The FMC was so whiny and dumb. Constantly missing the point and making the wrong decision. I can't say I enjoyed this book. It was fine. Just fine. If you want a easy spicy paranormal romance then this is for you. I would not call it a dark romance, because although it takes place in actual Hell, the romance is ooey gooey sweet.

This book..... guys, I started reading and almost set it aside, but I decided to plow through the rather slow start and boy it delivered. Kaylie and Laura, the narrator, just made this book awesome.

This is a gothic, dark romance between Ophelia and Blakewell, a ghost, with hunger games, kind of challenges thrown in except in the circles of hell that Ophelia needs to win to get her sister Lucy back from phantasma. There are several villains, challenges, jealousy, rage, and sensuality. A wide range of emotions and turmoil that keeps the book interesting and the reader on her toes.

I loved the dynamics between the various characters, past and present. I loved Blakewell. He's just sexy, deeply anguished, and had the committed the sin of falling in love with his angel.

Overall, it is a unique and interesting read.

#netgalley #phantasma

Thank you to Bookouture Audio | Second Sky Books and NetGalley for the audio ARC, all opinions are my own.

I jumped on this opportunity since this book sounded right up my alley. This definitely has similar feelings to The Serpent and the Wings of Night and the board game Betrayal at the House on the Hill.

Tessie Grim is dead and Ophelia and her sister need to figure out what to do next. After finding out that their mom took out money against their home, Ophelia follows her sister in joining the tournament at Phantasma, a demonic house that appears. She runs into Blackwell, who offers her a deal to help her win the competition and get money to pay off the debt.

This was a really good balance of thriller gory horror, almost SAW like at times, and a dark twisted romance.

WOW. This was excellent. Have you been looking for a dark, gothic, spicy fantasy book with devils, phantoms, necromancers, and deadly trials? Have you been looking for a book that gives you Caraval vibes, but darker and spicier? Then look no further, this book is for you!

This book had a lovely sister relationship, deadly trials, spooky vibes, amnesia, OCD rep, soulmates (kind of), and curses and bargains.

I absolutely devoured it and thoroughly enjoyed my time doing so. The audio was fantastic and I think the narrator did a great job with emotions and keeping me engaged.

Definitely a great choice to pick up this spooky season!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for an ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Ok I'm gonna say, it gave me A Deadly Education vibes, but steamy....
I mean, its not school but a game, but she has to go through several levels, and monsters and other players are trying to kill her so.... Close enough!

It's also a one book only Romantasy, so if you don't feel like starting yet another serie... Go for it!

I also really liked the narrator of the audiobook.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for access to the audiobook against an honest review.*

This book held my attention & kept me on the edge of my seat. The magic system was easy to understand. Great stand-alone book. Deadly competition. Lots of spice.

✨️💚✨️Audio Book Review✨️💚✨️

Book: Phantasma
Author: Kaylie Smith
Rating: 5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Holy crap balls.

This book was absolutely amazing!

When I first picked it up, I was instantly hooked and intrigued with the idea of a horror squid games style contest.

Throw in a shadow daddy MMC?

Sold. Love it. Need a physical copy for my trophy shelf.

This book had so many twists and turns, you couldn't trust anyone, and I was always sitting at the edge of my seat not knowing what was going to happen next.

The spice was absolutely wild too. Just overall such a well written and intense book!

You get:
• Dark Romantasy
• Horror/Gore
• Paranormal
• Puzzles/Tests
• Shadow Daddy MMC
• Necromancer FMC
• Sacrifice

I highly suggest this one! Available on KU, ebook, paperback, and audiobook on September 3rd!

This book is a very clear 5 out of 5, a 10 out of 10 for me
I realized this very quickly, I hadn't even finished the book yet.
I was lucky enough to listen to this book as an audiobook and i can only say that i am thrilled with this book.
I had so much fun with it and the characters and was 100% drawn into the story of Ophelia.

The grothic setting of New Orleans had me hooked from the first second. As it went on and the story picked up more and more I couldn't stop listening.
The individual competitions were exciting, varied and I was so curious to see what would happen each time. The search that took place outside the competitions also added to the suspense. The romance between Ophelia and Blackwell is 🥵🌶️🌶️ I can hardly put it into words, it was perfect. The banter and the overall character interaction suited both the individual characters and the setting as a whole.
I think the mix of plot, romance and spice in this book was very well distributed and I never had the feeling that there was too much or too little of either.

Another feature that I found very interesting was that Ophelia has OCD. In my opinion, this is done very respectfully and honestly and the effects of such a disorder are well revealed. (Disclaimer: I'm not an expert and don't know anything about OCD personally, I just have some general knowledge)
It's something different from what you're used to and I find that very refreshing.

The narrator Laura Horowitz did a wonderful job bringing this book to life. Her talent for giving each character their individual voice is what made this book so phenomenal. I am deeply impressed by her work.

This was a great first novel for new author. I love books where the MC is in some sort of trial or competition for their lives. This one was very "edge of your seat" when it got past the introductory/informative chapters. I'm not the biggest gothic style reader, however this was entertaining for sure and really kept my attention. Ophelia struggled with her mental health throughout the book and it was very interesting to see how the author chose to portray her experience. The narration was great. The twist at the end was great. All in all, the book was amazing and I'm so happy I was given the chance to check it out.

Thanks NetGalley for the ALC!

This book was so many things that I didn’t know that I needed to come together. Fantasy but set in a mostly modern (I think turn of the century) version of our world.

I will fully admit that I was able to guess the way that it would end about halfway through the book, but that was because all of the breadcrumbs to get you there were so skillfully scattered.

