Book 1 of The Crimson Moth Duology
Published as Heartless Hunter in the USA
Rune Winters is a socialite with a secret: she is a witch. In a society where witches are hunted, this could land her on the gallows. She had to turn her adoptive grandmother into the authorities (her grandmother urged her to do so) which doesn’t make her popular with other witches. However, if she hadn’t done this, she herself would have ended up in prison. Now Rune spends her time defying the witchfinders – the Red Guard – and freeing witches who have just been arrested, or helping those who are about to be arrested escape. She’s a phantom known as The Crimson Moth.
Rune is looking for her grandmother’s friend Seraphine, and a notorious witchfinder of the Red Guard called Gideon Sharpe seems to think she’s The Crimson Moth. Gideon was under the spell of the former queen of their country (which is a republic now). Queen Cressida was a cruel witch who cast spells on Gideon.. which makes his aversion to magic and witches understandable.
As witches are known for their silver scars (due to blood being needed for casting spells), Gideon starts courting Rune… but she doesn’t have any scars as she uses her menstrual blood for spellcasting.
Romantasy isn’t my cup of tea normally, but I absolutely adored this book! I’m currently reading the second part of the Duology and it is as good as the first!
This book is based on The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emma Orczy.
Read for the ShelfReflection Reading Challenge 2026
Prompt 5: A book you saw recommended on a social media platform
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
