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Phantom Nights: Paranormal Dark Fantasy Romance
Samantha Murphy isn’t afraid of the hallucinations that plague her nights. Phantoms aren’t real. They can’t hurt her. But then she meets a phantom who shakes her faith in her own psychosis: the impossibly fast and charming Sychar. He’s a Vesper... enslaved by a dark master and forbidden to consort with humans.
As Samantha and Sychar embark on a relationship with the hottest passion and most terrifying stakes, Sychar proves to her how real he is. Demons exist, and this one cares about her, crazy and all.
When a freak accident looks suspiciously like a suicide attempt, Samantha’s doctors load her down with medication. And though Sychar swears he won’t disappear with the rest of her madness, her deepest fears cement when he takes off on a deadly mission and doesn’t come back.
Samantha’s sanity spirals further from her reach in his absence, but a reckless search at a train station shocks Samantha’s reality back into her grasp. Sychar's in serious trouble, and her only allies are the demons she fears.
But the darkness she’s seen in her life pales in comparison to what she must face—and defeat—to save the man she loves.
As Samantha and Sychar embark on a relationship with the hottest passion and most terrifying stakes, Sychar proves to her how real he is. Demons exist, and this one cares about her, crazy and all.
When a freak accident looks suspiciously like a suicide attempt, Samantha’s doctors load her down with medication. And though Sychar swears he won’t disappear with the rest of her madness, her deepest fears cement when he takes off on a deadly mission and doesn’t come back.
Samantha’s sanity spirals further from her reach in his absence, but a reckless search at a train station shocks Samantha’s reality back into her grasp. Sychar's in serious trouble, and her only allies are the demons she fears.
But the darkness she’s seen in her life pales in comparison to what she must face—and defeat—to save the man she loves.
182 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 3, 2014
1 person is currently reading
256 people want to read
About the author
Nola Sarina
20 books100 followersNola Sarina is a paranormal romance, dark fantasy, and erotica author from Alberta, Canada. She loves weaving romances that leave you breathless and challenge typical relationships with the most mind-blowing twists.
Represented by Michelle Johnson of Inklings Literary Agency, Nola is the author of the spicy hot dark fantasy Vesper series. Taking vampires to a whole new level, the Vespers in Gilded Destiny & Jaded Touch live dangerously sexy lives in a harsh world of the balance between mortals and immortals.
Nola is also the co-author of Wild Hyacinthe and THE CORE with friend Emily Faith. Wild Hyacinthe portrays sexy, alpha hero from a unique perspective: an incubus who can't help but kill, while THE CORE invites every reader to throw stereotypes out the window, strip down, and get dirty.
SNEAK PEEK free chapters of all Nola's works are available on her website! http://www.nolasarina.com/sneak-a-pee...
Be sure to join her email contact list for newsletters, exclusive content and to get the latest on all Nola Sarina titles before anyone else: http://www.nolasarina.com/contact/
Represented by Michelle Johnson of Inklings Literary Agency, Nola is the author of the spicy hot dark fantasy Vesper series. Taking vampires to a whole new level, the Vespers in Gilded Destiny & Jaded Touch live dangerously sexy lives in a harsh world of the balance between mortals and immortals.
Nola is also the co-author of Wild Hyacinthe and THE CORE with friend Emily Faith. Wild Hyacinthe portrays sexy, alpha hero from a unique perspective: an incubus who can't help but kill, while THE CORE invites every reader to throw stereotypes out the window, strip down, and get dirty.
SNEAK PEEK free chapters of all Nola's works are available on her website! http://www.nolasarina.com/sneak-a-pee...
Be sure to join her email contact list for newsletters, exclusive content and to get the latest on all Nola Sarina titles before anyone else: http://www.nolasarina.com/contact/
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 13, 2015
Damn, damn, damn....it ended too soon.
After reading the first 2 books in this series I was hoping for more of Sychar and Samantha, whoop the author did not disappoint.
This is the best book in this series so far, and it left me wanting more. An awesome story full of love, action, drama and a little bit of crazy.
Sam a human who is just a little crazy comes to realise that the things she thinks she imagines are actually real, enter Sychar and the world of the immortal Vespers. Sychar a 70 year old immortal Vesper, who has just about had enough with the control of his Master, once he meets Sam things begin to change for him ( Love can have that effect). NO SPOILERS...
I would recommend reading the first two books before reading Phantom Nights to enjoy the overall story and mythology behind the Vespers. but be warned this ones a TOBY.. 'TO BE CONTINUED".. and I will be waiting very impatiently for it.. As the Author hinted at characters having special importance in the continuing story, I have many question I NEED answered.. Please Ms Sarina don't make me wait to long to find out more on Sychar, Samantha and Levi..
After reading the first 2 books in this series I was hoping for more of Sychar and Samantha, whoop the author did not disappoint.
This is the best book in this series so far, and it left me wanting more. An awesome story full of love, action, drama and a little bit of crazy.
