Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli is witches, enemies to lovers, and a slow burn fantasy romance... what more could a girl ask for. This was SO good! I'm excited for book two in The Crimson Moth series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital copy.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Two years after a mass execution of witches, of which the main female character seems to have helped turn in one of the main witches, who happens to be her grandmother, the main character (rune ) is dealing with the turmoil of turning in her only remaining family member. The slow burn romance starts off right away, as the main mc and the main fc Both completely hate each other and are on opposite sides of the witches/non-witch battle, albeit one is secretly on both sides.

Alex, her best friend, and the main male characters brother, is her confidante, and the beginning of the book seems to hint at more. The twists and turns of this book made me breathless. The ending of this book literally shocked me. This book was so incredible and one of the best books I have read in a while.

This book comes out February 19, 2024. Highly recommend this read.

4.5/5 stars ⭐

An absolutely solid YA start to a series! The world building in this book was my favorite part because the author has such a way with words that made me feel immersed in the story. The magic system was also really well built and fleshed out and I'm excited to see where book 2 leads u!

Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an arc in exchange for my honest review!

This book is phenomenal! I was captivated by the story immediately and couldn’t put it down. I laughed. I cried. I need the next one now. Some spice but it’s not the main event. Wow, just wow, what an incredible author and story!

I enjoyed this so much! It was such a fun enemies to lovers, and the description of it being a game of cat and mouse felt really accurate! The tension was palpable and I really enjoyed the characters and understood their motivations and choices. I cannot WAIT for the sequel!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving this ARC, and this doesn't influence my review.
Disclaimer: slight spoilers!
So you know when you read a great book and don’t know what to do with your life until the sequel comes out? That’s me right now! It’s been a while since I’ve read Kristen’s books (The Caged Queen is one of my top favs) so I knew to expect nothing but the best. This excelled my expectations! I just wish the sequel will only be Rune’s POV and not both of them.
Tropes: enemies to lovers, fake relationship, hate to love, hidden identity, heists/action, predator/prey, cat and mouse chase, tall dark handsome MMC, arrogant MMC, angst. The tropes mentioned took my heart and I didn't know if they would fully deliver, but they did. The romance in the book was everything!!!!!!!!
I loved the “rules of magic” book chapters intro and their involvement with what spells were conjured in the chapter
Spoiler: one of my fav moments was when he had to take her measurements

4.5/5

I really enjoyed this YA romantasy and truly couldn’t put it down. The story is set in a world where witches are being hunted and purged. The story is told in dual POV. One of those POVs is Rune, the FMC, a witch known as the “Crimson Moth” who tries to save captured fellow witches with the help of a couple of her friends. By day, she has to hide that she’s a witch and poses as a socialite to help get intel in order to continue her work as the “Crimson Moth.” The other POV is Gideon, the MMC, who is a captain of witch hunters and is very unrelenting in his quest to get rid of the witches, particularly the Crimson Moth who continues to elude him.
 
I thought the world building was done well and thought the magic system was interesting. The suspense of the hunter and hunted kept me on my toes and I loved the enemies to lovers romance that started to develop. Very complex characters as well and I liked reading more about what drove the two main characters to do what they do. The twist at the end did get me and I can’t wait for the second book in this duology!
 
I think fans of Lauren Roberts’ Powerless will really like Heartless Hunter too—very similar hunter/hunted romance vibes, plus brother vs brother love triangle. But with witches!! I do just want to note that Heartless Hunter does have a little bit of spice—it’s written slightly obscurely but I think does make it more upper YA at the very least.
 
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

I have completed this book but as it is published by an imprint of St. Martin's Press I will be withholding my thoughts until they respond to the boycott.

I am over the enemies to lovers trope. It has been overdone these past few years in fantasy. It is a crutch at this point. Also , gross with the menstrual bllod.. ick.
I think this is just a me thing and not the book as a whole. I will go 3 stars , as I think it is not author or publisher issue but personal preference.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

What a fun enemies to lovers! Those who love slow burn with morally grey love interests will love this book! I need the next book immediately.

4.5* rounded up

I really loved this story. I was drawn in immediately. I couldn’t put it down and read it quickly. It was so fast paced; it was well paced. Information wasn’t dumped all at once and we learned new things at well placed intervals.

The characters were fleshed out very well. The tensions between Rune and Gideon was well written too. They were obviously young people with young people problems. The world building was well done too. As we learned more details about the world and what was happening, it didn’t get more complicated. I wasn’t confused. I did guess the plot twist, but only after the halfway point. Even though I’d guessed, I wasn’t bored. I was excited to see how it would play out.

