Worth it for the twist. Liked the MC and the scarlet pimprenelle references. She was witty and someone to root for, Preferred the bff to the LI though. And the twist!! Will definitely read the next book.

I received this eARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I DNF'd Heartless Hunter. I was hooked after the first chapter but it became difficult to continue reading at about 50% through. The romance was the killer, I think. It was too unbelievable for me and made me hate the FMC. She just read as horny and I lost interest the further she fell for the witch hunter. Until around 200 pages in, the only motivation for her to fall for him was physical attraction, which seems really unbalanced with the weight of the tragic events she experience and the high stakes of the situation she's in. Even though she had supposedly been so careful for the 2 years since the rebellion/revolution, all that caution goes out the window when she talks to arguably the most dangerous person for her. It just wasn't believable for me and the plot wasn't moving at a pace that made me want to keep reading.

4.5 Stars

Summary:
The story takes place in a unique and immersive world where witches rule. That is, until the three witch queens were overthrown by a band of rebels. Now, witch hunters reign supreme, arrest anyone associated with magic, and kill them on public display. 

Rune's grandmother died in the first witch hunts, and Rune was the one to turn her in. Now, Rune is a vapid, rich socialite. Or so she pretends to be during the day. At night, she acts under the guise of the crimson moth, using the little magic she's able to cast to free other witches from capture. 

When her grandmother's friend is captured, Rune gets the idea to seduce the captain of the Blood Guard, Gideon to get information out of him. Gideon receives a lead on the Crimson Moth, pointing him directly at Rune. So Gideon also decides to seduce her to get information. The two outwit each other at every turn, and inevitably fall in love with each other.

Tropes/ Aesthetics:
-slow burn
-enemies to lovers
-witches and witch hunters
-cat and mouse game
-best friend's brother
-fake dating
-vigilante
-regency aesthetics

Thoughts:
This was a real page turner. 

I was surprised at how much I liked this book. I was a little hesitant at the start because I thought it was a little ridiculous for Gideon to design and make Rune the most beautiful dress ever. There was heavy emphasis on fashion in the beginning. But I grew to tolerate it and accept it as a way to display the oppulence of this era. There was so many other things in this book that drew me in.

I like that the magic seems to very personal to each witch. Rune feels the ocean sweeling beneath her when she casts. Every witch has their own scent to their magic. I also like how clear and straightforward the magic system is with hard checks and balances. I love that witches use the silver scarring as tattoos.

I didn't like any of the characters much at first but I was interested in seeing how their development would unfold. I ended up falling for most of them because their characterization is just so good! This book really focused on their flaws so they'll have a gorgeous glowup in the next books, and I can't wait to see that. 

I didn't sympathize with either side, the witches or the hunters. They both did despicable things. But that kept me invested in who would win this war and how nightmarish the results would be. 

I thought it was so funny how Rune and Gideon kept denying their love for each other and saying they were just toying with each other for information. I never believed either of them from the very start.

I can't believe the book ended off with Rune losing everything that ever mattered to her. I can't wait to see how she will come back from that in the next, and what it means for the fate of her city.</spoiler>

I'm someone who adores books about witches and female assassins, so having this book be about both is music to my ears! I was completely consumed by Rune's adventures and they gave off major "Serpent and Dove" vibes. This story's premise is so different and exciting and I need the sequel right now! Even Rune's alter ego name, the Crimson Moth, is so epic. The lush worldbuilding, captivating characters, and enticing romance had me totally obsessed with finishing this book. The way that Rune and Gideon play off each other and their chemistry is excellent. They are both so clever and the twist that they're both courting each other to hide secret motivations? Outstanding!

Thank you for this chance to read this ARC. I really enjoyed it! Has everything I’m looking for in a fantasy book. Ennemies to lovers done right. I’ll definitely put more Kristen Ciccarelli on my tbr!

THE TENSION.

I love a good enemies to lovers, and this had the perfect amount of “will they / won’t they” for me.

The internal anguish of Rune broke my heart, I am very close with my grandmother so I felt very connected to Rune. To have to pretend she hated her grandmother to protect herself, and watch her die? It broke my heart for her.

Gideon, he isn’t the heartless hunter he shows to the rest of the world. I love seeing the softer side of him, and I hope he doesn’t slip back into his persona after the end.

This book was a rollercoaster of emotions for me, but I couldn’t put it down. It was a perfect game of cat & mouse and I can’t wait to see how they reunite in the next book.

Going off the synopsis, I really thought I was going to enjoy this book. It had the tropes I usually enjoy (enemies to lovers, unequal social statuses, and secret identities to name a few) but everything just fell flat for me.

