Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
Last week Jo reviewed Amanda Carlson’s Hot Blooded. And she loved it. I mean loved it. She compared the Jessica McClain series to one of her favorites: Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld. From Jo that’s insane praise.
If you’ve already read Full Blooded (Chelsea’s VBC review) and pre-ordered Hot Blooded, which releases tomorrow, then what’s left? You’re a... 
Hot Blooded (Jessica McClain #2)
Amanda Carlson
Published: April 23, 2013 (Orbit)
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon
Reviewed by: Jo
Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars
Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it will refer to events from the previous book.If you haven’t started this series yet, check out Chelsea’s review of Full Blooded.
With Full Blooded being one of mine (and... 
In an effort to help you keep that to-read list updated, I’ve compiled the hot urban fantasy and paranormal romance releases for April 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... 
Both Jo and I fell for Amanda Carlson’s debut Full Blooded. We’re not far from the release of the second Jessica McClain book Hot Blooded, but we’re all about looking forward here at VBC. That means we’re going to go ahead and ooh and aah over the badassery that is the cover art for the third book Cold Blooded. Allow me to share:
Jessica arrives back in town to find her best friend... 
Both Jo and I put Amanda Carlson’s debut Full Blooded on our Best of 2012 lists. It has that breakneck pacing I enjoy and more than one super sexy shifter. Put that in a nice urban fantasy landscape, and well, we’re fans. However, if you read the first book, you know Jess isn’t exactly the mushy type and Rourke and her have a bit of forced distance until we get more in the second book Hot... 
Did you really think we’d let February come and not get romantic? Please.
For the third year in a row, VBC is hosting the Character Love Letters event. We talked nine stellar authors into having their characters write love letters to one another. Better yet, we’re giving away their books, too. Just who agreed to participate? Check out the author schedule:
Feb. 4 – Chloe Neill
Feb. 6 – Nina... 
Every year, I compile the standard year-end best books list—read 2012′s best reads list—and it’s a hard task narrowing things down. What’s harder though is picking the ten heroes from novels published this year to make my annual swoon-worthy list. Last year Eve Silver’s Lokan took top honors and the year before Stacia Kane’s Terrible was causing fevers all over the... 
I really enjoyed Amanda Carlson’s Full Blooded (it made the Best of 2012 list), and the sequel Hot Blooded is coming soon. I want you to be ready. Amanda wants to you to be ready, too. She’ll be giving away 10 signed copies of Full Blooded (and you can have her sign it to whomever you like — GIFT IT) as well as a limited edition swag pack with a coffee mug, bookmark and stickers. The... 
We’re doing things slightly differently this year. This is the first year where we have associate reviewers at VBC. As such, it didn’t feel quite right to only include my top 10. So, you’ll find my 10 picks for the absolute best books of 2012 and below that a top 5 list from Jo and Candace, respectively. Plus, of course, we have your winner for the reader’s choice best book. (See the Best Of lists... 
From Chelsea/VBC: This is the first in a series of spook-tacular posts leading up to Halloween. I’ve invited a few friends to fill us in on their favorite monsters. First up is the totally fun Amanda Carlson. You might remember me digging her action-packed urban fantasy novel Full Blooded. Also, I think I may love her even more knowing that some of my favorite movies made her list. Hints: Winchester... 
