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Romina Nicolaides
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Bathory's Secret: When All The Time In The World Is Not Enough (Affliction Vampires Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Romina Nicolaides (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 46 ratings
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Do Vampires live for ever? Perhaps not…

The year is 1609 and fourteen year old Kati is taken to work at Csejthe Castle in Hungary, the home of Countess Erzsébet Báthory. Though fearsome rumors surround the Castle and its residents, she must take the job in order to keep the moneylenders at bay.

Once there Kati is given the task of binding a series of old journals which hide a powerful secret about the Countess. As the months progress she discovers that her new mistress is cruel and dangerous but she is unable to leave without fear of retribution. She believes that the key to escaping the Countess hides within the diaries so with risk to her life she begins to read them. As a result, she is inadvertently thrust into an occult world of supernatural beings filled with romance, mystery, death and dogma and which threatens everything she holds dear unless she takes action...

Author FAQ:
What is the Affliction Series about?
Affliction is a new YA Historical Vampire series which marries events of the past with fictional elements in order to blur the lines between the occult, history, science, magic and myth and create a new supernatural universe.

Who was Erzsébet Báthory?
Countess Báthory was a real life countess who lived during the 17th century in modern day Hungary. She is rumoured to have murdered hundreds of girls and to have bathed in their blood to retain her youth. “Báthory’s Secret” plays with the premise and uses her as the gateway towards this Fictional Vampire universe where the Vampires are known as Afflicted and are not in fact immortal. The secret to immortality has to earned, even by them…

Who is Báthory’s Secret/Affliction Series aimed at?
The Affliction series is aimed at young and young at heart adults who love Vampire fiction and history and wish to discover a brand new universe filled with mystery, magic and lore.

**Parental note: Please be advised that this novel deals with some mature issues and should only be read by readers younger than sixteen at parental discretion**

Which books are in the Affliction Series?
Báthory’s Secret #1
Vampire Edifice #2
In the Presence of Blood #3 (coming soon)
Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 3
    Affliction Vampires
  2. Print length
    284 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    October 24, 2014
  6. Reading age
    16 - 18 years
  7. Grade level
    12 and up
  8. File size
    2822 KB
  9. Page Flip
    Enabled
  10. Word Wise
    Enabled
  11. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  12. See all details
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Total Price: $13.97
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00OW7ACRI
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Romina Nicolaides; 1st edition (October 24, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 24, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2822 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 284 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 46 ratings

About the author

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Romina Nicolaides

Romina Nicolaides

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The Affliction Series is a re-examination of the Vampire genre told through a Historical lens with some Fantasy elements for good measure. Its existential approach to life (and death) is coupled with sensational plot twists and fascinating characters.

Romina has a Bachelors degree in History and a Masters degree in Modern History both from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. Over the years she has completed a work placement at BBC History Magazine, worked as a freelancer at the History Channel and Goodlife Media Publications in London. In recent years she has worked in Marketing as a translator and copywriter, and in web content management for a prominent bank in Cyprus.

Find out more here:

www.bloodygoodfiction.com

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
46 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

katak
5.0 out of 5 stars I really enjoyed this one
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2014
Verified Purchase
Even though I don't regularly read fiction, I really enjoyed this one! I particularly liked the historical elements and the great character development. Highly recommended for vampire fans, history lovers or people who like spending their afternoon with a Kindle on the their hands following a great story.

This would make a great movie by the way.
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Mo
3.0 out of 5 stars it could have received 4 if a better edit was done
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2016
Verified Purchase
3.75 stars; it could have received 4 if a better edit was done, In any case, I really liked the story and its creativity. (I love fiction with a mix of the historical and the paranormal).

