A Bargain So Bloody: A Dark Fantasy Romance (Kingdom of Dark Magic Book 1)

Amazon Customer

Dark. Beautiful. Thrilling. Feet-kicking worthy.

"Guys, this book is phenomenal. First, let me start by saying that Twilight ruined vampires for me. I’m serious as the grave when I say that. It appalled me so thoroughly that I have not read a book with vampires since 2008—I kid you not. I’ve tried to pick up a few here or there, but I just couldn’t do it. With that said, I am happy to announce that Drake cured my abhorrence for vampires in one fell swoop. I utterly DEVOURED this book. From page one, I could not put it down. Samara’s story is incredibly compelling to me. Her ability to survive at all costs in a world set against her—even to the detriment of her own feelings—is something I think all women understand. Watching her growth from fearful inmate to powerful heroine is a beautiful thing. Samara might be fearful, but she is not weak. She is the literal embodiment of “feel the fear and do it anyway.” Seeing her slowly open herself up to kindness—from her friends and from Raphael—was so special. I loved watching her find herself again after the betrayal of her kingdom, and her realization that she is more than what happened to her was genuinely healing. Plus, there’s more to her than meets the eye—I won’t give spoilers, but I am VERY excited to see where this story goes. Now, on to Raphael. SWOON. Raphael is the only male lead who managed to redeem vampires for me. He’s big, he’s bad, he’s full of secrets and a tease—but he’s also so soft with our little traumatized dove of an FMC. The way this man had me kicking my feet and giggling like a middle schooler who just saw a limited-edition poster of her favorite idol was absolutely ridiculous. You want yearning? Look no further. Let this man yearn—baby, yearn. Raphael has secrets, and I am dying to crack them open and dive into his lore. He might be bad, but I see a very real chance at redemption for this villain. I adored his stubborn nature and how much he dotes on Samara—not out of pity, but because he genuinely enjoys watching her come out of her shell. Gah. It’s all just so sweet. But the cliffhanger though!!! Unequivocally brutal. I was desperately flipping the page only to realize I had reached the end. To say I was crushed is the understatement of the year. Drake, you’ve got a new die-hard fan. I cannot wait to read more! Don’t question it. Just buy the book. ["

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January 16, 2026 Verified Purchase

