Huntsman by Naima Simone is a dark mafia romance that reimagines Snow White as a morally grey stalker romance. It takes many of the classic dark romance tropes and twists them into something that feels entirely new.
Eshe Diallo, the rightful heiress to the Mwuaji crime family, is used to being the baddest bitch in the room. She is no stranger to pain, but she knows how to turn it into power.
Her aunt, jealous and vengeful, wants nothing more than to bring Eshe more of that pain, to erase her entirely. So she hires the notorious, feared assassin, the Huntsman, to kill her.
Little does she know, Eshe has been stalking the Huntsman for years, obsessed. When he comes for Eshe, she is more than ready.
Both Eshe and the Huntsman are more than capable of pulling the trigger and making the kill, but the fire burning between them has them locked in a fight between rage and desire.
Eshe’s aunt won’t stop until she’s dead, but Eshe has no intention of going quietly. She wants revenge for her mother’s death and to take her rightful place at the head of the family, but the Huntsman just might be the one weakness she can’t overcome.
Huntsman features expansive character building, with extravagant and wild characters, but with deep, meaningful aspects to their stories. These characters are skilled and dangerous, but they’re also deeply human.
This book also has an unusual but powerful portrayal of girlhood and female friendships that is especially fun to find in a mafia romance.
The writing is playful despite the dark subject matter, with a healthy dose of sarcastic humor. There’s gripping action and plenty of fight scenes to strike a balance with the obsessive romance.
Huntsman plays with the tropes it uses. Both of them are toxic and morally grey, but she’s the obsessed stalker. It’s a fun twist when this is usually found in the male main character.
The romance in this story is definitely not a slow burn. It jumps right into the twisted, tortured spice. This is dark romance at its finest with spice that is deeply passionate and the perfect lever for a dark mafia romance. For fans of Sadie Kincaid, this book has similar spice vibes.
Huntsman is the first in a planned series, but it is a complete story with no cliffhanger. This book is a wonderful dark romance read that kept me thoroughly entertained from start to finish.
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