*SPOILER ALERT*
History presents the Countess Bathory as one twisted, sadistic woman with vampiric tendencies; in Bathory's Secret, we get the added bonus of her actually being a long-lived imposter vampire, who kills the real countess and takes her place - brilliant!
An amazing story, overall, but there were some structural items that threw me off:
- Besides some grammatical errors, there were some run on sentences that made me re-read sections on several occasions
- I felt that the parts of the book that were Theodora's story (the imposter countess) should have been written in italics, to make it easier to read
I also would have liked to have known what happened to Theodora's son. (Maybe he will be addressed in the second book)?
Anyway - I really did enjoy this book, and will be reading the second one soon!
One person found this helpful
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Laura Furuta
5.0 out of 5 stars Vampires!
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2015
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This is a very very interesting book. It's a new take on the Elizabeth Bathory. I have always been interested in her story and legend. I have read a lot of other books, however this one is the best one I have read yet. I highly recommend this book!!
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Dragonfly
4.0 out of 5 stars Very different
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2019
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This is a different take not only on the vampire story, but on Bathory herself. As a whole, I quite enjoyed the book. However, I did deduct a star because it lagged and was a bit disjointed in some areas. I did really enjoy the story within a story (the diaries). I can honestly recommend this book.
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LT
2.0 out of 5 stars Fell short
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2015
Verified Purchase
I was so excited to read this book. Countess Erzebet Bathory is one of my favorite subjects and it is obvious Ms Nicolaides knows her history. The plot was a refreshing twist on the typical vampire genre (no abundance of romance here) and the background theme of misdirected religious zeal was interesting. So much potential...

Unfortunately it fell rather flat to me. Key aspects were left undeveloped, others left out completely. The holes encourage the reader to continue on, hoping to find the answers later in the story, but they never come. (The supernatural aspect to this story leaves open the possibility of time warping to explain some of this, or perhaps missing pages in the journals could have covered it, but these are not used and the omissions glare.)

While I might have overlooked the holes if the story had more intensity, I couldn't overlook the ending. The complete turnaround in Kati's personality in the last chapter totally lost me. It was like she was an entirely new character with no explanation. Maybe this will be explained in the next book? If so, some indication that this is what the author intends should be included in the text of this book so I might be tempted to read book 2.
One person found this helpful
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Nicolas Tzouanos
5.0 out of 5 stars Great work
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2015
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It is a very nice, easy reading book. It will grab your interest from the beginning and by the time you have realised, you have finished the book !
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Danielle Corrow
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2015
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What a wonderful take on the story of Bathory. You side a side that you don't typically see in other books. This was a very addicting read!!
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Heidi Chesley
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2015
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Not as good as it should have been.
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Top reviews from other countries

JAN BEATON
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Read
Reviewed in Canada on February 22, 2017
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Enjoyed every page. The story flowed smoothly and I kept reading right to the end. Some of the subject matter is gory, but it isn't really graphic. I have read worse in a biker " romance" and haven't enjoyed it nearly as much this. Ms. Nicolaides is a new author for me and I'm going to purchase the next in the series.
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Francis James Franklin
3.0 out of 5 stars An absorbing read and often tense
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2015
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This is set in and around Castle Csejthe in the Kingdom of Hungary, in 1610 - Countess Bathory's last year of freedom - and follows a young girl, Kati, who is brought to work for the Countess, binding books that tell a terrifying tale of a vampire. Kati's story is woven with the tale of Theodora Laskari as she reads the books she binds.

There is much to like about this novel. I particularly like the historical setting and detail - vampires provide an almost unique opportunity to have characters whose lives span centuries, and here we have Theodora Laskari, a well written female vampire, born in Constantinople in 1195 and reaching Venice in 1575. I'm less thrilled with the way the story was developed in-between, however; it feels like a wasted opportunity, hiding away from history rather than embracing it.

Kati's story feels much more comfortable in its setting and clearly the author has done her research into the life of Erzsébet Báthory. Kati herself may be an echo of Katalin Beneczky, although the former is a fourteen-year-old girl and the latter was an elderly washerwoman.

It's an absorbing read and often tense, and certainly worthy of four stars if the grammar and formatting could be cleaned up.
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