Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

Title: Heartless Hunter (Crimson Moth #1)

Author: Kristen Ciccarelli

Publisher: Wednesday Books 2024

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 406

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; Retreat Recommendation

Where I Got It: Library

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?

Multiple people at the retreat in June told me that I needed to read this book and the sequel that came out this year. I finally picked this up and flew through it quickly. It’s a very fast paced story with lots of action scenes and suspense. I enjoyed the plot even if the few “twists” were telegraphed very early on. I mean this is a young adult novel. I was expecting a fast moving plot. I was very interested in the magic system and wished that we could have learned a bit more about it. But my biggest issue with this book I the love triangle and romance. It just doesn’t land like a swoony romance. Alex is too much of a wet blanket. Gideon is too full o hate. And then Rune is just a girl who doesn’t quite inspire the great romantic feelings from two brothers. But I did enjoy story and world enough to want to read the sequel.

Crimson Moth

• #1 Heartless Hunter

• #2 Rebel Witch

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Darcy Myth by Rachel Feder

Title: The Darcy Myth: Jane Austen, Literary Heartthrobs, and the Monsters They Taught Us to Love

Author: Rachel Feder

Publisher: Quirk Books 2023

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 240

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader; Retreat Recommendations

Where I Got It:

You already know Mr. Darcy—at least you think you do! The brooding, rude, standoffish romantic hero of Pride and Prejudice, Darcy initially insults and ignores the witty heroine, but eventually succumbs to her charms. It’s a classic enemies-to-lovers plot, and one that has profoundly influenced our cultural ideas about courtship. But what if this classic isn’t just a grand romance, but a horror novel about how scary love and marriage can be for women?

In The Darcy Myth, literature scholar Rachel Feder unpacks Austen’s Gothic influences and how they’ve led us to a romantic ideal that’s halfway to being a monster story. Why is our culture so obsessed with cruel, indifferent romantic heroes (and sometimes heroines)? How much of that is Darcy’s fault? And, now that we know, what do we do about it?

I got this as a recommendation from friends at the retreat and they are getting really good with their recommendations. I dove into this slim book not knowing what to expect except for the title and subtitle. Turns out this is a hilarious deconstruction of Austen’s most famous hero and the (sometimes not great) lessons in romance we have learned from him. Even after reading the book, I still love Mr. Darcy. But I do understand how he doesn’t give us the best example for real romantic relationships. Feder brings in other famous bad boys of literature and television/movies to back up her arguments. I really enjoyed every page of this one. And she’s absolutely hilarious!

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Title: The Kiss Quotient (The Kiss Quotient #1)

Author: Helen Hoang

Publisher: Berkley 2018

Genre: Romance

Pages: 314

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER; Retreat Recommendations

Where I Got It: Kindle

Spice Rating: 5

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases—a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice—with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan—from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he's making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic...

This book has been on my TBR for years and I decided to take the plunge and choose it for my Dirty Book Month selection. Thankfully I ended up really enjoying this reverse Pretty Woman romance. Right away we know that Stella is autistic and struggles with the idea of romantic relationships. From there, she devises a plan involving hiring a male escort to teach her. This male escort has his own issues and struggles. As we learn more about each of the characters, we start to see just how perfect they might be for each other. I really loved seeing Michael interact with his family and attempt to protect them from all struggles. And we get to see Stella interact with them. Overall, this was a very satisfying romance and start of a series. I cannot wait to have our discussion next week and unpack all the aspects of this story.

The Kiss Quotient

• #1 The Kiss Quotient

• #2 The Bride Test

• #3 The Heart Principle

Next up on the TBR pile: