This book is such a refreshing take for the romantacy genre. Sure, a lot of our beloved tropes are there but it has a new and fresh spin on things. Rune is cunning and sly and I am utterly obsessed with her. Heartless Hunter grabs you from the beginning with the high stakes and takes you on an absolutely wild emotional roller coaster unlike any other book I have read in the genre.

For me as a reader I have to be involved in understanding a main characters motives. Who are they? Why do they they do the things that they do? Rune's story fulfills all of that need for me. She has deep secrets that guide the way she moves through the world. I don't want to say too much as it is much more fun to find out for yourself - but I highly recommend anyone who loves witches, secrets and fantasy to pick this up!

Heartless Hunter is the first in a planned fantasy romance series, and it definitely checks all the boxes for a gripping read where the fantasy world is immersive and the romance is *chef's kiss*!

So much danger that you can't look away or put the book down! This tale pits a witch against a witch hunter - their dislike toward each other is only matched by what they feel toward themselves. Both have so much fear and regret, both have turned away from their families ... both feel that the future rests in their hands. And yet Rune and Gideon find a suitable match in each other. - once their bias is stripped away, their motivations are not so different. While becoming close through deceit, each trying to infiltrate the group they are against, their chemistry is undeniable. Could they be wrong about each other? Could they change each other's point of view? This is high stakes subterfuge, where the victory of one means death for the other. This is not your typical enemies-to-lovers tale. This slow burn eventually explodes like a powder keg, leaving Rune and Gideon emotionally bare at the end ... the same can be said of the Revolution. This book ends with the explosion: Rune against Gideon, Witches against Witch Hunters, and the grounds are shifting. I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Heartless Hunter was a fun, witchy read. These is an enemies to lovers situation taking place amidst a world where witches are hunted by the Blood Guard.

Rune Winters is herself by day and The Crimson Moth by night. She works to rescue witches from being purged.

This is the first book in a duology and it does end on a cliffhanger.

Thank you for the e-arc Wednesday Books. All opinions are my own.

First, thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for an advanced copy of Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli. Let me start by saying I have been a fan of Kristen Ciccarelli's books for a long time and I was so excited to be able to read an advanced copy of this book. Overall I loved the book, could not put it down, and would recommend it to anyone as a solid fantasy novel.

This is a story of Rune, a witch living in a time where witches on her island are hunted and purged. She spends her time working with her friends to rescue witches before the Blood Guard can arrest and imprison them before their deaths. In order to find an important witch who was taken by the Blood Guard she has to face the challenge of enticing Gideon Sharpe, a high ranking witch hunter, to give her information. But Gideon is also using Rune to find the Crimson Moth.

The story was well written, dialogue was engaging, and I was kept on the edge of my seat until the end. This is definitely a slow burn, enemies to lovers back to enemies novel. There is only one scene with any spice and it is near the end of the book.

My only complaint is that I felt the world building was rushed and not fully fleshed out such that I could understand the motives of the other players in the novel. Hopefully we see more on this in the next book.

Overall, I give this a 4.5 out of 5 stars and I cannot wait to read the next installment!

Wow. This book captured my attention from the beginning. I couldn’t put it down!

The author masterfully weaves the two perspectives of Rune and Gideon, the witch, and the witch hunter. There are always two sides to a story and victims on both sides. In this book, we are slowly exposed to each story. There is a good mix of action and the story proceeds at an even pace. The characters are well developed and believable. I was drawn into their narratives and as their background stories unfolded, I could feel their emotions in my chest.
So many books have predictable storylines. This book surprised me with several unexpected twists that kept my attention and interest. I didn’t know what was coming next in a good way. I love that about a book and this one did not disappoint.

This story threw me for loops, had my stomach in knots, and left me with tears. I can’t wait for book 2!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Kristen Ciccarelli for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Wow! This book is amazing! The enemies to lovers was done to perfection. The push and pull between the witch and the witch hunter, the tension, and the battle between heart and mind, had me feeling all the emotions. I was constantly excited to find out what was going to happen next. I am so invested in these characters.

Thank you to the publisher for my arc

This seemed interesting but hugely predictable and I didn’t end up caring about any of the characters

This was a mesmerizing journey through a world that was apart by revolution and prejudice. This is takes place in a backdrop of a society where witches are hunted and their magic is suppressed. The main character was Rune, who is forced to conceal her true identity. The narrative felt thrilling and emotionally charged. Tension is when her Rune's rescue mission goes awry.

The relationship between Rune and Gideon is layered with deception and attraction. The tale of suspense and romance kept me on the edge of my seat, turning pages to figure out what was going to happen next. The world-building is vivid, immersing you into a landscape where magic is both a source of wonder and fear.

