Graphics by: Aryana Johnson
Nearly every book I own is a self-improvement book or a memoir, which is fine, but it signals that at some point in my adulthood, I forgot how to read for fun. I’ve always loved escaping to different worlds through books. When I was 8, Harry Potter introduced me to Hogwarts as a viable alternative to my elementary school. After that, Alice in Wonderland heightened my curiosity about worlds where caterpillars smoke hookah. And even now, I find The Secret Garden, with its expansive backyard, to be aspirational. Finding these old favorites in my library sparked something in me: I needed to start reading more books that I could get completely lost in. So when BookTok started evangelizing “romantasy,” promising huntress and fae yearning, steamy games of cat and mouse between witches and witch hunters, and millennial-and-minotaur smut, I renewed my Kindle membership and gladly returned to fantasy.
Sponsored by / STEVE MADDEN
20 Under-$100 Spring Pieces You Can Wear on Repeat Until the Fall *clicks add to cart for all 20* CLICK TO READ
Almost immediately, I was hooked. All I thought about all day, every day, no matter where I was, was the characters. For example, while on vacation with my boyfriend, I found myself thinking about my book, Rebel Witch, and more specifically, my book boyfriend, more often than I’d like to admit. (His name is Gideon. He’s a witch hunter. And he looks extremely handsome in a Blood Guard uniform.) One night before bed, my boyfriend asked how my book was, and I launched into a breathless play-by-play that extended our bedtime by a full hour. I could tell he wanted to understand the appeal, but he just… didn’t. So I wondered, what if I introduced my real boyfriend to my book boyfriend? Would that be hot? Weird? Inappropriate? I decided to give it a shot, and to my surprise, it made our relationship way more intimate.
In this article 1 Why I introduced my boyfriend to Heartless Hunter 2 What happened when my boyfriend listened to the book 3 How it made our relationship more intimate
You may also like:
- Reading Smut Single-Handedly Saved My Sex Life
- 16 Romantasy Books So Good You’ll Want to Read Them in Just One Sitting
Why I introduced my boyfriend to Heartless Hunter
In a world where witches are hunted and mercy is a death sentence, Heartless Hunter is a fantasy romance about survival, secrets, and forbidden desire. Rune is a witch living a dangerous double life, rescuing her own by night—until her path collides with Gideon, a fearsome witch hunter whose loyalties and heart are tested. As attraction sparks between sworn enemies, both must decide what they’re willing to sacrifice when love becomes the most dangerous magic of all.
Shop now
As much as it would bring me pure, unadulterated joy to hear my boyfriend’s reactions to Morning Glory Milking Farm—an erotica about a young woman who milks her way to financial security with a minotaur—I didn’t want to scare him off. So instead, I invited him to read Heartless Hunter, an enemies-to-lovers story about a witch in hiding and the witch hunter assigned to find her. It’s chock-full of secrecy, power plays, and an illustrious amount of unresolved tension. It’s one of my favorites, and I thought it would be a safe entry point for him. Heartless Hunter, if you haven’t read it before, has the perfect amount of will-they-won’t-they. But more importantly, it checked one extremely personal (and slightly embarrassing) box for me: Witches.
As a child, I dressed up as a witch for Halloween… and also just for a regular Tuesday. And it wasn’t in a cute Pinterest way, but in a deeply sincere way—as if I descended from a lineage of witches who were burned at the stake and I was their retribution incarnate. So yes, some of the most basic things about me are the fact that I like witches, I like yearning, and I love a forbidden romance. Heartless Hunter gave me all of that, which is why it seemed like the perfect book to introduce to my boyfriend. There is a lot to take away from the story, but most of all, it offers a vulnerable way to reveal deep, intimate details about myself.
What happened when my boyfriend listened to the book
When my boyfriend agreed to listen to romantasy, I expected polite interest, some mild teasing, and maybe a joke or two. What I didn’t expect was genuine engagement. One day, he picked me up for a date, and when I got into the car, Heartless Hunter was playing. I shot him a surprised look. He admitted he’d listened to it all day at work while tattooing clients. The image of him, headphones in, calmly inking someone’s arm while listening to Gideon and Rune’s first sleepover scene made me laugh out loud.
“Through Heartless Hunter, my boyfriend saw a version of me that most people don’t… a girl who enjoys longing as a recreational activity.”
At one point, he paused the book and said, “This is stressful. Why can’t they just talk to each other?” Which is, objectively, why I love him—he’s a great communicator. He wasn’t just humoring me (OK, maybe a little) or trying to get through it; he asked questions and had opinions. He pointed out how the writing shifts when Rune and Gideon share a scene—how the language gets tighter, hotter, without spelling everything out.
At one point, he paused the book and asked, “Are they ever going to hook up, or is this the point?” which, to be fair, was the most accurate critique possible. Later on, as the book got slightly spicier, he asked, “Is this what you like?” gesturing vaguely at the book and then at me… “Like, emotional edging.” Ok. Rude. “In my twenties? Sure,” I said. “Now? Hell no. But, I do love a slow burn.” In this moment, the angst got to both of us.
How it made our relationship more intimate
Through Heartless Hunter, my boyfriend saw a version of me that most people don’t: The romantic one, the earnest one, the slightly uncool one. A girl who enjoys longing as a recreational activity (because tension is interesting, and sometimes you want a little drama). At some point, I reminded him that he already understood the book’s dynamic better than he thought. He didn’t kiss me until our third date, and I liked that he waited. He’d been practicing restraint long before this book entered the conversation.
Mental arousal and anticipation have a way of turning frustration into electricity. Somewhere along the read, he stopped asking when it would happen and started noticing how: when the language tightened, when it pulled back, when desire was implied instead of spelled out. That’s when he realized I don’t rush the payoff, even when I want to. And I realized that clarity does for him what the build does for me—once he knows what he’s working toward, he’s delighted to wait.
Our approach to intimacy shifted after this. It became more understood, more real, and way more satisfying. It showed up in the moments we didn’t rush, and in the glances we didn’t break. I felt steadier about my pace and less inclined to apologize for it. He learned that I can be patient (when it suits me). But most of all, I learned that he loves me enough to listen to 12 straight hours of yearning—and still ask thoughtful follow-up questions. So sure, Gideon may brood beautifully, but my boyfriend follows through, and that’s way hotter than any romantasy book I’ve read.