Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
Update: Only 100 votes separated these two in the end, but like the unknown beast he is Barrons came out on top. Two ultimate leaders are pit against each other in this round of the Alpha Showdown. They’re also both big-time favorites and frequent faces on book boyfriend lists everywhere. But we’re mean, so we’re going to make you pick: Acheron or Barrons? We’ve lined up great bloggers to explain why each...
Update: Barrons dominated this round like the alpha he is. He advances in the Showdown. The first-ever Alpha Showdown champion re-enters the ring. His opponent is new to the Showdown, but not to fighting. Can Simon take out the big, bad Barrons? We’ve lined up great bloggers to explain why each alpha deserves to advance. Read the pitches, and then make the call. JERICHO Z. BARRONS You know him from: The...
Update: The Frost Fans came out in full force. Bones managed to defeat Ryodan in this round. We never thought we’d consider Bones an underdog, but he’s been in the Alpha Showdown several times, and has yet to take the title. Will this be his year? Ryodan knows how to clench that Alpha Showdown championship, but will he be able to fell our beloved vampire this time? We’ve lined up great bloggers to explain... 
You read that headline right. It’s time to start playing favorites here at VBC. The annual Alpha Showdown will be back in May, and we need to know who you want to see in the event. If you haven’t experienced Alpha Showdown before, it gets a little crazy. Here’s the gist: VBC readers nominate their favorite characters who exemplify alpha status—male or female, leaders, warriors, general badasses—and we... 
Earlier this week Book Riot ran a post featuring the 20 most-loved literary characters. It was a fun post and I certainly saw a few of my favorites there, but as I went to go and share the link via VBC’s Facebook page I stopped myself. As lovely as the list was, it wasn’t too heavy on the fantasy end of things. Sure, Gandalf and the Harry Potter gang were there, but it leaned much more toward the... ![Round 3: Vlad vs. Christian MacKeltar [Alpha Showdown 2013]](http://vampirebookclub.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/VBC-HomeofAlphaShowdown-216x300-28338_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 three offers two very different princes. A vampire of legend with a penchant for fire finds a suitable opponent in the... 
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 Harris... 
I planned to write a detailed review of Karen Marie Moning’s Iced for this blog. However, I participated in a round-table discussion post over at Heroes & Heartbreakers before I had finished the book. I was sure that I would have more to say about the novel by the time I finished. Here’s the thing, I still feel just as strongly about what works and what doesn’t in Iced as I did for the Heroes &... 
Usually our group read picks are the first in long-running series. It’s an excuse to start a new series and get out of the reading the just-released books. However, some books require exceptions. If our group read poll was any indication, every VBC reader is going to devour Iced by Karen Marie Moning this week. We’re ready to go back to a fae-infested Ireland. We’re ready for more sidhe-seers, more dark... 
