I had pretty high expectations for this book even though I hadn't read anything from this author before. I think a lot of people will love this. There's good chemistry between all of the characters, and the enemies to lovers is done well. I do wish a little bit more of the world had been fleshed out more, but overall I think this was a great introduction to the characters & world.

I stayed up until 3:30am on a work night to finish this book. I loved every sentence of this. Kristen Ciccarelli is already an author I've been following and to have her write this??? That I get to read??? Absolutely superb. Rune was a very likable main character, and I loved her friendships with Verity and Alex. I've read some books lately with "enemies to lovers" story lines in them and I haven't believed a single one. But this one? I believed this one. I loved that they were both clever and outsmarting the other one. I loved that both of them really deserved to be called smart, and Rune's ability to act was a great detail.
I liked that while Alex did obviously have feelings for her, none of his anger at her being with Gideon seemed to stem from jealousy, and seemed to be more like actual concern. He wasn't whiny, and didn't sit back and sulk. He was an active part of the narrative, and he was so much more than just the best friend love interest that doesn't get the girl.
Now, the other friend. Verity. Let me tell you the audible gasp that I let out when the ending started to come together. Knowing that Alex didn't kill Cressida and that she had taken on Verity's body? Iconic.
I am definitely going to read the next book in this series. Rune and Gideon are so much fun to read about, and I can't wait to see how they find their way back to each other, and I'm really really excited to see how Rune and Cressida get along now that she knows what she did to Gideon.
I am really excited for the next one!

Thank you PRH Audio and Penguin Teen for my review copies. All Opinions are my own.

I'm a sucker for morally grey characters, so this was a treat. BUT that said, I'm not a romantasy fan. And this is exactly that kind of book. There's not much of a plot to this story but there is a lot of angst, pining, and a lot of "should I' and "I shouldn't scenes." I really enjoyed the whole Hunter and the Hunted theme, and Rune pretending to be someone she is not, while doing shady things at night. There's a lot of that enemies to lovers tension that will build a huge fan following. And I loved that the end wasn't ... ugh spoilers, so I'm stopping here.

If you need just some character banter, pinning, angst, looking but not touching, etc.. You'll enjoy this one.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for the opportunity to read this title in exchange for an honest review.

What I enjoyed:
- Tropes: This was a TRUE enemies-to-lovers. The FMC was forced to hide her identity and pretend to be silly and dimwitted to not only outsmart the MMC, but the rest of their prejudiced society.
- Fast-paced plot. No dragging moments or info-dumps
- Unique magic system. The witches use blood for magic. This is most easily acquired by carving into their skin.
- Chemistry between the MCs
- Supporting character relationships were dimensional

What didn't quite hit the way I wanted it to (strictly personal preferences and nothing inherently wrong with the story):
- World-building. I was a bit confused by the government system. However, I thought the explanation for why the witches were disliked (by the MMC at least) was sufficient and appropriate given his history.
- The magic system, while entirely unique, is also inconvenient and I had a difficult time suspending my disbelief whenever the FMC actually used blood for spells. Although I must say that how she acquired blood (when it was forbidden and dangerous to carve herself) was smart! I was impressed with her ingenuity.

I'm definitely excited to read the sequel!

My first major ARC was anything but a disappointment! In fact, I think I have found a new favorite!!!
Heartless Hunter is the first book in the "Crimson Moth" duology and revolves around Rune who is a witch living in a world where her kin are hunted and killed if they are lucky to receive such mercy. And Gideon is a witch hunter...too bad this cat wants to play with his mouse. Also, that ENDING??? *emotional damage* I need book two ASAP!!!!
Easily a five star read for me.

Romantasy is my favorite genre, and this book delivered on all the key things in the genre that make me enjoy it so much. The romance was great and the fantasy setting was engaging. The two fit together in a way that didn't detract from either element and the plot was great.

My favorite part about this book was the characters. Every character was so well developed and nuanced. I love morally grey characters and enemies to lovers arcs, and I felt that this book delivered on those promises. I enjoyed their backstories and how we learned more about the characters as the book developed. I enjoyed how vulnerable Rune and Gideon were with each other. I was really rooting for them the entire book. Given the vast differences in their beliefs, it's difficult to see how they can overcome those, but I'm also very excited to continue to see them work through it in the sequel.