It does feel like the ending was left open for a possible duology, it left me with some unanswered questions, which I feel like would be answered in a possible second book. The pacing was well-executed, with moments of intense action balanced with quieter, more character-driven scenes. Highly recommend this for readers who enjoy tales of forbidden love, magical intrigue, and the enduring power of the human spirit.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, I was blown away by this new high fantasy romance. I loved this game of cat and mouse! There's something to be said about an enemies to lovers trope that's part of a fantasy world, because I think it just heightens it and this was just so good. There's witches, witch hunters, magic, romance, fantasy... this book has it all! The character development and plot was so well written! There's a lot of political intrigue too, which I think is missing from some fantasies and I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect as I think it really elevated the story. I loved Rune and Gideon and how they go from hating each other to helping each other and eventually falling for each other. I can't wait for more books in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for the eARC of this book.

man, did i enjoy this book. absolutely jam-packed with some of my favorite tropes, enemies-to-lovers, star-crossed lovers, intriguing magic system, the conflicted hero, and the perfect amount of miscommunication that takes place in a fascinatingly dystopian yet fantastical setting. it took me two reads to sit down and devour this novel. the characters are so beautifully complex, and since the book is written in third person with a dual point of view, the reader is able to see both sides of the story and to sympathize with these two characters who, at surface level, could not seem more different to one another. it further adds to the angst and tension of the book that both characters hold completely opposite worldviews that are equally ignorant and absolute, which is especially frustrating because neither of them is fully right.

in a world post-revolution, the life of a witch is a hard one. it is not easy for a witch to disguise herself as mortal—the silver bloodletting scars they bear in order to be able to cast their spells immediately out them as witches, for which the punishment is death. similarly, any citizen of the ‘new republic’ who is found sympathizing with witches is also subject to forfeit their life.

rune winters, eighteen, has two reputations. one, as a ditzy and shallow heiress who is praised for the part she played in the revolution—turning her own nan into the infamous blood guard (witch hunting soldiers) to be slaughtered. the revolution was the event in which citizens of the republic—oppressed and often tortured by witches—killed the three witch queens and took the kingdom for themselves in hope of a better future. it was this movement that flipped the tables on the witches, who now were not only oppressed, but forced into hiding. rune hadn’t known that she was a witch at the time of the revolution and her nan’s death, but rune had been at risk of being killed if the blood guard chose to label her a witch sympathizer. so rune, at her nan’s encouragement, turned her grandmother in to the blood guard in order to protect herself. at parties and glamorous balls she is nothing more than another socialite who despises witches, but in secret she is the infamous crimson moth, a heroine that saves witches in the night.

rune is an amazing main character. she’s so beautifully human while also being fiercely convicted of the cause of the crimson moth. she was young when the revolution occurred, and her nan had only ever loved rune unconditionally, so when it comes to the wicked deeds that the former witch queens performed, she is a bit naive. to her, saving witches from execution and smuggling them out of the new republic is the only way that she can make things up to her grandmother. with the help of her best friends and partner’s in crime, verity de lune and alex sharpe, rune has been able to use her status among the elite as a means of gleaning information and saving those who she believes are innocent. at the beginning of this novel, rune is on an especially important rescue—to save her nan’s childhood best friend, seraphine. but she’s unfortunately too late—the captain of the blood guard, gideon sharpe (also alex’s older brother) has already arrested seraphine.

gideon sharpe is our second main character, and where rune is naive to the deeds of the witch queens and others like them, gideon knows the horrors firsthand. when the opportunity of the revolution came around, he seized the chance to take down the reign of the witches, using his anger and trauma to fuel his hatred and harden his heart towards the race of women. to him, there is no black and white—every witch is as bad as the one who hurt him, and nothing could possibly change his mind. he very obviously has some form of ptsd and he uses his hatred of witches as a way of keeping himself safe from having to relive the horrible things that happened to him.

when rune winters takes an interest to him after the arrest of seraphine, he is simultaneously presented with a tip as to who the crimson moth could be. but to figure that out, he needs to get close to rune. and here is where ciccarelli has taken a new spin on the fake dating trope—rune and gideon are both fake dating one another in order to serve themselves, but neither of them know it. for both of them, it’s strictly business…until it isn’t. gideon has always thought of rune winters as a conceited and stupid, just another snobby rich girl who couldn’t care less about the poverty happening in areas of their kingdom. to rune, gideon has always been a brute with a superiority complex, the older brother of her best friend who obviously didn’t like her.

as the book progresses, rune and gideon play a delicate balancing act with one another, both trying to stay committed to their missions while also attempting to keep their feelings uninvolved. as the two get to known one another more and more, turmoil is beginning to stir in other parts of the new republic, tension only builds and both rune and gideon’s lives are hurling toward an uncertain future, where it is uncertain whether the witches or the humans will prevail.

i would recommend this book a thousand times over, to anyone who loves dystopian or fantastical fiction with political intrigue. the romance is *chef’s kiss* and, in my opinion, doesn’t miss when it comes to making the reader root for them to be together. there’s a mild amount of spice in this book, nothing too graphic but definitely not fade to black. this is the perfect book for lovers of the cruel prince and fourth wing, and i’ll recommend it to the day i die. the book is equal, if not better, in some aspects, than those books. i am eagerly awaiting the sequel and i cannot wait to see where rune and gideon go from here.

