St. Augustine, Florida and Texas – Present Day

Hotels are Alexa Chandler’s way of life. She is a hotel developer and has her eye on a certain piece of property her father left her in his will. Her inheritance is a castle on an uninhabited island off the coast of St. Augustine, Florida. There are rumors that the castle is haunted, and Alexa’s best friend, Catalina Reyes, who is a paranormal researcher, thinks it would be a perfect place to investigate ghosts. Alexa just wants to make it into a hotel and add to the excellence that is known as the Crown Chandlers Hotels. Alexa goes along with her step-brother Jacob to see this alleged haunted castle while Catalina goes to Texas to talk to an expert on the castle’s legacy.

The castle was owned by a dark individual by the name of Lord Rogan in the mid eighteenth century. In 1747, Damon Forsyth and his brothers became Rogan’s enemy because their younger sister Sarina fell in love with Rogan and ran off with him. Damon went to find Sarina and to make Rogan pay for taking the innocent seventeen-year-old. But when he got to the town, everyone had left, and no one was at the castle. Before Damon could look further, he was sucked into a portrait of Rogan and trapped inside the painting for over two-hundred and fifty years.

Damon is now freed by Alexa even though they have no idea how she was able to do it. And suddenly Damon is able to make things appear, such as furniture that was in place around the time he landed in the cursed portrait. And even though Damon wants answers, he has manly needs, and Alexa all too willingly falls into his arms, and they quickly have lusty sex. But after that passionate exercise, Damon wants Alexa to help him figure out the mystery of his sister and Rogan and why he was cursed for so long.

As Alexa tries to find answers on her end, Catalina hits a wall in Texas as Paschal Rousseau, the scholar she is looking for, is missing. She will have to make do with his son, Ben, whom she doesn’t get along with right away. But this is not a simple case of an old man misplaced, but another enemy at work called K’vr who wants the superpowers of Lord Rogan and his castle, and Damon may be the key. Now it is a race for Alexa, Damon, and Catalina to find the information they need before all is lost.

Julie Leto has written quite the fantastical story that will make your mind whirl as you try to figure everything out. PHANTOM PLEASURES has action, suspense, and of course, those phantom pleasures Damon gives to Alexa. I am not sure if I were Alexa that I would be ready and willing to have sex in a damp castle with a ghost a few minutes after he walks out of a painting. But that aside, Damon and Alexa are a great duo. These are two smart individuals who think and then act...that is, until they need to release their pent up lust for each other.

There are multiple storylines throughout the book, from Catalina and Ben trying to find his father, to Paschal himself, who is kidnapped by the evil K’vr. Paschal is very important in a way that will catch you by surprise, and his secret will blow all the others out of the water. Even Alexa’s step-brother, Jacob, is not as he seems.

This is one magical tale with mystery and twists and turns you don’t expect. Damon and Alexa enjoy many PHANTOM PLEASURES with each other. Even though some of the passages may be confusing, overall Julie Leto has a nice storytelling skill that will keep you enchanted.

Kate Garrabrant