I was really excited to pick this up, especially after seeing it as a book of the month choice. I’m definitely in my fantasy era and have been reading a ton of romantasy. Maybe because of that, this one didn’t live up to the hype. I liked Gideon, but Rune, Alex and Verity were all insufferable. I saw the plot twist coming and the world building felt really clunky. Cool premise but I will not be continuing on in the series.

Well that was a bit of a ride!

I am grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for approving and eArc of this book - I only wish I had requested it earlier to give myself time to be done by publication date. I am a couple days late.

This was a fun, fast read though. When I was able to read, I couldn't put it down. I definitely was engrossed in the storyline and I think that was due to the enemies to lovers trope, witch vs. witch hunter, and love triangle trope.

I will admit that it took me a while to get past the writing of this. I don't know how else to explain it other than it felt juvenile. Which isn't a bad thing, and honestly I think since they were 18-20 years old, it matched their age. I was just wishing these characters felt older with the story. I had to keep reminding myself they were so young so realistically it would make sense to have some miscommunication and poor decision making since a lot of those skills do come with age and life experience. (Which is okay!)

All in all it kept me enticed. I expected some of the end of this, but not all of it!

It definitely leaves you with a bit of a broken heart and I'm very interested in what the author will choose to do next for this series!

I think it will become a popular series and definitely will find its audience!

This is better than Fourth Wing.
Fabulous.
Addictive.
Exciting.
Romantic.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley in return for sharing a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley & publisher for this e-arc of Heartless Hunter (Crimson Moth, #1) by Kristen Ciccarelli.

This is a fantasy novel. 4+*; one unique aspect of witches - blood magic. There is mild romance.

Note:
Spoilers have been avoided, there may be some minor spoilers, but nothing you wouldn't already have in an online summary that I can think of other than a few details about character relationships.

Synopsis:
In the aftermath of a revolution that has left witches hunted and marginalized, Rune hides her true identity while posing as a socialite by day and a vigilante witch rescuer by night. When a rescue mission goes awry, she decides to court Gideon Sharpe, a notorious witch hunter, to gather vital information. Despite their initial animosity, Rune and Gideon are drawn to each other, blurring the lines between love and duty. As they navigate a dangerous game of deception, they must confront their deepest fears and desires, knowing that betrayal lurks in the shadows. Kristen Ciccarelli's "Heartless Hunter" is a captivating tale of romance and intrigue set in a world where love can be as perilous as magic itself.

Things I liked:
• Characters: Readers may appreciate the depth and complexity of the characters, particularly Rune and Gideon, who are forced to confront their conflicting loyalties and desires. Their internal struggles and moral dilemmas add layers to the story, making them relatable and engaging protagonists.
• Intriguing World: The novel's fantasy setting, set against the backdrop of a post-revolutionary society, offers a rich tapestry of political intrigue, magical elements, and societal tensions. Readers may enjoy exploring this intricately crafted world, with its secrets, history, and hidden dangers.
• Some Romantic Tension: The romance between Rune and Gideon adds an exciting layer of tension to the narrative. As they navigate a dangerous game of deception and intrigue, readers may find themselves drawn into their complex relationship, rooting for them to overcome the obstacles standing in their way while also wondering whether they can truly trust each other. I would like to have seen more aspects of the two main friendships as well.

Things I disliked (if you can call it that):
• Deepen Secondary Character Development: While Rune and Gideon are compelling protagonists, some readers may crave more depth and development for the secondary characters. We might have that in the next book, especially the triangle between Rune and the brothers (best friends vs. new love). Also, more details on the friendships to form an attachment to characters.
• Enhance Action Sequences: Although the novel delivers a few action sequences, there's an opportunity to have more, and we might have that in the next book. I loved the underground scene and would like more action like this.
• Expand Exploration of Magical Systems: While the magical elements in the story are intriguing, some readers may desire a deeper exploration of the magical systems and lore within the world, especially the blood element and back story of the magic. What happens to witches that are saved, etc...

I received an ARC of this book Heartless Hunter for free for an honest review.

First, I must say Kristen Ciccarelli!!! You are my new favorite author. Gideon and Rune were the most wonderful characters and I felt like I was walking in their world. This book does a great job of world building and really shows you there is always more than one side to a story. PLEASE do not keep me waiting for the next book in this series as I stayed up till 2am finishing this book only to be dealt a painful heartache with THAT cliffhanger. WHYYYYYYYYY did you do this to me??? I need to know what happens. Please send me the next one!!

