Customer Reviews

Phantom's Touch (Signet Eclipse)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really liked the first book in this series, but this one solidified me as a Julie Leto fan. A perfect mix of light paranormal and steamy sex, I was especially taken with these two characters. Don't normally love an actress heroine, but Ms. Leto handled her with a deft touch, and Aiden is the perfect hero - sexy and protective. Am definitely looking for more in this series!

This is the second book in the Phantom series.

For years movie star Lauren Cole has coveted the sword her husband bought for her, then kept behind glass in their home. She was pulled by the sword and longed for the day when she could touch it and get it out from the glass. Now she and her husband are divorced and the sword is finally, really, hers.

Locked within the sword by a centuries old curse and powerful magic is Aiden Forsyth. When the woman he has admired for years, Lauren, unwittingly releases him from the sword, Aiden vows to find his brothers as he is convinced they suffer the same magical fate.

I liked this book a whole lot better than the previous tale. The previous main characters did nothing for me, I didn't enjoy them and I had a hard time buying into their story. The secondary couple of Ben and Cat are the only things that kept me reading, and they really rescued that story for me.

This time around I loved the main characters and had no problem at all believing in the impossible and the merging of fantasy with reality. They got all the chemistry that the previous couple was missing and then some. Plus as a bonus Cat and Ben were still around and there were also plenty of other characters to love and hate.

The story is mythical and sexy and as the saga of the Forsyth family continues I am happily along for the ride.

Phantom Pleasures
Kiss of the Phantom (coming June 2009)

Cherise Everhard, December 2008

Phantom's Touch by Julie Leto
Paranormal Romance Mass Market Paperback - December 2nd, 2008
4 stars

What would you do if the ancient sword you coveted was magically enchanted? What if, by possessing the sword, the man of your dreams would come to you at night and fulfill your darkest fantasies? Phantom's Touch is an amazing tale by Julie Leto filled with magic, sensuality and sizzling tension.

Lauren Cole has decided to celebrate her divorce by stealing the prized sword her ex-husband had purchased for her but never let her keep. Gleeful at her rightful possession, she soon discovers it has a secret meant only for her. That night a mysterious man suddenly appears and gives her the hottest night of her life, only to disappear in the morning. Was he real or a figment of her imagination?

Aiden has been ensnared in the enchanted sword for centuries. Cursed by an evil sorcerer, he has watched Lauren from afar knowing she is the only one who can set him free. When he is finally released from his prison, he realizes his physical form is only free during the night. In the day, Aiden is trapped within the weapon, his magical powers minimized, existing as a phantom instead of a man. In quest of Aiden's freedom, Lauren and he must dispel the power of the sword. However, there are those who ruthlessly seek the sorcerer's dark magic for themselves.

Phantom's Touch is the second in the series by Julie Leto. Each book features a brother who had been imprisoned in their attempt to save their sister from the sorcerer's clutches. It was fascinating to read how each brother is trapped and how they make their escape. Aiden's character was particularly captivating. As a military man he is aggressive, and he know what he wants, but he is also caring and protective of Lauren. I loved that Lauren and Aiden were instantly drawn to each other. Even before she knew his essence was part of the sword, she desired the object, somehow sensing their connection. Julie Leto skillfully brings to life her main characters, but she also has immensely appealing secondary characters. The Rousseau males are particularly attractive. There should be a separate book for each of them! Their short scenes and few appearances were not enough to keep me satisfied. I can't wait for the third in the series.

Reviewed by Steph from Bookaholics Romance Book Club

Action movie star Lauren Cole wants to be taken seriously as an actress, but is contractually trapped to perform one more thriller as Athena for her ex-husband Ross. She is especially angry with her former spouse because he refused to give her an antique sword he purchased in Germany for her. Lauren steals the weapon.

As Lauren practices with the ancient sword, she liberates warrior Aiden Forsyth from his entrapment inside the weapon. However to his disappointment he is not totally free of the curse that first incarcerated him in 1747 when he tried to rescue his sister from gypsy abduction; he remains a phantom during the day but a human able touch others at night. Neither is prepared for unknown adversaries to covet her sword and attempt to murder those in possession of it.

The second Phantom urban romantic fantasy (see PHANTOM PLEASURES) is an engaging tale in which Hollywood collides with real magic. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action as Lauren tries to prove her skills on the silver screen are genuine in real life. Readers will relish Julie Leto's outstanding touch; especially with a bewildered Aiden. He struggles with understanding a world that makes no sense as he has seen moving pictures of Lauren in action performing incredible feats of daring do that he could never do; yet though competent she is nowhere near that super level of expertise. This is a exhilarating paranormal thriller starring a strong lead couple and a diabolically vile villain.

Harriet Klausner.

Lauren Cole is a famous movie star, recently divorced and about to film the final film in her Athena series. Shortly before filming is to start, she takes back from her husband the sword he once bought her. She has always felt an attachment to the sword, and she decides to make sure he can't keep it from her.

When she finally gets to hold the sword, something strange happens. A man appears, claiming to have been trapped in the sword since the 1700s. Despite the strangeness of the situation, the attraction between Aiden and Lauren can't be denied.

But someone else wants the sword, and the magic it contains. And they will go through Lauren and Aiden to get it.

This is the second book in the Phantom series, and it might be best to read the first one before reading Phantom's Touch. I felt like I was missing something despite the efforts to keep the reader updated.

Lauren's reaction to having a phantom appear is mitigated by the lust and connection she feels with Aiden. And being chased by a secret society, a quasi-stalker from her past and her ex-husband doesn't seem to phase her, or her best friend, who manages to get caught up in the whole thing. For a book full of action, I was actually a little let down. I just couldn't get into the story, or even into caring what happened to the characters.

Niki Lee
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed