Heartless Hunter is a captivating YA romantasy read with a strong plot. I felt a little disconnected from the characters, I wanted more character development and tension building leading to their romantic feelings. It felt like insta-love, which I don’t enjoy but many people do. I enjoyed it but probably won’t continue with the rest of the series.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. Heartless Hunter has a writing style that is very easy to read. Beyond that, I do not think that this book is appropriate for the target audience and think it should be marketed as an adult book. The way sexual assault is handled also made me super uncomfortable.

Witch, enemies to loversish story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this

Rune and Gideon, the main characters I liked their back and forth and the perspectives from both of them throughout the story.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day?

Perhaps.

Heartless Hunter just jumps right in. Immediately we are desperate for Rune to rescue her target and evade capture by the Blood Guard. And then the action never stops.

Which has both good and bad merits to it: I love a good fast paced story, but I feel like toward the end when plot and reason needed to catch up that we were forced to ignore other telling signs until it was too late.

The back copy, as you may have read above, spoils the relationship for you, which it didn’t need to because Rune and Gideon’s enemies to lovers arc can be seen from space.

Watching both Rune and Gideon play off of each other, both somehow knowing the other was hunting them and also convincing themselves that wasn’t true was funny, satisfying, and at times incredibly frustrating (in the shaking-my-book-in-the-middle-of-the-night-about-why-these-two-don’t-see-what-I-see sort of way).

I didn’t feel the need to push through Heartless Hunter, since every scene had a point, purpose, and action, but when things began to wrap up, they did so in a way that didn’t feel right. Characters learned new secrets but ignored them to focus on the romantasy aspects of the plot, and other reveals weren’t set up well throughout the plot like they had been dropped in the ending act.

I did enjoy the read, however, and do recommend you go pick it up.

Especially if you like to text your friends at 4am to complain about characters.

Absolutely obsessed! Thank you netgalley, the publisher, and Kristen Ciccarelli.

This book was great. From the start to the very end I could not put it down. It moved at a great pace and I did not see that ending coming. What a cliff hanger! The wait for book two is going to be so hard.

As a fan of Witch x Witch Hunter relationships, I was excited to read Heartless Hunter. A reimagining of the The Scarlet Pimpernel, on paper, the Heartless Hunter had everything I could ever want in a fantasy novel: a compelling plot, a creative magic system, and dynamic characters.

However, I don't know if it was just the execution of some elements, but while I enjoyed reading Heartless Hunter, I wouldn't say it lived entirely up to my expectations. There was quite a bit of info dumping to establish Rune's backstory and her relationships with other characters throughout the book. It wasn't until around the middle to end mark when I really started to enjoy it.

One thing I will say that I was pleasantly surprised about was how the love triangle between Rune, Alex, and Gideon was executed. Often in YA love triangles, it's clear which of the two love interest the author favours. However, Ciccarelli did a fantastic job of making both Alex and Gideon compelling love interests for Rune by making them necessary parts of her life, but in different ways.

Perhaps I'm outgrowing the YA genre, so that might be why this book didn't quite hit the spot for me. However, if you're looking for a refreshing take on the Witch x Witch Hunter relationship, I would recommend Heartless Hunter!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Wow! This book was absolutely amazing.

You’ve got witches and witch hunters and fashion and parties and operas! I mean this book seriously has it all.

Rune is a witch in hiding, Gideon is a witch Hunter. Gideons brother happens to be Runes best friend and knows her secret! After having to turn her grandmother in to the witch hunters and watch her be executed Rune vows to save as many witches as she can. So she becomes the Crimson Moth.

I seriously cannot wait for the second book.

5/5 stars and will buy a physical copy for my shelf.

Wow- I first want to promote the wonderful and very hard work done by Kristen Ciccarelli. This book was incredibly well done and had a fresh take on some typical romantasy nuances. There are some very sweet scenes in here that Ciccarelli paints vividly for the reader. Things I’ve never read before and loved that she went the extra mile to find and write some fresh content for readers who enjoy what can often be a repetitive sub genre of books. The ending of the book was fast paced and has me waiting eagerly to get my hands on book 2. Hopefully book 2 is as good a read as book 1!

