Claimed by the Vampire King

Tale of the Century Bride, Book 1

By: Susan G. Charles

Narrated by: Smokey Green

Length: 1 hr and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

Catherine Berg has always been a strong person, even when she was a young child. The eldest daughter of the town’s blacksmith, she is not thrilled at all about her village's century bride tradition. Competing against other girls for the attention of the count seems a disgusting tradition to her. 

Despite the town’s tempestuous past and the danger the powerful count keeps at bay, Catherine does not believe in the nursery rhyme taught to every inhabitant of the town since birth.

"For our own safety, so we do not need to hide, every century we give tribute, to Count August we give a bride."

A year before she and the other women of the town are to be offered up like sacrificial lambs to the count, she begins searching for a way to oust the archaic ritual. But when Count August saves Catherine and the town from the ravages of a band of marauding vampires, Catherine begins to finally understand the meaning behind the ritual. 

Will Catherine sacrifice everything to become the new century bride? 

This coming-of-age historical vampire romance contains some violence and graphic sexual situations. Recommended for ages 18 and up.

©2014 Susan G. Charles (P)2018 Susan G. Charles

Great Read

Claimed by the Vampire King was a great read by Susan G. Charles. This is book one of Tale of Century Bride series. Catherine is the eldest daughter of the towns blacksmith. She has to be a part of the villages bride tradition where girls compete to gain the attention of the count. Catherine wants nothing to do with him or the tradition until he saves the whole town from a band of vampires. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This was a good quick read.

Kind of corny and short

Had so much potential to be a good story but I personally felt it was kind of corny and a lack of character development. Also short and I feel like a waste of a credit.

Strong Lead Female Character

I love books where the lead female character is strong mentally and emotionally, and this book delivers on that.
The story is and interesting take on Vampires and I enjoyed listening to it.

The narration was well done, good character voices and overall easy to listen to.

I received a free copy of this book from the author and/or narrator and/or publisher and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.

Fierce eagle, little warrior of the gorge.

Catherine is a strong woman and makes for a great bride to Count August, the vampire who rules her people's lands. I liked how a Bride was chosen for Count August every century. It made me think about past brides, future brides (if any), and now the new bride Catherine and what makes her different from the rest.

I thought there would be a little more battling/fighting as there is a sword on the cover, though I did like the small fight where Count August saved Catherine.

I found this short story to be sweet and a little sappy. I really enjoyed both the story and the narration and will be listening to the next book to find out more.

I voluntarily and honestly reviewed this audio without bias or persuasion from the author or publisher.

LOVED IT!

Very clever take on the usual vampire story!

Well done -- well written, well narrated, great story, really fun to listen to.

It's good to be the Count! But, sometimes, sacrifices need to be made. Who will be chosen??
Check this entertaining short listen!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
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An interesting short Vampire tale

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

The Book

The story though short was an interesting one, the main body of the tale is about the century bride and how she came to be and the latter part is about events after she becomes the bride and things start to happen. It's got vampires, werewolves (more by mention than appearance) and is a generally supernatural world with mentions of some Norse mythology. The tone of the story is generally positive with a good sense of the world the story is set in and the narration style fits with the slightly ethereal world.

Its the final chapter that stands out thought because it seems quite jarring compared to the other chapters which though featuring the bride and vampires relationship have never been overly sexual. The final chapter though is a bit more in your face, its no fifty shades but compared to the rest of the book it was a bit odd that it suddenly turned so sexual. Id expect a vampire story to generally be quite sexual throughout if its going to be.

The Production

The narration was clear and with good emphasis in the bits of the story that needed it, she did some voices which were ok and fit the story well.