chapters of this storyline. They were short and punchy. It made breaking down the reading and twists that happened a lot quicker than often you find in much longer chapters. I found it easy to feel like I was living in the storyline and as such after recently reading some intense thrillers, it made a refreshing change.

There are several fascinating storylines in there from spousal abuse to loyalty of friendship...and of course don’t forget the abduction and murder!!

My only criticism, and it is not really a criticism, is that I felt it ended quite abruptly. I enjoyed the epilogue, as it tied the loose ends up, but without giving too much away, I really would have liked to have read a couple of chapters after the last scene. So much time in the beginning was spent setting the scene with co workers, work parties, clients etc. that when the social media’s aspect kicked in delving into Lisa’s secret, we saw the continuation of her character being torn apart by comments made by colleagues and assumptions based on the media frenzy. I would have liked to have seen something about how the social media corrected the horrific way she was portrayed whilst wiping the smugness away from those like Penny.

The short wrap up of storyline has left it possible for the characters to be further used in the future, if Pinborough decides to do so.

Albeit a shorter ending than I personally would have like, I did enjoy the book and would recommend to others. I wouldn’t say this is an earth shattering must read, but I will certainly look out for other titles in Sarah Pinborough’s name to add to my collection.

I have since heard after finishing this, that it did not meet up to the expectations after “Behind Her Eyes”. I’m keen to purchase a copy to see the dramatic difference between the two books that everyone is taking about.

Thank you to NetGalley UK, Harper Collins UK, Harper Fiction & Sarah Pinborough for the e-ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

The plot was interesting - a woman with a secret from her past, whose family is suddenly thrown into the limelight threatening the life she has built up since.
I found this book rather hard work to get through, with too many characters weaving throughout which was rather messy and the ending was somewhat disappointing.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

4 Stars from me

Much like in Behind Her Eyes, Sarah Pinborough has created another tale with lots of strands of storylines that all delicately pull together.The relationships that play out between our main character, Lisa, her best friend Marilyn and client Simon are just lovely, really tangible, thoughtful and believable feelings shine through. In fact, it is the connections between the characters throughout all of the strands which make this book shine.This is one of those books you just don't want to put down and I think it would be best enjoyed as a binge read - maybe a holiday read or a weekend where you can hunker down just lose yourself in a great book.

Synopsis: Lisa lives for her daughter Ava, her job, and her best friend Marilyn, but when a handsome client shows an interest in her, Lisa starts daydreaming about sharing her life with him too. Maybe she’s ready now. Maybe she can trust again. Maybe it's time to let her terrifying secret past go. Then her daughter rescues a boy from drowning and their pictures are all over the news for everyone to see. Lisa's world explodes, and she finds everything she has built threatened. Not knowing whom she can trust, it's up to her to face her past to save what she holds dear.

This is my first touch to Sarah Pinborough work and I can say, I enjoyed this book. It is kind of messy, but it ends up kind of well after all.
It has a slow entrance and I find it difficult to go deep in the book at the beginning (or should I say first quarter of the book). And these multitude time periods definitely not worked for me. We have ‘now’, then ‘after’, but this ‘after’ is before ‘now’. The first time I read the ‘after’ chapter I was truly confused. And that’s not everything. We have ‘him’, ‘her’, ‘1989’ and ‘before’ chapters. Along with all this mess of tenses we have 3 main points of view - Lisa’s, her daughter Ava, and her best friend Marilyn. It is pretty distracting. You just go into the story and some of these before-after-now chapter pops up and you can realise where exactly to fit this fragment.
I had a problem with the emotions this book should bring. There are lack of them. No peaks or accumulation of tension. The twists are mostly mediocre and showed just like this - like nothing happened. Really missed the tensity. Otherwise, the plot is beautifully and slowly built with flashbacks that complement the story and show us the full picture of the events.
Lisa is a single mom of 16-year old teenager Ava. There is something burred deep in her past that causes her to look behind her shoulder after every step she makes. Ava is her opposite. A careless young girl, part of the local swimming team, with all that teenager's tremors filling her heart and thoughts. And like every one else on her age, she doesn't find chatting with a stranger in social media disturbing. No, it is new, thrilling, and interesting. There is Marilyn, Lisa best friend, and she has her own ugly secret. And this is as much as I can share from the plot without spoiling.
I was hooked up with Lisa's dark secret and misty past. But for my disappointment, the secret is revealed soon after the starting of the book, so there is almost nothing to keep you reading. The slow unfolding of the events give us a good perspective for what exactly happened in the past. Although mostly of the twist are quite predictable and I know what will happen at the end of the book, I was curious how Sarah Pinborough will present the events and how she is going to lead the reader to the final destination. *Also, I sus out the truth behind Lisa's past.* And that ending! Seriously? The most interesting and catching part is left with open ending. I was racing across the pages to reach the moment of the police catching the evil-minded. And full descriptions of that actions. But no! Who needs them anyway? Disappointment.
Anyway, I saw so much hyped reviews and people are talking so enthusiastically for her previous book 'Behind Her Eyes', so I think I should give it a try. I liked her style and writing manner, the story is interesting, but predictable and I don't like to know how the book will end when I'm at 50% of it. But keep reading, it would pay back, because the way she develop the plot and it is interesting, really.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All the thoughts are mine!

This book has you hooked from the beginning with plenty of twists and turns to keep you gripped until the last page. I couldn't put it down at all until it was finished.

