Night of the Phantom

Written by Anne Stuart

Narrated by Jean Ann Douglass

Megan Carey was ready to embark on a trip to Europe, finally taking time to do something purely for herself, but when she finds her father on the brink of suicide, her plans go out the window. Her father is being blackmailed by a reclusive genius who’s demanded TK Carey show up to answer for his crimes. Panicked, Megan volunteers to go in his place.

Ethan Winslowe is a brilliant, eccentric architect with a grudge. In his odd, rambling mansion, he waits for Megan’s father to enact his revenge, but when Megan comes in his stead, Ethan has a new prisoner to answer for the crimes.

At first, Megan is afraid of the strange, dark man who tormented her father with threats of public ruin. Ethan is mysterious and deeply secretive, refusing to allow himself to be seen in the light of day. But soon, Megan’s fear is replaced by curiosity and a desire to see the man who haunts her dreams, and even as she’s kept prisoner she’s drawn to him, obsessed by him, on the edge of falling in love with a phantom.

Is there any way she can learn to trust a creature of darkness before the outside forces of evil destroy them both?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Publishing
• Release date: Mar 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094414324

Anne Stuart

Anne Stuart loves Japanese rock and roll, wearable art, Spike, her two kids, Clairefontaine paper, quilting, her delicious husband of thirty-four years, fellow writers, her three cats, telling stories and living in Vermont. She’s not too crazy about politics and diets and a winter that never ends, but then, life’s always a trade-off. Visit her at www.Anne-Stuart.com.

Reviews for Night of the Phantom

[Winnie Fuu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful beautiful story. Both the author and the voice actor have made a beautiful story to listen to. Definitely recommend. (The priest is crazy)

[Kel Tay · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

OMG..such a beautiful story and the narration was wonderful. Loved it so much!!!

[Amanda Rooney · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I’m not a fan of romances where one person blatantly manipulates the other and this is precisely what happens in this book. I enjoyed Anne Stuart’s other books but this one not so much.

[Bianka Rubio · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I think this one has good potential. I loved the premise of the story. However, I felt like the main characters had no chemistry. I never felt that slow sizzling “will ya do it already”. When they did it was one big yawn. And I really couldn’t understand how they both were suddenly madly in love after having barely exchanged a few words and having crossed paths fleetingly once or twice. Overall I found it boring. Other than that, the main character keeps going on and on about her weight, and the narrator sounds like she’s about to fall asleep (can’t blame her).

[Mona Mæhlum · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Slow and boring. The narrator almost made me fall asleep with her droning voice.

[Shiree Williams · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was so so good but the ending was anticlimactic

[Karen Chandler · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This has a good storyline showing corrupt businesses and woven into it many other twists and turns along with finding love. A good read

[Deaneara Brown · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What an story! There have been a lot of retellings of beauty and the beast. This one will become one of my favorites. Slow burn, angsty, a bit of paranormal, and the narration was fantastic.

[Patricia Pazmino · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Completely unexpected and wonderful story. Didn’t want it to end.

[sharon dean · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thought provoking interesting weird ass story loved it of course.

[Crystal Claypoole · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a really good read I love the ending

[Margarete Marshall · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am enjoying the book I wasn’t sure on how it was going to end but I’m glad that it ended on happy note

[Sarah Blomquist · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Book is silly (girl faints when she orgasms.. lol) and the narrator is pretty lousy (male characters sound like comic book villains, paused in weird spots like she's reading it down the first time and didn't realize a sentence was ending or still going, etc).

[Oana Anton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not bad, not very good. The male character is a coward. She chooses him multiple times, he wants her, but is scared to choose her.

[becky · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this book only thing was long drawn out and lots of anticipation and like what going to happen.

[Sean Fleming · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Holy cow! I cannot say enough good about this book. Absolutely gorgeous modern gothic romance, SO well done. And the narrator is perfect. I wasn’t sure at first, but perfect. Best book I’ve “read” in years! [Update] Listened a second time months later and loved just as much! If you’re in the mood for something different in the gothic genre, this is for you!