XOXO your biggest fan

Have not had this much fun with a YA fantasy romance in a looooooong time. Kristin’s writing is fantastic & the TENSION between Rune & Gideon is giving us all we need!! Typically YA tends to be a bit boring in the tension/spice category but this was anything but! The plot was fantastic and the world building was easy & fun to be apart of. The banter & flirting between our enemies (to lovers) was making me weak in the knees 🫠

Although I saw the ending and the twists from a mile away, I enjoyed myself!! I may take off half a star for the predictability of the twists but overall the vibes are giving FIVE STARS 🤩🤩

I can’t wait for book two!! Thank you St. Martins Press & Wednesday Books for the advanced copy!

Kristen Ciccarelli has once again cast her spell upon me. Ciccarelli’s books transport you into a new world where the characters instantly enchant you and become your friends. Heartless Hunter is a romantic, high-stakes fantasy full of twists and turns that will leave your heart in tatters.

Enemies-to-lovers fans, this is your book. Gideon and Rune are mortal enemies. Gideon is a famous witch hunter with one goal: to catch the Crimson Moth. Enter Rune. Rune masquerades as a shallow socialite by day and saves witches as the Crimson Moth by night. She and Gideon find themselves playing a deadly game of cat and mouse. Both know they are playing the other to gain information for their own goals. Only the lines continuously get blurrier. Is this a game? Are the feelings fake or real?

I cannot scream enough about this book. PLEASE READ IT. It has everything fantasy lovers want: romance, magic, witches, angst, and intriguing characters. Ciccarelli took a classic story idea, a witch and witch hunter falling in love, and made it her own. Gideon and Rune are great characters with a lot of depth. I was rooting for them the entire time.

Ciccarelli knocked it out of the park with Heartless Hunter! I could talk about it all day. I couldn’t read the book fast enough. I had to know what was next–and now I DESPERATELY need the sequel. This book is perfect for fans of Serpent & Dove and The Winner’s Curse.

Rune, forced to betray the woman who raised her, is forever on a quest to help her own kind survive the ongoing purge, chasing an endless penance she can never repay. Desperate times push her to seduce Gideon, captain of the Blood Guard, for valuable intel. He’s a man who is both terrifying in his deadly capabilities and alluring in his mysterious dangerous demeanor.

Gideon, too, has his own personal mission, forever on a quest to kill those who represent all that he thinks is evil in the world. He is single minded in his devotion, hell bent on finding the elusive Crimson Moth who has been saving witches right under his nose. When he’s pointed in Rune’s direction that she might be the culprit, he has no choice but to seduce her to find the truth.

What unfolds is a fast paced game of cat and mouse, where both Rune and Gideon try to entrap the other. The fear, the suspicion, the anxiety and worry amplify as these two try to achieve their goals, unable to stop revealing small bits of their past trauma, shedding the facades they’ve both put up to survive.

This is a fantasy world with witches and magic, fraught with danger and dark themes all with a twisty enemies to lovers plot overlaid with a subtle triangle dynamic. Points for Rune being a heroine to root for. Points for the lovely portrayal of both these two trying not to fall for the other but unable to resist the inevitable. Points for equally building a case for each to stand on regarding why they do what they have to do.

Admittedly, I’m very hard to please, and I was continuously and pleasantly surprised that Ciccarelli created two strong characters, each with their own values and understandable convictions in what they think is right, and despite knowing the other is the enemy, they can’t help but fall for the other. Neither was naive, neither went into things blind, nor did they fumble in trying to fit a plot point. I completely appreciated that despite Rune and Gideon being adversaries, the author made me hope for a better outcome for both, regardless of whether they ultimately find that happiness with each other or apart.

Overall, I applaud Ciccarelli for the propulsive and compelling writing. I loved the alternating POV’s showcasing Rune and Gideon’s internal struggles and insecurities as both dig themselves deeper, lying through their teeth (until they aren’t), all for what they believe is absolutely necessary.

Be forewarned. This ends on a cliffhanger, and what I look forward to the most is how the author is going to find peace for Rune and Gideon as the emotions and vulnerabilities and intimacy shared were basically annihilated by the end of this book. There is an unscalable mountain of issues for both to overcome, and I’m hopefully confident that Ciccarelli can pull it off. I’ll be here waiting impatiently for the conclusion!

