This was an incredible story. I absolutely love a good slow burn, enemies to lovers and this author completely delivered. It had an intriguing plot with very likable characters. I’m 100% invested in this story now and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book.

Somewhere between 3.5 to 4 stars because I finished this in a day, so obviously I enjoyed the hell out of it, but I also had some issues.

Lets start off with the good: I really liked the magic system. Especially given the state of the world, one really has to think about the consequences of practicing magic. I liked that it wasn't easy for Rune and how limited she was with its usage.

I wanted to like Rune. I don't hate her. I think Rune was set up really well, but some of the things she did didn't really add up to this bad ass witch vigilante. I wish we could've spent more time with her actually rescuing witches instead of just hearing about past ones. I'm not convinced the Rune we experience in the book is capable of all that rescuing.

I did really enjoy Rune's relationship with Alex and Verity. It was sweet and almost had that kind of found family appeal. Rune's relationship with Gideon needed more time to simmer. I wanted MORE cat and mouse between them. It just went from trying to manipulate each other to love too quickly for my tastes. But also Gideon seems kind of like a meat head and I don't know how I feel about him.

The ending was intense and made up for the fact that I saw the plot twist a mile away. I will definitely be picking up book two simply because I want to see how the new dynamics will be.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press

P.S. Harrow is frigging weird (and kinda sus?) and I really wish her interactions were removed from the book entirely

Sorry it’s taken so long to review this book on here. I totally thought I put my review in. But I’m absolutely obsess. I am Team Rune and Gideon all the way. Also i am obsessed with Moth which is what drew me to the book and I am so glad that i was able to read it. I have a physical copy and plan to do a reread of it soon. I highly recommend this book to everyone and I can’t wait for the next book.

This book was so good, i couldn’t stop reading it. I can’t wait for the 2nd book to come out. The author, Kristen Ciccarelli has outdone herself with this book. It was written so well. I would definitely recommend reading this book!

There’s something about a witch and witch hunter enemies to lovers romance that makes me giddy, but this one was something special. The character development, tension, and betrayals in Heartless Hunter were flawless, leaving me breathless and consuming my waking thoughts. I have no idea how I will make it until the next book is released. My heart is broken with the way that things were left for Rune, Gideon, and Alex. My mind is still whirring with the implications of the last 20 pages. I have no doubts that this will be among my favorite books of the year and am already yearning to reread it.

I don't know how a book can fill me with so much love but also so much pain!! It also didn't help that I didn't realize this was a series so when things started going to shit I was looking at the few pages left and getting very concerned.

First of all, I absolutely loved Rune and Gideon. Getting both of their POVs and seeing how their feelings for each other grew over time and being so vulnerable with each other but also still hiding their darkest secrets. *chefs kiss*

I guessed the twist probably about halfway through but the final chapters of this book were still equally thrilling and heartbreaking.

Absolutely cannot wait for the sequel!

It took me a bit to get into this one - it's a slow burn. But I love witchy books and this cat and mouse chase between the witch and witch hunter was great! I guessed the twist pretty early on but still enjoyed seeing how it played out. Now I'm just bummed I have to wait for book 2!

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy.

This witchy, fantasy romance novel is a great surprise to go into without reading the synopsis.

Rune and Gideon's cat and mouse-esque relationship is very intriguing and captivating. It was a pleasure to read, and a wonderful journey of a slow-burn that I normally did not like. I somewhat did not catch the plot twist, but there are some sprinkles of clues to tie you into the true "foe".

Cannot wait to get into the next book when it releases.

3.5 stars

Heartless Hunter was an intriguing and entertaining young adult fantasy. That first chapter had me invested in the story and I couldn't wait to see how things played out. Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and I really enjoyed the game of cat and mouse between Gideon and Rune. I liked how they kept each other on their toes and also repeatedly thwarted each other. Unfortunately, the transition to more didn't flow naturally for me, but that might be because there was a love triangle element also at play in the story. What kept this from being a really stellar read though, was the last quarter or so of the book. It didn't bother me that I saw most of the twists coming, but the delivery of the reveals was a let down because so much information was thrown at the reader in the end. This greatly diminished the emotional impact those reveals had. The ending didn't make the most sense to me either, but I'm intrigued enough to want to find out how the story ends.

I both read the ebook and listened to the audiobook and thought Grace Gray did a great job with the narration. She was perfect as Rune, but I did find it difficult to sometimes differentiate between some of the characters (for example - Alex and Gideon).

