Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
![Round 4: Jane Yellowrock vs. Terrible [Alpha Showdown 2013]](http://vampirebookclub.net/wp-content/uploads/et_temp/VBC-HomeofAlphaShowdown-216x300-28337_200x200.jpg)
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... 
The VBC team has made no secret of our love for Terrible from Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts series. Tough guy with heart? So there. It was hard to let anyone else write about the guy who gives us a case of Terrible Fever, but if we took all the book boyfriends Character Love Letters would be a bit boring. We’ve entrusted Jennifer from The Book Nympho to do our man justice. You approve,... 
I’ve had a higher-than-usual number of book recommendation requests on the VBC Facebook page and via Twitter of late. While I can, of course, just point you to the recommendations section, I decided to take a look at the most popular reviews here at VBC. Consider this post your quick access to the books reviews VBC readers found helpful.
TOP 10 MOST POPULAR
VBC REVIEWS
Dead Reckoning by Charlaine... 
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... 
Chasing Magic (Downside Ghosts #5)
Stacia Kane
Published: June 26, 2012 (DelRey)
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon
Review by: Chelsea
Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars
Note: This review assumes you have read earlier novels in the Downside Ghosts series. If not, please see our review of the first book in the series, Unholy Ghosts.
Chess Putnam has always struggled with feeling unworthy. Having someone... 
It’s Independence Day in the United States. Typically, this is celebrated by eating foods cooked on a grill and enjoying fireworks. (And probably also complaining about how hot and/or sticky it is outside and trying to find the bug spray in your purse.) But this is Vampire Book Club. I can’t show you pretty explosions in the sky. I can however, recommend five heroes from books released in 2012... 
Finding Magic (Downside Ghosts novella)
Stacia Kane
Published: June 4, 2012 (DelRey)
Purchase at: Amazon
Rating (out of 5): 5 stars
One of the reasons I recommend Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts books so often is the remarkable character development. Heroine Chess has hard edges, deep-seated issues and a big problem with seeing herself as valuable. While Kane provided more insight into Chess’... 
Round 8 of the Alpha Showdown 2012 puts a human in the ring, but if anyone can hold their own amid the weird stuff it’s Terrible.
Drug enforcer Terrible knows a thing or two about magic and ghosts — it goes with the territory of being a part of Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts world — while Kate Daniels has plenty of experience with supernatural types of all flavors as the heroine of... ![Terrible Fever Symptoms [Updated for Sacrificial Magic]](http://vampirebookclub.net/wp-content/uploads/et_temp/terriblefever-sm-300x135-11126_200x135.jpg)
Before the release of the third Downside Ghosts novel, we determined the symptoms of Terrible Fever. We were waiting on the third book, City of Ghosts, wondering if we’d get more of the surprising hero. And, oh man, did we.
But now that readers are so in love with Terrible the fever only gets worse. As such, we’re here to help you diagnose your Terrible Fever, now with more symptoms.
Not only... 
Read the first chapter of The Golden Lily
Looking forward to more from Richelle Mead? Yeah, of course we are! Shelf Life just posted a Q&A with the author and the first chapter of the second Bloodlines novel The Golden Lily. And, yep, we’re ready for more. If you didn’t give Bloodlines a go, read our review.
See the full cover for Vicki Pettersson’s The Taken
I’m pretty excited... 
