#greer rivers

[ancientphantom]

September is over, but it brought stories with it!

Through the Eyes of the Opera Ghost by Davyne DeSye is a retelling of the original story from the perspective of the Phantom. This isn't DeSye's first work, but it's interesting to get a retelling instead of a series of romantic sequels!

The Phantom Coloring Book by R. Dubs is, unlike most Phantom-related coloring books found on Amazon, apparently actually composed of a consistent set of original pieces of art instead of a bunch of stolen black-and-white or lineart fanart. The preview only gives us a couple to look at, but if adorable tiny doughboy Phantom sounds up your alley, you might enjoy it!

Magical Masquerade by Hilary Gilman is a Regency romance featuring a heroine forced to marry a terribly scarred man in order to save her family, with predictably romantic results. It's ringing more like a Beauty and the Beast tale than a Phantom one, but with the mention of masks and scars, it's worth a look!

The Phantom's Protege: A Score to Settle by Lucian Haverly is the story of a beautiful musical protege falling in love with a sexy detective investigating a Phantom who is murdering people around the theater... and also these are both men, so another in the MM romance category!

Phantom No More: Kiaria by Grace King is another in King's series of alternate universe takes on the original story, this time with the Phantom transplanted to New York (fear not, Phantom of Manhattan haters, it may be influenced but it at least isn't a direct adaptation of that novel - he appears to have left France before the Garnier was built and to be running a small theater in midtown Manhattan) where he falls in love with a young woman on the run.

Unveil by Greer Rivers is a modern-day version in which the main character is a New Orleans ballerina, torn between her "white knight" fiance and her "masked stalker" who is determined to protect her from some sort of army of malcontents? The Phantom's name is Orion Fury, if that helps anyone out.

October looms, people are watching Universal monster films again, and we can only imagine what awaits us next time!

[lucy-the-wyrm]

'But my darkness-' 'Speaks to mine,' I interrupt. 'The moon can't glow without her night, Sol.' 'And now my night will never be so dark again,' he murmurs before pulling me in and kissing my head.

Phantom - Greer Rivers

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 5/5

Book Blurb:

A dark Swan Lake retelling where the ‘villain’ steals the girl, set in a world of secret pacts, feuding families, and primal obsession.

He’s her curse, but she’s his salvation, and he’ll do anything to keep the ones he loves safe.

Rebellious ballerina Luna Bordeaux may be the darling of the New Orleans elite, but she’s destined to dance in her parents’ shadows. Her twenty-second birthday was supposed to be her escape. One last performance, one necessary breakup, then? Freedom.

Except her white knight of a boyfriend just proposed on stage.

And now her masked stalker has crashed the engagement party…

Orion Fury has protected Luna for years, counting the seconds until he can claim his future wife, honoring a vow made between their fathers decades ago. His discipline has only ever slipped once, but his enemy just crossed the line. All bets are off, and a night that began with a party ends in kidnapping and murder.

Now Luna is a stolen bride with blood on her slippers and a target on her back, trapped in the wilderness with the man who hunted her. But Orion isn’t the only predator in these woods, and the men coming for her will do anything to stop the Fury-Bordeaux alliance.

Her villain may be the one person she’s determined to hate, but is he the only one dangerous enough to keep her alive?

Tropes: Arranged marriage Masked stalker Primal play Touch her and die Hidden identity Stolen bride Villain gets the girlUnveil is Book 1 of the Frayed Satin Series, a Tattered Curtain second-generation legacy series of interconnected standalones reimagining classic ballets with dark and twisty HEAs. Each series can be enjoyed separately. TWs will be available in the front of the book.

Review:

A dark Swan Lake retelling featuring a ballerina who is as flighty as a bird and her dark knight will do anything to take his wife for himself. Luna Bordeaux is a rebellious ballerina who is determined to escape her life on her twenty second birthday but when her white knight boyfriend proposes and puts her on the spot... she's forced to say yes... until a certain dark knight steals her away at her engagement party... meet Orion Fury. Orion has known Luna all her life, their parents had arranged for him to be her fiancee and he is determined to finally claim his wife. Orion knows everything about Luna, including the fact that her "boyfriend" isn't who he says he is and when Luna is put in danger he steals her... but what started off as just rescuing her turns into something more when they both end up trapped in the woods being hunted down by rival families... and the fact that Orion is finally unveiling himself to Luna. Can they make it out alive and will Luna fall for the one person she's determined to hate despite the fact that he's the only person dangerous enough to save her? Oh this was a FANTASTIC READ. I devoured this in one sitting, I could not stop turning the pages! The romance was absolutely delicious and the retelling was such a fun spin!!! I am so in love with this series and can't wait to read the next book. The chemistry between Luna and Orion was so good and seriously, I love Orion so much.

