I was expecting to enjoy this book after seeing all of the rave reviews, but I was not prepared for how much I LOVED it! Witches and witch hunters, enemies-to-lovers, AND cat-and-mouse games?! This story completely satisfied all of my requirements and guilty pleasures in a romantic fantasy. I fell deeply in love with Rune and Gideon even though they were pitted against each other from the start. The author created such a perfect depth of development and emotions that I had no choice but to empathize with both of them. It was an intense and exciting read that will surely be a fan favorite of 2024. I'm just bummed that I will probably have to wait months to read the second book in this duology. The good news is that everyone can read this book in two weeks! Pub date is 2/20/24. I highly recommend it to readers of all genres! You will not be disappointed.

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for granting me digital access in exchange for my honest review!

3.75 (rounded up)
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Heartless Hunter was a solid book. But spice is not what I expected from this YA novel, but it’s what I got?

This book has fantastic world building. The author creates this world in the background of the plot, using events and characters to establish this witch-resistant place. As we go alone, details unravel in a pleasing way that sets the reader up to know what the need to know without info-dumping. It really plays into how the plot is presented. The plot of this one is familiar and expected, but the world is unique and added a new edge.

The plot is your basic cat and mouse chase I anticipated. The concept of witch vs. witch hunter as enemies to lovers isn’t unique or new, but it really worked here. I found myself needing to know what would happen next. I loved the dynamic of these roles played and how they play against each other to the end. You honestly can’t really go wrong with an enemies to lovers romantasy with blood magic and witches. Fast paced, action paced and it held my attention.

I enjoyed the characters of this one. I’m not overly connected to them, but they are well written. Rune is so well flesh out. You can feel her grief, her anger, her sadness. Played against hard, no nonsense Gideon and his soft underbelly, her character really shines. The side characters are engaging and not two dimensional like side characters can be sometimes. They were perfect for moving the plot along and establishing the motivations of the group. But Gideon was my favorite of all. Hard edges, soft underbelly, he was really well written and you want to like him, despite his job and who he is in this world. I loved his respect for his brother and his motivations make sense given his past.

While I definitely enjoyed it, this book felt like YA written for adults? I’m seeing a lot of reviews saying “good spice” but that’s just not what I expect from YA novels? That could just be me. I also didn’t love how the sexual assault in this book was handled, but could also be a me thing.

This was a solid start to a series. It leaves you on enough of a cliffhanger to be satisfied but also interested in what happens next. I’ll definitely see this series though.

First I would like to thank St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own,

For the most part, I really enjoyed this novel. It's fast-paced, has compelling main characters AND side characters, and the world building is top-notch.

The romance aspect is what drops this down to four instead of five stars.

I think the romance could have been better had there been some growth shown for both MCs, but honestly I needed it more for Gideon, the MMC. And because the witch hunter didn't have any kind of emotional arc throughout the book, it really dragged my opinion of Rune, the FMC. I couldn't believe that this close-minded, toxic guy is who she preferred. Yes, there is a slight love triangle, but it's clear who the love interest is, no matter how much the author dangled THE PERFECT MAN in front of the FMC.

Alas, let's move on to better and brighter things. Oh, yes the magic. This story features blood magic, so keep in mind, that the details can get ... bloody. I do think it was well done, although I honestly could have done without one of those details, because I got a tad squeamish. Other than that, I found it very interesting and wished that our witchy MC had shown a little more progression because while there was a lot of magic and lore, I wanted more!

In that same line of thinking, the world building was great. While still being a fantasy novel, I understood the history of this world and how these characters live in a complex social and political climate, without being overrun with the dreaded ~info-dumping~. Chef's kiss!

While I didn't care much for the romance between the two MCs, their actual characterization I liked. I understood their motivations, what made these characters think and act the way they do (independently from one another, of course.) Gideon, I especially felt heartache for. He has a very tragic backstory, Please, give Gideon therapy or something! The secondary characters were also great, and I felt like they were fleshed out really well.

While I did figure out the twist about halfway through, maybe earlier?, I was still shocked at how it all turned out. This does end on a cliff hanger, so beware! There are some high-stakes shenanigans that are about to go down and I am eagerly awaiting the next installment!

