Huntsman (The Hunted Kingdom, Bk. 1)
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Overview
An Instant USA Today bestseller, Huntsman is the dark mafia fairy-tale retelling that readers and critics alike are calling one of the best romances of the year.
Eshe has been playing the long game for nine years. After her aunt seized her world, her throne, and her mother, she buried her ambitions and her grief — taking her place inside the Mwuaji crime family, biding her time, and waiting for the right moment to strike.
That moment arrives sooner than she planned.
Her aunt has put a price on her head. And she hasn't hired just anyone to collect it. She's sent the Huntsman — the legendary assassin Malachi Bowden, a man whose contracts never go unfulfilled.
But Eshe isn't running. She's done her homework. She knows everything there is to know about Malachi Bowden, and she intends to use every last piece of it. Her aunt started this war. Eshe plans to finish it.
The problem is that knowing a man and meeting him are two very different things. The Huntsman might be her death. But Malachi Bowden? He's something far more dangerous.
He's her weakness.
Dark, propulsive, and laced with lethal chemistry, Huntsman is a mafia romance built on vengeance, survival, and the most inconvenient desire imaginable.
Please note: this book explores dark themes and scenes — see the author's content note at the beginning of the book.
"This sexy dark romance that swings for the fences and doesn't miss. One of my favorite reads of the year!" — Katee Robert, New York Times bestselling author
Series Information
Series Name: The Hunted Kingdom
Series Reading Order
This series is best read in publication order.
Book 1 - Huntsman
Book 2 - Ember
Reviews and Author Praise
"A powerful, distinct narrative voice. Von and Aaliyah, in Simone’s hands, have a combustive and irresistible chemistry."
— New York Times on Church Girl
"Readers will be eager for more."
— Publishers Weekly on Heated
"This touching, funny, sexy novel from Simone is a joy to read and is sure to be popular…"
— Library Journal (starred review) on Played
"Naima Simone stuns with this heartwarming romance about a woman firefighter and a hockey player. Solomon and Adina's romance is just the right mixture of humor, angst and heat. An exhilarating literacy experience."
— LJ Shen, New York Times bestselling author on Played
"Every romance fan should be reading Naima Simone's books."
— Hypable on Scoring the Player's Baby
Topics and Key Themes
Narrative Tropes
Enemies to Lovers
Forced Proximity
Forbidden Love
He Falls First
Dark Romance
Cat and Mouse Romance
Touch her/him and die
Morally grey MMCs
Revenge
Fairytale reimagining
Key Themes
Vengeance as survival — a woman's nine-year plan collides with the one man who could end it.
Weaponized knowledge — Eshe turns her research on Malachi into her greatest and most dangerous gamble.
Assassin versus ambition — the contract on her head forces Eshe to choose between escape and reclaiming her throne.
Fairy-tale darkness retold — Snow White's hunter becomes a morally gray protector inside a mafia empire.
Found family under fire — loyalties forged in crime become the unexpected stakes worth protecting.
Who is this book for?
Primary Genre: Dark Mafia Romance
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 4/5: Very Spicy
Turning up the heat! Multiple steamy scenes with clear, descriptive detail and strong chemistry. Romance and spice share the spotlight here.
Fans of Katee Robert's dark, high-stakes romance will enjoy the enemies-to-lovers tension, morally complex assassin hero, and unapologetically steamy scenes set against a lush mafia underworld.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Naima Simone loves writing sizzling romances with heart, a touch of humor and snark. Her books have been featured in The Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly, and described as balancing “crackling, electric love scenes with exquisitely rendered characters caught in emotional turmoil.” She is wife to Superman, or his non-Kryptonian, less bullet proof equivalent, and mother to the most awesome kids ever. They all live in perfect, sometimes domestically-challenged bliss in the southern United States.
Similar Authors
Katee Robert, Penelope Douglas, Giana Darling
Reader FAQs
Huntsman is firmly a romance. The fairy-tale retelling framework shapes the premise, but the book is rooted in mafia fiction and character dynamics. Readers looking for epic fantasy world-building will not find it here — the focus is on tension, vengeance, and relationship.
Huntsman shares Robert's high-stakes tension, morally gray leads, and explicit heat, but brings a fairy-tale retelling structure and a Black female protagonist reclaiming stolen power. The tone is comparably dark, with more emphasis on long-game strategy and internal ambition.
The book contains dark themes consistent with mafia fiction — violence, organized crime, and power dynamics — alongside explicitly sexual content. The author includes a content note at the beginning of the book, which readers are advised to review before starting.
It is accessible in terms of pacing and prose, but the content is mature and intentionally dark. Readers unfamiliar with dark romance conventions — morally gray heroes, criminal settings, explicit scenes — should review the author's content note before deciding.
Huntsman is described consistently by reviewers as fast-paced and propulsive from the opening chapter. The story moves without significant lulls, balancing action and tension throughout rather than building slowly toward a midpoint shift.
Info
ISBN: 9781250352941
Published Date: October 21, 2025
Publisher: Bramble Books
Language: English
Page Count: 308
Size: 8.25" l x 5.38" w x 0.88" h
Category
Fiction