witch hunters – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Heartless Hunter (#1)

Author: Kristen Ciccarelli

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 2/20/24

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Young Adult/New Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Witches/Witch Hunters. Magic

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A steamy game of cat and mouse between witch and witch-hunter, played out against a backdrop of opulence, secrets, and bloody history.

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 a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch…is falling in love.

Content Warning: violence, blood magic, mentions of self harm, mentions of abuse, death, mentions of drug use

+ I went into this book not knowing what to expect and wow was I delightfully surprised at how engaged I was with this story. I loved the game of cat and mouse that Rune and Gideon play. Rune is a witch in secret and Gideon is a successful witch hunter. I didn’t want either of them to catch the either because I was rooting for them both at times – but they did entrap themselves with their attraction to one another which was intense. There was even a steamy scene between them which is why I mention this as a New Adult book because I did feel like the characters seem older.

+ I like how complicated this story was because of Rune’s background – she’s a witch and trying to survive by keeping that secret. She’s also the Crimson Moth, a witch going around helping other witches escape from prison. And then there is Gideon, who was abused by a which he had been in love with and when he set himself free and helped take down the witch Queens who ruled them, he became a changed young man – a hardened one. They both think they are doing their life’s purpose.

+ The twist in the story was so good, I only caught it 3/4ths into the book! I did not see it coming at all until it was too late but I love that it caught me off guard. I was so involved with Rune and Gideon’s game of cat and mouse that I didn’t question anything else happening around them.

+ The world building is great and I love the magic system. I like that we get the history of the Queens and the revolution. The killing of witches did get graphic especially when Rune recalls how her grandmother died.

+~ I personally love how this enemies to lovers, forbidden romance transpired. Gideon really hates witches and Rune really is trying to help any witch she can. I loved the cat and mouse but how could these two people ever be together? It seems doomed from the start because they are both pretending to get something from the other. There is a slight love triangle which some readers won’t like but I didn’t mind it because of what happens in the story. But Gideon is as hardened a character as I ever saw and with the way things end – is there a way the two of them could ever believe the other? But I so loved the way he softened towards Rune (even if it was at first pretend) and the things he did to woo her – I don’t blame her for falling for him!

My Thoughts:

I was really transported into this story and was riveted by the cat and mouse game between Rune and Gideon. I love the moments when they gave into what they were feeling but they have so much to work through. I love the world-building and the magic which was easy to follow. There’s a great tension that builds in the story because of Rune’s secrets, the cat and mouse game, the forbidden attraction and the twist in the story. I’m sad I have to wait for the next book!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Edgewood by. Kristen Ciccarelli | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Last Namsara by. Kristen Ciccarelli ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Night of the Witch (#1)

Author: Sara Raasch and Beth Revis

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 416

Publication Date: 10/3/23

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Categories: Historical Fiction, Historical Fantasy, New Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Witches, Witch Hunters, Series

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A witch and a hunter. Vengeance is their mission. Love is their destiny.

Fritzi is a witch. A survivor of a brutal attack on her coven, she’s determined to find her only surviving family member and bring the hexenjägers—zealot witch hunters—to justice for the lives they ended. To do this, she will need to take down their leader—Kommandant Dieter Kirch.

Otto is a hexenjäger and a captain, the second in command to Dieter Kirch—but that’s just his cover. Years ago, the hexenjagers burned his innocent mother alive and since then, he has been planning a move against the witch hunters that tore his family apart. And now the time has come for them to pay for what they’ve done.

When Fritzi and Otto are unexpectedly thrown together, neither is sure they can trust the other, despite their common enemy. But all they have is one another, and they both crave revenge. As truths come to light and trust shifts, Fritzi and Otto uncover a far more horrifying plot at the center of the hexenjäger attacks . . . but their own growing feelings for each other may be the most powerful magic of all.

Content Warning: violence, burning at the stake, oppression

I love this book cover and I like how the story started off with jägers (witch hunters) destroying a coven of witches belonging to Fritzi and her family. She and her cousin are the only survivors. Otto is a kapitan, a high ranking jäger who hasn’t yet lit a pyre of witches but his time is coming to prove himself. The story definitely throws you right into the conflict.

Of course Otto is not who he seems and instead he is trying to help the witches, but he has to convince Fritzi of his plan. I really liked the setting and history about this town in Germany which had Roman rule for awhile and is deeply Catholic. The historical note even indicates that the Trier witch trials in 1581 Germany are real and lasted about 12 years! I liked that I learned something new. In the story, these jägers are brutal and witch hunting and burning/killing as many witches as they can find. There is a twist in the story that I wasn’t expecting but it made the villain much more villainous. It’s been awhile since I’ve hated a character for being evil and Dieter takes the cake. He is a vile character. But it becomes a fight between the witches versus Dieter and his jägers.

The romance between Fritzi and Otto happens quick! To think Fritzi hated him on the first day she met him but by day two she’s wildly attracted to him and it’s basically insta-love from then on out. They have some steamy scenes together but it’s fairly quick, not very detailed and fade to black.

It was a very quick, fast-paced read. I think some parts were rushed, like the romance and I would have loved if there were more magic in it. There are some spells that Fritzi does but I wish there was more. I did love that the Three: Maiden, Mother and Crone were involved in the story.

Tropes: insta-love, enemies to lovers, witch and witch hunter falling in love

Why you should read it:

witches and witch hunters
a good twist in the story that I wasn’t expecting
quick read and some good historical world-building

Why you might not want to read it:

insta-love, and story feels a bit rushed

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this story because it was quick and had some historical notes that I found very fascinating. There is the typical witch and witch hunter falling for one another trope but it was a bit too insta-love for me. I think the villain was written very well though, since I grew to really dislike him! I wish there was more magic and spells but overall this was a fairly entertaining read.