𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4.5⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: Romantasy📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
I really enjoyed this one, it was so fun and unique- I didnt want to put it down and I can’t wait for the second one to come out.

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Enemies to lovers
Witches + witch hunters
Slow burn
Lies and deception
Slight love triangle
Alternating POVs
Game of cat and house
Opposites attract
Best friends brother
Forbidden magic

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
Gave me Bridgeton vibes

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
It ends on a cliffhanger!

𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚀𝚞𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜:
★ ”She was drowning, and he was air. She hadn’t even realized how much she needed him until he was gone.”
★ "Rune had gone and gotten herself addicted. The hunted had fallen for the hunter."
★ “Isn’t that the point of art—to tame the monsters in us?”

I knew going into this book that I was gonna love it and I wasn’t wrong. It’s beautifully written and the characters were amazing. I loved the whole witch and witch hunter enemies to lovers aspect of the story. There are a lot of heavy topics discussed throughout the story so make sure to check trigger warnings before picking this one up.

I would’ve given this 5 stars if I wasn’t still upset about that ending. My heart is broken. I cannot wait to see where this series goes!

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the e-arc!

This book actually surprised me. I cannot believe how much i liked this book. I really liked Rune and her and Gideon are cute together they are the two side of the same coin trop. They are both on the extreme of other sides Gideon thinks witches can do no right and Rune thinks all witches are pure and good. I do think the Rune is starting to become less radicalized. And I have high hopes for her now that she sees how the world is and while the way the blood guard acts is evil they have reason to take such extreme measures

*arc was provided for an unbiased review by netgally*

An easy-to-follow romantasy with a magic and societal system that’s easy to follow.

I do think it deserves multiple reads (as even though it has these things and I’m sure it will be the big blow up romantasy this year) for me, especially, so I can pour over each detail and annotate to verify I’m not missing anything.

I do think some *might* have issues with how Rune (FMC) finds a loophole in the magic system, for a majority female-based audience of the Romantasy-genre, I think it’ll be perceived as normal. I will be honest, I did read it 4 times to ensure I did not mistake it.

While the romance was foreseeable, the multiple plot twists weren’t and my jaw was solidly on the floor.

Overall, it’s a solid 4.4 ⭐️ from me and I do recommend as I devoured it in a short amount of time.

Love it so much had to grab the physical copy too!!

Enemies to lovers && witches book was definitely for me!!

Love that there is ramifications for using magic.

Ends with a cliffhanger look forward to the next book.

This book kept my attention from start to finish. I loved the magic system, the love story, and the high society with ballgowns and social events. I’m excited there will be more books in this series. Things were left quite up in the air.!

AHHH!!! WHAT am I supposed to do with myself until book #2 comes out!? What an ending 😩

I was hooked with this storyline from the very beginning; I never really thought of it as “slow”, but after I got about 25% of the way through, I COULD NOT put it down! (that is, until I literally threw my kindle at one point towards the end because… Alex 🥲)

The relationship between Rune & Gideon is so painfully frustrating (in the best way???) — I know everyone hates it when characters don’t communicate and voice their feelings to each other, but this is such a unique scenario, because they do… but they don’t… they both have secrets that they’re keeping- Rune especially, since hers are basically life or death. They need to use each other to gain intel, and are technically “enemies”… or are they? 🤔

I did have to chuckle a few times, because I definitely feel like the author may have gotten a few ideas from ACOTAR… but I enjoyed it and found it very easy to read.

I originally was immediately drawn to this book the first time I saw it because of the BEAUTIFUL cover. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC (thanks NetGalley & Wednesday Books!) but I think I will still be purchasing a physical copy.

I don’t even know where to begin. There were so many parts that just worked so well together. I live a book that can carry both a strong plot and strong character development and this book gave both.

This book was everything! It drew me in from the first page and it was such a great ride. This was a story about a witch and witch hunter and was done right. The main characters had great chemistry and it was a true enemies to lovers romantasy. The plot was great and it had a really cool magic system. This book was action packed, suspenseful, and mysterious. It kept me guessing the whole time and had some reveals along the way that I didn’t see coming. It was my first five star read of the year and I will definitely be recommending it. I am already needing book 2 and can’t wait to see what comes next!

Well....crap I have feelings about this book. I've read everything by this author and she's always an auto read for me. I was SO excited about this book since it was announced. I love the Scarlet Pimpernel musical and the 80's movie so I was curious about this one.

Honestly, this wasn't quite what I hoped it would be. I understand that this is a fantasy romance but there are a couple glaring things that honestly should've been addressed to flesh out the story more. I feel like the Blood Guard were just humans who hunted down witches? They have special shackles sure and they can smell the magic on a witch. But there's no other special training or weapons to help these humans fight witches who have magic? That was never fully fleshed out enough.

The other thing was Rune herself. I felt like I was such at an arm's length away from her that I couldn't care enough about her. It felt like she was forced to obsess over Gideon so much that she hardly EVER thought about Alex until it was convenient for the drama of the plot. Sure they're trying to get info out of each other but it did feel a little toxic and it wasn't fully addressed. I did appreciate the complexity of Gideon; both male characters to me were much more relatable and believable than Rune. Their past was tragic and made who they are.

The last thing is a spoiler so I won't put it here but it made me angry. Rune's mindset did not feel genuine at all after events go down at the end. It feels like the publisher really pushed this fantasy romance idea but don't leave any room for thinking about other things. The weight of the ending did not fully settle into Rune and I didn't agree with that at all. Let's just say that the ending should have had much more devastation aimed in a certain direction but all the emotional reactions from both Rune and Gideon were aimed the wrong way.

I will read book two to see what will happen. But honestly, I would recommend her standalone "Edgewood" more than this one. Edgewood had much more complex emotion, heart and an overall more balanced story. I have big issues with these fantasy romance books; you need to flesh out all the players in the story and then deliver on all your promises and it wasn't for me. I still like this author a lot but I'm bummed on how this one turned out.

I thought I would love this book. I didn’t. Mind you it had everything going for it. Intrigue, romance and witches. Others obviously loved the story. I just failed to relate.

A St. Martin’s Press ARC via NetGalley.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC of Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli in exchange for my honest review. I really enjoyed this one. This is about Rune who is a witch and has done the unthinkable to hide who she really is.
It doesn’t make things better that her best friend’s brother is a witch hunter who wants nothing more than to see the crimson moth dead. His greatest mission is to find out who she really is to get rid of her once and for all.

So both Gideon and Rune need something from one another to learn the truth that they’re each trying to unveil. They both lie to deceive each other until real feelings are involved..
I really liked this story. It surprised with how emotional some moments were for me but when a book does that, that when you know it’s good. Each ending of a chapter had me needing to read the next right away. I wish there was a little more time for the romance to be developed but I’m still curious to see how the duology will continue.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THIS WAS SO GOOD!!!!!!
I have a really hard time getting into a new book, especially one with a fantasy element. That was NOT the case with the one! I was hooked from the start and couldn't stop thinking about it. The dual POV is always a plus for me, and with the dichotomy of this storyline, it added so much richness to the storytelling and plot progression. I absolutely loved that there were twists and turns throughout - it kept me constantly guessing and fully shocked!!!!
This is an easy 5 star read for me, which is NOT common. I cannot wait to scream about this book to everyone and I will be the first in line to purchase the next installments of the series!!

Witches and magic books are my absolute favourite! This book was fantastic! I loved how the spells were placed in the book giving us a taste of them before the chapter. I loved the chemistry between the witch and which hunter. The cliffhanger left me wanting so much more.

I received this book via NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.

I just starting getting back into Fantasy and I absolutely devoured this read.

Reading about a witch vs witch hunter was just a fun read.