Sam a human who is just a little crazy comes to realise that the things she thinks she imagines are actually real, enter Sychar and the world of the immortal Vespers. Sychar a 70 year old immortal Vesper, who has just about had enough with the control of his Master, once he meets Sam things begin to change for him ( Love can have that effect). NO SPOILERS...
I would recommend reading the first two books before reading Phantom Nights to enjoy the overall story and mythology behind the Vespers. but be warned this ones a TOBY.. 'TO BE CONTINUED".. and I will be waiting very impatiently for it.. As the Author hinted at characters having special importance in the continuing story, I have many question I NEED answered.. Please Ms Sarina don't make me wait to long to find out more on Sychar, Samantha and Levi..
October 11, 2015
So. Much. YES!
I devoured this book during a recent flight and was kicking myself for not downloading the other books in the VESPER series before we took off. Nola Sarina writes the best openings EVER, has fabulous, clean writing, and an awesome story line here. This book (though part of a series) stands alone.
What I loved: There's something magical about a magnetic first line, and Nola Sarina has a knack for them. I was hooked from the first sentence. I loved the MC, and I especially loved her struggle with mental illness and her constant wondering if what she was seeing was real. The writing is fabulous. The plot kept me glued, and I'm still fanning myself from the heat. Did I mention I LOVE the cover? Creepy and hot and perfect.
What I didn't love: There was only one thing that stood out as I was reading, and that was the MC's reaction to an assault she thwarted in a park. It was a hard sell for me to see someone turn their back on an assailant (even if he was knocked out). However, I LOVED how the MC totally beat the shit out of him, and I think I actually punched the air when he went down (and my fellow British Air passengers were jealous their reads were nowhere near as interesting as mine.) Bad. Ass.
This story stuck has stuck with me for almost a month now. And that's why it's hands-down 5 stars.
I devoured this book during a recent flight and was kicking myself for not downloading the other books in the VESPER series before we took off. Nola Sarina writes the best openings EVER, has fabulous, clean writing, and an awesome story line here. This book (though part of a series) stands alone.
What I loved: There's something magical about a magnetic first line, and Nola Sarina has a knack for them. I was hooked from the first sentence. I loved the MC, and I especially loved her struggle with mental illness and her constant wondering if what she was seeing was real. The writing is fabulous. The plot kept me glued, and I'm still fanning myself from the heat. Did I mention I LOVE the cover? Creepy and hot and perfect.
What I didn't love: There was only one thing that stood out as I was reading, and that was the MC's reaction to an assault she thwarted in a park. It was a hard sell for me to see someone turn their back on an assailant (even if he was knocked out). However, I LOVED how the MC totally beat the shit out of him, and I think I actually punched the air when he went down (and my fellow British Air passengers were jealous their reads were nowhere near as interesting as mine.) Bad. Ass.
This story stuck has stuck with me for almost a month now. And that's why it's hands-down 5 stars.
October 28, 2015
All I can start with is WOW Nola Sarina does it again!!
This is a very well written novella that I found impossible to put down. The characters came to life in
a way that I could not believe. I really enjoyed Nola's first two novellas but this was something else. I won't go on, but I will leave you with one of my favorite lines...
'I hated the grim acceptance in his voice, the way he loathed his own existence yet could do nothing to change it.'
This is a very well written novella that I found impossible to put down. The characters came to life in
a way that I could not believe. I really enjoyed Nola's first two novellas but this was something else. I won't go on, but I will leave you with one of my favorite lines...
'I hated the grim acceptance in his voice, the way he loathed his own existence yet could do nothing to change it.'
October 26, 2015
Nola Sarina’s Vesper series is now three books old and I’m happy to say the that 3rd times the charm. Gilded Destiny and Jaded Touch, books one and two in the series, were fun books to read, written well, with fascinating mythology, and compelling characters. The newest book in the series, Phantom Nights, has all that, but more importantly, it’s the book that pulls the series together, the book that takes the Vespers from being a group of books with the same mythology to a series that’s connected by its characters.
We meet the hero, Sychar, briefly in Gilded Destiny, then again in Jaded Touch when he’s pushed to the forefront of the story as the heroine’s best friend (and more, but you have to read Jaded Touch to find out!). As he races through the pages, we get the first inkling of Sychar's importance to this series of novellas. I fell head over heels for Sychar in Jaded Touch because of his compassion, charm, and strength and found myself anticipating the next book because of him. The fact that JT and Phantom Nights play-out simultaneously (for at least part of PN) just helped to keep me hooked to my Kindle.
Samantha, Sychar’s human lover, is introduced in JT only by name. We know Sychar’s in love with her and that plays a role in the plot of book 2, but we never meet her. When we do at the beginning of PN, we find a young woman who has been plagued by phantoms her entire life, unofficially diagnosed with schizophrenia. Despite this, she’s strong willed and determined to live her life on her terms. As she refuses to sleep at night, she spends that time in a local park, where she meets Sychar after she’s attacked by a vagrant.
