Magpie snatches Ciccarelli's fantasy duology in five-way auction

HarperCollins has signed a Scarlet Pimpernel-inspired fantasy by Kristen Ciccarelli following a five-publisher bidding war.  

Elizabeth Vaziri, editor at Magpie and HarperVoyager, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, to a new fantasy duology. The deal was struck with Anna Carmichael from Abner Stein working with Danielle Burby of Mad Woman Literary and the Taryn Fagerness Agency. 

The Crimson Moth, the first book in the duology, will publish in February 2024 under the Magpie imprint in the UK, and in the US with Wednesday Books as Heartless Hunter. The second book will be published in 2025. 

Ciccarelli grew up on a grape farm and had various jobs before becoming an author. She lives in the Niagara region of Ontario with her husband and their toddler. She is the author of Edgewood (published in the US by Wednesday Books) and the internationally bestselling Iskari series (Orion). 

Ciccarelli said: “I couldn’t be more thrilled and honoured that my witchy, romantic, Scarlet Pimpernel-inspired fantasy has found such a wonderful home at Magpie.” 

Vaziri Haid: “A story glimmering with magic and threat, The Crimson Moth enchanted me from the very first page with its world of gilded socialites and glittering ballrooms, brutal witch hunters and bloody revolution. And did I mention the sizzling enemies-to-lovers romance? We are delighted Kristen and The Crimson Moth have found their home at Magpie and cannot wait for it to cast its spell on readers.” 

The publisher said: “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.” 

HarperCollins added: “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 realises 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?” 

The publisher described it as “the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch is falling in love”.