I think one of the main problems is that rather than subverting our expectations, the author chose to play it safe. Like many, many other YA books it has a love triangle between two brothers (which I could not care less about considering how idiotic the younger brother acted). I expected the main heroine to be cunning and three steps ahead of the witch hunters but instead, she just felt painfully naive. Although she's manipulating her love interest, she's angered by him doing the same thing? And I honestly don't even get the point of her being rich vs her love interest being poor as nothing comes from it other than HIM being forced to apologize to her for telling her how tone deaf she was.

The plot in general was alright, and I thought the author did a good job of adding tension in moments that needed it, but it felt as though whenever one side of the pair figured something out about the other or gained a clue, they would brush it off by saying it could mean anything and then proceed to do nothing about it.

Last but not least, the sexual assault victim being goaded into sleeping with someone for their job felt very uncomfortable to me, with the whole sexual assault plotline in general feeling very pointless to me as we never get to explore them coming to terms with it or having difficulties in their relationship because of it.

I'm considering reading the second book when it comes out if only to find out how it ends for Harrow, Laila, and Gideon.

ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK. The tropes are to market, and the character development was a breath of fresh air. I’m a massive fan a gray characters, they ground the character in a lore believable and realistic way, and this author nailed that.

I’m happy to see publishing finally embracing fantasy romance and taking the time to find the gems in this subgenre. Especially those that set a fast pace and keep it going for the entire read.

I also appreciated the hard magic system at play here. While I don’t mind authors paying it more loose with their magic and allowing for characters to act without much consequence, it’s refreshing to have a book every now and then that really embraces the consequences of magic use and grounds the world in a way. It eliminates a lot of “well why hasn’t x happened before?” questions from interrupting the reading process.

This was a a solid read for me and I’m looking forward to book two.

This was pretty good, but I didn’t feel like it was as good as Ciccarelli’s other novels. There was something about Gideon, the love interest, who just felt kind of off as the story went on. This may just be personal preference, but he wasn’t really as swoony as some of the description about the book made it sound. I wasn’t really feeling the chemistry. However, I did appreciate that he was respectful and didn’t try to take advantage of her, and the love scenes were not super graphic, making it more appropriate for teen audiences who want sex positive stories but not explicit content specifically made to arouse. Rune was an interesting female lead. I enjoyed her friendships and spirit. Also has some good twists. For some reason, I don’t feel super excited about the sequel, though. It was good but didn’t give me any kind of book hangover, if that makes sense.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'm so obsessed with this book that I don't know what to do with myself! I still haven't calmed down, and I don't think I ever will, so I might as well convey my deep love for this book.

You might read the summary and think, "Oh witch and witch hunter romance, I've read it before" but trust me, YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS SIZZLING ROMANCE!!! This book is so nuanced and tackles different themes in a profound way. No character is one-dimensional nor infallible.

Rune is a shallow heiress by day, witch smuggler and savior by night. I loved how she struggled mentally to fulfill both roles, and I especially loved how, towards the end, she realized that all she's ever done is just that: fulfill these two roles. She doesn't know who she really is beneath that facade and her cause. And I REALLY loved how Gideon challenged her privilege, because apart from her suffering and her saving witches, she is privileged. Words can't describe how I loved this nuance, that the author didn't give us a perfect, infallible, savior on a white horse but a girl just doing her best in a cruel world.

Gideon, my beautiful big and traumatized brute. He's definitely not heartless by the way. Yeah, what he's doing isn't right, but after what he's been through, after watching witches mentally torture and absolutely ruin his family, anyone would hate the witches. His beliefs aren't based on propaganda but on pure, raw, unfathomable pain. He's strong physically and mentally because he survived and protected Alex all his life. He constantly puts the public's and Alex's safety ahead of his. And his internal struggle and non-existent self-worth and self-esteem will make you cry.

The romance is SIZZLING! Their chemistry has a life of its own! Nothing felt rushed or forced for the sake of storytelling. This is a true and beautiful enemies-to-lovers romance, the one we all deserve! I loved and swooned and laughed and screamed at their scenes!!!!

The plot was interesting and I was so immersed, so INTO everything that I didn't have the time or brain cells to make predictions about what will happen, and that doesn't happen often. I can't shut off my brain like that, but this book made it possible. I loved and had fun while reading the entire book from first to last page.

The voice is compelling and addictive and you can't escape it once it grips you, and it does grip you on the first page. Unputdownable!

One of my favorite reads of all time. So obsessed that I can't see the way out.

