Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
Update: With a commanding 75 percent of the vote, Kate Daniels has won this round. She will advance on in the Alpha Showdown 2017! Last week the Alpha Showdown made you pick between Adam and Mercy. Today’s bout isn’t any easier. We’ve got another couple in battle today. The badass-with-a-sword (and beau coup other skills) Kate Daniels is to take on the powerful lion Curran. They both flexed skills in the...
Update: With 59 percent of the vote, Mad Rogan is the winner! He advances in the Alpha Showdown 2017! Are you ready for more Alpha Showdown? We’ve made it through the preliminary rounds, which means it’s about to get a whole lot harder here. Each of the alphas in today’s round have already won a bout. Mad Rogan dominated in his match against Rhysand, but he’s going to have to fight hard to defeat Ethan.... 
White Hot (Hidden Legacy #2) Ilona Andrews Published: May 30, 2017 (Avon) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Amy Rating (out of 5): 5 stars Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it will reference the previous book. If you haven’t started this series yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Burn for Me. Two...
Update: Mad Rogan dominated this round with 70 percent of the vote. He’ll advance on in the Alpha Showdown. We have a previous Alpha Showdown champion in this round: Mad Rogan from Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series. Let’s not pity his opponent just yet. Rhysand has a whole lot of passionate fans of Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series at his back. Magic and power come off these two in...
Update: With 68% of the vote, Curran wins this round and advances in the Alpha Showdown. Every year the Alpha Showdown gets harder. (We probably say this a lot, but it doesn’t make it not true…) Well, today’s one of the what?! how can you make me choose? rounds. It’s two long-running fan favorites: Curran from Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series and Bones from Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress. You’ll have...
We had a little bit of a breather on traditional Win It Wednesdays for a couple weeks, because it’s been contest-a-palooza here lately. Also, I was at RT Booklovers Convention and Borrowed Souls hit stores. But I’m back home in Texas, and I have a towering stack of books to giveaway to VBC readers. We’re going to go big today, though, with White Hot by Ilona Andrews. I’m pretty sure I could have run a VBC... 
One Fell Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles #3) Ilona Andrews Published: Dec. 20, 2016 (NYLA) Purchase: Amazon Review source: purchase Reviewed by: Amy Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it will reference previous books. If you haven’t started this series yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Clean Sweep. After playing host to an intergalactic peace summit between three... 
Magic Binds (Kate Daniels #9) Ilona Andrews Published: Sept. 20, 2016 (Ace) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Amy Rating (out of 5): 5 stars Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it may make reference to previous books. If you haven’t started this series yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Magic Bites.... 
Clean Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles #1) Ilona Andrews Published: December 2, 2013 (Ilona Andrews) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: purchased Reviewed by: Jannelle Rating (out of 5): 4 stars Dina is an Inn Keeper in what looks to be a quiet Texas town. Dina’s magical powers are entwined with the Inn she owns and it’s her job is to provide her guests with a certain level of protection on...
This has been an intense Alpha Showdown. We have our first ever female alpha in the championship round. We have a newcomer in the finale. And we had some of the hottest contested battles in a long time (more than 10,000 votes when Kane fought Barrons). Take a look at the bracket for a recap of how it all went down. Kane as proven himself against some all-time favorites like Jane Yellowrock, Mercy Thompson... 
