Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
Did you catch Amy’s review of Morgan Rhodes’ Falling Kingdoms last week? (Spoiler alert: She liked it.) Well, we’re excited about this series and decided it’s time to get Santa-y and give away all three books in the series (Falling Kingdoms, Rebel Spring and Gathering Darkness)…and a dartboard for good measure. Yep. YA fantasy books and games. Our kind of holiday. ABOUT THE SERIES In the three kingdoms of... 
The VBC team is packed with fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout’s novels. So, of course, we are so happy about the debut of her new paranormal romance Wicked (which you should just order now). Here’s the skinny on Wicked: Things are about to get Wicked in New Orleans. Twenty-two year old Ivy Morgan isn’t your average college student. She, and others like her, know humans aren’t the only thing trolling the... 
Note from VBC/Chelsea: We’re so pleased to have Alex Hughes on the blog today. Her latest Mindspace novel just released, and we dig her urban fantasy world. She’s here today to talk about crafting that world and making it a real character within each novel. We’re also giving away a copy of one of her books (your choice, because we’re nice). With that, I’m turning it over to Alex. Being raised in the... 
Last week VBC’s Amy dove into the first book in Nazarea Andrews’ The World Without End series. She enjoyed The World Without a Future and connected with the pacing of the story. She’s catching up on the series, but we aren’t about to make you wait. We have an excerpt from the latest book in the series The Future Without Hope, which released on Nov. 20. “What the hell are you doing, O’Malley?” “Where is... 
From Chelsea/VBC: We’re big fans of Shiloh Walker here at VBC. Her Grimm’s Circle series has the right levels of edge and steam. The eighth book in the series Furious Fire releases on Nov. 11 (pre-order it), and we have a few teases in this post from Shiloh on fated couples. Enjoy! The idea of fate and fated lovers is a fascinating one. It’s also a frustrating one, because what happens if you never find... 
Hi! Happy Halloween! What else could I talk about this week except favorite Halloween memories? I ADORE Halloween, so I have so many—my kids’ first Halloweens, my first one with Navy Guy, trick-or-treating as a kid—but one of my favorite memories is of Halloween in Japan. We were stationed on Naval Air Station Atsugi, Japan, south of Tokyo (yes, we were there when the earthquake/tsunami happened, and it... 
One of the joys of being a full-time writer is that my days are pretty varied—there’s no such thing as an average day. Doing circus-based entertainment work on the side also helps, as it means I get to balance introvert and extrovert activities (highly necessary). So this is sort of the melded version of my days. They’re not usually this packed; very often I will just lounge in pajamas from sunrise to... 
Today we have a taste of Cinda Williams Chima’s latest novel The Sorcerer Heir. The book is the final in her Heir Chronicles and comes out Oct. 21. (You might want to pre-order The Sorcerer Heir.) The series features all sorts of magical types. However, today, we’re focused on the sorcerers. As we do. Sorcerer Excerpt from The Sorcerer Heir: “I hoped your father might know something about Thorn Hill—who... 
I don’t know anyone who has read Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series and not liked it. I recommend a lot of books, and this urban fantasy series with plenty of heat factor continually hits the mark. Singh’s writing is stellar and her characters are engaging. So, everyone at VBC is eager to read the next installment Archangel’s Shadows. As Archangel’s Shadows doesn’t release until Oct. 28, we needed a taste... 
We’re fans of Michael R. Underwood’s books. He has a new one coming out on Monday, and we wanted VBC readers to have a sneak peek. Luckily, Michael’s a good sharer. He’s provided the fifth chapter of The Younger Gods for VBC to share exclusively. Pretty nice, huh? It gets better. We also have two digital copies of the book to giveaway. Double win. Read on for a taste of The Younger Gods, and your chance... 