Release Date: October 2, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Valentine PR for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[karathetexan]

Honestly go read Phantom.

Trust me on this it’s so freakin good.

Greer’s writing is lowkey addicting.

Go get it.

The next book is based off Moulin Rouge and let me just tell you, it’s gonna be top tier.

[ancientphantom]

It's roundup time!

October wasn't as generous as we hope - whither the spooky Halloween Phantoms? Come on, y'all, he was only very recently more of a romantic figure! Someone who watched Hammer get in on this! - but still a few new ones, as well as some fun in the audiobook genre!

Phantom No More by Grace King is part of a series of period stories in which Erik is given a love interest other than Christine with whom to grow old and romantically happy. This one is a medical professional who obviously can't resist the chance to heal this sad sack in both mind and body...

The Phantom of the Theater by Elle M. Drew is a short about a plucky fat girl who investigates just what is going on in the booth after creepy happenings start interfering with the local theater's film screenings. Looks like it might owe a bit to the many horror film theater Phantoms, but with a romantic ending!

The Phantom's Melody by Australia D. Kincannon is a period romance with a time travel twist - a surprisingly common formula in Phantom stories! It revolves around a girl named Melody who goes to New York to see Phantom on Broadway (so in the recent past, alas) but accidentally time-travels to the real Phantom's time period and ends up in Paris, where the Phantom is right in the middle of realizing that his plan to blow up the opera house is probably not getting him the romantic points he wanted, and is all ready for a fresh new love interest who isn't attempting to flee with her fiance. Looks like an opportunity to absolutely fill out some bingo cards with common Phantom story tropes, but that doesn't mean you won't enjoy it!

And lest the audiophiles be left out, two books that aren't new but ARE new to audiobook!

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux is the Mireille Ribiere translation, so you can now listen to the audiobook withot also having to suffer the de Mattos translation! (Sorry, de Mattos. You brought great things to us in the English-speaking world, but nowadays we like things to be less expurgated.)

Phantom by Greer Rivers is a dark romantic-leaning retelling of the story, now available on audio for those who enjoyed it in its original form. Bonus: it's now available in both English and German, in print and audio both!

See you all in December! :)

[lucy-the-wyrm]

'You are my moonlight,' I whisper against her shoulder in a kiss. 'And you are my midnight,' she murmurs back.

Phantom - Greer Rivers

[lucy-the-wyrm]

My little angel is more savage than she looks. I love her innocence, but her darkness is what calls to me.

Phantom - Greer Rivers

[ancientphantom]

With spring come many Phantoms, some new faces and some old favorites!

The Chasmwoe of Phantom Records: A Nocture for the Written Word by Gothic Romantic is a weird little story about a woman and a man in a mask getting stuck spending the night at Phantom Records, a supposedly haunted music store. It explicitly compares the masked man to the literary Phantom right in the blurb, but sometimes that means they’re trying NOT to connect them...

Erik by Liz Gavin is a modern-day steamy romance version of the story in which Erik is the lead singer of Muse of Darkness, a rock band, and is tutoring Christine in music while she tries to investigate the band’s operations and avoid her own dark history.

The Phantom by Greer Rivers is still awaiting official release, but it bills itself as a dark modern retelling of the Phantom story, so those who like to scratch that contemporary billionaire/kidnapper/weird kink club itch will have something new in that vein coming soon!

The Phantom of the Operator by Tracy D Ellis is a modern-day retelling of the story in which a young woman buys a new cell phone but discovers that it mysteriously has a number in it already, belonging to a bewitchingly voiced man on the other end of the line who promises to watch over her...

Phantom’s Thrall by Jessamine Rue is an experience many of you have been waiting for: a steamy romance and sex version of the Phantom story, set in its original time period, but with a supernatural Phantom and a “twist” about what his actual problem is. Oh, and also Christine is banging the Phantom, Raoul, Mathieu (a genderswapped version of Meg Giry), and, of all people, JOSEPH BUQUET. You can’t help but be fascinated.

And, for those who have been desperately awaiting what weird old Phantom movie would come out in a deluxe blu-ray set next, your wait is over! The answer is Dario Argento’s infamous 1998 giallo horror film Phantom of the Opera, starring Julian Sands + his leather pants full of rats and Asia Argento + her fully exposed nipples. The set comes with not only interviews with Argento, the producer, and the set designer, but also has a full audio commentary track narrated by film historians.

And thus another month has passed us by!