Since this book had to deal with witches and magic, I thought it was a nice touch that the spells and definition was put at the beginning of some chapters to get a better grasp on what was being used and what was it meant for. Gideon and Rune's complicated relationship was interesting to see it blossom and how difficult it was to navigate between their evil plans. Also I loved reading Alex and Rune's friendship and how he was everything she needed, but wouldn't let herself have what she thinks she doesn't deserve. I wish this was a why choose book because I loved both of these men for her. One was dangerous and the other was more like home.

The one thing I didn't really like was the insta-love in the story. I think there should of been more character building and angst. They were enemies for a long time and should of acted like it for a little longer. Also I don't like ending on a cliffhanger when I don't have the next book to read right after lol. I can't wait to read the second book in the series. I will be anxiously waiting.

Thank you Netgalley, Kristen Ciccarelli, and Publisher for letting me read an early arc, in exchange for leaving an honest review.

HEARTLESS HUNTER was a wild ride of a novel that got me out of my reading slump. This book is like Mr. and Mrs. Smith but written for a young adult audience and instead of spies, you have a witch and a witch hunter who equally need to use one another to achieve their goals. The novel was fun, angsty, and an absolutely great story.

I really enjoyed every part of this novel. I found myself invested in the story almost immediately. It started with action right away and hooked me. The characters were complex and multifaceted and the magic system that the author utilized was pretty fleshed out and made sense. There was a balance to the narrative and no part dragged. I think the author did an incredible job.

I will say that I felt some parts of the story to be predictable, but I think you have to keep in mind that it’s a YA novel. I saw some things coming a mile away, but it didn’t dampen my enjoyment of the story. I think it’s just something to keep in mind if YA isn’t 100% your thing.

I loved this story and I am itching to read the second book, even though it’s not even out yet. I think this is a book that’s going to be talked about and the hype it’s sure to get is worth it.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I choose this because of its’ recent popularity and hype. This isn’t the genre I’m attracted to, but, thought I’d give it a try. It captured my curiosity and I found some of it uniquely entertaining. I probably won’t continue with the series, yet I am thankful for the ARC for my honest review.

I am writing this review from my desk at work, trying my hardest not to fall asleep because I stayed up all night reading this book. You too should read this book so you too can have lower work productively the next day.

I'm often somewhat disappointed by The Next Big Thing. Very occasionally, I'll find That Next Big Thing that delivers. Heartless Hunter by Kristin Ciccarelli is just such a book.

We follow along with Rune as she leads her double life. By day, she's the rich socialite that turned on her own grandmother two years ago during the uprising. By night, she's saving as many witches as she can as the Crimson Moth. She's been working with her friends Alex and Verity to help save those who are being killed simply for being born witches. The Blood Guard hunts witches and is led by Gideon Sharp, Alex's brother. He suspects Rune is involved in who he's hunting, and she knows he's a source of information on the witch hunters.

What follows is a twisted tail of lies, deceit, love, second chances, and hate.

The magic system in the book is very interesting as it's blood based. This results in cutting references and therefore could be triggering to some.

I was transported into this story and cannot wait for the ending to this duology!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy!

I think witch/witch hunter may be one of my new favorite fantasy tropes!
Heartless Hunter was completely captivating from start to finish. It was dark, fast-paced and has a unique magic system that I loved and am excited to learn more about.

Rune was a TERRIFIC main character. She’s clever, deceptive, and compassionate.
Gideon is a complex, morally grey character and I loved him. He has good reasons to hate witches but his inner turmoil as he gets closer to Rune is SO GOOD.

This right here is a true enemies-to-lovers story. I loved the game of cat and mouse they had going on as they both pretended to pursue the other for their own agendas. The push and pull of the romance was executed wonderfully.

The ending has me so excited for whatever comes next. Give me more vengeance and betrayal but Rune and Gideon better be endgame!

Heartless Hunter releases on February 20th and is a must read if you’re a romantasy lover ♥️