Phantasma: A dark fantasy romance (Wicked Games Book 1)

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Phantasma: A dark fantasy romance (Wicked Games Book 1)

$5.99

Price: $5.99
(as of Oct 01, 2024 20:35:36 UTC – Details)



“WHERE DO I BEGIN? Has my heart forever!!… I absolutely devoured this… Plenty of spice… Had me on the edge of my seat the entire time, I was hanging onto every word that came out of that man’s mouth… I was sobbing!!… A complete rollercoaster!” Books.and.bunlife ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Welcome to Phantasma.

There are only two rules to the game. Stay alive. And don’t fall in love.

When Ophelia’s sister disappears, there is only one way to save her. Ophelia must enter Phantasma, a deadly contest inside a haunted mansion, and claim its prize—a single wish.

Phantasma is a maze of twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, of demons and temptations. Ophelia will face nine challenges, each more dangerous than the last. There can only be one winner, and the other contestants will stop at nothing to eliminate their rivals.

Every day the house creates new monsters. But just as Ophelia’s fears threaten to overwhelm her, a mysterious stranger offers her a bargain.

Charming, arrogant and infuriatingly attractive, Blackwell claims he can guide her through the lethal trials ahead. All he asks in return is ten years of her life.

Ophelia knows she shouldn’t trust him. Blackwell doesn’t seem dangerous, but appearances can be deceptive. Worse still, she feels a dark and irresistible attraction drawing them closer and closer.

Her life is on the line. But in Phantasma, the only thing deadlier than losing the game is losing your heart…

The instant top ten bestseller and TikTok sensation!

A Court of Thorns and Roses meets Caraval in this seductive fantasy adventure. With steamy romance, a sexy morally gray love interest, OCD rep and jaw-dropping twists, Phantasma is perfect for fans of Rebecca Yarros, Nisha J. Tuli and Carissa Broadbent.

See why readers love Phantasma:

“WOW what a ride!… Leaves you breathless… A hauntingly addictive read that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish… What am I going to do with my life now? I need more Phantasma!!!” NESSAS_BOOK_REVIEWS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“ALL THE STARS. I LOVED THIS BOOK. I finished this in less than two days and I didn’t want it to end!… Gripping… An absolute must-read.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“God, I am never going to recover from this book… I’m addicted!… I can’t even begin to put into words the rollercoaster of this book; the tension, the twists and turns that literally had me holding my breath until the VERY last page.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“I cannot begin to describe how much I love this… I have not stopped thinking about this story… Oh gosh I wish I could read this for the first time again!… I FELT EVERY EMOTION POSSIBLE WHILE READING THIS!!!… will forever hold a special place in my heart.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“So freaking amazing!… So sold! I devoured this… I’m so in love with Blackwell… I can’t even… he has my heart… Such an epic romance, I just want to go back and read this for the first time… Loved, loved, loved… Thrilling. Sexy. Heartwrenching. I squealed, I screamed, I laughed and yes, I cried, too… In my favourite reads!” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“The most addictive romantasy I have read… SO good… Seductive, exciting PERFECTION… The SPICE was dangerously hot… Shouting from the rooftops for everyone to READ THIS RIGHT NOW.” Theveganbookdragon ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“My favorite book of all time!… A Necromancer in New Orleans?? Does it get cooler or more gothic than that???… The OCD REP was fantastic!!!… Blackwell, he was so freaking dreamy!… Marvelous 😍… Beyond beautiful… I FREAKING LOVED THIS!!!!!” Brittsbookbabblings ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CXNJDB4B
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Second Sky (September 3, 2024)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 3, 2024
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3217 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 513 pages

Customers say

Customers find the storyline captivating, original, and intriguing. They also appreciate the well-developed characters and spice level. Readers describe the book as relatable with OCD. They mention it pulls them into a dark fantasy with supernatural elements. They love the sassy, witty banter between the characters. In addition, they praise the writing quality as good.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews


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10 reviews for Phantasma: A dark fantasy romance (Wicked Games Book 1)

  1. Ashley Joy

    Just a beautiful book! Not damaged, perfect condition! Can’t wait to dive into this book 🙂

  2. Christy

    This was such a fun read. Very gothic and perfect for the Autumn. Trials, ghosts, demons, secrets and mystery. At the heart of it is a love story between two sisters and also a spicy love story with a ghost 😉 I think I would have definitely rated 5 stars if the trials were more fleshed out. The OCD aspects were really well done and for people who suffer with OCD it really highlights how we are not all just cleaning our houses constantly some of us are ritualising and it’s debilitating and scary!

  3. Kindle Customer

    Story follows a necromancer who enters a competition to find her sister, only to find way more than she bargained for.This book has it all with a dark gothic twist:ActionKick ass FMCBanterSpiceTouch her and dieMysteryThe audio narration was also top notch. 👌Got me out of a book slump5 star read ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  4. Jessica Piggott

    One of my absolute favourite books I’ve read this year if not ever.There was just something about it! The plot, the spice, the characters 😭💕 just soooo good!!! Some bits were genuinely quite creepy as well so honestly hats off to the author!Unliked anything I’ve read before in the best way! I felt all the feelings and even better I think that it was a standalone.Couldn’t put it down and now cannot wait for book 2!It’s got fated mates, FMC has to complete a trial, mystery, romantasy, slow burn, touch her and die, family, forced proximity

  5. Bloody Crimson

    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25 /5🌶️🌶️🌶️/5Such a delightful fantasy read. Phantasma reminded me strongly of Caraval, adult version; enchanted place, family secrets, two different sisters, eerie atmosphere, illusions. With a little bit of blo0dy elements. The story takes place most of the time at the enchanted mansion, yet it’s not stifling. Witnessing trials based on the Nine circles of H3ll while also searching for something else, it’s mid-spaced which helped with that sentiment. I liked the OCD representation, it was the first time I’ve read it depicted that way and it felt genuine. The writing style was compelling, it added to the eerie atmosphere and the magical aspect of Phantasma. I had a good time reading it and I’ll gladly read anything else the author comes up with.🥀Necr0mancer/Phantom🥀Trials🥀Family secrets🥀Magical Mansion🥀OCD🥀Gothic🥀Forbidden romance

  6. LCullen

    all the feels!!!!
    All the feels!!!! Very angsty! Mental Health themes & supernatural elements!!! Mystery action very much a romance story—must wear headphones at work type of story lol!! Definitely aspects of Dante’ Inferno & Carnival & Hunger Games as well as a touch of Haunting Adeline but super tamed down version lol!! Love the dialogue witty/cheesy/cute& steamy!!!!! No grammatical errors which is always a plus! The ending felt rushed & way too neatly tied up, but with that said glad it’s a HEA!! The story flowed nicely for most part! Definitely can sense some connection loved that! It was good not great! Obviously loved the forbidden romance trope the best!

  7. ashley

    Finished in 2 days!!
    Spice was 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5This is… a hunger games type of brutal strategy for the games, meets forbidden love, meets haunted mansion (lost memories) with plenty of spice and whitty banter.I love both MCs!Usually I like one or the other but they balance each other out so well. He’s quirky and flirtatious, but he’s a mystery.. I kind of self hinted along the story about who he was… and when I found out, I verbally yelled I KNEW IT!!I LOVE !! That they get jealous, he’s still touch her and 💀, but she can hold her own. Most importantly, the fact that she doesn’t just go on a tantrum and avoids telling him things. I hate it when the MFC always throws some sort of emotional tantrum off of what a MC does or says, and then drama unfolds.. and then he saves her. This wasn’t the case. She had her own powers, and in the end she loved him with her whole heart despite the mystery surrounding him. This was captivating and kept me wanting more. I can’t wait for book 2!! Genevieve sounds like she’s a wild ride.