Mostly Rune is the protagonist, but it’s a dual POV, so we get to see Gideon’s side too. It was both interesting and it helped to add details to the plot without info dumping. I usually prefer a single POV but I quite liked this setup, especially because Rune and Gideon were on opposite ends.

I really loved the “rooting for them but shouldn’t be rooting for them, enemies-to-lovers but can’t get their shit together” tension. It was well done and didn’t feel forced or instant. It was very well written. It felt natural.

This novel does have adult scenes which I wasn’t expecting.

Finally, I think my favourite part was that it didn’t end on a cliffhanger! I definitely want to read the sequel, but if I stop here it doesn’t feel terribly incomplete. There isn’t that gutted feeling waiting for the next volume, but there is definitely more to the story.

(2.5⭐)

its the way i was just stuck at the 70% mark for almost two weeks help😭 im sorry but truly i got bored and its either because i was in a slump (might be this tbh due to uni??) orrr this was just boring🙈

but! i will say that the last 10% was definitely interesting at the very least and had me at the edge of my seat (justice for my fav character of the book though🔪 im ngl just because of what happened to that character who was the only reason i was going to consider reading book 2, i dont even think i am going to continue anymore??? THAT CHARACTER DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER I HATE IT)

rune was honestly a pretty alright character. like i neither hated her nor loved her, but i did find her to make stupid decisions a lot lol. (or maybe its because of my hatred for gideon that i found them stupid). also considering she's the crimson moth, it's pretty disappointing that we only got one actually amazing scene of her in action like what a waste!! the tunnel scene was sooo good and probably my favourite one of the whole book

gideon on the other hand.... HA i hate him. i dont see what rune sees him?? bro is actually just so annoying and just so angry all the time? it just got so repetitive and i got tired of him especially with his weird logic (one witch evil = all witches must die? idk man whatever works with you). i genuinely dont foresee myself loving him in book 2 all of a sudden. i will give him credit for one thing--this guy REALLY knows how to sew the most beautiful dresses, flowers, and literally anything which is impressive and the only sweet gestures i liked about him otherwise🤚

the romance aspect of this book though??? it was pretty laughable tbh i wasnt sold on rune and gideon falling in love with the other... like in my opinion it barely felt as though they knew the other enough on an emotional level to love each other all of a sudden?? yes gideon did talk about *that* to rune but even then🤷‍♀️ their relationship felt really bland and i actually hated it anytime they were on scene together... maybe book 2 would build on that but who knows! you could not tell me those two actually are in love with each other though🤡 it's more attraction if anything

okay but one of the characters had this huge plot twist that i actually did NOT see coming at all until i was about 20 pages away from the reveal but wow???? tbh if there's anything that has me slightly curious about book 2 (like maybe 5% curiosity) it's to see how they're going to handle *that* but idk we'll see how i'm feeling in the end. and then there was this other character who was absolutely the sweetest omg <spoiler>ALEX IS TOO GOOD FOR THIS WORLD LIKE??? too pure, good, and honest nobody deserves him and his death was so unfair, wish he let gideon die sigh</spoiler>

all in all, this was alright (albeit very boring at times but again could be because of the slump), but Serpent & Dove had the better couple, plot, and world in my honest opinion🤭 <S>yes this is me telling you to go read it</s>


Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was EXACTLY what I needed! What a fresh take on a genre I’ve loved for so long- fast paced, phenomenal characters, intrigue, and an amazing hidden identity plot.

Something I love seeing in fantasy books is an intelligent and quick whit FMC. Rune had me cheering her on each time she would throw Gideon completely off and confuse the hell out of him. Watching this cat and mouse game unfold made me truly unable to put this down. I found myself constantly thinking about this book if I wasn’t reading it. This may be one of my favorites for 2024.

Thank you to Netgalley and to St Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books, for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! I liked the premise of the story and the brothers love triangle was a bit messy in a good way

The premise of this book was really interesting and immediately caught my interest. The prose was decent enough and i kind of enjoyed the cat and mouse games and close calls between Gideon and Rune.

However the magic system and romantic elements were much harder for me to enjoy. It's a matter of personal preference but I don't like love triangles, particularly brother love triangles. Moreover, I felt that Rune and Gideon both developed attraction and feelings for each other too quickly, considering they have such strong reasons to distrust each other. It didn't feel believable to me.

All in all, it's an interesting concept and the cover is beautiful, but I struggled with it a bit.

