The Midnight Series · 2025
Play with the PhantomSpice level, tropes & is it dark romance?
Spice 4/5 (Explicit) · Darkness 3/5 (Dark) · 3 trigger warnings flagged
Play with the Phantom is book 2 of The Midnight Series by Amanda Richardson, first published in 2025. Readers shelve it for mafia, stalker, captive, age gap and forbidden. We score it spice 4 (explicit) and darkness 3 (dark). The heaviest flags readers report are cheating, stalking. Our scores lean on what readers report, not on a full reread, so treat them as a guide. This note is ours. It is not a publisher blurb.
First published: 2025. Book 2 of The Midnight Series.
Play with the Phantom tropes
On this shelf, Play with the Phantom is filed under Mafia dark romance, Stalker romance, Captive romance, Age gap romance and Forbidden romance. Each tag opens more books with that trope.
Play with the Phantom spice level
Is Play with the Phantom dark romance?
Yes. Play with the Phantom scores 3 of 5 on our darkness scale (Dark).
Spice and darkness are separate scores. More dark books. How we rate.
Play with the Phantom trigger warnings
Book-specific flags taken from reader-submitted content warnings on The StoryGraph (top flag reported by 7 readers), grouped by us. Also on that list: child death, suicide, sexual content, pregnancy, cancer. See the reader-submitted list.
Graphic (2) — open before you read
Open this before you read. These are the flags most likely to be a hard stop.
Moderate (0)
Harm, control, or obsession that is common in this lane.
None flagged in this band.
Full Play with the Phantom trigger warnings
The Midnight Series reading order
Play with the Phantom is book 2 of 1 in Amanda Richardson's The Midnight Series series. Start here.
- Book 2 Play with the Phantom (this book) · 2025
Order checked against the StoryGraph The Midnight Series series page on 13 October 2026.
Who it's for
Shelf note written for this site. We do not copy reviews or publisher blurbs. Outbound links are search pages, not quoted ratings. Kindle Unlimited and endings are only flagged when we were willing to mark them. How we rate.
Missing a book? Suggest it.
Books like Play with the Phantom
Matched on shared tropes, then the closest spice and darkness scores. Other books in the same series are listed above, not here.
- Wicked Pursuit
Wicked Pursuit
Katee Robert
Spice ●●●●○Dark ●●●●○
Shared: Mafia dark romance, Stalker romance
- Beauty in the Broken
Beauty in the Broken
Charmaine Pauls
Spice ●●●●○Dark ●●●●○
Shared: Mafia dark romance, Captive romance
- Beauty in the Stolen
Beauty in the Stolen
Charmaine Pauls
Spice ●●●●○Dark ●●●●○
Shared: Mafia dark romance, Captive romance
- Becoming His Pet
Becoming His Pet
Measha Stone
Spice ●●●●○Dark ●●●●○
Shared: Captive romance, Mafia dark romance
- Black Light Roulette Rematch
Black Light Roulette Rematch
Measha Stone
Spice ●●●●○Dark ●●●●○
Shared: Captive romance, Mafia dark romance
- Brutal Conquest
Brutal Conquest
Lilith Vincent
Spice ●●●●○Dark ●●●●○
Shared: Age gap romance, Forbidden romance
- Cruel Obsession
Cruel Obsession
J. L. Beck
Spice ●●●●○Dark ●●●●○
Shared: Mafia dark romance, Captive romance
- Haunted Desires
Haunted Desires
Willow Winters
Spice ●●●●○Dark ●●●●○
Shared: Mafia dark romance, Captive romance
Books like Play with the Phantom, with a reason for each
Questions readers actually ask
What is the spice level of Play with the Phantom?
Play with the Phantom spice level is 4 of 5 (Explicit). On-page sex, clearly written. Darkness is a separate score: 3 of 5 (Dark).
What are the Play with the Phantom trigger warnings?
Graphic: Cheating, Stalking. Moderate: none flagged. Minor: Murder. These are book-specific flags reported by readers on reader-submitted content warnings on The StoryGraph (top flag reported by 7 readers), grouped by us. The author's own note may list more. Read it before you start.
Is Play with the Phantom dark romance?
Yes. Play with the Phantom scores 3 of 5 on our darkness scale (Dark). Harm is part of the romance, not a footnote.
What tropes are in Play with the Phantom?
On this shelf Play with the Phantom is filed under Mafia dark romance, Stalker romance, Captive romance, Age gap romance and Forbidden romance.
Who is Play with the Phantom for?
Pick this up if you want mafia and stalker with explicit spice. Look at the warnings before you commit. Start earlier in The Midnight Series if you can.
What are some books like Play with the Phantom?
Matched on shared tropes and similar spice and darkness: Wicked Pursuit by Katee Robert; Beauty in the Broken by Charmaine Pauls; Beauty in the Stolen by Charmaine Pauls; Becoming His Pet by Measha Stone; Black Light Roulette Rematch by Measha Stone; Brutal Conquest by Lilith Vincent. More read-alikes, each with a reason, are on zademasked.com/like/play-with-the-phantom.
Is Play with the Phantom a standalone?
No. Play with the Phantom is book 2 of 1 in the The Midnight Series series by Amanda Richardson.
What order should I read the The Midnight Series series in?
2. Play with the Phantom.
How many books are in the The Midnight Series series?
The The Midnight Series series by Amanda Richardson has 1 main book.
What is the Play with the Phantom age rating?
We'd say 18+. Spice sits at 4/5 (explicit) and darkness at 3/5 (dark). That's our recommendation, not an official rating, so read the trigger warnings as well.
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