I received this advance review copy for free ( I requested it). My review is completely voluntary. (Technically it is a published review copy because it came out today but I requested it yesterday. So, I'm still counting it.)

Secondly this book is, in my opinion, and incredibly dark book. It comes with several content warnings that I'll include here: Profanity, Abuse, Death, Sex, Violence, Suicide, and Rape.

"The Vampire's King's Punishment" by Darcy Fayton is an incredibly dark book with a small bit of romance in it. It is, and I cannot say this enough, DARK. I knew before requesting it that the book was going to be dark. But this book DARK. I read the content warnings, I saw the tags, and contemplated for a few hours on whether or not I really wanted to read the book. Because I am a sentimental softy. But then I read the excerpt and I knew I had to read the full book. However, I didn't realize just how much it was going to shatter me. It hurt so much but it also gave me a cathartic cry that I didn't know I needed. And I can now confidently say that I don't think "dark romance" is for me. I prefer my romances fluffy with darkness on the said ( aka not in the relationship). But, I also personally I don't consider " The Vampire King's Punishment" a romance in my mind. Dark erotica yes, but not a romance.

However, I still enjoyed the book for several reasons. One reason being the author. I greatly appreciate the way Darcy Fayton opened the book. She provided content warnings and the following message. "Your mental health matters. Remember, It's okay to put this book down and read something else if it's not for you. We all deserve an enjoyable reading experience." And that is something I will always appreciate. (I've read books where both the author and reviews failed to mention some extremely traumatizing things. But this review is not for those books so I will leave it at that.) However, her awareness is not the only reason I enjoyed "The Vampire King's Punishment".

I love the way Darcy Fayton writes everything flowed together so smoothly. And the world she created is interesting and the lore is fascinating. We get little bits of information about the past that make me want to know what the world was like before Henrikk. And the details about the present make me want to see the world burn and like a phoenix be reborn. Unfortunately I don't know that I could handle another dark romance by Darcy Fayton anytime soon. And that's okay.

Although out of everything the one thing that kept me reading was Asher. As I mentioned above I decided to request this book after reading the excerpt. And it was because of Asher. I needed to know how this story was going to end for him. Because, even through all the dark shit he had to experience he was still kind, still optimistic, and far to loyal for his own good. Nevertheless, Asher was a good person and I had to know if he was going to be okay. I needed him to be okay.

Overall, my heart hurts and I was more affected by this book that I expected to me. I knew it was going to hurt me I just didn't know how much. I enjoyed the book because of the big emotions it pulled from me, anger, hurt, and strangled hope. Darcy Fayton has created a very interesting world and her writing is phenomenal. But I am too soft to read more of her books unfortunately. But if you enjoy dark books and can mentally handle those content warnings (because it is all on page) pick up this book and give it a try. And to re-quote the author's book opening message "Your mental health matters. Remember, It's okay to put this book down and read something else if it's not for you. We all deserve an enjoyable reading experience." Now I am going to go bake some cookies and pick up something fluffy. Enjoy reading!