OBSESSED!!! Thank you NetGalley, Kristen Ciccarelli and St. Martin's Press for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE, FABULOUS, INTENSE, ADDICTIVE, THRILLING, MAGICAL, SENSATIONAL, ENCHANTING, MESMERIZING, ROMANTIC, HEARTBREAKING, SUSPENSEFUL, ACTION-PACKED, PHENOMENAL, DEEPLY EMOTIONAL AND BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN FANTASY ROMANCE!!! IT HAS YOUR FORBIDDEN ROMANCE, ENEMIES TO LOVERS, SLOW BURN ROMANCE, FAKE COURTING, BANNED MAGIC, WITCHES AND WITCH HUNTERS, CAT AND MOUSE GAMES, BEST FRIEND'S OLDER BROTHER, UNIQUE MAGIC SYSTEM, MORALLY GRAY CHARACTERS, SECRETS, BETRAYALS, TENSION, BANTER, CHEMISTRY, COMPLEX CHARACTERS, DUAL POV, FAST PACED PLOT, CAPTIVATING WORLD BUILDING AND UNEXPECTED TWISTS AND TURNS!! HANDS DOWN ONE OF MY FAVORITE ROMANTASY BOOKS FOR 2024!!♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

Heartless Hunter is the first book in the"Crimson Moth"duology that is loosely based on the Scarlet Pimpernel classic. Rune lives in a world where witches are hunted and purged. Therefore, she must hide what she is! During the day, she pretends to be nothing more than a heiress hosting parties for the privileged. However, at night Rune is the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who recuses her kind from being purged. Gideon, is a witch hunter who wants nothing more than to capture the elusive Crimson Moth. When their lives become interwoven, feelings begin to develop between them and things get complicated.

Overall, I was totally immersed from start to finish! I found myself giggling, screaming, swooning and sobbing by the end! Please be aware⚠️ that this does end on a HUGE cliffhanger‼️I was utterly shook by the twist ending and I am still not sure how I am supposed to wait for book two?! I highly, highly recommend this book and it deserves infinite stars!!! ♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️💫💫💫💫💫

I really enjoyed this book! The writing style was so natural and easy to read. The story flowed so well. The characters were well-crafted and interesting. There was so much tension in multiple relationships and plot lines, it kept me engaged and wondering what was going to happen next.

The character development was well done. The foundational world building could’ve been more in depth, but I didn’t feel like that kept me from being bought into the storyline and characters.

I loved the plot developments at the end, and the unresolved issues between Gideon and Rune have me eager to read the next book.

Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth: Book One) by Kristen Ciccarelli is set to be released on February 20, 2024.

<Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.>

It can be really hard to balance fantasy and romance in a romantasy so that both elements are equally captivating. This book hits that balance. I enjoyed that the magic system was well-thought out and not just whatever made sense plot-wise in that moment (actual consequences for magic!), and thought the pacing was good. I really liked the FMC and didn't mind the (mild) love triangle. Definitely for fans of Serpent and Dove, or maybe a witchy version of a regency romance??

However, the plot twists were a little predictable if you read a lot of this genre and the language sometimes veered into slightly more modern phrasing which took me out of the story a few times. I also wish we saw more of the FMC's actual work as a Crimson Moth/a little more action. Lastly, I just didn't fully buy the development of the main romantic plotline. I wanted a little more tension, a little more banter, a little more... development between the two.

The first two chapters of this book were a little shaky and unpolished, and I wasn't sure about it. Then I hit Gideon's first POV chapter and knew it would be good.

This book reminded me of the YA of 2008-2015. Most of the plot points were predictable, but the book was highly bingeable.

The enemies to lovers aspect was actually done well. Rune is a witch who saw her adopted grandmother burned during the witch purge. Gideon is a soldier in the new regime and was instrumental in bringing the old witch queens down. And he's determined to scrub every last witch from the country.

His inside knowledge is just the thing Rune needs if she's to free a recently captured witch before she's burned.

What I loved about this book is that Rune and Gideon are true enemies. They were on opposite sides of the war, and now that it's over, they are on opposite sides of the new regime. And while Gideon's backstory takes longer to come out, they are both sympathetic characters. It's easy to understand why they make the choices they do.

The tension between them and the cat-and-mouse game they play will keep you turning pages to see exactly how it plays out. But be warned: there is no HEA here. At least not yet. That is my favorite thing about this book. Despite the connection and romance that blooms between Rune and Gideon, a few months is not enough time to alter their entire world views, as is so often the case with YA romances.

After reading the first few pages I was instantly hooked. This is what I call a Fantasy Romance book, enemies to lovers that had me swooning. I have already pre-order this book both US version and UK version (because I just need it). I absolutely loved this book and I can't wait until the next book comes out.


This book follows takes place in a world where witches are being hunted/purged- it follows two POVs one is Rune who secretly a witch and is the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who help witches escape and Gideon who is a Witch Hunter. Rune plans to court Gideon in order to obtain information while Gideon plans on getting close to Rune is that he has suspicions she is a witch and could be the Crimson Moth. As they spend time with one another feelings begin to take shape- blurring the lines of their objective.