Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
Those who follow VBC on Twitter may know things are stressful these days here at the VBC HQ. One of my close family members has a rare brain cancer — complete with experimental treatments. (He has the best doctors and is in great spirits.) My point in mentioning this isn’t to be a downer, but to say things kind of suck. I’m in a perpetual state of tension, but I’ve been getting a nice break from reality... 
Iron Crowned (Dark Swan #3) Richelle Mead Published: Feb. 22, 2011 (Zebra/Kensington) Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars Note: No spoilers for Iron Crowned are in this review, but we do reference key events from Storm Born and Thorn Queen. If you haven’t, we suggest you read those reviews instead. Oh, Richelle Mead, how you like to toy with my emotions. The third book in... 
Thorn Queen (Dark Swan #2) Richelle Mead Published: 2009 (Zebra/Kensington) Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Rating (out of 5): 4 stars Note: We always go for spoiler-free here, but this review will assume you’ve read the first Dark Swan novel Storm Born. If you haven’t, please check out that review instead. In Storm Born (Dark Swan #1), Eugenie learned who she was and who some say she’s supposed to... 
Storm Born (Dark Swan #1) Richelle Mead Published: 2008 (Zebra) Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Rating (out of 5): 4 stars I’ll come out the gate saying I love Eugenie Markham, the heroine of Richelle Mead’s Dark Swan series. This may be because I see lots of myself in her. It may be because I love strong female characters. Hell, it might be because she’s hails from the Grand Canyon State. Whatever... 
This last week I hit up a Richelle Mead book signing. While the focus was the just-released Last Sacrifice, she indulged questions bout her Dark Swan and Georgina Kincaid series. (FYI: We’re holding the Last Sacrifice review to give more readers a chance to read it, because we know you’ll talk in the comments on this one.) Mead reminded book signing attendees the third books in her series tend to be the... 
If you haven’t already subscribed to the blog, now is going to be a good time. Starting on Dec. 9, we will spending three weeks previewing the books you’re dying to read in early 2011. Daily posts will include early reviews, author interviews, previews and — gasp! — lots of giveaways. Authors we’ll be featuring include (in alphabetical order): P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast (Awakened) Jeaniene Frost (This Side... 
I finished Succubus Dreams last night. It’s the third in the Georgina Kincaid series by my favorite author, Richelle Mead. First, let me say, I realize I haven’t been reviewing the first books in series thus far. I’m going to work to rectify that soon. I will write up a review of the first Georgina Kincaid book, Succubus Blues, in the near future. I’ll try to get everyone up-to-speed on the series... 