I also really liked the setting and the world building. In particular, the way witches function in this book was unique compared to other YA fantasy books. The magic system of this book was thought out and explained well. I appreciated the hard magic system with consequences to using powerful magic. It made the system more interesting. Sometimes fantasy books can make me feel like I'm getting weighed down by the world and having to work hard to understand the setting. I did not feel that way about this book! Everything was understandable and engaging.

How am I ever going to wait for book two!?! That ending was absolutely incredible and I was shocked.

The Heartless Hunter was a quick, fun read. Did I love it, no, but I liked it. Would I buy the book? No. Would I recommend it? Sure, if I think the person would enjoy it. Will I read the second one, probably.
I didn't connect with the characters and I didn't quite find them believable. I wish there would have been more development between Gideon and Rune, I didn't buy that they fall in love with each other especially with how much Gideon hated her fake personality. I think Gideon was my favorite character, he had the most depth. I also wish there was more worldbuilding. I think I was just expecting more going into the story.

---SPOILERS---

I didn't trust Alex and thought he was going to end up being controlled by Cressida or disguised as Alex and actually being Cressida, so his death didn't really sadden me. I was surprised that Cressida was Verity but i thought it was just assumed/obvious that Verity was a witch, so I was confused when Rune was upset that "Verity" was a witch and hadn't told her.

I liked, but didn’t love, this unique fantasy series. The premise drew me in the most, and I really enjoyed the parts that focused on the magic (although sometimes ick) and the world. I found myself a little bored during the romantic aspects of this book, which was unfortunately the majority of the book. I also had trouble buying into the romance, in general, especially because it felt like the characters were overly tropey, as opposed to well-developed humans.

I think there’s a lot to like in this book, especially for its target audience. It just didn’t hit right for me. I might continue the series just to see where it takes us, but most likely, I will not.

If you want a fantasy book with enemies to lovers then back to enemies then this is for you. There’s a love triangle with the female main character and two brothers. ALSO THE PLOT TWIST NEAR THE END OF THE BOOK??

This was giving Serpent & Dove, and I was so here for it. I read the Iskari trilogy by the same author, and it was good, but this was even better. I thought the way that Rune collected blood for her spells was ingenious (if a little icky) cannot wait to see what's going to happen next!

I read this book as an A.R.C through Netgalley originally, but obtained my own physical and audio copy for a re-read.

**am waiting on Amazon to approve my review

Because wherever Rune Winters went, her carefully crafted reputation came with her.
She was an informer. A witch hater. A darling of the New Republic.
Rune was the girl who betrayed her grandmother.

The Crimson Moth series is a planned duology (so brace yourself for that cliffhanger) about a fantasy world where witches once ruled but two years ago, there was a revolution by the Blood Guard and the ruling three witch queen sisters were killed. Now, The New Republic has outlawed witches and the Blood Guard have hunted them to the point that very few are ever seen, identifiable by their scars cut into their bodies to supply the blood they need for their spells. Rune was sixteen when the revolution happened and forced into an impossible situation that had her surviving but drowning from guilt. She also gets a shock when, as a later bloomer, she gets her menses and it's revealed she's a witch. Knowing her survival depends on staying hidden, she uses her aristocrat lineage to pretend to be an empty headed society miss, but wanting to fight back, Rune also becomes the Crimson Moth, a vigilante that rescues captured witches and ships them away to freedom.

Gideon Sharpe.
Rune’s lip nearly curled at the name of Alex’s older brother. Devoutly loyal to the New Republic, Gideon was a ruthless, bloodthirsty witch hunter who’d sent more of Rune’s kind to the purge than any other member of the Guard.
He’d also famously helped assassinate the Sister Queens, sparking the revolution into a blaze.

The older brother of Rune's bestfriend, Alex, is Gideon a captain in the Blood Guard and helped start the revolution but killing two of the witch queens. When they were kids and Rune met him for the first time, she had a crush on him, until he was rude and dismissive to her. Now that she's eighteen and he's twenty, Rune tries to avoid him as he could be the cause of her death if he ever found out what and who she is. With chapters that alternate giving us Rune and Gideon's point-of-view, we get a good luck at Gideon's character and learn important information about his past, thoughts, and feelings. His family was poor until the queens favored his parents for their dress designs and while that should have made things better for their family, it was their downfall. Gideon catches the eye of the youngest queen, Cressida, and from there he's forced into a relationship that he initially wanted but then can't escape as she becomes murderously jealous and Gideon can't escape people knowing about his relationship with the witch queen and knows he has to stay with her for his remaining family member, Alex's, safety. Gideon has reasons to hate the witch queens and when Nicolas, the commander of the Blood Guard, lays out a way to get his revenge, he takes it.

