This tale completely took me by surprise. Rune is not at all your typical witch, and I was fascinated by the lengths she went to in order to use her magic differently and secretly. While enemies-to-lovers is a common trope, I enjoyed watching it unfold slowly through the story. I felt myself racing breathlessly through the pages, fueled by the relentless emotion of the unforgettable characters.

Heartless Hunter is a romantic, fantasy tale of forbidden love, political intrigue, and rebellion. As the first installment in The Crimson Moth series, readers are introduced to a world where witches have been relegated to outcasts, hunted by those who once revered them.

The story follows Rune, a witch in hiding under a false identity in a kingdom where magic is forbidden. By day, she plays the part of a spoiled noble. By night, she becomes the Crimson Moth, a masked vigilante aiding fellow witches escape persecution. But when a mission goes awry, she finds herself on the radar of Gideon Sharpe, the kingdom’s most feared witch hunter. To protect her identity, Rune makes a bold move: seduce the enemy. What begins as strategy quickly tangles into something far messier.

Rune and Gideon’s relationship is laced with suspicion, chemistry, and tension, hitting many of the hallmarks of an enemy-to-lovers romance. Both characters carry trauma and conflicting loyalties, and watching them unravel each other is one of the book’s major appeals. Gideon is the typical brooding anti-hero, but while Rune is a strong lead, her inner conflict isn’t given quite enough nuance to make her stand out. Their chemistry simmers, but the development of trust and intimacy feels somewhat rushed, given how high the stakes are.

Ciccarelli writes in a clear, accessible style, and the pacing is solid, so there’s rarely a dull moment. But the world-building feels surface-level. The political structure, the history of the revolution, and the rules of magic are underdeveloped, making the stakes feel less grounded than they could be. The blood magic system had potential, but it was never really explored the way I wanted it to be.

Heartless Hunter has all the ingredients for a standout romantasy: witches in hiding, a ruthless hunter, a masked vigilante, and a steamy enemies-to-lovers dynamic. I found it entertaining, but it didn't quite rise above the crowd in the increasingly crowded romantasy genre. That being said, it does set the stage for the continuation of the series. Here’s hoping book two, Rebel Witch, brings more depth to this dangerous world.

An amazing start to a duology with a true enemies to lovers storyline! I also love books like these that have Scarlet Pimpernel-esque main characters! The characters had to go through so much pain and I feel like the book was packed with non stop action! The ending shocked me and I can't wait to read book 2!

ɴᴇᴛɢᴀʟʟᴇʏ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ || HEARTLESS HUNTER [thank you to PRH Audio, Wednesday Books, and @netgalley for my #gifted copies!]

Title: Heartless Hunter
Author: Kristen Ciccarellil
Genre: YA Fantasy/Romance
Format: Digital + Audio
Star Rating: ★★★★☆

ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
I literally can’t believe that I put off reading this book for so long — once I picked it up, I could not put it down (or wait to pick up book two! But more on that later.)! If you are at all into Throne of Glass or the Twin Crowns series, this would be right up your alley!

And since I enjoyed both, it goes without saying that I fell in love with Rune and Gideon almost immediately. This book is, like, the ultimate enemies-to-lovers complete with hidden identities and high-stakes chase moments. Honestly, I would love to see the cave scene in a movie because I think it would be highly entertaining!

The cast of side characters are all well fleshed out and play a role — I loved how almost all of them weren’t just throwaway characters and they call came back to play a role later!

And the romance…the tension…the chase…the forbiddenness of it all. Just — listen to the hype on this one and PICK IT UP TODAY.

ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Witchy Books
World-Building
Us Vs. Them
Enemies-to-Lovers
My Best Friend’s Brother

ᴅᴇᴛᴀɪʟꜱ:
GR: 4.19⭐️
# of Pages: 406
Pub Date: February 20, 2024

4.5/5. Now THIS is enemies to lovers DONE PERFECTLY alongside dual POV. I’m one of those rare people where dual POV is hit or miss but here the way Gideons POV is so so so well fleshed out and nuanced with his traumatic backstory of his family and Cressida’s tyranny, is SO FREAKING GOOD! I love Gideons character so much.
At the same time, I love Rune as a character because the author showed that you can be girly and love dressing up while still being a badass as she played the Crimson Moth identity without anyone knowing it was her. I just also loved that she was actually smart and so was Gideon and they were constantly trying to outsmart each other. They felt like equals who met each others match.
I also love that this wasn’t a colonizer romance because the blood guard, while being oppressive, were also very oppressed by witches. So both did shitty awful things and felt justified because of the tyranny both sides experienced back and forth. I really loved the nuance here and hard based magic system with the visuals of the carvings leaving a trace when witches did their magic. I love magic with clear rules and limits. This was a spectacular start to the duology.
My only criticism is that I wish the confessions of feelings to each other were more drawn out. Still highly recommend and LOVED this

“Heartless Hunter” by Kristen Ciccarelli has been a difficult read for me. I’ve tried several times to pick it up but it just hasn’t grabbed my attention the way that I thought it would when reading the synopsis. They say that there is a time for every book, so I am wondering if this just isn’t the right time for me to read this one or if it isn’t a good fit for me as a reader. I’ve put it to the side (I own a physical copy in addition to the e-copy provided) and will try to pick it up again down the road when the motivation returns. For now, I am giving it five stars because a low rating would not be a fair reflection of the work and my opinion of it. I will update my rating once completing the book.

Heartless Hunter offers an engaging fantasy set in a world where magic is outlawed and witches are hunted. The story follows a witch-hunter and a girl with hidden powers as their paths intertwine in complicated ways. The writing is smooth, the pacing steady, and the world-building bwell done without being overwhelming. The romance builds gradually, with a solid mix of tension and trust. While some of the plot beats feel familiar, fans of similar authors will likely enjoy the vibe. An enjoyable restart to this series.

WOW 4.8/5 stars

I am still processing this book! I really really enjoyed this story, the characters, the twists and turns!

Plot:
It was a little slow to get into, the first 10% was a build up, but BOY after that - we took off and it was a never ending cycle of secrets, lies, and plot twists. I mean the ending alone had my mouth drop - literally drop.

Magic system/ world building:
The witches magic was SO cool. It was quite complex for what read like a YA book. But not hard to follow. Written well.

Characters:
MFC - UGH to die for. I loved reading her POV. She was such a likeable character. She was secretive, but sensitive, thoughtful and had critical thinking skills. A little impulsive at times, but with such high emotions and the trauma history, it all worked.

Our MMC Gideon - I liked him, a lot. He definitely had the most back story and I am interested to see where the story is going for him. HE'S A HURT LITTLE BABY and I just want to hold him. The author wrote him so well, morally grey on the softer side.

Side characters - I just wanted a DASH more about them, but when I got to the end, I understood why we didn't get as much as I hoped for.

The Love Triangle- Just a LITTLE bit was missing for it to be a true love triangle. But I felt the pull the MFC was feeling.

Overall - This was a fantastic read and I highly HIGHLY recommend fantasy readers to put this on their TBR !!



Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review *

Oh my God, I'm so mad I waited to read this book for so long because it was SO FREAKING GOOD!

Witch x witch hunter is such an underrated, under-explored romance trope, and "Heartless Hunter" filled that void so beautifully. This duology, as a whole, is absolutely a must-read!

I really enjoyed Heartless Hunter. I would have been a little confused at the beginning if I hadn’t known what the book was about already, but everything cleared up fairly quickly. Rune and Gideon had great chemistry and I am looking forward to Rebel Witch!

Why did I wait so long to read this. WHY DID I DO THAT?!

Listen, I am LAMENTING all of the wasted time before I got around to reading this book because I LOVED it. I ate this up and have been thinking about it non-stop since I finished it. Did I immediately go out and buy physical copies of both this and The Rebel Witch? Yes. Yes I did.

I mean, a witch/witch hunter dynamic is great anyway. But this novel made it sublime. The tension? sensational. The plot? Sucked me in from the beginning. The atmosphere? Moody, dark, and romantic all at the same time.

