Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
Dead to the World (Sookie Stackhouse #4) Charlaine Harris Published: 2004 (Ace) Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Rating (out of 5): 5 stars Note: Spoilers lie ahead. Normally, we avoid them like the plague, but it’s just too much fun to talk the finer points of this one. However, we have flagged the big “damn, why’d you tell me” moments, if you want to brave it. I’ve always named Dead to the World... 
I’ve always loved the Southern Vampire Mysteries (or as they’ve been relabeled as of late the Sookie Stackhouse books), particularly the first eight novels. And even when Eric was being a creepy, manipulative jerk in the early books, I kept thinking “I wish they would get together.” Because I love the complicated bad boys in novels. Eleven books later, Eric is still manipulative and arrogant and I still,... 
Both alphas in this round hold positions of power. They’re political beasts (one more so than the other, as pointed out below). And they both have a thing for feisty mortals. Today we put the Viking vampire Eric Northman (played most excellently on HBO’s True Blood by Swedish deliciousness Alexander Skarsgard) in the ring with powerful archangel Raphael. Two bloggers have done the hard work for you and... 
I’ve been a long-time fan of Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries (a.k.a. the Sookie Stackhouse novels). And while I now picture Alexander Skarsgard as Eric thanks to True Blood, I’m still eager to see what’s coming next for the waitress from Bon Temps. My friend and fellow blogger Kristin from My Bookish Ways is in the same boat. (Though I’m not sure her stance on ASkars’ overwhelming hotness.)... 
We know y’all love the discussion posts. And, honestly, so do we. So, today we’re soliciting your advice. We often get emails saying “I just found this genre through Book A. Tell me where to go now!” And with us reading so many good novels it’s easy to just suggest the latest and greatest. (My go-to recommendation this week is A Brush of Darkness by Allison Pang. Really excellent dark fantasy.) But,...
Ooo, do we have delicious tidbits for you… READ A CHAPTER OF DEAD RECKONING Charlaine Harris posted the first chapter of the next Southern Vampire Mystery (a.k.a. the Sookie Stackhouse books) up on her website today. It’s 19 pages of Sookie, Eric, Sam and even some of the fae family members. The 11th book in the series, titled Dead Reckoning, will be — like all Sookie books before — released in May. So,... 
Today we discovered a great video on the Amazon page for the final Vampire Academy installment Last Sacrifice. Looks as though our friends at Amazon got two of our favorite authors — Richelle Mead and Charlaine Harris — together to talk new books. Mead gives us a couple little bits about Last Sacrifice, including promises to tie up all the story lines but no word on how she’ll resolve the... 
In this month’s group read Crimson Moon, Emma finds herself torn between the vampire world she’s meant to join and being with werewolves who make her feel secure and at home. Add into the mix overwhelming feelings for a hot werewolf and, later, the introduction of a similarly handsome vampire and you have some hard choices. (Read our review for more details on the novel.) All things equal — they both kill... 
To say we were surprised by the response we received to our favorite vampire authors poll would be an understatement. The comments provide a few interesting discussions, with book suggestions and a debate on Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series. The poll results have three clear favorites: Richelle Mead, Charlaine Harris and Hamilton. The No. 1 thing we took away: Our blog readers had different... 