He was a witch hunter. He suspected her. He was closing in on her even now.
And yet.

I flew through the beginning first half of this, the world-building that was starting to be laid out with Rune having to remain hidden for her survival but having two friends, Alex and Verity, a girl Rune becomes friends with after Verity tells her the story of how she's not a witch but her two sisters were and her mother turned them in, set-up magic, danger, and then intrigue when Gideon came into the picture. Verity pushes Rune to find someone to court and then marry who has access to information so they can safely rescue even more witches, but does think Gideon could be too dangerous. Alex also has tried very hard to never betray his brother and refuses to completely side with Rune against him. However, since this is romance along with fantasy, Rune has a little bit of that drawn to Gideon and tells herself and friends that she's only going to use Gideon for information. Since we get Gideon's povs too, readers also know that Gideon's friends Harrow and fellow guard Lelia, also encourage him to pretend court Rune for information, when it's found out that Rune's family business of ships helped the last witch escape. So a really great cat and mouse dynamic is set-up with Rune and Gideon trying to use each other but also ultimately developing real feelings.

The hunted had fallen for the hunter.

The second half slowed down for me some as the romance became more of the focus and it stagnated with rinse and repeat of Gideon feeling he couldn't give into his feelings for Rune because he knows his brother Alex has romantic feelings for her and Rune, rightly so, scared that Gideon would turn her in to be killed if he discovered she's a witch. There was an open-door bedroom scene but I thought the best scenes between the two was when the tension ramped up because both are trying to fight their chemistry and both have some fear, Rune getting discovered and Gideon thinking he could be getting played and wanting to protect his brother. The latter second half also brought in some love triangle that I really didn't like and lead to a component of the ending that didn't quite deliver on the desired emotional impact for me; I'm not sure that character was flushed out enough.

She was the Crimson Moth— a wanted criminal, not to mention a witch, hiding in plain sight.

The last twenty percent picked up the stagnated pace and we get a rush of movement with a reveal that some will probably guess early at, some battle, and Rune and Gideon more divided than ever. This is tagged as a YA and it has some of that feel in the beginning but by the end I'd say it was more New Adult, the open-door scene and the method of how they kill the witches might be a little gruesome for the lower end of YA (but for YA/NA I loved that Rune used her menses blood for a source of power, using that blood so she wouldn't have to cut herself and have scars signaling she was a witch). There were characters I would have liked flushed out more, The Good Commander had such an impact on Gideon's life that I really missed seeing more scenes of the two together, not to mention Gideon and Alex. As I mentioned in the beginning, this ends with a cliffhanger and while I wanted more depth in some places, I'll definitely be in line for when the second comes out as in one aspect Rune got what she wanted but it may have just put her in danger from another foe and Gideon is going to want revenge even more.

I love a love triangle! Two brothers vying for a girl. She loves one, he's her enemy. The other brother loves her but she thinks of him as only a best friend. Using period blood for spells was a little off putting but any blood talk makes me queasy. Fast paced read. Easy world to grasp. Looking forward to the next book.

This story was amazing and beautiful. I absolutely loved the story and am beyond upset how long I have to wait for the sequel! The world and the magic system were done beautifully. the characters were strongly developed. I loved the enemies to lover trope. (its by far my fave). I loved the idea of with hunter falling for the witch he is supposed to be hunting. The scenario made this book so frustrating and anxiety inducing but i loved it. It is a great paranormal slow burn as well. the plot twists really kept me on my seat. Such a great story and romance plot for a Ya book.

Overall this was a good read but it wasn't without flaws.

The magic system and world building are done well, and the writing voice has a fantastic flow. I do think the plot twist were extremely predictable and the characterization could've been stronger. There were some inconsistencies in how we are told the characters are and the actual actions they take, and not in the way that people as a whole can be flawed and deviate from how they usually are when faced with the unexpected.

Heartless Hunter is the first book in Kristen Ciccarelli's new fantasy duology, The Crimson Moth. A tale filled with world building, magic, and romance, this was a great start...Look for the conclusion coming out in 2025!