Audiobook Review
Overall 4 stars
Performance 4 stars
Story 3.5 stars

Lots of content warnings in this one, but some of the major ones are: death of loved ones (past), grief, PTSD, repeated rape/forced sexual relationship (past), enslavement and torture (past), murder/death, violence - guns, fighting, cutting/knives, persecution and witch hunt/purging

*I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book. Audiobook borrowed via my local library/Libby*

***SPOILER WARNING***
I think this was a fantastic start to a duology about witches in a unique world with a pretty cool magic system. The author paints a vivid picture that transports you into the heart of this story.

We’re introduced to Rune, who with the help of her friends, saves witches from being purged. She’s hiding in plain sight. She’s desperate to save Seraphine at her late Nans last request, so the only viable option is to seduce the witch hunter that hates her.

The angst and the banter between Rune and Gideon had me in a chokehold. This wasn’t a sprinkle of enemies - these two actually are enemies. But with each of them faking the other out for info it definitely felt more lustrous than love between them. If they didn’t have the cat and mouse game - would they really truly love each other?

I really enjoyed the way in which these witches used magic and cast spells. Especially the unique way in which Rune casts in order to hide.

I know that we are supposed to believe that Alex wasn’t the one for her - but it’s pretty hard to believe otherwise. They were too right for each other, which is why it was super predictable how that would end. For all the waiting Alex did though, I was satisfied with how his last moments played out.

Unfortunately, Verity’s storyline was also very predictable. I think we were fed a little too much information that made me see straight through the plot line. I also felt like some of our characters inner thoughts were a little repetitive throughout the story.

I also didn’t enjoy the pressure Harrow continued to put on Gideon to sleep with Rune. It felt wrong, especially given Gideons past. It made me dislike her character. Hopefully that was the goal.

That cliff hanger was BRUTAL! But in the best way. I felt like the storyline in this book was closed up well and left me excited for what is to come.

I still thoroughly enjoyed this story and will be diving right into the next one as soon as it is available! I highly recommend this to my fellow romantasy lovers.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author for my advanced reader copy.

Heartless Hunter was a fun, engaging fantasy! I love the idea of a witch and a witch hunter love story. I can’t wait to read the second book!

Thanks to the publisher and #NetGalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and I could not put it down. I loved the enemies to lovers to enemies and I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book. The development of this book was wonderful as was the setting, the writing made it seem like you were actually there!

So good. Already a fan from The Last Namsara, but I kept hearing even better things about this book on instagram so I picked it up and I’m so glad I did. It’s part fantasy, part historical romance, all magical.

When a witch who’s hiding in secret, decides to woo a witch hunter to try and find the location of her captured grandmother, they partake in antics and some forbidden sparks of love. Throw in a brother who also wishes to court her and the fact that she’s the notorious crimson moth who smuggles witches out of the country and you have an amazing story. I’m gonna need the next book pronto!

I enjoyed this book. While it wasn’t mind-blowing, it kept me entertained. There were many elements from other YA books I’ve enjoyed in the past, so it felt familiar while having some fresh details throughout.

The magic… system? Rules? I don’t know, we’ll go with “system.” The magic system was simplistic, but I liked it like that. I don’t like magic systems where I need a dang instruction manual to keep track.

The big thing for me is the subject matter. While this is being marketed as YA, there’s some pretty heavy stuff in here. Without giving too much away, there’s a lot of trauma basically every character experiences. Rune has trauma from the people who hate and kill witches, and Gideon has trauma from the witches themselves. (Hence his extreme hatred of them.) It’s in the past, so the trauma is talked about and not completely on the page in graphic detail, but it’s still rough to read. The trauma is vast, and I’m surprised this isn’t marketed more as a New Adult book instead of Young Adult.

This was so enjoyable. Easy to devour, strong FMC. I can’t wait for the whole series. The world building was good and easy to follow.

DNFED at 50%/190 pages

Thank you Netgalley for the E-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the cases of “It’s me not you” because I really lost interest in this book like in January. I have been on this book since December aka two months before it came out and barely made any progress to pick it up which now it’s been out for almost two weeks. I have literally read and finished six books and DNFED three since I started this one.

For the most part it's fine a book but it just is not working out for me. I got the audiobook to see if that would help and that just made it even worse.

The main premise is a game of cat and mouse between a Witch (Rune Winters) and a Witch Hunter (Gideon Sharpe) who are trying to Intel from each other while fake courting each other and possibly fall for each other. So pretty much enemies to lovers which I do like but just couldn’t get aboard on this one.

So if you liked Serpent & Dove which I couldn’t get past the 20% mark, this is for you.

For me my main thing is that I wanted to see Rune as the Crimson Moth more to save other witches not being told that she does and we don’t see it. Yes the main thing should be her trying to save her Grandmother’s best friend but let me see her trying to rescue other witches while Gideon is on her tail.