5/5 stars 🦋🗡️

This was an awesome fantasy romance novel! I don't always lean towards fantasy romance but this one is makes me want to read more of this genre. I loved it, it is more of a slow burn but it's so worth it. The character development is amazing. You get enemies to lovers trope, you get witches & an awesome magical system. Can't wait to read more from this author.

Thank you for this arc!

Heartless Hunter is a thrilling tale between a witch trying to save her people and the hunter who leads them to their demise. Circling the other in a game of cat and mouse. They’re both using each other, but soon the line starts to blur between their individual plights.

This was SO good. Each character has a lot of depth to them and it really serves the plot well. This is a definite must read for those into fantasy romance.

Tropes/Themes:
Enemies to lovers, best friends brother, witches, exceptional magic system

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy to leave an honest review.

Wow. I mean, WOW. I was not expecting this book to blow me out of the water the way it did. I had tried to start it over and over and couldn't get past the first few pages, but once I did I was hooked. I finished this book in about 24 hours (and immediately after Iron Flame, which I thought would leave me a book hangover, but apparently this was the cure).

Firstly, the way that we're introduced the characters is amazing. Even getting Gideon's POV, we don't like him. The way the author had him grow on us was AMAZING. I was heartbroken not once, but twice, in this book. Literal tears near the end.

There's nice world building going on here, giving us lots of history for where they live and the characters directly. It also introduces and slowly explains the way magic works, which is nice. We get a good idea of their island, society, and the weird in between of historical/modern society that exists.

Getting Gideon and Rune's back stories and then their story together really has you rooting for them towards the end and let's just say I was in SHAMBLES.

BEWARE OF CLIFFHANGER.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I ended up enjoying this! There were times where it was a little slow for my liking, but otherwise I enjoyed it. Highly recommend for my romantasy lovers.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. And, I'm ready for the sequel whenever you are!

Heartless Hunter is about a young woman named Rune who lives two lives. By day, she's a daft socialite and hero who turned in a witch. By night, she's the Crimson Moth, a witch who works to free captured witches. However, the one witch she's been looking for has been proving difficult to find and has recently been captured. This time she needs the help of her enemy, a witch hunter named Gideon to find who she's looking for. Gideon on the other hand is looking for proof she's not what she says she is.

I loved this book. I'm not saying that just because I received an eARC. I've been in a reading slump for over a month after reading book after book of weak female main characters. Rune is smart and actually useful. She's not easily manipulated and is well aware of the cat and mouse game going on. The spicy is slow burn and tasteful, not shoved into every crevice of the book in order to make up for lack of plot. This has a plot, and plot twists and characters with personalities. Faith in the genre has been restored.

3.5 ⭐️ I couldn’t put this down, and read it within 24 hours! I am looking forward to the next in the series. Like many fantasy books, I felt like this entire book was just a setup to the second. The main action doesn’t occur until the very end and there is a cliffhanger.

Welcome to your new Fantasy Series! Witches, Witch Hunters, Magic, Romance, it’s all here and it’s really good!

Rune is a witch. She didn’t know she was a witch until her sixteenth birthday. She also turned in her grandmother for being a witch. She is a witch and she is the darling of the Witch hating Blood Guards.

Once upon a time, witches ruled. Were they all kind and benevolent? Nope. And so there was a revolution and all the witches were hunted down and purged. A nasty word, that!

Rune is a clueless socialite by day and the Crimson Moth by night. Freeing witches and sending them to safety. But she has aroused the suspicions of her best friend’s brother, Gideon, the captain of the blood guard. His loyalty to the new government is firm. And he intends to find out if Rune is the Moth or not.

Adding to that drama is her BFF, Alex. Gideon’s brother. Alex is in love with Rune and knows what she is. As Gideon and Rune each play a cat and mouse game, love finds them both. But will he save her?

Full of really good characters and plots, this could very well be my next fantasy addiction.

Netgalley/ St. Martin’s Press/ Wednesday Books, February 20, 2024

I absolutely think this will find the right audience, as it has a ton of well-loved tropes. And I do love a good enemies to lovers especially when it's centered around witches. But I just didn't love this particular romance in this one, it was too unbelievable and made me dislike the MC. It felt a too juvenile but I think that might mean a younger audience will love it. The pacing worked, and the magic system has real potential with a little more clarity and world building.

This is a new obsession! Seriously. This book took me by surprise at how good it is! I absolutely enjoyed every minute of it!