First, I want to say how much I LOVE this cover! Pulled in by the colors and beautiful moth, I just had to see what this wonderful cover held inside. From the gold sparkles at the top, to the vibrant green and red, this is one of the prettiest covers I've seen recently.

Two years ago, there was an uprising and the Witch Queens were killed. Ever since then, Rune Winter has been trying to save the remaining witches from being purged by the Blood Guard. Hiding in plain sight, she gleans information from various friends and suitors, hoping that the Blood Guard doesn't find her. Helping her are her friends Verity de Wilde and Alex Sharpe, brother to the Blood Guard Captain. To save Seraphine, her Nan's friend, she will need all the information she can get, and the best place to get it is from Gideon Sharpe, who has never liked her. Gideon is hot on the trail of the Crimson Moth, and he has suspicions that it may be Rune bleeding his Guard members. To find out if Rune is the witch he's searching for, he must pretend to court her, not knowing that she is doing the same to him.

This was a little bit of a slow burn for me while the world building and foundation was being set. Filled with romance, this is an enemies to lovers fake dating story. Rune is a fully fleshed out character with flaws just like anyone else. She doesn't always make the right decisions, so she's a relatable character. Gideon is a dark and secretive man, with a troubled past. He doesn't fit in with Rune's circle of friends, usually keeping to himself and not letting anyone get too close to him. They're both out of their comfort zones while trying to use the other for their own means.

All in all, a great fantasy filled with magic and romance, friendship and loyalty. If you enjoy a good witch story, or like the enemies-to-lovers trope, then this is a definite must-read for you!

Thank you to @NetGalley and @WednesdayBooks for a digital copy for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.

I love witchy books and I had high expectations for this book. I ended up liking it, but not loving it. I like the plot, witches against their oppressors, the rising rebellion, and the witch hiding in plain sight. I didn’t get into the romance. It felt forced, and that both parties shouldn’t have been so blinded. I understand that the male main character had experienced trauma at the hands of witches, but I never get how that goes from hating that individual to hating all or to killing innocents. I thought the one twist lacked a bit of sense . I am pleased that there seems to be a true villain, and I am eager to see how that plays out in the sequel.

Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of The Heartless Hunter in exchange for an honest review. This one pulled me right in and made me want to stop and binge read.

Overall a fast paced YA fantasy with witches at the core along with a mix of enemies to lovers mixed with friend to lovers mixed with a brother love triangle. I found it to be action packed with some nice twists at the end.

Will definitely be picking up the next one!

Rune is a witch, Gideon is a witch hunter. What shenanigans could that combination get into. I enjoyed this book a lot, and I am very much looking forward to the second book in this duology. It was very Scarlet Pimpernel esque, which I loved, and it did a good job of melding that style of character with witch hunters and magic. I'm looking forward to seeing how their story continues!.

This book is going to be highly loved, I am calling it now. Heartless Hunter is a great addition to the romantasy genre that I devoured while travelling.

Rune is a witch in hiding. A few years ago there was a devastating revolution that saw witches overthrown, their queens killed, and a salem-esque witch hunt to break out. Rune is about 18 and when she isn't pretending to be a vapid socialite by day, she is the Crimson Moth, a vigilante that rescues witches from witch hunters. Rune is on the hunt for a husband to get more inside information, and starts a relationship with the head witch hunter, Gideon. What she doesn't know is he has hints that she might be the Crimson Moth and is using her just as she is using him.

A romantic-fantasy with a good game of cat and mouse, it is going to be a duology. Witches in this world use blood magic, but it can be freely given so there isn't anything too gory.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced readers copy.

4.5 stars

Oh my goodness! My plan was to read a little today, then clean the house. That didn't happen. I could not put this book down.

Who is the bad guy? The witch or the witch hunter? Are all witches bad? Rune was raised by a witch, and by day is an aristocrat but by night she is the Crimson Moth, a vigilante who helps captured witches escape. Gideon hunts witches and is the captain of the Blood Guard. His goal in life is to catch the Crimson Moth. Rune decides to court Gideon to get information on where the witches are being held, and Gideon suspects Rune of being the Crimson Moth. What happens if the two, while tricking each other for information, truly fall for each other?

I was immersed in this book from the first chapter. It is a fantastic fantasy romance, deeply emotional, with love, friendship, tension, betrayal, and secrets. I highly recommend this fantasy!