Title: Heartless HunterSeries: Crimson Moth #1Author: Kristen CiccarelliPublisher: Wednesday BooksPublication Date: February 20, 2024Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, RomanceReading Source: NetGalleyLength: 400 pagesFormat: e-bookCover Art: 5/5Overall: 4/5
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 FateOn 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 a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch...is falling in love.
Review:
Heartless Hunter is the first book in the The Crimson Moth #1. Witches are illegal after a disastrous revolution, one that has caused witches from all over to be killed, including Rune’s own grandmother. She was all Rune had. Rune is walking a fine line by becoming the Crimson Moth, she protects other witches. It’s hard for Rune to stay out of the Blood Guards' sight, especially with the handsome Gideon Sharpe, a cutthroat loyal member of the Blood Guards. But Rune starts to realize Gideon just might not be so heartless after all.
This book was such a fast read for me, even though it is 400 pages I flew through it. I liked the action and the characters. I love t enemies to lovers. I enjoyed the romance. That ending! I am so looking forward to the next books in this series. Reminds me of Serpent & Dove.A thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.