The Crimson Moth Duology by Kristen Ciccarelli

Rune was always playing a role.

She was either the silly, fashion obsessed heiress or the vigilante Crimson Moth — a witch — and the towns most wanted.

Being a witch meant walking around with a target on your back, and the witch hunters would do anything to track you down.

The only people who knew her true identity were her two best friends and her Nan… who she’d been forced to send to the Purge.

If the blood hunters ever found out what she really was, she’d be dead.

Rune had discovered she was a witch when her first menstrual cycle came in black instead of red... a seriously ominous way to learn your fate.

“[Rune] had a purpose here in the New Republic. A duty. Witches were still being hauled to prison and purged. Rune couldn’t abandon them. They were innocent people, and she owed it to her grandmother. Saving girls from being murdered by the Republic was the only way to make Nan’s death mean something.”

So Rune dedicated her life to reaching witches before the blood hunters or rescuing them from capture — all while trying to avoid the attention of Gideon Sharpe, the Republic’s #1 hunter.

Pretty sweet, right?

Enter Gideon — witch hunter, Blood Guard captain.

After losing his parents and sister and being tortured himself by the witch queen, Cressida, Gideon is dead set on wiping witches from the New Republic to keep people safe.

He’s so blinded by what Cressida did to him that he can’t see the goodness in any other witch.

That guilt and anger all get tangled up in his hunt for the mysterious Crimson Moth — the vigilante who keeps slipping through his fingers.

The problem? By the time he finally discovers who the Moth really is, he’s already in love with her.

And turning her in to be purged is the last thing he ever wanted to do.

“Lifting his hands, he gathered the wild tangle of hair blowing across her face. It surprised him when she didn’t flinch away, when she let him scrape it back instead. She seemed to soften as he held it, allowing him to see her clearly.”

Gideon, torn between dragging Rune in for the Purge or letting her slip through the cracks… slowly realizes her motive isn’t to hurt the civilians of the New Republic at all.

She actually wants to unite everyone and live in peace under the same reign.

“There was a part of Rune’s soul — most of it, maybe — that yearned for adventure. That craved a challenge. That liked a little danger.”

Of course, that whole “peace and unity” mission involves taking down a few evil witches along the way.

And, falling hopelessly in love with each other.

The best part? They both refuse to admit it.

Every time they get close, one of them betrays the other’s trust and they’re right back to hunting each other down. It’s giving that on again, off again high school romance energy…

But, you know — with witchcraft and pistols.

By book two, Gideon finally starts to accept that Rune might actually have the New Republic’s best interests at heart. She’s a good witch — they do exist, apparently.

Together, they come up with a plan to bring down the evil witch empire and make the city safe for everyone again, a place where people can live without fear.

Kristen Ciccarelli absolutely nails the cat and mouse dynamic, and I’m excited to read more of her books.

Light on the spice, heavy on the chase and the tragedy.

Until next time,

Sheila