The novel combines trials, forbidden romance, a realistic non-idealized depiction of neurodivergence (FMC with OCD), A+ banter, and a wonderful Gothic aesthetic to create a beautiful capital R Romantic fever dream.

Anyone who reads the novel should walk away, thinking about for what they might be willing to bargain their soul to a devil.

Laura Horowitz 100% delivers as the narrator, giving life to every character through her various accents and great inflection. Added another great level of inversion to the story.

I already knew I was going to love the actual content so I was excited to read this romantasy all over again. Content wise this is the true definition of romantasy: equal weight to the plot and the romance and I was so impressed at having so much plot with the competition and trials with still a satisfying romance all within a standalone.

The narration was great. I felt Laura did a good job without overacting expressing the moodiness of the gothic mansion and honestly of the FMC. It's also very much 2x speed friendly. Thank you to Bookouture Audio for the ALC!

Okay the book - amazing. But the book with this audio. AMAZING. The narration was perfect and added so much depth of emotion to the story that, while I usually prefer reading, I listened to book for hours on end. While it was not dual narration, the narrators voices for the characters were distinct enough that it felt very easy to mentally imagine the different characters speaking and added so much to the story itself. I adored this book and this audio and would highly recommend it!

I really enjoyed this audiobook, it held my attention from the start! The narrator was great and easy to listen to! The story was full of mystery, dark magic, horrific games and intriguing characters! I really enjoyed to chemistry between Ophelia and Blackwell, and the amount of spice they was just right! Not too much to take over of the story, but just enough! I look forward to reading more books from the author!

I really enjoyed this audiobook, It held my attention from the start! The narrator was great and easy to listen to! The story was full of mystery, dark magic, horrific games and intriguing characters! I really enjoyed to chemistry between Ophelia and Blackwell, and the spiciness was just right! Not too much to take over of the story, but just enough! I look forward to reading more books from the author!

A gothic romantasy with family secrets, trials and a hot phantom. This for me is a 3.5 star read - strong on spice, interesting premise and I didn't see the twist coming!

That being said, for me personally there was something missing (maybe character development?) and I would SO not forgive the betrayals that easily. Like she was just ok with it?

The blurb says it's for Carissa Broadbent and SJM fans - I think if that's what you went in expecting you'd be disappointed. It doesn't quite have the same depth/world/character building - possibly because it's a standalone rather than a series - don't get me wrong, I was entertained, but for me it's not quite in that same bracket.

5/5 ⭐ WHERE DO I BEGIN? this paranormal dark gothic romance has my heart forever & we need book 2!!

Kaylie.. how dare you leave us on such a cliffhanger! (Plus a thousand thank you's for giving me the opportunity to not only read the ARC, but listen to it too!)

I absolutely devoured this book & audiobook. From the beginning I loved the characters, Ophelia ofc being my favorite. It reminded me of Adams family themed hunger games a little!

When Ophelia meets Blackwell I had no idea that the relationship would develop the way it did - plenty of spice and full of passionate, intense moments that 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.

Phantasma is such a great enemies to lovers romantasy - I was completely taken back with the ending & unable to control my emotions. I was sobbing!!

The side characters and levels throughout the game were written perfectly. A mixture of frustration, pain and anger throughout the 9 days..
It was a complete rollercoaster!

The backstory which we find out was just a full 360 from what I expected to have happened, insane.

You could never predict anything in this book!
👏🏻 Kaylie Smith, I will be reading each and every one of your books that you publish & recommend to everyone I know!

If you love gothic romances full of vampires, ghouls, ghosts and creatures from the dark, deals with the devil, haunted houses, dangerous trials - all intertwined within a beautiful and epic romance? Then Phantasma is for you!

Oh & we need exclusive editions in the UK, that would make my year🖤

I could go on forever about Phantasma, but I'm trying to not give away any spoilers... 👀

A beautifully written, gothic romance, set in New Orleans (which I LOVED), magical games to the death (yes please), a strong MFC (fav) and a ghost love interest (it worked, don't judge me for loving it). Ophelia enters the gothic, demonic world of Phantasma after her sister goes missing, and Blackwood (the brooding ghost) strikes up a deal to help her find her sister; he'll help her win the games and find her sister, and she'll help set him free from Phantasma.
This book was filled with twists and turns and I was hooked. It was fast faced, fun, filled with magic and romance. Absolutely loved it.

When her sister disappears, Ophelia learns that she has entered into a deadly competition called Phantasma. In order to save her sister Ophelia enters the competition, but not everything is as it seems. Making a deal with a phantom, Ophelia works to win each of the dangerous trials. But as the trials get harder and secrets are revealed, Ophelia will have to decide what she is willing to lose to win it all.

I flew through this book and I absolutely loved this narration! The story was so fun and creative and I loved Blackwell! I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next and the ending did not disappoint. I wish there would have been more at the end, but overall I loved every bit of this book. I highly recommend this book and I can't wait to see more from Kaylie Smith.

this is everything I want from a gothic romance, it’s got tension galore, a ghost lover and spooky vibes for days. Perfect amount of spice too! I’m not sure if it’s a standalone or not but there is definitely potential for a sequel which I’ll definitely read! Will be great to read in autumn.

Narrator: 5/5
Rating: 4.5/5 rounded up
Spicy: 4/5 (Personally some may find it more or less)

The twist in this book made me wish I could go back and listen to it all over again. You see one part coming. It's so obvious feeling but then it twists and you are like DID THAT JUST HAPPEN? I highly recommend this book. It was such a good time and flowed so well. Seriously, just go get the audiobook. You will not regret it. Or maybe you will, but I did not.