Dark Bargains, Missing Consent
When I came across this short story on BookSirens, I felt a spark of genuine excitement. At roughly 100 pages, it promised a brisk plunge into a new dark paranormal romance series, and that is usually my sweet spot for in-between-epic-fantasy-tomes. I have already read several books by Darcy Fayton, and while those stories carried a dark, morally gray undertone, they also had an internal logic I could follow. The shadows were intentional, the danger framed, and most importantly, consent was always present even when the scenarios were provocative or uncomfortable. Because of that track record, my expectations were cautiously optimistic.
This installment, however, felt different in a way that left me unsettled rather than intrigued.
Through BookSirens I received an advance review copy (ARC) for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
His Forbidden Bargain by Darcy Fayton
Series: The Twelve Nights of Christmas #1
more Volumes: His Lesson in Submission, His Broken Vow, His Father's Sin, His Cursed Beast
Genre: Abuse, Adult, Dark Romance, Historical Fantasy, Paranormal, Vampires, Violence, Wolfshifters
Published on 23. Dez 2025 by Independently Published
Pages: 100
Format: ARC, Kindle Edition
ASIN: B0GC7T4MNY
Language: English
Source: BookSirens
Link to Goodreads
My rating: | Spice:
Twelve nights. Twelve patrons. One debt erased.
When Kathryn inherits her family’s manor, she also inherits an impossible debt—and a deadline of Christmas Day.
If she fails, the Collector will take everything.
Including her.Her last hope arrives on horseback: Sebastian, her estranged stepbrother.
The vampire from her past she never truly escaped.Sebastian cannot pay the debt—but he knows how to erase it.
Twelve nights. Twelve patrons. One price she must endure.He will choose the clients.
He will oversee every arrangement.
And he will ensure she sees it through.This is not a love story—yet.
His Forbidden Bargain is Book One of The Twelve Nights of Christmas, a twelve-part dark paranormal romance series of short novellas designed to be enjoyed in one sitting, with the Happily Ever After reserved for the final book.
Each gothic dark romance story is fast-paced and spicy, following Kathryn and Sebastian's descent into power, survival, and a bond that should never have been tested.
Her bargain has begun.
And every night will cost her more.Dark paranormal romance MF (Vampire X Human) Age-Gap Extremely Spicy Second-chance Slow-Burn Mature themes Dual POV.
Buy here: Amazon*
More Books by the Author: Embedded by the Headmaster, Collared by the Vampie Prince, His Lesson in Submission, His Broken Vow, His Father's Sin, His Cursed Beast
Find the Author: Goodreads, Amazon
Reading Challenges: ABC Challenge 2026
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His Forbidden Bargain ♦ Darcy Fayton
A Review
Opinion
Morally gray dark romance is not exactly a gentle genre. It often explores power imbalances, taboo desires, and situations that brush against the edge of comfort. I expect that. What I also expect is clarity around agency. In previous reads from this author, consent existed even when it was buried under layers of tension, fear, or reluctant desire. Here, that foundation felt cracked. Kathryn, the FMC, is placed into a bargain that strips her of meaningful choice, and the story does not interrogate that loss in a way that felt intentional or critical. Instead, it is treated as a grim inevitability, and that choice made it hard for me to stay emotionally invested.
Sebastian, the MMC, did not help matters. Dark romance often thrives on dangerous charm, on characters who are terrible on paper but magnetic on the page. Sebastian never crossed that line for me. His history with Kathryn, including grooming her years before they reunite, is presented as part of the gothic atmosphere rather than as something that demands narrative reckoning. I found nothing alluring in him, no sharp edge of complexity that made me want to understand him despite his actions. He felt controlling without being compelling, and powerful without being interesting.
The premise itself is undeniably hooky. Twelve nights, twelve patrons, one debt erased by Christmas. The blurb promises a descent into power, survival, and a bond that should never have been tested. On a structural level, the idea works. The pacing is fast, the prose is clean, and the novella format suits the urgency of the countdown. I can see how this series could become bingeable, especially for readers who enjoy episodic dark romance with paranormal elements like vampires, wolfshifters, and humans colliding under high stakes.
But execution matters more than concept. For me, the absence of clear consent overshadowed everything else. Dark does not have to mean careless, and taboo does not have to mean unexamined. I wanted the story to either grant Kathryn more agency or more explicitly frame her lack of it as a horror to be challenged later. Instead, it hovered in an uncomfortable middle space, neither fully condemned nor thoughtfully explored.
Conclusion
That said, this is not a total write-off. A 2.75-star rating reflects that there are pieces here that still work. The atmosphere is moody, the seasonal gothic setting is effective, and the overarching series arc has potential. I am willing to give the second book a chance, mostly because I want to see whether the consent issues are addressed with more seriousness and care as the story progresses. If there is no meaningful curve in that area, I will step away from the series, regardless of how many supernatural beings are added to the mix.
In the end, His Forbidden Bargain left me conflicted. It intrigued me enough to keep reading, but troubled me enough to hesitate. For a genre built on walking the line between danger and desire, balance is everything, and here, that balance felt just slightly off-kilter.
The Twelve Nights of Christmas
Series
| His Forbidden Bargain (#1) | His Lesson in Submission (#2) |
| His Broken Vow (#3) | His Father’s Sin (#4) |
| His Cursed Beast (#5) | His Dark Jealousy (#6) |
| … (#7) | … (#8) |
| … (#9) | … (#10) |
| … (#11) | … (#12) |
This review was also published at:
| Goodreads | Amazon |
| StoryGraph | BookSirens |
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