This was so romantic! Rune, a witch who secretly helps other witches in need, is being hunted by Gideon. Gideon's only job is to find her and capture her.... but let's just say she captures his heart instead!!! (Hello, that was such a cheesy line, and I'm not sorry!!).

Definitely check this one out!

Out February 20, 2024!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

A fun and witchy twist on “The Scarlet Pimpernel” with cunning plots, lots of angst (but not so much that I was rolling my eyes– people seem to forget that young adults feel things deeply *and* revolutions leave scars), and a love triangle worthy of Gale & Peeta (except the Gale in this story, Gideon, is 1000x more compelling– I loved how Rune’s perception of him changed as her feelings evolved), “Heartless Hunter” was an enjoyable read. This is a duology so brace yourself for the finale! One note I would make is that this book is marketed as YA but has some content I would deem inappropriate for the 13-18 crowd: a skinny dipping scene and semi-vague on the page sex scene, along with some profanity.

I loved this book! The world building is great! And you fall in love with the characters. Also good spice

So I ordered this as my BOTM and requested the ARC because the description was so good (and honestly the other book of the month club books were not very interesting to me)

I'm not a fantasy reader, not an ACOTAR reader, but I love a good enemies to lovers story. Throw in witches and magic and I'm there

This book was really good, although it reads like a YA novel (not a bad thing since I enjoy YA novels as well). At first I thought, "man I'm not going to enjoy this" but by a third of the way I was hooked.

BAD NEWS: it's the first book and the second one doesn't even have a release date! I need to see this through!

Thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Heartless Hunter is an enticing, enemies-to-lovers romantasy with witches, witchhunters, and forbidden magic.

Romantasy can be hit or miss for me, but I found myself completely enveloped by the story and the “will they, won’t they” tension between the characters. I love the magic system and how Kristen took the basic plot from The Scarlet Pimpernel and attributed it to a world of witches and witch hunters. The cat-and-mouse plot adds a bit of action and thrill to the slow burn romance, making this book hard to put down. I constantly wanted to find out what would happen next.

My only disappointment is a decision the female protagonist makes near the end that felt out of place and a bit distasteful after everything that happens. I realize that this is a duology so the characters can’t get together and be fully happy before book one ends, but I don’t feel like Rune’s choice helped the story in any way. It just made things weird. They could have easily had a falling out for a different reason and wouldn’t make me feel super icky about the supposed love triangle in this book. I’m also so tired of characters getting together and almost immediately fighting.

But overall, this is an exciting, swoon-worthy story and I’m eager to find out what happens next for Rune, Gideon, and all the witches in book two.

Heartless Hunter was such a fun read!! It’s been a while since I’ve read a witch / witch-hunter book and it lived up to my expectations. Heartless Hunter took me a bit to get into and didn’t start out as strong as I hoped it would, but by mid-point I couldn’t put it down and almost read the book in one setting.

Light on the world building, heavy on fun flirtation, it was an easy read and I look forward to getting my hands on the sequel asap!

Thanks to NetGalley, Kristen Ciccarelli and St Martin’s Press/ Wednesday books for the arc copy to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

I loved Heartless Hunter!
It was a fantasy romance, but also a cat and mouse game between Rune – a witch hiding in plain sight as a socialite, saving witches under the guise of the Crimson Moth, and Gideon – a Witch Hunter committed to the cause.
I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book!
I love enemies to lovers and it’s become this buzzword lately… half the time the so-called enemies are lovers within a few pages! I appreciated Heartless Hunters because Rune and Gideon were very much enemies and yet drawn to each other very reluctantly. It was the perfect way to execute the trope.
Definitely add this one to your TBR… it has forbidden magic, blood, betrayal, and the best romantic tension. Highly recommend.

The hunter... the hunted. Just another example of this; if it is enemies to lovers, I am getting it.

Kristen Ciccarelli did an AMAZING job in this category, the main characters truly DESPISE one another for their justifiable reasons, and it just makes their undeniable chemistry so much more heartwrenching. Lies, deceit, trickery, morals crumbling, perspectives shifting, hearts tugged in one way and then another. I was gripped with both hands right from the beginning.

