Chelsea

Round 5: Adam Hauptman vs. Dragos Cuelebre [Alpha Showdown 2013]

It’s officially time for Alpha Showdown 2013!  You made your nominations and we have 16 of the most badass, alpha characters from urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels locked into the bracket. Only one will be named champion and today’s first bout is sure to end in a knockout. Round five is shifter time. Both Adam and Dragos know how to lead their people, but how will they fare in a fight? Who’s the...

Chelsea

Round 4: Jane Yellowrock vs. Terrible [Alpha Showdown 2013]

It’s officially time for Alpha Showdown 2013!  You made your nominations and we have 16 of the most badass, alpha characters from urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels locked into the bracket. Only one will be named champion and today’s first bout is sure to end in a knockout. Round four is sure to be full of dirty fighting. How will enforcer Terrible take on Jane’s Beast? Who will come out alive?...

Chelsea

Round 3: Vlad vs. Christian MacKeltar [Alpha Showdown 2013]

It’s officially time for Alpha Showdown 2013!  You made your nominations and we have 16 of the most badass, alpha characters from urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels locked into the bracket. Only one will be named champion and today’s first bout is sure to end in a knockout. Round three offers two very different princes. A vampire of legend with a penchant for fire finds a suitable opponent in the...

Chelsea

Round 2: Secret McQueen vs. Ethan Sullivan [Alpha Showdown 2013]

It’s officially time for Alpha Showdown 2013!  You made your nominations and we have 16 of the most badass, alpha characters from urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels locked into the bracket. Only one will be named champion and today’s first bout is sure to end in a knockout. Round two brings two lethal badasses to the ring. Ethan may be used to being in charge, but Secret isn’t much for taking...

Chelsea

Round 1: Ryodan vs. Mercedes Thompson [Alpha Showdown 2013]

It’s officially time for Alpha Showdown 2013!  You made your nominations and we have 16 of the most badass, alpha characters from urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels locked into the bracket. Only one will be named champion and today’s first bout is sure to end in a knockout. Round one pits a man full of mystery who overwhelms just about everyone sharing space with him against a resourceful,...

Chelsea

Alpha Showdown 2013 Bracket

Alpha Showdown will return for its third year on May 15. We’re already getting excited here. I spent several hours tallying your nominations, and the official bracket for Alpha Showdown 2013 is below (you’ll want to click to make it bigger). We have more urban fantasy characters than usual, and it’s nice to see some fresh blood in the mix. In addition to the normal voting melee, I’m adding a contest with...

Chelsea

Book Bits: Showdown, Larissa Ione, Jeaniene Frost, Jesse Petersen and more

We have VBC news, so we might as well start there. I’m slowly working through reviewer applicants, but you may have noticed Monday’s review of Unravel Me came from a new reviewer. I’m super excited to have Amanda join the team. She has great taste in books and doesn’t mind when I bother her on Twitter. Both essentials. Expect to see more from her soon, plus other new VBC team members. Alpha Showdown is...

Chelsea

Alpha Showdown 2013: Nominations!

The Alpha Showdown is my favorite event here at VBC, because readers get so involved. And they’re good-natured smack talk. Well, you will be happy to know it’s time to start the preliminary work for the third annual Alpha Showdown. A quick explanation for those unfamiliar with our annual May shenanigans (Alpha Showdown 2011, Alpha Showdown 2012). We pit sixteen characters from novels published in the...