Slow burn, enemies to lovers, witches and hunters, gray morality, fantasy romance!

This is the story of Rune, the Crimson Moth, who spends her nights rescuing witches from being purged from her community. Rune finds herself stuck in a precarious position when one of her rescues goes wrong and she finds herself courting Gideon Sharpe, who she (shockingly!) finds herself falling for. Little does Rune know that Gideon's brother, Alex, is also helping Rune, leading to its own issues. Will Rune be able to rescue the witch before it's too late, or will Gideon beat her to it?!

I enjoyed this and can't wait for my hardcover to come in from BOTM! I would definitely recommend if you're not totally ready to dive into a hardcore romantasy. This reads almost like a YA romance duology. The world building isn't too intense or hard to follow, which I appreciate.

Place your library hold or pre-order ASAP, Heartless Hunter's release is on February 20th!

Thank you to NetGally, St. Martin's Press / Wednesday Books, and Kristen Ciccarelli for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you love a good enemies to lovers romance with all the witchy vibes, this book is for you!

I really enjoyed this one. The story was interesting and kept my attention the whole time.

There is obvious chemistry between Gideon and Rune as they blur the lines between pretending and actually falling for each other. I loved all the moments they had together.

The last 20% of the book had some plot points that I didn’t love and took my rating down a notch. Overall I really had a great time reading and will probably pick up the next book.

By far one of the best YA romantasy books I’ve read in awhile! It’s actually more of an NA romantasy but whatever i had a great time reading this. The romance was absolutely addicting and I can’t wait for the plot and world building to thicken in book 2! Definitely a solid 4/5 star read 🦋🦋🦋

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli is the 1st book in her new romantic fantasy duology Crimson Moth series. We meet Rune, our heroine, whose life drastically changed forever, when a terrible revolution, when witches became outcasts; hunted and killed. To save her granddaughter, Rune was told to pretend that she knew nothing about her grandmother being a witch, with Rune hiding what she is to survive. Devasted by the death of her grandmother, as well as all the deaths of witches, Rune changes her life. During the daytime, she is a wealthy socialite and by evening she is the infamous Crimson Moth, who rescues witches before their horrifying deaths.

Gideon Sharpe is a witch hunter, who has unsuccessfully been trying to find the Crimson Moth. He gets a clue that Rune might be using her ships to free the witches, and decides to pursue her and in order find evidence that she is a witch. Gideon’s brother Alex, is Rune’s best friend, as well as Verity, and they both know that Rune is the Crimson Moth, but they are totally loyal to her. When Gideon starts making advances, Alex is not happy, as he secretly loves Rune. Gideon plays the part of courting her, and slowly begins to fall for Rune, learning more about her intelligence, as well as being caring. Rune also learns more about Gideon’s past life, hating the witches who killed his family and used him.

Though I understand Gideon’s past with a witch who destroyed his family, I found him to be a bit harsh, going to any length to discover if Rune was a witch. I did love Rune, who was a cunning fighter, always trying to save the witches. With both constantly changing their minds on what are their real feelings in in this game of cat and mouse. There were a lot of twists and turns as we get closer to the end, and saying too much more would ruin this for you.

Heartless Hunter was a fast-paced compelling page turner, that was intense, intriguing, exciting, and a forbidden romance. The last third of the book was wild and tense, with me unable to put the book down. Heartless Hunter was so very well written by Kristen Ciccarelli, was well as being a fantastic world-building. I look forward to the next book, especially since this is a duology.

Synopsis:

Being a witch has been outlawed and witches are being hunted down and killed. Witches can be spotted by their scars, and any trace of scarring is a death sentence. Rune is a scarless witch, and she is working to rescue, hide, and smuggle witches out of town. Gideon is a that captain of the Blood Guard, a witch hunter, and the brother of Runes best friend Alex. Does he suspect Rune is a witch, and can she use him for information and stay one step ahead of him? Or will he figure out her game and become his next victim?

Despite the rating, I did enjoy this book. It was well plotted and paced, but a bit predictable. That was fine, because it was a lot of fun to be brought along on the journey. If you're an adult who likes to read YA fantasy, I'd say this was a good time.

