Phantom Lover

Previously published in the anthologies Midnight Pleasures and Dark Bites, Phantom Lover is now available as a standalone e-novella! Haunted by recurring nightmares of terrifying beasts, Erin McDaniels is afraid to sleep-until a hero arrives in her dreams to save her...and makes erotic, incredible love to her. But can she find him again when she is awake?

The fascinating stranger who visits a young lady in the dead of night is no ghostly spirit in this spellbinding Regency romance by award-winning author Elizabeth Mansfield After scandalizing London with her improper behavior and jilting two suitors, Nell Belden is about to do it again. This time she rejects the very wealthy, utterly insufferable nobleman her financially strapped guardians have been pressuring her to marry. Banished to their isolated Cornwall estate, Nell is awakened one night by an unusual apparition. But her midnight visitor is no phantom. He is Captain Henry Thorne, sixth Earl of Thornbury. The new Lord of Thorndene has returned to his crumbling family seat to live in isolation, far from the horrors of war. Nell is intrigued by this wounded soldier who has no desire to take his rightful place in society. As the weeks pass and fascination flames into dangerous desire, Nell realizes she must leave—or risk losing her heart to the one man who can never belong to her.

Lizzie was born into a rough life, and everyone thinks she will forever be a prisoner of her own lack of opportunities. Fighting for every small advantage wears on her young soul, leaving her filled with doubt, insecurity, and a complete lack of self-respect. But despite the many challenges she faces, Lizzie never loses sight of a better life. She puts her nose to the grindstone, and she works her way through college as a model. Inspired by his sisters success, her brother works hard to catch the eye of college football scouts, and he too finds a future with his abilities. But despite the seemingly glamorous life she now leads, Lizzie feels an emptiness within her heart. Shes let the love of her life slip through her fingers, and now she is once again struggling to keep her eye on the prize despite the pain in her heart. A tragic death darkens the lives of everyone she knows, and things are only going to get worse. When tragedy rips her world apart, Lizzie fights for what she knows and loves.

"The Phantom Lover" is a delightful romance by Ruby M. Ayres. It revolves around Mickey and Esther, who first meet under less-than-ideal circumstances but soon find themselves caught up in love. But will their blooming romance overcome the hardships and make it?

"A Phantom Lover" by Vernon Lee is a gothic horror. This fast-paced tale follows a love affair that isn't all it seems to be. Considered one of the most astonishing ghost stories to ever come out of the Victorian era, the narrator tells a tale of murder, ghosts, and men being driven mad by the women in their lives. Atmospheric and stormy, this book has been a beloved spooky story among fans of the genre to this day.

Honor Sheldon is a plain but diligent twenty-five-year-old who has been living in the shadow of her supermodel sister, Helen. But then, while helping out at the Valentine’s Day Ball, a charity event, the goddess of love finally smiles upon her. Suffering from a severe cold that night, she takes medicine and accidentally falls asleep on a bench outside. When she wakes up, she finds herself in her car with a rose next to her. A few days later, she receives a letter from the mysterious man who rescued her that night. The letter is addressed to H. Sheldon, so she writes him back and they start exchanging letters. They talk about books, international affairs and life in general, but soon his letters become more passionate. Her heart beats faster and she starts falling for her phantom lover. But this happiness comes to an abrupt end with a shocking discovery—when she receives the next letter, she finds out that he thought he was actually writing to Helen the whole time…not Honor.

Starting with the reflecting pool beneath the Unicorn Amphitheatre on Isola Bella, Poems for a Phantom Lover pairs a selection of short poems with photographs culled from decades’ worth of research into the structure and symbolism of historic gardens, a study that has led Jennifer Dickson to question conventional assumptions about the place of gender identity and sexual role-play in the vivisection of an earthly paradise. In the collection, sunlight caresses the timeworn fountains, pagodas and loggias populated by gods and idols, while ill winds rasp among the altars and monuments whose stones are steeped in blood. These are gardens of desire, of longing and betrayal, where torment festers under the flagstones and ‘the wounds of love / are suppurating stone.’