I had heard so many good things about this book and I’m so glad they were TRUE. 

I am a sucker for a witch/witch hunter situation and this one did not disappoint. 

Rune is a witch in hiding, letting the world think her a brainless aristocrat and witch hater after she turned her own grandmother in for being a witch. But secretly, she works as the Crimson Moth, smuggling witches out of the city before they can be purged by the New Republic, who overthrew the witches’ rule just two years ago. Enter, Gideon Sharpe - older brother to Rune’s best friend, captain of the Blood Guard and the fiercest witch hunter with a traumatic past. He suspects her, and she needs him for information, so they begin to court with ulterior motives. But as feelings become real, and secrets are threatened to be revealed, how could they possibly have a happily ever after? 

This book was DELICIOUS. I devoured it. I’m still thinking about it. The world building was simple and to the point - I felt like I knew everything I needed to know right at the beginning. Not overly complex but not boring. Our MCs had very realistic motivations in why they do what they do, but also very realistic romantic chemistry. Which is wild because hello?! they should hate each other. But it WORKS. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time just waiting for the other shoe to drop. The end had me speechless and I’m simply DYING of impatience waiting for the next one to be out. 

My only qualm here was that we spent so much time on the MCs courting, that we didn’t really see much else. We did get glimpses of them both scheming separately, but it would have been nice to see Rune doing more as the Crimson Moth on page. I think if the book had been a bit longer, or some scenes were replaced with content more plot driven vs romance driven, it would have been 5 stars. But I do also recognize that the reason the end hits so hard is because of the dedication to the romance. So idk. 4 stars feels right.