Phantom by H.D. Carlton is a historical romance with mafia elements, set in the 1940’s, in the same universe as the famous Cat and Mouse duet. You do not need to read the duet before reading this prequel, it is a complete standalone, but it may hold more meaning for readers with the context of the later stories, the universe, and its characters.
Genevieve Parsons is a housewife, married to a wealthy man, living in her dream house of her own design. Her life is just fine, until her husband starts drinking and puts the family deeply in debt gambling with the mafia. When the Salvatore family consigliere comes to collect, he finds Genevieve standing in the window, and is immediately obsessed.
As Ronaldo starts stalking her, Gigi’s marriage falls apart. Her stalker becomes the dirty secret that keeps her going, and she’s his favorite weakness. But her husband remains a problem for them both and is only getting worse. Not to mention that if Ronaldo’s boss, the head of the Salvatore crime family, finds out what he’s been up to with Gigi, it would not end well. Gigi and Ronaldo are hanging on the precipice of an epic love story or a crushing tragedy.
Gigi is such a unique character, part stereotypical housewife, part creepy goth girl who loves horror and mystery novels. She is both frightened and intrigued by her stalker, and repressed given her status as a 40’s era housewife combined with her religious upbringing. Her complexity makes her such a joy to read. Ronaldo is dangerous, and a classic mafia anti-hero. He’s tall, dark, handsome and very possessive of Gigi.
The plot of Phantom largely surrounds the demise of Gigi’s love affair and her passionate affair with Ronaldo. There’s not a great deal of action, besides the spice, but the forbidden romance is more than enough to keep readers turning the pages. There are themes of domestic violence in this book to be aware of. Gigi spends much of the time in grave danger from her shitty husband.
The spice is slow and teasing at first. Ronaldo is holding back, waiting until Gigi is begging for it before he gives in and gives her what she wants. When the spice finally kicks in fully, it is very much in H.D. Carlton‘s trademark style. It’s a little obsessive, more than a little rough, and oh so very explosive. The praise that Ronaldo doles out to Genevieve, in one scene in particular, but throughout the book as well, is perfectly mind-blowing. This book is worth reading for his filthy praises alone.
One slight problem with this book is that there are excessive mafia clichés in the dialogue. It’s probably authentic to the subject matter and time period, but it does grate slightly after a while. It seemed much more pronounced than in comparable mafia romances — although to be fair, none of those are set in the ’40s.
Phantom’s ending is a little bit unsatisfying, albeit necessary. If you’ve read the Cat and Mouse duet, it will make perfect sense. If not, or if you’ve forgotten how Gigi’s story ends, you might be a smidge bewildered. There is a bonus scene that will add a little more closure, so make sure that if you read this book, you don’t skip that bonus scene.
Writing: 3
Spice: 4
Kindle: $3.99 or free with Kindle Unlimited
Paperback: $17.99
Hardback: $22.99
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