Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli – a Review

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli – a Review

 

 

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Description:
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?

 

 

Review:

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli is the 1st book in her new romantic fantasy duology Crimson Moth series.  We meet Rune, our heroine, whose life drastically changed forever, when a terrible revolution, when witches became outcasts; hunted and killed. To save her granddaughter, Rune was told to pretend that she knew nothing about her grandmother being a witch, with Rune hiding what she is to survive. Devasted by the death of her grandmother, as well as all the deaths of witches, Rune changes her life.  During the daytime, she is a wealthy socialite and by evening she is the infamous Crimson Moth, who rescues witches before their horrifying deaths.

Gideon Sharpe is a witch hunter, who has unsuccessfully been trying to find the Crimson Moth.  He gets a clue that Rune might be using her ships to free the witches, and decides to pursue her and in order find evidence that she is a witch.  Gideon’s brother Alex, is Rune’s best friend, as well as Verity, and they both know that Rune is the Crimson Moth, but they are totally loyal to her.  When Gideon starts making advances, Alex is not happy, as he secretly loves Rune. Gideon plays the part of courting her, and slowly begins to fall for Rune, learning more about her intelligence, as well as being caring.  Rune also learns more about Gideon’s past life, hating the witches who killed his family and used him.

Though I understand Gideon’s past with a witch who destroyed his family, I found him to be a bit harsh, going to any length to discover if Rune was a witch.  I did love Rune, who was a cunning fighter, always trying to save the witches.  With both constantly changing their minds on what are their real feelings in in this game of cat and mouse. There were a lot of twists and turns as we get closer to the end, and saying too much more would ruin this for you.

Heartless Hunter was a fast-paced compelling page turner, that was intense, intriguing, exciting, and a forbidden romance. The last third of the book was wild and tense, with me unable to put the book down. Heartless Hunter was so very well written by Kristen Ciccarelli, was well as being a fantastic world-building. I look forward to the next book, especially since this is a duology.

 

 

 

 

 

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The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli – a Review

The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli – a Review

 

The Last NamsaraAmazon / B&N / Kobo / BAM / Book Depository

 

Description:
In the beginning, there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit, who carried love and laughter wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be dark—and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death bringer.

These are the legends that Asha, daughter of the king of Firgaard, has grown up hearing in hushed whispers, drawn to the forbidden figures of the past. But it isn’t until she becomes the fiercest, most feared dragon slayer in the land that she takes on the role of the next Iskari—a lonely destiny that leaves her feeling more like a weapon than a girl. 

Asha conquers each dragon and brings its head to the king, but no kill can free her from the shackles that await at home: her betrothal to the cruel commandant, a man who holds the truth about her nature in his palm. When she’s offered the chance to gain her freedom in exchange for the life of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard, she finds that there may be more truth to the ancient stories than she ever could have expected. With the help of a secret friend—a slave boy from her betrothed’s household—Asha must shed the layers of her Iskari bondage and open her heart to love, light, and a truth that has been kept from her.

 

 

Review:

The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli is the 1st book in her new YA fantasy Iskari series.  Ciccarelli has created a complex and interesting fantasy world of Dragons, Royalty and a heroine, who is considered a princess, but is hated by many.  Asha, our heroine, is considered an Iskari, bringer of death.  When she was a young child, she suffered a disfigurement when she accidently hurt Kozu, the first and most powerful Dragon. The town had serious deaths & damage by the fire of an angry Dragon, which the town blamed her for that disaster. From that moment, Asha became the Iskari, and her job was to kill all dragons and bring their heads to her father, the King. Though this is noted above, it is worth reprinting to explain the difference between an Iskari and Namsara.

                “In the beginning, there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit, who carried love and laughter wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be dark—and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death bringer.”

In current time, Asha is determined to find Kozu and kill him, which would free her from having to marry the commandant, Jarek, who truly was evil.  While killing another dragon, she returns home to Figaard with a burned hand that can be poisonous.  Jarek’s slave is nearby and attempt to help her, but he is not allowed to touch her; he does anyway in order to help her, but she will keep his secret.  The slave, Torwin, is besotted with Asha, but knows this is forbidden.  Asha herself, wants nothing to do with the slave boy.  Things during the course of this story will slowly change, as will Asha’s life. 

Because of the burn, or due to her desire to find, Kozu, Asha has dreams during the night about the old one, and is given things she needs to do to be able to find Kozu.  First she is given blades to fight; then is given a young dragon that she must protect; lastly she is given fireskin, which allows her to go through fire and not get burned.  The key to the story is that Asha would always kill dragons, thinking that is her destiny.  But when she must protect the young dragon, Shadow, who follows her everywhere, she begins to have feelings for the dragon.  Torwin, who is now on the run from Jarek and death, does everything he can to help Asha and Shadow; and a friendship is born, but one of secrecy.

What follows is an addictive adventure that will have Asha and Torwin running for their lives, especially when she realizes that she has been betrayed from the beginning, when she was burned as a child.  Her half cousin, Safire and her brother, Dax try to help her and together they will find the truth that will also save Dax’s life.  What was amazing was the Dragons, especially Kozu, who would become a very big part of Asha ‘s life, as we raced to climax, which was an exciting last half of the book.

I can’t tell too much more, as it would ruin the story for you. The Last Namsara was an exciting, captivating story, in a fantastic intriguing new world, which includes villains, dragons, forbidden romance and a great heroine. Kristen Ciccarelli has done a fabulous job writing this story, and I cannot wait for the next book. 

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

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