There were a few problems for me though. The characters were a bit one demensional and the tropes were very heavy handed. The magic system utilized some things that I found a bit gross as well.

My major problem was the romance. The romance was very hot and heavy. While it made sense for building lots of tension, it also used sex as a plot device. While I would mind my business if this were an adult book, this was very inappropriate for a YA in my estimation. Amazon has this story targeting 7-9 grades, and ages 13-18. While maybe an 18yo would be ok to read this, I would certainly find it completely inappropriate for a 13yo and definitely not for 7-9 grades.

As an educator, I do not recommend for the targeted audience.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this digital book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Heartless Hunter (or Crimson Moth) follows Rune Winters, a seemingly air-headed heiress who moonlights as witch rescuer called the Crimson Moth, and Gideon Sharpe - a witch hunter whose focus is finding the Crimson Moth. In a town that was once ruled by witches that had been overthrown and replaced with a new regime that is staunchly anti-witch, Rune found herself in a tough positions - turn in her grandmother, who was a witch, or face sure death herself. To atone for the choices she made, and finding out she's a witch herself, Rune begins freeing all witches she can who have been sentenced to execution. Gideon believes Rune to be gossip hungry and shallow - but something tells him she may be the one freeing his captives and joins the courting stream to figure out if she really is a witch or something else.

To say I loved this book, would be an understatement. It kept you intrigued from page 1. The love triangle, the magic system, the authoritarian regime... it all worked seamlessly together to weave a unique fantasy story. Although I guessed the big plot twist, it was still shocking to see it come to fruition and I enjoyed the whole ride of this book. Please read it! You won't be disappointed.

I am so happy I received this arc! Heartless Hunter is perfect for fans of Throne of Glass, Serpent and Dove, etc. I read so many fantasy books, but this really exceeded my expectations. I flew through this story, even when it was becoming more easy to predict what came at the end — I was still super engaged the whole time.

I also love and appreciate that things were left the way they were, knowing that the next book will really benefit from that. Absolutely nothing is resolved the way you’d expect it to be, and I love that. From love triangles to witchy vibes to low key spy stuff, this book really delivered it all. I’d definitely recommend it!

Oh my what a wild ride this was!

Enemies to kinda lovers back to enemies
Witch & witch hunter


After the death of her Nan and the world purging witches, Rune made it her mission to rescue every witch she could. Becoming the Crimson Moth. Who was Gideons thorn in his side that he couldn’t find. Both end up finding the need to get close to the other for information.

I loved every second of this book, the plot really sucks you in. I DID not expect for it to turn out like it did, I was at the 80% and realized there was going to be a second book. Still crying from the ending.

I can not wait to see how the next book plays out! Especially with how it ended. There’s so many possibilities!

Thank you net galley and the author for the arc!

I flew through this in a few days! It was the epitome of YA romantasy. The book is more heavy on the romance at some parts and doesn’t necessarily have a ton of action packed moments. However, even without a lot of action, it is super fast paced. I would have liked to see Rune actually acting as the Crimson Moth through some sort of rescue scene because we’re told about them a lot, but didn’t witness any. I also hope we get some more backstory on the world to understand why witches are hunted in some areas and not others. Overall, I had a great time with this one and it kept my attention the entire time. After the ending I’m super intrigued to see where the next one goes!

In the aftermath of the revolution, witches are now outcasts ruthlessly hunted. Rune must hide what she is, pretending to be a socialite by day as she becomes the Crimson Moth at night to rescue witches from the purge. After a rescue gone wrong, Rune tries to throw witch hunters off her trail by courting the most notorious one of all, Gideon Sharpe. She falls for him in spite of herself, and he falls for her despite his loathing of superficial people. How will it end?

Witches use blood to cast spells, leaving silvery scars behind when the blood is used. Rune would have been killed as well as her grandmother if she hadn't turned her in when the revolution upended everything in the small island country. But the poor are still poor, witch sympathizers are marked or killed, and the rich continue with balls and superficial pursuits. The Crimson Moth uses magic to save witches from being killed, but Rune isn't as clever as she thinks she is, and Gideon is fueled by trauma as well as duty to the revolution. It's a bad combination, especially when others keep pushing Gideon and neither are able to be completely honest with each other.