Common_milk

Loved it

"As a big fan of Vasilia Drake, I ran to read A Bargain So Bloody, and it did not disappoint. Her signature blend of dark romance, emotional depth, and razor-sharp banter is everything I hoped for. With morally grey characters, found family, and tension filled dialogue, this book hit all my favourite tropes. Trope List ✅️ Enemies to lovers ✅️ Forced proximity - One horse ✅️ Bargain with a vampire ✅️ Morally grey MMC ✅️ Hidden identity ✅️ Unique Magical system ✅️ Power imbalance ✅️ Found family (with sharp edges) ✅️ Touch her and die ✅️ Slow burn romance ✅️ “I’ll burn the world for you” energy Darkness Level: 💀.5 📖 Storyline Samara has been a prisoner since she was nine years old. Now 20, she’s spent over a decade surviving the brutal, magic suppressed prison that’s shaped her into someone quiet, careful, and unbreakable. When the head prison guard forces her to heal a newly arrived, brutally injured prisoner named Raphael, her life takes a sharp, dangerous turn. Their uneasy connection begins with blood and salve, but it quickly turns into something much bigger. Raphael is terrifying, powerful, and very much not human, but he’s also her first real shot at escape. When he offers her freedom in exchange for her help, Samara takes the risk and steps into a world even more treacherous than the prison she left behind Together, they embark on a quest across a cursed and fractured land, seeking answers and navigating a landscape full of hostile magic, haunted ruins, and ancient powers that would rather see them broken. As their bond deepens from uneasy alliance to something far more intimate, trust becomes both their greatest weapon and their biggest risk. 🎭Characters Samara is a survivor in the truest sense. Stoic, smart, and slow to trust, her inner strength carries the story. Watching her evolve from a caged girl into someone who takes control of her fate is one of the book’s most satisfying arcs. She doesn’t trust easily, but when she starts to open up to Raphael, it feels earned. Raphael is the ultimate dark love interest, ancient, broken, and terrifying in power. He’s introduced as a monster, and in many ways, he is one. But Samara’s quiet care cracks his armour, revealing layers of pain and loyalty, and buried humanity. Their dynamic is tense, emotional, and magnetic. Their relationship is slo and unravelling. No insta-love, just guarded connection built on shared pain and mutual defiance. Then there’s Thea and Demos, whose sharp, sarcastic banter adds levity and charm to the story’s darker moments. Though they’re not related by blood, their interactions are filled with sibling-like energy teasing, loyal, and deeply familiar. Over time, they (and their small circle) become a found family to Samara, offering her a rare kind of comfort: genuine connection, chosen loyalty, and acceptance without expectation. Their presence doesn’t just support the main story it enriches it, making the emotional stakes feel that much more real. ✒️Writing / Pacing Drake’s writing is poetic, immersive, and steeped in mood. The pacing is deliberate in the best wayletting emotional beats breathe while ramping up tension between Samara and Raphael. From the prison scenes to the outside world, everything feels lived in and layered with danger. One of the book’s greatest strengths is its dialogue.Vasilia Drake has a gift for crafting sharp, emotionally charged banter that feels both natural and impactful. Whether it’s a biting exchange between Samara and Raphael or a sarcastic remark from Thea, Demos, or other side character, every line serves a purpose. The humour lands precisely when the tension needs breaking, adding depth to the relationships and grounding the story’s darker moments with wit and personality. Banter isn’t just a feature of her writing it’s one of Drake’s defining strengths 🌎 World Building The prison itself is a character, dark, decaying, and filled with whispered magic and cruelty. Outside its walls, the world expands with curses, power struggles, and ancient legacies. Drake doesn't spoon-feed lore; instead, she lets it unfold naturally through Samara’s perspective. It's immersive, dangerous, and incredibly atmospheric. 💭Final Thoughts A Bargain So Bloody is brutal, beautiful, and haunting. Samara’s years in captivity make her strength feel earned, not performative, and Raphael is the kind of monster love interest who burns slowly but completely. Their story begins in chains and blood, but it grows into something dangerous, tender, and unforgettable. With razor-sharp tension, emotional depth, and banter that makes even the darkest moments spark, Vasilia Drake proves she can balance cruelty and charm in one addictively grim tale. For fans of romance that bites back, this one’s a must-read. 🖤Recommend for People Who Love… 🩸Dark fairytales with emotional depth 🩸Monster x girl dynamics with power shifts 🩸Tension-filled romance with biting banter 🩸Found families built through pain and loyalty 🩸Found families built through pain and survival 🩸Tension-filled romance and slow-burn payoff 🩸Villain love interests who unravel for one person ["

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July 29, 2025 Verified Purchase

Rita Marie

I absolutely loved the book!

"I love that immediately you see the main characters flaws. That was refreshing. Right away she is extremely judgmental, and are unkind the the MMC right away. And her only reason is just because of his race and what others aroundher has told her to think about them. Even when he is kind and protects her she is a judgmental bitch, and luckilythe author manages to never make it annoying. And that is so refreshing, very unusual for a book. And it also makes for magnificent character growth in the main character. I absolutely loved it. The FMC is also read as she is very young, extremely young, and are just learning how to live. Which there is a good reason for. And it's mastery written, your not spoon-feed the information. You get told the story and suddenly that piece of the puzzle just clicks in place, without an unnecessary long explanation about why. The magic is interesting, the magic can be stored in cards similar to some other books I have read in the fantasy genre. But still it is different enough that it feels new and unique. The world building has some parts revealed a lot and other we just get some small hints as how it works. And it's perfect for the book, since it's a single person POV, and that view has had a very limited knowledge of the world. So it fits, and just makes me want to know more. I absolutely loved the book. Yes the FMC is reading very young and innocent, but there is a good reason for it. And it never gets to annoying. But I can definitely see for some people, if in the wrong mood might hate the book immediately because of that. ["

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February 2, 2026 Verified Purchase

Kitt

Recommended Quick Read with pacing and length issues

"I took a bit to think about it and decided on 3 stars strictly on the below notes: 1. The book has a 'beating a dead horse ' problem. Lots of repeated statements, lots of points made over and over again. I think the purpose was to demonstrate that she was traumatized, untrusting, survivor-willed, conflicted, etc. but for me it just brought forth the reaction of "God, Yes, we know!" Which leads to point 2. 2. A majority of the book feels like barely anything happens. I think I wouldn't be saying this if the book was a bit longer and pace remained consistent but the beginning of the book till about 60% way through was incredibly slow. There were lots of moments to indicate how naive the main character was. I think i told my husband a few times saying I was wondering when the 'set up' for the book would end and significant events and romantic progression would start. Contrary, the later half of the book is full of sudden, quick conflict with sudden quick resolutions. I had to re read the last few chapters especially because I thought I was skipping paragraphs. The pace switches entirely to really quick. Pacing issue is very present in the book and i think its the book's weakest aspect. 3. The romance is lacking for an entire book. Its an enemies ish to lovers book so I somewhat expected it but I feel like its a C plot occasionally in the book with nothing but brief sentence reminders. 4. Character growth/ development seems vague or lacking. I feel like most of the time things are just blatantly shown/said. This feels like a nit pick but, I dont see a lot different with the main character personality or perspective wise and same with the love interest. I think this is once again an issue due to pace & length of the book. Ultimately these issues that I feel the book had could maybe been resolved with another 3-5 chapters maximum to maintain the pace or trimming up some of the repeated points made about the characters early in the beginning. The book did well in these areas: 1. Its dark but not in a disgusting way. Its more of a realistic crushing weight of cruel reality rather than a fetishization of some dark story plots like many other dark romances do. 2. The characters, concepts, world building, etc are really fun. Has 'chosen one' like tropes but doesn't have ridiculous hyper dependent or independent tropes many female leads in other books tend to have. Main character seems realistic personality wise to her circumstances. Weird, naive, traumatized, full of grit to survive. 3. Romance appears to be leading to something in future books that will be extra steamy. Ultimately despite it being 3 stars I still recommend it for future readers once a future book comes out or two. Currently this feels like a book with a very rushed ending with little romantic pay off making it feel unfinished as a standalone book. ["

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September 28, 2025 Verified Purchase

Meghan Hancock

New Romantasy Hit!

"I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving an honest review. Big thank you to Vasilisa and her team for this amazing opportunity! Rating: 4.5/5 Spice: 1/5 (some things mentioned, nothing descriptive) For fans of: - Romantasy - Enemies to lovers - Found family - Shield of Sparrows - Strong FMC "I do not pity you," Raphael repeated, "Little viper, I find you irresistible." I scoffed, "That's madness." "Because you make me mad." he growled. ---------------------------------------------------------------- For most of Samara's life, she has served within Greymere barely getting by and trying to stay away from the attention of Nelson, the so called warden. This prison that blocks magic is hell for most people, but Samara is void meaning she has no powers. Her day to day is pretty mundane until one day Nelson sends her to apply salve to the new prisoner. Turns out, he's a vampire of which Samara is completely terrified of. Nelson sends her the next day where the vampire strikes a deal. If she lets him go, he will protect her and get her out of the hell hole that is Greymere. She scoffs at this until she discovers she has no possibility of reaching the end of her sentence, as Nelson will never let her go. So she releases the vampire and together they escape. Except he sticks around and strikes another deal. He will protect her on their travels, if she uses her one question at the Great Library to answer something for him. She wants to reach the city to join the Monastery, as this is the only way she can be protected as an escaped prisoner. As they travel to the city and then beyond, they start to realize they have more in common than they think. Will fate intervene and push them on the same path or will Samara's fear push her away? Holy cow was this book CRAZY! Talk about twists and turns! The plot of this book felt like it followed a timeline and flow that really made sense and was easy to follow. I liked the development of the characters throughout the book. They showed growth and depth without getting on my nerves of repeating the same ideas (i.e. someone hating vampires and not seeing any other way). Some of the plot twists you could see coming, purely because this is a romantasy book and they all share some similar tropes, but there were others I was not expecting. I loved the glossaries in the back breaking down how to pronounce names of characters, a review of the mentioned gods, as well as overall terminology. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the lack of romance. There were a few scenes here and there showing that Raphael and Samara had feelings, but not much more beyond that (stupid, stubborn girl). I can see how this is something that could progress across the series, but as this is the first book and the only one out it rubbed me the wrong way. Overall, I highly recommend this book as it was a great read that I quickly ripped through!! ["

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June 14, 2025 Verified Purchase