The two are drawn together almost immediately and it’s sweet. Technically they’re both teenagers and they demonstrate an ease with each other that only the young can pull off. Whereas I struggled at times with the instant connection between the couples in the previous books, Sychar and Samantha effortlessly slip into a believable relationship. Their dialogue flows easily and their intimacy feels natural. When their happiness is threatened by outside forces, their commitment to each other is tested. With a novella it’s hard to build a believable relationship and convince the reader that two people care enough to face whatever hardship comes their way. Sarina does it in Phantom Nights.
PN picks up speed about halfway through when the plot lines of it and Jaded Touch converge. I actually loved this plot device even though it means you’ve got to read the books in order. I was surprised, again, by the direction of the story and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me because I’m never surprised! Sarina is a fantastic writer. She’s imaginative, writes clean, crisp dialogue, and never wastes words. The plot moves at a nice steady pace rather than a frantic one and I think this is an important distinction because one lets the reader absorb the story, the other leads to the reader flipping back to see what they’ve missed.
The best part of reading a series is spending time with the same characters and PN does this from page one. We’ve met every character before (won’t say who so I’m not a spoiler!), except for Samantha’s parents, and that familiarity gives the reader a feeling of meeting up with an old friend, which is why you could sell me a book series any day of the week.
4.5 stars for Phantom Nights. Heat level: 3
We meet the hero, Sychar, briefly in Gilded Destiny, then again in Jaded Touch when he’s pushed to the forefront of the story as the heroine’s best friend (and more, but you have to read Jaded Touch to find out!). As he races through the pages, we get the first inkling of Sychar's importance to this series of novellas. I fell head over heels for Sychar in Jaded Touch because of his compassion, charm, and strength and found myself anticipating the next book because of him. The fact that JT and Phantom Nights play-out simultaneously (for at least part of PN) just helped to keep me hooked to my Kindle.
Samantha, Sychar’s human lover, is introduced in JT only by name. We know Sychar’s in love with her and that plays a role in the plot of book 2, but we never meet her. When we do at the beginning of PN, we find a young woman who has been plagued by phantoms her entire life, unofficially diagnosed with schizophrenia. Despite this, she’s strong willed and determined to live her life on her terms. As she refuses to sleep at night, she spends that time in a local park, where she meets Sychar after she’s attacked by a vagrant.
The two are drawn together almost immediately and it’s sweet. Technically they’re both teenagers and they demonstrate an ease with each other that only the young can pull off. Whereas I struggled at times with the instant connection between the couples in the previous books, Sychar and Samantha effortlessly slip into a believable relationship. Their dialogue flows easily and their intimacy feels natural. When their happiness is threatened by outside forces, their commitment to each other is tested. With a novella it’s hard to build a believable relationship and convince the reader that two people care enough to face whatever hardship comes their way. Sarina does it in Phantom Nights.
PN picks up speed about halfway through when the plot lines of it and Jaded Touch converge. I actually loved this plot device even though it means you’ve got to read the books in order. I was surprised, again, by the direction of the story and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me because I’m never surprised! Sarina is a fantastic writer. She’s imaginative, writes clean, crisp dialogue, and never wastes words. The plot moves at a nice steady pace rather than a frantic one and I think this is an important distinction because one lets the reader absorb the story, the other leads to the reader flipping back to see what they’ve missed.
The best part of reading a series is spending time with the same characters and PN does this from page one. We’ve met every character before (won’t say who so I’m not a spoiler!), except for Samantha’s parents, and that familiarity gives the reader a feeling of meeting up with an old friend, which is why you could sell me a book series any day of the week.
4.5 stars for Phantom Nights. Heat level: 3
October 25, 2015
A sweet and steamy love story that picks up speed into political intrigue and a daring rescue at the end! Samantha's character gave unvarnished but courageous insight into the life of a person trying to cope with mental illness.
I was so hoping to find out more about the mysterious redhead from the last book, but guess I'll have to wait for the next book!
I was so hoping to find out more about the mysterious redhead from the last book, but guess I'll have to wait for the next book!
October 28, 2015
5 Crazy Ass Stars!!!!!
Ok, I've got to say this was my favorite of the series so far. I do recommend starting with books 1 & 2 as you will need to read those for better understanding of things. Stick with the series because with each books, things ramp up and keeps you swiping away. I need the next book now! I look forward to reading more of the Vespers series.
Ok, I've got to say this was my favorite of the series so far. I do recommend starting with books 1 & 2 as you will need to read those for better understanding of things. Stick with the series because with each books, things ramp up and keeps you swiping away. I need the next book now! I look forward to reading more of the Vespers series.
October 20, 2015
I loved this book the best in the series so far! I love Sychar, he's a great character! This was a really hard book to put down, I can't wait for the next book to come out. Definitely recommed reading this series!!
October 23, 2015
This book was a little crazy, but so am I. This book gets better as the series continue. As a fan the action and drama makes this book hard to put down.
Want to read
December 21, 2016Never got it...so cant do review on it...
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews