The summer is half gone but FULL of Phantom goodness nevertheless. Behold!
Alternatives by Manna Huizar is a sequel to the original story set in a slightly alternative universe (according to the author, but they don’t say what’s different so I guess we’ll all have to read to find out!). After the events of the main story, Erik flees France and has new adventures elsewhere with a new love interest.
The Forgotten Phantom by Kathryn Ann Kingsley is the Phantom’s entry in the Creature Feature series, a selection of romance novels based on romancing classic movie monsters! In it, Christine is an intrepid explorer, more like a ghost-hunter than her original role, and has been sent by her organization to investigate a hundred-year-old haunting in the basement of a crumbling opera house. There seems to be some suggestion that this is an actual ghost Phantom, and that he may be mistaking the Christine of this novel with another one he knew a very long time ago.
Gaston Leroux: The Man Behind the Mask by Lynn Santer & Rich Hosek is an unusual one - a fictionalized retelling/biography of Leroux’s life and career! It looks like it’ll come from the perspective of Leroux having actually met the Persian and received the Phantom’s story from him firsthand.
Ghost Opera by Birdy Rivers is part of a fantasy series about a young woman descended from gods and monsters who has been allowed to visit the human world for the first time, where she’s meant to remove the ghost haunting a local music academy. Of course, she has to go undercover, and of course, the school is putting on a very familiar musical by someone with very familiar initials, and of course she realizes that there’s something about her costar...
Ghostlight by Caitlin Du Bois is about a teenager named Claire, who achieves her dreams when she gets a part in the summer community musical and gains a musical mentor in a dashing adult, only to realize that things are not what she thought as his control over her begins to close in.
Medic in the Stars by Ellen Russell is the second book in a science fiction series, and revolves around a woman who has been kidnapped by members of an alien race. She finds herself in the care of the ship’s medic, a physically deformed man who feels it is impossible for him to ever find love, and romance begins to bloom. (This is our borderline entry this month, but I’m always living in hope of science fiction Phantoms...)
Mistress of Music by Evelyn Richardson is a period romance about a young opera singer desperate to make it who accidentally falls in love with the dashing young lord acting as the place’s patron instead.
Nocturne by Alyssa Wees is set in the early 1900s between World Wars and tells the story of an orphan, Grace, who hopes to be a ballerina during the depression and makes it thanks to the help of an enigmatic patron who supports her career but does it in a very mysterious manner.
Phantom Reflection by Kim Malinowski is definitely about the Phantom story, but that’s about all I can tell you. The blurb claims that it is a novel in verse and a retelling of the original story, and it’s only 82 pages in the ebook edition, so it’s probably not too long.
Pitch & Pace by Julia Blake follows opera singer Kit, recovering from a throat infection that may have ended her career, reconnecting with her childhood best friend but also suddenly thrust into a mystery revolving around several local murders and the sexy veterinarian in town.
Three Muses by Martha Anne Toll is set after the second World War and stars John, an opera singer who was forced to sing in concentration camps and struggles to perform now that he is free, and Katya, a ballerina trapped in a relationship with an abusive mentor. John one day receives an anonymous ticket to see Katya, and things begin to spiral from there.
Bonus round: we got us a fancy set of rereleases! Back in the day, C. David Stephens released a series of Phantom-based books under the names Angel of Music: The Enchanted Violin, Angel of Music: Erik, and Angel of Music: Raoul. Now we’ve got four new titles and spiffy updated descriptions to boot:
Santa Monica is set in the modern day and tells the story of an 11-year-old Christine, a homeless street performer who strives with her father to perform for enough money for food; when she meets the young Raoul, he helps them get off the street by hiring her father to give him violin lessons.
Saint-Tropez is the next book and begins with the now-teenage sweetheart separated and about to be reunited by Raoul inviting Christine to spend two weeks at his French chateau. Christine is excited to spend time with Raoul, but also meets a dangerous but interestingly mysterious boy named Erik at one of his parties.
Santa Fe follows with the death of Christine’s father and a summer with Christine and Raoul trying to recover from trauma on a ranch, only to have a mysterious intruder interrupt them. Meanwhile, Christine has started working backstage at the local opera house, which would be great except for whomever is harassing the singers and demanding she perform.
Sangre de Cristo rounds us up with Christine as a new ingenue superstar singing sold-out performances and attending a musical conservatory, and of course getting engaged to Raoul somewhere along the way. The main concern is that this ghost who keeps haunting her has crashed every OTHER event, so the wedding probably isn’t safe...
The series above, rebranded The Angel of Music with all-Spanish titles to tie it to its southwestern United States settings, appears to be the same series, at least nominally; I compared the opening text of Santa Monica against the opening text of The Enchanted Violin and they seem to be identical, although of course I can’t say for sure whether Stephens has done further editing and/or written more content for this release.
