Masquerade

by Joel Abernathy 

An MM Phantom of the Opera Retelling

The Blurb:

We all wear masks.

He came to me like a ghost singing songs of the past…
An angel, promising redemption.
Now I know the truth of the man behind the mask, and Erik’s soul is more broken and twisted than I ever imagined.
~
Even an angel’s wings can be broken.

The moment I heard his voice, I knew he was mine.
Mine to teach.
Mine to mold.
Mine to possess.
The music of our souls entwined is sweeter than any I’ve ever written, but the words to this song tell a story as dark as it is forbidden.
Is it love, or is it obsession?
I’ve lost track, and now I have to choose.
Release my angel and lose him forever, or hold on until his wings turn as black and shattered as my soul.

This is a dark historical M/M retelling of The Phantom of the Opera with a genderbent Christine and an HEA for the Angel of Music.

MMy Thoughts and Review:

Masquerade is Magnificent!🎭💗🎭

I have been a huge of Phantom of the Opera since I was a teen, many many moons ago. I would sit and listen to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s version over and over on my cassette player. I knew every line spoken and sung and still have my dual cassette of Phantom, even though I no longer listen to it. (After 30yrs tapes have a way of wearing out.)

Thank Goddess for books and story tellers like Joel Abernathy. Masquerade was so beautifully written it filled me with both nostalgia, for a story I love, and new appreciation for THIS particular retelling.

“The same theme as the melody that had lured me in continued, but it was harsher. More masculine. Every note felt like a form of violence, but there was tenderness in the bruises it left on my soul.”

The words on the pages became like musical lyrics, drawing me in to Paris and the Opera house at a time when entertainment was found on the stage and not the electronic devices of today.

“If there was one sin greater than all the others, surely it was pulling an angel down from the heavens so he might light the darkness of the hell I knew as home, but my soul was already tarnished beyond redemption. Beyond grace, save for the sound of his voice, as temporary as the blessing was.”

I believed in this love story, and the tragedies that brought both young Christian and the Phantom to the same crossroads. Their lives were held in this delicate bubble when they were in each other’s presence. Christian, the young raw and unrefined talent that the Phantom believed should be headlining and not just a chorus “girl.”

“I felt like I was living in the narrow neck of an hourglass, suspended between falling into the unknown and the weight of all that was pushing down on me.”

The Story was fraught with danger, mystery, and an unlikely friendship that turned to something much much deeper. Discovering that thing you fear most could be the one thing to finally slay all your demons is most terrifying if one of the biggest demons is yourself.

“We all have to make that choice eventually, to one degree or another. To choose whether we want to live as our authentic selves, even if it means the risk of losing someone we love.”

Is love enough to change a demon to the Angel he should be? Or will love simply burn Christian and Erik’s world to ash, leaving nothing behind but ghosts of Operas past?

“I would paint every inch of you with music too precious for the world to ever see.”

I loved this so so much. There just aren’t enough words.

Masquerade is sexy and erotic, terrifying and beautiful in all the ways the story of the Opera house Phantom should be. 🎭💗🎭

5+++ beauty-evermore-stars✨✨✨✨✨

I received a free copy of this book from LesCourt in exchange for a honest review.💋