Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
Prophecy Girl (Angel Academy #1) Cecily White Published: April 2, 2013 (Entangled) Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Review Source: Publisher-Provided Copy Reviewed by: Amy Rating (out of 5): 2.5 stars Prophecy Girl starts on the first day of Amelie Bennett’s senior year at St. Michael’s School where she learns to be a Guardian. Descendants of the archangels Guardians are protectors of humanity... 
Obsession (Arum #1) Jennifer L. Armentrout Published: May 31, 2013 (Entangled Covet) Purchase at: Amazon Review Source: Purchased Reviewed by: Jo Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars Obsession is an adult spinoff set in the same would as Jennifer L. Armentrout’s brilliant young adult Lux series. (If you haven’t’ started it yet, check out VBC’s review of the first in the series Obsidian.) It sees 23-year-old... 
Death and the Girl Next Door (Darklight #1) Darynda Jones Published: Oct. 2, 2012 (St. Martin’s Press) Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Source: Purchased Reviewed by: Amy Rating (out of 5): 3 stars I am a big fan of Darynda Jones’ Charley Davidson (read Jo’s review of First Grave on the Right) series. So when I learned she was writing a YA series, I was interested to find out how the humor and wit I... 
Devil’s Bargain (Red Letter Days #1) Rachel Caine Published: Oct. 5, 2012 (Mira) (Originally published in 2005) Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Review Source: Purchased Reviewed by: Jo Rating (out of 5): 3 stars What would you do if you were given an opportunity that seems too good to be true? That is the choice that faces ex-police detective Jazz Callender. When her partner is convicted of murder,... 
Carnival of Souls Melissa Marr Published: Sept. 4,2012 (HarperCollins) Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Reviewed by: Amber Rating (out of 5): 5 stars Mallory just wants a normal life with real friends and a maybe even a boyfriend. Sadly, moving around so often, running from daimons, and having a witch for a father pretty much destroys a chance at a social life. Mallory is not a witch, and has to... 
Heart of Obsidian (Psy-Changeling #12) Nalini Singh Published on: June 4, 2013 (Berkley Sensation) Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Book provided by publisher for honest review Reviewed by: Amanda Rating (out of 5): 5 stars C’mon. You know that as soon as I say who the hero and heroine is of Heart of Obsidian, you’ll be spoiled. So if you’re bound and determined not to know anything beforehand,... 
Wow. This year was the biggest Alpha Showdown we’ve seen. There were more votes, more comments, more traffic and even more bribes from authors. Everything was bigger. So perhaps it is fitting this year’s Alpha Showdown champion is larger than life. He’s friends—we use that word loosely—with the original Alpha Showdown champion Jericho Z. Barrons. Yes, I’m talking about Ryodan. We may not know him well... 
In an effort to help you keep that to-read list updated, I’ve compiled the hot urban fantasy and paranormal romance releases for June 2013. All dates are U.S. and tentative. Also: Click the title of any book to visit the Amazon page for pre-order or purchase goodness. I’ve included genre classification with each book: UF is urban fantasy, PNR is paranormal romance, F is fantasy and YA is young adult. JUNE... 
Bronze Gods (Apparatus Infernum #1) A.A. Aguirre Published: April 30, 2013 (Ace) Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Reviewed by: Amanda Rating (out of 5): 4 stars Long before I started reading romance and urban fantasy, my drug of choice was mystery novels, the more complex the better. And the mystery at the heart of Bronze Gods was a nice juicy one I could sink my teeth into. Janus Mikani and Celeste...
Wow! This year’s Alpha Showdown has certainly been epic. We’ve had heated battles from the very beginning, surprise upsets throughout (we’re still surprised Vlad didn’t make it past the first round as he is the original Prince of the Night) and a whole lot of finding new reads. I hope you guys have had fun with this event and found yourselves some new book boyfriends. That said, it’s time for the final... 