Sincerely, chef's kiss. I haven't recovered from this yet, it viscerally ripped me out of a reading slump and I am all in heading into The Rebel Witch.

Thank you whole heartedly to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel. It is my own eternal punishment that I did not read this sooner. It was amazing.

This book was a fun ride from start to finish! When I say i want enemies to lovers, this is what I'm talking about! I loved the witch/witch hunter dynamic and the chemistry between the 2 main characters were immaculate! I really enjoyed that we got both of their POVs in this! The end was gut wrenching and I cannot wait to see how this concludes in the sequel!

this was so good omg i needed that. i was yearning for gideon and rune the whole time. i was shocked by the ending and if they don’t turn into lovers im going to freak out!!

This was not for me. I'm not a fan of love triangles between brothers so this felt kinda icky to me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy, that I'm so late with!

This was an incredible enemies to lovers trope with fabulous description and characters. Highly recommend for readers who enjoy a little steam with witches and witch hunters!

First I want to say thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for approving me for this ARC . I know this review is late and I’m sorry. I finished this in a week and oh my god that ending. I really loved reading this book. The writing and characters pulled me in so easily. I did not want to put this book down. Honestly whenever ever I wasn’t reading I was thinking on what going to happen next and oh boy was I right on my guesses. This is my favorite read of the year that I have yet.i can’t wait to read the next book and see what happens with Gideon and Rune and the rest of the characters. I’m definitely recommending this book to my sisters.

I was hopeful I would at least have a decent time with this book, but it ended up exceeding my expectations. It's an enemies to lovers romantasy, but the way it's done is one I can get behind. Both Rune and Gideon make for compelling characters, and there are plenty of tension-filled moments as they try to outmaneuver one another, without falling for each other.

I've lost count of how often I've read a book where I keep getting told how clever the main character is, only to read one badly thought out decision after the other. In this case, the author never once says that Rune is smart, but it's obvious she is just from the events that take place. I loved all the moments where Rune and Gideon were headed towards confrontation—every time I thought Gideon had Rune trapped, something new would be revealed to change my perception of the events.

I was definitely more invested in their relationship as enemies, but the romance is pretty good as well. The only character I can't really get behind is Alex—his actions and motivations just don't make any sense to me.

Kicking myself for not reading this sooner! It was so good. Love an enemies to lovers but not lacking any of the drama or mystery. Rune has won my heart and rooting for her to free the witches! BRB while I got grab the second book in the series.

Thank you for this ARC!

This book suffers from a severely agitating case of telling instead of showing, and through the POVs of two idiot protagonists no less. Truly the only less believable plot than a man who has sworn to hunt down witches and take them down with no mercy willingly falling for the witch who he so obviously knows is the person freeing said witches, is said "intelligent and cunning" witch willingly falling for the dude actively trying to kill her at every waking moment.

The plot twists were predictable from ten thousand miles away, because of the aforementioned telling not showing where the author's info dumps about completely irrelevant information were all poorly disguised foreshadowing that was not subtle in the slightest.

The back and forth switching of the MCs POVs throughout the book made every sequence of events seem to drag in the most sluggish way, as if we needed to know the exact thoughts of Rune or Gideon every beat of the way even though it was just a constant back and forth of "he/she wants to kill me but at least they're hot!"

And of course, the enemies to lovers plot was incredibly forced to the point of driving out any other possibility for the FMC's happiness, even though throughout the book she is regarded as a highly desirable aristocrat who throws large parties and has new potential suitors every week. FMC (whose pale skin and light hair are constantly mentioned) also proudly owns servants in her estate, which also got a raised eyebrow from me.

Yeah, I hated this. 1.5 stars for Alex alone. The rest I could have done without.

This was amazing. It was everything I wanted and more. I loved The Last Namsara so I was very excited when I first learned Kristen Ciccarelli was coming out with a new duology. It did not disappoint. Highly recommend! This series is a new favorite staff recommends and hand-sell for me.