Scripted in Love's Scars

by Michelle Rodriguez

As the Opera Ghost, Erik believes he is omnipotent, untouchable, and certainly not a victim of emotion. He is in control of every aspect of his world and runs the opera house with shrewd calculation, building his reputation and becoming a legend. But one afternoon and one turn of events, and he is thrown from his pedestal as the ghost meant to be feared is suddenly the one afraid. Afraid of one girl and the power she holds in her hands.Christine expected a ghost in the cellars of the opera house, not a man as shaken by her presence as she is by his. He is the one they’ve told her to fear and hate, the murderer and monster with the face of a demon, and yet she is drawn into his world of music and passion and a love so powerful that she can’t breathe without it.A new and different take on the classic story of The Phantom of the Opera, Scripted in Love’s Scars take Erik and Christine from the streets of Paris to the dungeons of Persia through a love story’s libretto and the scars it leaves behind.

301 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 29, 2015

About the author

Michelle Gliottoni-Rodriguez wrote her first novel in high school. Fifteen years later, she’s up to 28 and still counting. Fascinated with Gothic romances, she calls her greatest influences the works of the Brontë sisters and adds in an adoration for “The Phantom of the Opera” and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In August 2011, she published her first novel, a Gothic vampire romance titled Opera Macabre. Over the past two years, she has published another vampire romance and the first three novels in her series The Angel and Demon Chronicles; the fourth installment, Imprinted on a Demon’s Heart, will be out next summer. In addition to writing about vampires, angels and demons, she posts Phantom of the Opera stories online and has even had the honor of having them translated into German and Russian for worldwide fans. Due to the wonderful support of her Phantom “phans”, she released two collections of Phantom short stories titled Manifestations of a Phantom’s Soul and her Phantom novel, The Opera Ghost Unraveled last year.

The other side of her life is a passion for music; she’s also a trained opera singer with a Bachelor of Music from Saint Xavier University in Chicago. She’s won various awards and accolades in the Chicagoland area and has portrayed such roles as Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, Yum-Yum in The Mikado, and the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute.

From writing at 4AM to practicing for her next performances at 7AM and then onward to being a full time wife and mom with a 7 year old, a 4 year old, and 7 month old, one would call her life crazy, but she likes to think of it as “full”.



For more information, please check out her website: www.michellegliottonirodriguez.webs.com

Or like on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michell...

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the Militant Recommender Book Review Blog:
http://militantrecommender.blogspot.c...
Michelle Rodriguez brings something new to the Phantom canon. I adored her Opera Ghost Unraveled and her short stories are breathtakingly romantic. Now, she has released another full length Phantom novel, Scripted in Love's Scars, and needless to say, she doesn't disappoint!
The story begins when Christine is being inducted into the Paris Opera House ballet corps. A rite of passage is to shove the aspiring ballerinas, one at a time, into the first cellar of the Opera House and hold the door closed for several minutes to see if she would survive an encounter with the Opera Ghost. He was more myth to them than reality, and when confronted by the ghost himself, most of the girls would shriek and panic and then, later, add their tale to the Opera Ghost legend.
Christine is pushed through the door into the blackness of the cellar. She doesn't have long to wait before the Ghost makes an appearance. But something is different about this girl, Erik finds. She stares back at him, and for moments they are locked in each other's gaze, Erik captivated, yet feeling oddly exposed, even though he wore his mask. Then she is gone, as Meg pulls her back into the light.
But not gone for good, as this is where Erik realizes their destinies would become intertwined, as he thinks, and not long after, materializes before her in the closed up Opera House, as Christine tries to rehearse her ballet moves, alone on the stage. At first he is a voice from the darkened theatre, giving her suggestions on how to improve on her ballet training... but, when he finds her heart is not in the dance, but in music... he comes closer, becomes her Angel of Music... and well, so much more!
So, we do have our Erik and Christine passion play brought about with a fresh interpretation, but we also have a drama to contend with, about which I will say no more, because there were moments that were so tense and suspenseful and...well, I really wondered what was going to happen, and on more than one occasion I had to shout "Oh NO!!!" at my copy of this wonderfully addictive story! This was one of those books you don't want to end it is so good and it's one I highly recommended for Phantom Phans or anyone who enjoys a good, compelling and genuinely romantic story!

Another unique aspect to Ms. Rodriguez's books is the very talented cover artist, photographer and designer she works with, Jessica Elizabeth. I've come to look forward to her vision of each book as she captures the spirit of Erik and Christine on each cover so perfectly!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

***TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNING: References to murder and torture (beaten/whipped/burned). Brief but vague on-page scene of a man killed by a trap and left hanging. Erik is subjected to a year of torture and there's one on-page scene with him being whipped. There's also mention that the bad guy who tortured Erik is a rapist with a "harem." Brief mention of suicide. ***



This was well-written, which was refreshing, but I really hated the separation and the *extremely unnecessary* torture of Erik. Poor baby's already been through enough and it honestly didn't add anything to the story. I will read this again, but I'll either stop reading before the separation or I'll just skip ahead to the reunion, also bypassing the frustrating misunderstandings between Erik and Christine.

[Liesl de Swardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rodriguez is the best writer of Phantom stories.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book and couldn't put it down!

[The Local Spooky Hermit · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far this is the nicest and redeeming Erik's ever been while sticking with his original backstory (that I've read). So its quite believable why they'd stay together and probably the most satisfying ending for them.
Spoilers.
He owns the opera house and she still works there as prima donna. They both stay in the music business.

[Maria Spalding · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy the detailed writing and this was a great twist on the main antagonist of the story. Thoroughly enjoyed and will continue to collect the retellings by this author :)

[Diana Brewster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a riveting, exciting love story between Erik & Christine. I couldn't wait to finish it and parts of it had me wondering if the ending would be as happy as I hoped for. Thankfully it was! Thanks for another good book Michelle!