I’m really not liking the magical system as well since witches have to use menstrual blood if they can’t cut themselves to perform spells. If a witch cut themselves to perform spells it would leave scars on their body which people will know they are witches. Even though fresh blood aka cutting themselves works better than older blood because the spell is stronger with fresh blood.  Also the fact Verity, Rune’s second best friend, knows way too much about how witches operate not to be a witch. It goes beyond being close to them since how sisters were ones. (Side Note: I skipped the ending and I know why she does.  That is still not holding me to finish this book. )

Also the fact it's a possible love triangle with Run and the two brothers Gideon and Alex (Rune’s best friend) that is turning me off as well. Gideon just feels like all he wants to do is find out Rune is Crimson Moth and jump into her knickers.  Alex is fine but I’m going to need him to go ahead and shoot his shot instead of going around the bush with it. I don’t feel like staying anymore to see if he does so I’m just not feeling this one so I’m just going to cut my losses here.

I don't normally rate books that I DNFed but since it was more of a “It’s me not you” case which I just wasn't feeling it but doesn't mean I didn't like it, I'm giving it a three.

I went into this story blind and I absolutely LOVED it. I love a good forbidden, enemies to lovers romance and this one hit all the boxes. Our two MC's are a witch and a witch hunter. Our FMC Rune is a witch, but only a select few friends who are close to her know. Gideon is a witch hunter, on the search of the Crimson Moth and the brother of her best friend Alex. Rune needs to find a suiter, and decides that in order to keep her identity hidden, she should pursue Gideon. Gideon suspects that Rune is a witch, but has no evidence to prove it. He and his second decide that he should respond to Rune's pursuit of him, in order to uncover if what they suspect about her is true.

This was such a good forbidden romance, you can feel the tension growing between Rune and Gideon through the story. It is such a good slow burn! Aside from the romance, the story is so interesting and was incredibly easy to follow. I often don't enjoy "witch" books unless its an element added into a story about something else, but this one was actually very good! I was interested from the beginning and HAD to finish it quickly.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press, and Kristen Ciccarelli for the eARC of Heartless Hunter. Available now!

I really enjoyed this one and can't wait to get my hands on the next one. I've read a few witch hunter, witch romances and this is one of my favorites. I definitely didn't expect that ending!

🌿HEARTLESS HUNTER🌿

It's not often we get a story that has TRUE enemies to lovers. And it's my absolute favorite!

After a shattering revolution, witches have been banned from the city, hunted to purge magic from its walls. Rune, a highly engaged woman of society, is a witch in disguise, who searches for captured witches in order to free them from certain death. But this Crimson Moth finds her match in Gideon Sharpe, the lead witch hunter himself.

This is a masterpiece in Romantasy. The tension, the chemistry... absolute fire. Loved the witch verses witch hunter vibes. Forbidden love. An Unlikely match between main characters that BURN together.

I loved the historical feels, and the scarlet pimpernel retelling style! How this ended was just wow, amazing! Though I was quite angry at a lot of characters (for good reason, you will see!), I liked how it played out, which made me even MORE excited for book two!

So pretty much, this is my kind of fantasy. All I will say is... READ THIS!

Thank you @macmillanusa, @kristenciccarelli
And @wednesdaybooks for my ARC copy!


*Romance- vague open door
*TW- trauma, assault, death,
gore, kidnapping, witchcraft


#heartlesshunter #wednesdaybooks #bookfeature #fantasy #nafantasy #enemiestolovers #witchhunter #witches #magicalbooks #bookreview #macmillian #newauthortome #crimsonmoth #newfantasy #chemistry

This book was very engaging and unique. I loved the magic system. Unlike many books, the magic system had hard limits. There is a definite cost to being able to perform magic. I also enjoyed the world building and gothic imagery. The beginning of the story is heartbreaking. Rune, our FMC, is forced to turn in her grandmother for being a witch and watch her die. She has to live with the guilt, and so, becomes the Crimson Moth and rescues witches from the same fate to pay back her grandmother's sacrifice. Gideon, a notorious witch hunter, starts to get close to the truth about the identity of the Crimson Moth. Rune and Gideon both pretend to date the other so that they can each gain information. As they get to know each other, Rune and Gideon both begin to realize that they might actually be perfect for each other, if only she wasn't a witch and he wasn't a witch hunter.
I struggled some with Gideon and Rune's relationship though. Can you truly fall for someone if you can never truly be yourself? Overall though, I enjoyed Heartless Hunter. Rune's character is passionate and vibrant and somewhat impulsive. I absolutely adore her best friend, Alex, who happens to be Gideon's brother. I am not sure that I ever made it to liking Gideon. He made me mad. I did empathize with him, but it was hard to like him and root for their relationship. I am definitely going to read the next one though. I have to know what happens next.