This gaslamp fantasy is heavily inspired by the Scarlet Pimpernel, and its a tense chase to see if Rune will escape suspicion or if she can rescue the powerful witch in custody. While I was able to guess some of the twists in the final third of the book, I didn't see the exact ending coming. I hope there's a sequel to pick up where this left off, I really want to know what happens next!

Scarlet Pimpernel meets Serpent & Dove in this tale of witches and post-revolution, with a flair of whodunnit mystery where both sides go from thinking they have all the answers to realizing they weren’t even aware of the right questions.

Rune, a socialite and secret rescuer of her fellow witches, tries to ensnare Gideon, soldier, hater of witches, who somewhat reluctantly decides to seduce her in turn to gain information of his own. Shenanigans ensue, including but not limited to fashion insults, moonlight swims, and flirtatious telegrams.

Overall it’s a fun romp, with a few missed opportunities that keep it from going from good to great. As an upper YA book, it contains a handful of swears, allusions to past abuse, quite a few kisses, and one open door scene.

I loved Rune’s sparkling personality, the almost maybe Pride & Prejudice reference in an early chapter, and the deeper thoughts Rune and Gideon struggled with when not trying to outsmart one another. Gideon shares a complex history with his brother Alex, and wrestles with his role as eldest child and how to best love when doing so may hurt himself. While he and Rune carry different scars of the Revolution, their disagreements ultimately bring them closer to a sort of peace in acknowledging that their world is a broken place and it’s the people committing actions that create good or evil, not simply the institutions and their promises.

I mentioned missed opportunities…the biggest involves the main duo. Rune Winters and Gideon Sharpe are in fact both very intelligent, but from many of their scenes I’d never have guessed it, until a later reveal comes along to demonstrate their actions came from scheming or 4D chess moves rather than blindness or simplicity. And not in a way that left me the sneaking suspicion that they were up to anything until the big reveal. I dunno, there was just a big disconnect for me between how the narrative makes them seem and how smart they really are.

Other misses, although these mostly come down to preference:
- Dual POV: Not my favorite, generally, and it really didn’t work for me in this close-quarters game of deception. Getting the full perspective from both Rune and Gideon dissolved much of the tension in any individual scene, since I didn’t have to guess at either of their motives.
- Short timeframe: The entire book takes place over the span of roughly one week. I struggle to get to know a character and get a sense of their development when there’s limited passage of time.
- Repeated ruminations: Rune and Gideon both do a fair bit of self-reflection, sorting through clues and their feelings. However, they don’t always have new information or opinions, which leads to reiterating the same thoughts, especially in later chapters. This might aid readers who are reading one or two chapters a day, but taken together over the span of a weekend, it’s unnecessarily repetitive.

Still, I particularly enjoyed the first half of the book, and it’s a testament to the strength of the characters and story essentials that it remains strong despite my gripes.

**Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC**

First off, thank you to #netgalley and #wednesdaybooks for an earc of Heartless Hunter in exchange for an honest review.

You GUYS!!! Kristen has done it again! In fact, she's knocked it out of the park with this one! I. Could. Not. Put. It. Down. I'm not kidding. I went back to reread a section to snag a quote for my review .... and ended up reading the whole book a second time in one sitting. It's addictive and it keeps you turning the pages. The world is richly imagined and leaps off the page from the very first line. There are twists and turns and surprises that will leave you pining for the second/final book. And the romance is absolutely THE best kind of swoony slow burn dislike to lovers imagineable! All those emotional filled, heart pounding moments that the premise of the book makes promises on, Kristen one hundred percent delivers! This is definitely my top read for 2024 and if it doesn't become the next big talk of the YA book community the likes of Divine Rivals and What the River Knows, I will be completely shocked.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
And what's even better, it comes out in only 8 days!!!
Heartless Hunter is the North American title of the book, in the UK it is being published under its original title of The Crimson Moth.

On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.

Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe - a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution - who she can't help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

Kristen Ciccarelli’s Heartless Hunter is the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch...is falling in love.