4.5 stars

This is my first book by this author I will have to check out her other books.

I enjoyed this story it is told from Multi POVs it goes back and for from past to present but it does have a lot going on I would say it was a slow build up but it kept me turning the pages trying to figure out what is going on. It has a twist's. Well written.

Great characters I enjoyed them all. good story.

Dark, gritty thriller - highly addictive – I felt quite manipulated by the author! Each chapter is written from the perspective of a character. Everyone has secrets to keep: Lisa, daughter Ava and best friend Marilyn. I enjoyed the ‘time jumps’ – the past giving explanations to the present.

The first shock is at less than a third into the book. Characters you’ve originally ‘bonded’ with, change; characters you suspect of sinister backgrounds turn out to be innocent people ‘getting by’ under daunting circumstances. There are plot twists and red herrings all over the shop! It was really interesting to have my opinion change throughout the book (hence the manipulative feeling).

It includes heartbreaking issues of neglect and abuse – and the resultant damage to people and how they can become easy prey for other abusive personalities.

A few stretches of the imagination are needed to enjoy this book; the main one being that I personally feel that no-one could pass as 22 and 40 years old at the same time… However, overall – life stops while you read this, (but almost negatively so). Parts of the story were so depressing, yet you had to keep reading. Glad there was a ‘recovery’ at the end or this would have been too bleak by far – but I’m sure the author was tempted! A good, but gritty read.

Single mother Lisa and her teenage daughter Ava have secrets. This is not unusual – teenagers often live very secretive lives for a variety of reasons. In Ava's case her thoughts are consumed by sex, and it's obvious she is infatuated by a Secret Someone with whom she communicates on the internet. Is she being groomed? Lisa is hiding from someone unpleasant, possibly violent, from her past, and this is the secret she keeps from Ava, and everyone else.

That, basically, is the premise of this latest novel from Ms Pinborough.

So, what have we got? A book in which each character takes a chapter, telling us their story as it happens. I've not quite reached the point at which I will give up, but I'm close to it. The characters are stereotypes: Lisa, nervous, needy, twitchy and oh-so-scared of anyone discovering her past; Ava, just sixteen, self-absorbed and with little else on her mind other than sex, whether it's talking about it or doing it – but reading about Ava and her obsession is tiresome. Marilyn is Lisa's best-friend-at-work, always rescuing her from difficult situations, Lisa's “rock”.

Add to this some really odd writing: “....Marilyn smiles and gives him a shrug, pupils as the teacher arrives, but I'm already walking away.......” I think I know what the author is aiming at, but that middle bit is just a bit weird. The popular flip-flop time hopping is also employed, and quite frankly, I'm becoming just a bit fed-up of it; this once-novel way of constructiing a novel has worn thin.

Will I continue with this? I doubt it. I didn't care for the other Pinborough book “Behind Her Eyes” but thought I'd give her one more chance. It doesn't work for me. The author is, apparently, a successful writer of YA fiction, and this one, I think, fits into that category rather than Adult fiction.

I was glued to this. It is s fantastic fast paced thriller I would recommend this book to anyone. Wasn’t a big fan of her last book but loved this one.

I really races through this book with all its twists and turns. Lisa has a secret she can't reveal to anyone, particularly not her daughter, who has secrets of her own..
Must admit there was more swearing than I am comfortable with but guess it fitted in well with the characters.

I listened to this on audiobook.

Having previously read and enjoyed some of Sarah's other books especially Behind Her Eyes, I was very excited to lose myself into this book.

It has been a thrilling journey, very fast paced and such a great story which kept me engaged from start to finish.

The characters were all very well written and developed and I enjoyed getting to know them all, also liked how the story was told from different characters as it gave a different insight to the story.

Absolutely brilliant and I can't wait to read/listen to more of this authors books in the future.

Starts like a teen romance thriller - quickly shifts gears, picks up the pace and delivers plot twists like a sucker punch. Well worth the read but not for the faint hearted!

I’ve read a few domestic thrillers that really sucked lately, I’m pleased to say ‘Cross Her Heart’ was not one of them. It’s the utterly gripping, emotionally charged and believable story of three women whose lives are not what they make out. It uses the multiple narrator technique (which often I dislike) to good effect and has multiple twists and turns, a couple of which left me open mouthed with shock. To give much more of the plot away than that would spoil it, but there is a lot to enjoy here, although it should probably come with multiple trigger warnings. The only disappointment for me is that it lacks the crazed mind-fuckery of the ending of Pinborough’s previous book ‘Behind Her Eyes’. ‘Cross Her Heart’ is in many ways a better book, the emotional side of things in particular is really well handled here, and it ends up feeling like a satisfying, mature thriller that wraps itself up very neatly in the final chapter. I worry though that the sheer brilliance of ‘Behind Her Eyes’ is something that Pinborough will struggle to achieve again, it’s certainly hard to see how one writer could pull such an audacious trick off twice, and that it will cast a shadow over her future work.
That’s something of a downer ending to this review, so let me turn it around again by saying it’s a great book and you should read it (and if you haven’t read ‘Behind Her Eyes’ read that too!)

Brilliant read, really enjoyed it. I had guessed who Katie was towards the end, but really that was inevitable, and there were a lot of false leads along the way to fool you. Very gripping read, and would highly recommend.

Felt this was a little predicable after the secret was revealed and also l had to re read the explanation of who was who as it was rather confusing and a magicians house - just a bridge to far for me - l found it a light unchallenging read