I read this in 24 hours. I hadn't read a book so fast in a long while.
But I had a hunch it couldn't have been different with "Heartless Hunter" for it has the best of the tropes!! (ei.: hidden identity, outsmarting the rich, enemies to lovers)
And these were done in a very engaging and fresh way! Rune is a character you cheer for from the begginning. And knowing her cause and reasons, you are unsure how her romance with Gideon will play out, and you even cheer for someone else for a while :x
There's a thin line to walk when writing an enemies to lovers trope. Sometimes, the romance becomes sudden, when, in my opinion, there needs to be an element of slow burn since the characters have a reason to be enemies. Kristen Ciccarelli did this very well... both Rune and Gideon did not let their masks fall suddenly. There were cracks that started showing and the pull slowly became stronger. And things became grey and we the readers nervous to know how their predicament would end...

All I will say is that I am thoroughly looking forward to the second book :)

To the world, Rune Winters is an insipid socialite with her eyes set on finding a husband. But that persona is only a cover-up for her real identity – the Crimson Moth. With the government hunting down witches to purge them from the country, Rune uses her own magic to find and save as many magical women as possible. Only her two best friends, Verity DeWilde and Alex Sharpe, are aware of her secret life, and both companions do their best to cover for Rune as she tries to balance her dual identities.

While Alex may be Rune’s best friend, his brother, Gideon Sharpe, is a lead witch hunter and one of the greatest threats to anyone with magic. But when Rune needs to discover the location of a captured witch before she’s put to death, she’ll have to cozy up to Gideon to gain inside information. Gideon has his own agenda – to determine whether Rune knows anything about the Crimson Moth. While they’re both busy pretending to enjoy someone they despise, real feelings accidentally develop. Will duty to their respective missions override attraction?

This book was so good! Every chance I got I would sneak in as many pages as possible. Filling up on gas? Read. Waiting for kids at school pick up? Read. I’m so glad to know there is another book coming, because I was left wanting more. The characters were very well written – it was difficult to root for one side or the other as more background information was revealed. Romance, magic, friendship – this book is sure to be a big 2024 fantasy hit!

I loved the world building here. The setup is incredible and I was fully on board with the plight of the witches and the character conflicts. There was a lot that happened at the end and I'll just say that I wish it had been NA in genre or adult, and being YA possibly did this story a disservice. 4 stars for world building. I wish characters, love arcs, and details had been fleshed out, but I think the author did an amazing job setting it all up.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Forbidden Love
Enemies to Lovers
Witches and Witchy Vibes

Look, I love this book. I am incredibly annoyed that I read this early, because I really really REALLY need book two with an ending like that. There were so many twists and turns, and every single time I began cringing because I could see what was going to happen next, an explosion of fireworks in a different direction surprised me, if you get my drift.

Rune is a witch, in a world where it’s a death sentence to be one. By day she’s a wealthy, ditzy socialite, but by night she rescues witches from the clutches of the New Republic and its famed Witch Hunter, Gideon Sharpe.

To save an important witch however, Rune must purposely stick herself in the dangerous clutches of Gideon Sharpe, and what ensues is nothing short of spellbinding.

I cannot recommend this book enough, and I cannot wait to get back to this world in Book 2!

Heartless Hunter was awesome and I couldn’t put it down. Believe the hype! Loved the writing.
It’s an enemies to lovers trope which is one of my favorites. The witches have been outcast and are being ruthlessly hunted because of how dangerous they are. The blood guards were tearing the town upside down, picking them off one at a time. This was an exciting read that had all my favorite things. It had great chemistry and romance oozing suspense. I highly recommend it and can’t wait for book 2!
Thanks St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

A fantastic start to a new slow burn, enemies to lovers fantasy romance. Perfect for fans of Serpent & Dove! This follows a witch and a witch hunter fake courting to get information out of each other and then they eventually fall for real. I can’t wait for the next instalment.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the superior fantasy trope is witch/winter hunter. So I knew this was going to be a hit for me.

Short Synopsis:
Rune is an heiress. She’s spends her days wearing fancy dresses and hosting parties for the elite. But her nights? She spends as the Crimson Moth - rescuing fellow witches from the witch hunters. She lures suitors to use spells to get information. Until she tries it on Gideon- her best friends brother and captain of the witch hunters.

My Thoughts:
I was so captivated by this story. I loved how complex the characters are. Rune is smart and clever and kind and a terrific FMC. Gideon was a unique perspective. I loved how complicated his POV was.

The love triangle in this had me TORN. It was so well done. And I loved the push and pull of the romance. I was fully absorbed and cannot wait until book two!

Read if You Like:
❤️ Romantasy
❤️ Witches/Magic
❤️ Enemies to Lovers
❤️ Best Friend’s Brother
❤️ Cat and Mouse games
❤️ Forbidden magic

Are you in the market for a sizzling romance with a touch of mystery and cat and mouse? Then this would be the book for you. This book is beyond addicting and the characters are lovable. You will not be able to put this book down!

ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.