Heartless Hunter Series: Crimson Moth #1 Published by St. Martin's Publishing Group on February 20, 2024
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Historical, Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Romance
Pages: 416
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Goodreads
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
"A steamy game of cat and mouse between witch and witch-hunter, played out against a backdrop of opulence, secrets, and bloody history. I couldn't look away." - Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Champion of Fate
Enemies-to-lovers doesn't get more high stakes than a witch and a witch hunter falling in love in bestselling author Kristen Ciccarelli's latest romantic fantasy.
On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe - a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution - who she can't help but find herself falling for.
Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?
Kristen Ciccarelli’s Heartless Hunter is the thrilling start to The Crimson Moth duology, a romantic fantasy series where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch...is falling in love.
“Enchanting and deeply romantic, Heartless Hunter drew me in with the first sentence and left me breathless by the last. A story that unfolds like a spell, and one that is destined to capture your heart.” - Rebecca Ross, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divine Rivals
Review:
Heartless Hunter is a fascinating enemies-to-lovers tale full of magic and intrigue, a witchy game of cat-and-mouse where everything is not as it seems, and it’s harder and harder for our FMC Rune to know who to trust.
✔️ Witches + witch hunters
✔️ Enemies to lovers
✔️ Love triangle (resolves by the end)
✔️ Forbidden magic
✔️ Morally grey characters
The tension that boils beneath the surface between these two characters makes it a simmering hot cat and mouse engrossing read. What do you do when you want to stay loyal to who you are but are in love with the one who wants to end your life and your kind life? I thought that the way that the witch hunter identified the witches with these condemning scars was quite interesting. I also found it funny that the brother is on the rune side, not his witch-hunting brother. A very intense story that kept me guessing till the end of what was going to happen.
About Kristen Ciccarelli
Kristen Ciccarelli grew up on her grandfather’s grape farm where she spent her childhood running through his vineyards and adventuring in the deep, dark woods behind his house. She now resides in a blustery seaside cove on a misty island in the North Atlantic. When she’s not writing, you can find her hiking in the headlands with her dog, playing board games with her husband, or sipping tea by the wood stove.