I loved this book, the hunted and the huntress, his brother caught in the middle. I had a hard time putting this book down. I can't wait for the next one.

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli is an intriguing novel about a young witch who secretly saves witches from those who wish to kill them off. Witches used to rule the city, and when they were overthrown, all known witches were eventually seized and killed as witches were deemed evil. Rune is now the Crimson Moth, secretly saving witches after turning her grandmother in as one. Her best friends, Alex and Verity secretly assist her while Alex’s brother Gideon is a leader of the guard seizing witches after being tortured by one. When Rune tries to get information from Gideon, he is trying to get proof she is helping witches. While they work against each other, pretending to fall for one another, will it lead to love?


This was a really good first book in a series. I wish the characters were a bit more developed and their behavior was frustrating at times, but I really enjoyed reading this story and can’t wait for the next installment.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was addictive. I loved this book from beginning to end. I loved the enemies to friends to lovers trope. I loved the conflicts and angst between the main characters that build up.
With Rune, our FMC, I love the layers with her. She puts on a facade for the outside world, when in reality she has so much depth and desire to do better in her world. Gideon, much the same, peels them back with negative intent, but I love that we get to see this shift in him over time!
I only went with 4.5 because I am EAGER for book 2 and felt a few loose ends in book 1 that left me frustrated but in the best way! I loved this book, and am greatly looking forward to the next!

I know the year has barely started, but this may very well be my favorite read of the year! This book is a fast paced game of cat and. mouse, I could hardly put it down once I started. I seriously woke up in the middle of the night to read. It was easy to get invested in every character. I cannot wait for book 2!

Who loves a good enemies to lover.. I do I do! And who loves when it involves witches.. ooh me, me! Because let’s be honest, I wish I could be a witch 😆.

Rune spends her life as a Crimson Moth, a witch who rescues her kind. But one night a rescue goes wrong and now they are sent on her path. Gideon is a proud witch hunter. He loathes them and loves helping to purge them from this world. He starts to suspect Runes ships are how they are escaping and soon he realizes Rune is so much more.

I loved this story! I especially loved the banter between Gideon and Rune. Any book where the banter is on cue, makes it just so much more and this one didn’t disappoint in that category. They shouldn’t be together and they both hate their kind, but some intense connection makes it hard for them to look the other way. It’s slow burn that grows more and more. The characters themselves are also complex and deep and real.. it’s almost like they are and we’re just watching through a box. I also enjoyed the magic system, I also love that it’s complex but not hard to follow like some other stories are.

The story is a quick, “I don’t want to put down” read. It was enjoyable and reminded me why I love fantasy books. I really can’t wait for the next story Kristen gives us!


***gahhh internal gushing***

I think this could definitely be Booktok’s newest YA romantasy obsession!

For fans of Powerless, Stacia Stark, and Serpent & Dove, this book has:
- witches in hiding because magic is punishable by death
- Enemies to lovers
- He designs and sews her a ball gown! 😍

The beginning of the book took some time to get into, but once I understood the world, it was really fun.

The “twist” at the end was a bit predictable, and there was a love triangle which I don’t like, but it was resolved by the end of the book.

I love that this is only a duology. Can’t wait for the next one!

𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐎𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫: When I saw this cover, I knew it was going to be an epic read. Something about the moth on the front just begged me to pick it up and devour it. The colors told me it was going to be a heartbreakingly beautiful story. The overall vibe of this cover is one of the best I’ve ever seen, and after reading this book I can say it feels cohesive. Kudos to the cover design artist and to whomever had the vision! I needed to do that shout out because I love this cover that much.

𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐎𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲: Kristen, you destroyed me. You wrote a book that I simply inhaled. I fell in love with the characters, main and supporting, and then you left me with a cliffhanger at the end so heart wrenching that I cried. It’s been a while since I’ve had a book hangover, but this is going to stay with me.

Our main characters are Rune and Gideon, but Alex and Verity are very important side characters, along with Laila, Nicholas Creed and Harrow. I have incredibly mixed feelings about the Blood Guard versus the witches, and which group is better, because, let’s face it, there’s no right here. There are two wrongs and we need the lesser of two evils. But which is it? I dare say that a teenie tiny bit of the plot is political. Just a little.

Rune and Gideon’s relationship… dang. Sometimes they felt older than their young adult status in this book. The tension written is palpable and watching their relationship progress through the pages was tragically beautiful.

I cannot wait for the next book. I will be waiting for the Crimson Moth to return. And when she does, I will be ready for her.

I loved this book. It was so easy to fly through, which says a lot about a book in my opinion! The characters were layered and true enemies to start, with distrust and intrigue shading their every move. But also tons and I do means TONS of chemistry and tension. Witch vs witch hunter?!…yes please and thank you. Scarlet Pimpernel vibes mesh with a gritty world that still has it’s sweet characters. (Alex!) It was so well done I cannot wait for the second one to see what happens next.

I adored this book! I love books about witches and magic and this book was very well put together. It’s got magic, romance (🌶️🌶️😏), witches, betrayal, and mystery.

The witches have been overthrown and any witch that is found, is executed. Rune Winters, a witch, tries to rescue as many as she can and smuggle them out before they are caught by the Blood Guard. Enter Gideon, a Blood Guard Captain who is hunting for the witch smuggler. In order to throw him off her trail, Rune pursues Gideon and allows him to court her. However, the intentions of both her and Gideon are not what they seem. Gideon is using her to uncover who the Crimson moth is and he is hot on the trail. Their romance is either going to be epic or deadly.

Overall, I loved Gideon’s character. He has the troubled past that shaped him into who he is. He protects those he loves, fiercely. I loved the dual POV because you can really get to know Gideon, from himself and his persona.

Rune’s character seemed too predictable at times but she was still a great FMC. I loved her double life and seeing her maintain the facades. She and Gideon have the same ferocity of their opinions which make them absolutely 🔥 together.

Thank you to NetGally and Saint Martens Publishing for providing me with an ARC. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This was amazing. I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did - I seriously read this in one day. And that ending?!? I will be first in line to read the second book once it gets announced. I need to know what happens next. I love the cat and mouse game between our mc’s. I love a powerful and strong fmc! I can’t wait to see how Rune develops next. This book had everything you want in a fantasy. Please give us book two asap!!!! ❤️ is it too early to say this is a top read of the year? Idc I’m saying it anyways

Rune lives in a world where it's dangerous to be a witch. The last witch queens were overthrown and the country is going through a giant purge led by Witch Hunters. She must pretend to hate witches in order to survive, but she secretly helps them escape to freedom as the Crimson Moth. In order to help her cause by gaining information Rune finds herself trying to court the handsome revolutionary Gideon Sharp, but he is also trying to figure out her secret identity to expose her.

This is a great romantasy to add to your reading list, especially if you enjoy enemies-to-lovers storylines or reading about a world with witches using blood magic. I enjoyed the magical element and how well thought out it was - the scars witches covered themselves in sounded strangely beautiful. The romance aspect was really good, I thought the banter between Gideon and Rune was great. And honestly, I didn't know who to root for when it came to Rune's soulmate. The enemy she's attracted to, or the guy with a stronghold as her best friend. The characters are really flushed out well. Rune is honestly a badass socialite who throws killer parties and keeps up with the latest fashion by day, and sneaks out at night to lead escapes through sewers. There was a major plot reveal that I guessed early on but that didn't make the story any less enjoyable, and I still wasn't sure how it was going to end. In fact, I can't wait for the second book in the duology to come out, I will definitely be continuing! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my opinions.

I was so impressed with this book. Rune is a witch in a place where witches are killed so she has to hide her magic. She hides in plain sight and tries to save other witches while simultaneously leading a double life as an upstanding citizen. Her best friend, Alex, is the brother of Gideon who is one of the top witch hunters. Rune and Gideon try to play each other by “faking” mutual attraction while Gideon tries to uncover Rune’s secrets and she tries to get info from him to help her save more witches.

The plot was unique and the characters leapt from the page. Rune is a tough and brave FMC and Gideon is the perfect blend of brooding bad boy.

I loved that we got to see the reasons why Rune and Gideon each feel the way they do about witches and magic. The author did such a fabulous job of unraveling their pasts and letting the reader see the impossibility of their relationship.

The ending felt a little rushed to me but didn’t detract at all from the overall book. I am absolutely on the edge of my seat waiting for the next book.