  8. Shelby H.

    One of my top reads of 2024, easy!
    Rating: 4.75 starsSpice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️Tropes:🕯️Forced proximity🕯️Forbidden romance🕯️Ghost/Necromancer🕯️Mutual pining🕯️Cinnamon roll MMC for his FMC🕯️“Who did this to you?”🕯️“Touch him/her and die”🕯️Trials/Battle Royale🕯️Haunted Mansion🕯️Gothic New Orleans🕯️Disability (OCD) representation“To those who’ve had to claw their way out of the dark and still choose to be a light in this world—I’m proud of you.”Y’all. This BOOK. This is everything I wanted Quicksilver to be—not that there’s anything wrong with that book, but the hype was just insane and it left me so disappointed. This book just hits. It’s like a cross between The Temptation of Magic (also a great book), Hunger Games, and A Court of Thorns and Roses, and yet it manages to be entirely its own thing. This is gonna stay with me for a minute.We find Ophelia Grimm the night she finds her mother mysteriously dead on their living room floor in their gothic mansion in New Orleans. She’s always known she would one day have to inherit the necromancer magic that flows through the Grimm family line when her mother passed, but she hadn’t planned on it being so soon. Still, she does her duty and accepts the magic, turning her “cerulean-blue” eyes so ice-blue they are almost colorless. She also inherits, to her shock, a heap of debts her mother hadn’t told her about. To try and save their family home, Ophelia’s younger sister, Genevieve, decides to enlist herself in a trial competition called Phantasma, because the winner is granted any boon by the Prince of Devils. Ophelia chases after her sister and enlists in the same competition, planning to try and convince Genevieve to leave with her, but they’re put into separate groups and cannot meet until after they survive the seventh trial. Whilst there, Ophelia repeatedly finds herself bumping into a phantom called Blackwell, a mysterious person not enslaved by the mansion and yet not free to leave it either. They strike a deal: Blackwell will help her survive and win the trials, if Ophelia will help free him from Phantasma. If she fails, Blackwell will instead steal ten years from her lifespan.On the surface, this book already had a lot going for it in my opinion. Gothic horror vibes, Old New Orleans, battle royale, disability representation? It sounded awesome. And it completely lives up to that expectation.The thing was, she didn’t need Blackwell to always be her savior, but it was beginning to dawn on her that he had become her safe haven—someone who made the Shadow Voice go silent whenever he was around. And despite her injuries, and the fact that she was about to be incinerated, she didn’t want him to come save her in this moment. She wanted him to come make sure the Shadow Voice didn’t get away.Ophelia is the kind of heroine I love reading about. I’m so sick of the badass-with-a-bad-attitude stabby FMCs that have flooded this genre lately. But even if Ophelia isn’t that, she’s also not weak or passive, or different because she’s ~not like other girls~. She’s already used to fighting her own battles every damn day against the horror of true OCD, so when she enters the mansion of Phantasma, she’s almost not sure what are figments of her own imagination and what are real terrors dragged up by the game. She’s lonely, isolated by her mother’s upbringing and her own inherent desire to hide her differences, but she’s not desperate for companionship. She’s funny and smart, and grows to be so damn strong that you can’t help rooting for her.“In all the darkness, in all the loneliness, you have been my one source of light. My soul will go its grave with your name echoing in my mind.”Blackwell is just about the best of every book boyfriend rolled into one. He’s funny, he’s full of himself, he’s completely enamored with Ophelia. He’s got his own tragic backstory to work through, but as the book progresses, he becomes more focused on making sure Ophelia and her sister survive even if it costs him his freedom.“He and Blackwell are sworn enemies.”“And you kissed them both? I would’ve never pegged you for such a drama queen, Ophie. Though, I sort of get it, the jealousy thing is even hotter than the men. Honestly, I’ve never been prouder.”Genevieve is a riot. I loved every scene with her in it. She’s the perfect supportive-but-won’t-take-your-shit younger sister, and she’s so real for that. Her relationship with Ophelia is beautiful.The banter between Blackwell and Ophelia is always spot on, it never crosses that line into annoying or repetitive or juvenile that some romantasy books these days fail to toe. The spicy scenes, while not very numerous or particularly spicy, also thankfully never fall into cringe territory. The trials, even though there are nine of them, each modeled after the Nine Circles of Hell, don’t really ever get repetitive or drawn-out. Each are quite short, and yet the stakes just keep ratcheting up with each one. The downtime between each one was well-appreciated and felt well-earned for the characters, though sometimes dragged the pace a touch.Issues with the story, after all these glowing commendations? Really, none. How often do I say that?? Sure, I still have no idea when/what world this story is really supposed to be taking place in. We know it’s sort of gothic New Orleans, there’s mentions of the women wearing long dresses and corsets, and carriages; but then there’s also talk of cars, V-necks plunging past belly buttons, and women with explicit sexual freedom. So it falls very much into a sort of ACOTAR-type world, where it’s loosely based on old New Orleans, but also just not. We’re left to fill in that blank on our own, but it’s such a minor thing when the rest of the world feels fairly well fleshed out. And yeah, one of the villains Cade was a bit juvenile in that he seemed to loathe Ophelia from the get-go with almost no reason, but again, could be forgiven given the genres. Same goes for the speed at which our MCs fall in love. It’s not insta-love by any means, but one week? Meh. I’ll allow it. The great writing made it believable. The “twist” at the end was very easily predictable, but was executed in such a wonderful way that I don’t even care.So yeah. Excellent, excellent book. I had a great time devouring this one in about three hours. I’m just left wanting so much more, I’m not ready to be done with these characters!!!Thank you so much to NetGalley and Second Sky/Forever for providing me this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

