Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
This week we got two deleted scenes from YA novels featuring kissing — and more for the Jace/Clary scene — plus news on upcoming books from Jeaniene Frost, Ilona Andrews, Nalini Singh, P.C. and Kristin Cast and even a little video to make your day (compliments of the lovely Tessa Dare). Enjoy! Cover tease for next The Hollows novel I really loved Pale Demon, and the end left things wide open for Kim... 
A few times I’ve been asked why I review young adult novels on a blog written, by and large, for adults. The answer is always a simple one: the novels are excellent reads. When written well, YA has epic emotional pull. The latter teen years (and into college) are a tumultuous time when we experience so many things for the first time. It’s easy to get pulled into the rush of first love and first heartbreak... 
Don’t forget, tonight is our group read chat. All the details can be found here. You know you want to talk about Sookie, Eric, Jason and Debbie Pelt with us tonight as we talk Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris. I’m still on my reading high from My Life as a White Trash Zombie (review), so let’s get into the good stuff. Read Chapter One (and a smidge of two) of Drink Deep Still reeling from the end of... 
Last summer we fell in love with Julie Kagawa’s The Iron King. And our adoration of Julie Kawaga’s YA fantasy series only grew with The Iron Daughter and The Iron Queen (read reviews here and here). The trilogy is technically complete (there’s the forthcoming The Iron Knight telling Prince Ash’s story coming up, but Meghan’s story is complete with The Iron Queen). So, while we’ve spent months telling you... 
Over the last two weeks, those who entered our Nightshade giveaway* told us which love interest from a young adult novel tops their list. We expected Vampire Academy’s resident Russian hottie Dimitri Belikov to top out (he did), but almost always his name was in the same breath as that snarky Shadowhunter Jace Wayland from The Mortal Instruments series. On a side note, we’re with everyone else in lobbying... 
Our top books of 2010 was posted early enough to be able to use as a shopping list. That means we’re at the end of the year without a nice wrap-up list. Really, it’s a bit embarrassing. So, what do we have in store? A list we know several of you will feel the need to argue with in the comments. (We actually really love that, by the way.) TOP 10 SWOON-WORTHY HEROES In fairness, we’re using the word hero in... 
We love the epic fantasy Julie Kagawa has crafted in her Iron Fey series. In July the first book in the series, The Iron King, was our group read title, and we discussed the characters — and, OK, a lot of Ash vs. Puck. Everyone hated and then fell back in love with the “Hot Boy with a Sword” Prince Ash in The Iron Daughter. (We also named it one of the Best Books of 2010.) Now, with The Iron Queen not far...
The Iron Queen (Iron Fey #3) Julie Kagawa Published: Feb. 1, 2011 (Harlequin Teen) Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars Meghan and Ash have been exiled from Faery. The half-fae summer princess and the winter prince find themselves in the mortal world at the beginning of the third Iron Fey book. Meghan sees this as her chance to return to a normal life and to have Ash, but... 
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... 
This year we fell in love with several new authors, found new series and even decided we could really get into steampunk. We’ve narrowed the list down to these gems. All the books on this list are ones we’ve told friends, family and random people at the bookstore about. These are the books we tell you are musts for your to-read piles. As a matter of fact, print it out and make it a checklist. We were... 
