Sarah MacKenzie and her best friend/cousin, Addison, are settling into their freshman dorm and ready to start college life. The future seems to hold endless possibilities for these two girls from good homes with loving, supportive parents. Both girls are excellent students and as they begin classes they fall into a routine of studying and enjoying each other's company.
One thing they have at college that they didn't have at home is... faster internet! Sarah is a Phantom of the Opera Phan and she enjoys interacting online with others who share her passion. It's just harmless fun, the way Addison feels about her favorite group, Duran Duran.
But just as they are getting ready to go out to dinner with friends, a message pops up on Sarah's laptop signed YOUR PHANTOM LOVER all in caps and his opening sentence stops her in her tracks: WELL HELLO THERE, ANGEL! Who could this be? Why all caps?
Later, while enjoying ice cream in their room with Addison, Sarah opens her laptop to find more messages from this mysterious Phantom presence. Bit by bit, message by message, Sarah and her mysterious Phantom begin to communicate and then they move beyond simply messaging to sharing their innermost thoughts, dreams and ... feelings.
Can Sarah be falling for someone who seems to be luring her deeper and deeper into an online reality. Addison has been chatting with someone, too. The ability of the faster internet seems to distract these two young women from what was most important to them, getting a good college education and making their parents and grandparents proud of them.
Sarah, especially, finds herself longing for those moments when she can chat with her Phantom. Will she ever meet this Opera Ghost in real life? Will he be everything she dreamed about if she does?
Author Kayla Lowe brings these young women and their families to life in a completely believable way. The Recommender found herself yelling at the Kindle and trying to advise Sarah to wait, to be cautious! Can this online Phantom be too good to be true? Be sure to get a copy of Of Love and Deception, and by the end you, too, will find yourself anxiously awaiting the next chapter of the Tainted Love series!