✢ Witches and witch hunters

✢ Enemies to lovers

✢ Love triangle

✢ Cat and mouse

✢ Unique magic system

Overall the total rating I am giving Heartless Hunter is 4.5

It was sitting at a very steady 5 stars for the majority of the book, but I like to do this thing where I try to figure out plot twists before they happen, and in this case, I felt like it was very easy to figure out and it kind of ruined the ending to the book for me sadly. I wanted to give it 5 stars so badly guys, I was riding an emotional high through this book and I adore these characters. I just felt a heavy weight of dissatisfaction when I finished, and it was so disappointing due to how much I love this book.

Another thing I want to mention is my confusion with the era this book is set in. Sometimes it feels Victorian, with the elaborate dresses, courting, horses, and letters. But there are also running showers, guns, and other more modern-century things that just left me with a back-and-forth image of the scenes in my head.

I feel like we are just getting to hit the surface of Gideon and Rune, and I am beyond excited to read their next chapter, the amount of love I have for both of them is unmatched.

Thank you, Kristen, NetGalley, and St Martins Press for an ARC of this amazing book.

Thank you Netgally, St martins press and Kristen Ciccarelli for the ARC of The crimson moth.

Excellent a great cat and mouse and enemies to lovers book. The beginning started a tad slow but once it got into the meat of this story it got good. There were things I thought I knew were coming but was terribly wrong. I really enjoyed where this flowed and cannot wait to read the second book!

3.75

I feel like I was in the minority of people who weren’t completely obsessed with this book but oh well. I did like this book but the romance didn’t keep me hooked as much as it did other readers. Some of it was predictable but only right before the plot twist which was good and it was well written. I can see myself reaching for the next book in this duology because I think the author will wrap the series up quite well.

This book was a fun and intriguing read, which I devoured in only 2 days! I found the premise intriguing and the book itself enjoyable. It has complex characters, danger and mistrust, and solid world-building.

This book is a YA romantasy that follows Rune and Gideon, a witch and witch hunter. Rune must hide her identity as a witch for fear of persecution, while she saves other witches from death by the Blood Guard. By day, she is a shallow socialite, by night, she risks her life to rescue other witches with the help of her friends, Alex, and Verity. Gideon is a captain within the Blood Guard and personally killed 2 of the 3 witch queens during the revolution that marked the beginning of the Witch Purges. When he suspects Rune to be involved in the smuggling of witches out of the Blood Guard, he decides he must do anything he can to uncover her identity, including courting her. Rune decides this is a prime opportunity to uncover the secrets of the Blood Guard to rescue more witches – as long she doesn’t get caught. And so, we enter a cat-and-mouse game of fake dating, enemies-to-lovers.

The magic system was well done and easy to understand, with descriptions of different kinds of spells littered throughout the book.
I found the cat-and-mouse game played by Rune and Gideon intriguing, and it was hard to know who had the upper hand throughout most of it, with the tables constantly being turned.

One thing to note about this book is the content. There is a sexual assault storyline that, in my own opinion, was not well handled. This may be dangerous for younger readers if they are not well-educated on the topic, as it may normalise some of the toxic behaviour shown on the page. I believe this book may be suitable for older teenagers, however, caution should be taken and content warnings available before reading.

Overall, a fun and easy read! If you like enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, witches, and Regency themes, then you should give this book a go!

Content warnings:
Graphic violence, death of family members, sexual assault, genocide.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This review has been posted to Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, and Goodreads. This review will also be posted to Amazon on the release of Heartless Hunter.

I don't consume a lot of witch hunter / witch stories so this was a nice break from the norm.

Our 2 MC's are Gideon and Rune. I liked Rune and her story. I liked learning about what she'd been through and why she was doing what she was doing. I liked feeling like I understood her and I loved her strength as much as her vulnerability. Gideon was gruff but you still learn so much about him to love.

Although I saw the twists and turns coming in this one, I still loved following the story along. I definitely didn't see where the end would leave us and I liked the conclusion we got. I found the steamy parts not overly-spicy and appreciated the subtlety. I loved the description of the magic! The leftover symbols, the fluttering moth left by Rune. It sounded like such a unique and interesting piece to the magic and I loved picturing it!

This definitely left it open for a book 2 and I plan to read it!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Wow, okay - where did this book come from?! I was not expecting that!! This will probably be one of my top reads of 2024.

This story is about Rune, who is a witch that has to hide what she is and the only person who knows is her best friend Alex.

Alex is secretly in love with her and his brother, Gideon, is a witch hunter.

Gideon stays away from her for multiple reasons- but a big one is he knows his brothers feelings.

As you can see there is a ton of conflict and tension between Gideon and Rune. It’s described as a “cat and mouse relationship” and it definitely brings that energy!!

This book has everything I like in a Romantasy, and I don’t have one bad thing to say about it!

Thank you Netgalley and St Martins Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

⭐ 4-4.5

I enjoyed this a surprising amount! I am also a fan of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Big fan. So I saw it was inspired and I was immediately hooked.

This book is very much romance first, vigilante/cat-and-mouse-game second, an aspect that really made the story an inspired book and not a retelling, so if you have no interest in the Scarlet Pimpernel, you'd definitely not feel lost. That being said, I really ended up loving the romance! The witch hunter x witch aspect of the story was fun, much more so than Serpent and Dove in my opinion (I didn't enjoy that book at all), but I found myself always wanting for more magic. The ambience wasn't very immersive in this regard. I wanted more fog and blood and arcane trickery.

I was neutral about Rune. I did enjoy her friends and Gideon was surprisingly sweet, he's the classic "tall, dark, and handsome" love interest but he's softer than you'd expect. The fact he sews is adorable and I was constantly going "Awww!". If you like One Dark Window, Bridge Kingdom, or ACOTAR, I recommend this book! The romance feels like something you'd like as well.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Oh my God I AM OBSESSED!!but this was absolutely magnificent!My new favourite read. i can't stop thinking about it! I preordered 2 special editions of it and can't wait to have it on my shelf!!I devoured this in one sitting! Absolutely perfect. I am not even a big fan of triangles but this was done just right. I love everything about this book I cannot honestly find anything wrong with it. The plot , the characters and the writing style were impeccable. I am looking forward to reading more work by this author.10 stars.

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

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This is an absolutely spellbinding read! It has a great cast of characters and I got pulled into their world...that makes a fantastic read for me.

Rune is a witch hiding in plain sight from Gideon, the witch hunter trying to capture her. Rune needs information from Gideon in order to rescue a witch, and Gideon needs proof of Rune's crime. A potentially deadly game of cat and mouse begins.

I liked that Gideon and Rune grew throughout the book while becoming vulnerable to each other. I highly recommend Heartless Hunter and am looking forward to the sequel.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Heartless Hunter simply took my breath away - from its detailed world-building to its emotional love story and every point in between. I found myself instantly pulled into its world and sped my way through all of the action, tears, and subterfuge, and now I have to patiently wait for its conclusion. In saying that, I LOVED that the story ended in a soft conclusion or a transition point. It would have made me even more of an emotional wreck than I already was had it ended with a cliffhanger.

The story is a loose retelling of the Scarlet Pimpernel, but you see that the most in the tragic aspects of the tale more than anything. Unlike Scarlet Pimpernel, Heartless Hunter has magic and witches, which I loved. The magic system is well described, and the power struggles between the witches and the humans are described just enough for the reader to understand the situation, but not in so much detail that it slows the pacing of the story down.

The enemies-to-lovers chemistry between Rune - the main character and camouflaged witch - and Gideon - our male lead and witch hunter - is palpable, making their story much more emotional. I loved that will-they-won’t-they angle with the added complication of Gideon’s brother being one of Rune’s best friends who loves her in secret. It’s such a deliciously messy situation, and watching it play out took me on a complete emotional roller coaster.

This fantastic story swept me away into a world of witches and witch hunters, and I can’t wait for book 2 to come out!