  9. Meilee

    really fun spooky read!
    I had so much fun reading Phantasma! It’s the perfect spooky, sexy book to read this fall! The characters are really fun and have amazing banter! Can’t wait for the next one

  10. Whispering Chapters

    A fantastic dark romantasy standalone, perfect for fans of Caraval
    This book really is a combination of Caraval and Throne of the Fallen, with the vibes of Haunted Mansion. Expect paranormal beings, gothic vibes, haunted manor, deadly trials, and a sexy Phantom that will have you weak in the knees!”I want you to let me see you. All of you. There is nothing I have seen yet that has made me look away. No atrocity you could commit to make me not want you like this. No matter how forbidden. I want to know everything. I want to see all of the darkest corners of your mind. I want to taste your sins.”While Caraval, which I love, is magical, Phantasma is haunting, eerie, spicy, edgy, dark, creepy. I thoroughly enjoyed it! The beginning was a bit slow for me. But once Ophelia was in the Devil’s Manor, it all picked up. Those trials were so not for the faint of heart! I wasn’t expecting them to be so gruesome; absolutely perfect for spooky season.Blackwell, Blackwell, Blackwell! I absolutely loved him! I don’t know why, but he reminded me a lot of Thomas Cresswell (Stalking Jack the Ripper), and I was here for it! He’s full of sass and banter, constantly annoying Ophelia. My gosh, their connection was amazing. The tension between them truly was electrifying and left me breathless.”Turn around!””I think it’s a bit too late for modesty, don’t you?””Says the one who isn’t almost naked!”His smile turned into a full-on grin. “I could change that if you’d like.””You are such a thorn in my side. Honestly, I’m surprised you got my corset off so easily in the first place.”He leaned in close enough that the tips of their noses nearly touched as he spoke. “There’s no article of clothing I don’t know how to take off efficiently.”This review doesn’t even follow a singular line of thought, but if you take anything away from it, is that you NEED to read it! Best part? It’s a romantasy standalone!- forbidden romance- phantom x necromancer- forced proximity- morally grey mmc- deadly trials inspired by the Nine Circles of Hell- ocd rep- touch her or call her names and regret it- “good girl”- “who did this to you”- “grab the headboard”

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