[J Plested · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am so glad I didn't skip this book. It was awsome.

[Cheryl Phipps · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great writing, great narration. Love story at its finest, just like beauty and the beast!

[Colette Leah Bowlby · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Decent read , took a while to get to the point . Characters are ok . Most disappointing part was the author repeatedly talking through the whole book about her weight problem of 10 pounds and how round she was while revealing she weighed 125 lbs . Hard to believe a woman would write this .

[lorrie1miller · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautifully and hauntingly written with a wonderful audio performance. ❤

[galya · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Rewritten beauty and the beast. But somehow without passion and emotions. No evolving characters.

[Jennifer Saunders · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I could not put this down. It haunted my dreams! The story line was phenomenal, caught between Beauty & the Beast and Phantom of the Opera. The characters are rich and so human you can see them in your life. The detail was so exact that there was never a moment that I didn't feel there in the story. The twists and turns of the plot brought suspence and kept you on your toes, trying to predict what was coming next - and I failed wonderfully!! This is by far my favorite by Anne, definitely makes my top ten for all genres!

[Gloria G Kilpatrick · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Couldn’t finish this. No real plot. Couldn’t get into any of the characters.

[Kathleen Tenicela · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kept me on the edge of my seat for a while but I got annoyed with the main character. She kept running back to him. Even to the very end.

[theshadowknows_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Night of the Phantom has all the gothic melodrama you could ever wish for. It manages to be a bit tongue in cheek about this, while still remaining dark, twisted, and very sexy. Megan Carey works for her father's building firm. Ethan Winslowe is the reclusive, mysterious genius who designs a lot of their buildings. She finds out her father is a criminal who's wronged Ethan and cost people their lives in the process, but she agrees anyway to drive out to Ethan's home to plead on her father's behalf when Ethan threatens her father with ruin. Upon arriving at Ethan's mansion, Megan gets trapped in a weird, almost otherworldly nightmare straight out of a horror movie, and she gets to play the Victorian virgin. Ethan, bent on revenge, or simply seeing something that he wants, imprisons Megan in his mansion, and the games begin. Night of the Phantom offers an interesting blend of edgy eroticism, gothic horror, and undermining facetiousness. The latter is mostly thanks to Megan, who's very aware, and in turn makes the reader aware, of the gothic parody paying out. She can't believe she's actually acting the Victorian virgin in Ethan's manipulations, derides herself and the melodrama, and even gets to puncture Ethan’s posturing and angst a bit. At the same time, she can't help but fall under the thrall of Ethan and his seductions. And, though the sex isn’t explicit by today’s standards, Ethan is very enthralling. He's tortured and scarred, literally and psychologically. He's ruthless and borderline diabolical, a very over the top character who instantly grabs my interest. His over-the-top nature is both a good thing and a bad thing in this book - bad in the sense that he sometimes seems like a cartoon or caricature, and doesn't get much of a chance to progress beyond the overblown dramatics that define him. For one thing, his history, his reasons for being a recluse, for living in the dark (he only comes out at night - so we get a beast, vampire, and phantom of the opera all rolled into one,) remain kind of vague. He really doesn't belong in the real world, and this detracts from the credibility of the supposed romance between him and Megan. Megan, for her part, becomes a gothic heroine in the fullest sense of the role - even to the point of doing a stupid thing at the end so that some bad things can happen to her. But since, as I read, I'm going along with (i.e. devouring) the book as a homage to the gothic, I expect this behavior from her. So I don’t find her as irritating as I would have within a different context. I also have to keep in mind this is a pretty short book, so there's not much chance for really in depth character development - and Anne Stuart does an amazing job with what she has to work with here, regardless. Despite taking the story with more than a few grains of salt, I really enjoyed The Night of the Phantom and would recommend it to any Anne Stuart fans, die hard or otherwise.