Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
![Round 3: Vlad vs. Christian MacKeltar [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 three offers two very different princes. A vampire of legend with a penchant for fire finds a suitable... 
In case you hadn’t noticed (ha!), we have a new look here at VBC. We’re trying something cleaner that matches our new group blog vibe. I hope you like it and find it easy to interact with. Now on to awesome book news…
Cat and Ian Banter!
Jeaniene Frost has posted the first excerpt from the seventh Night Huntress novel Up from the Grave and it features Cat and Bones talking with that... 
We have VBC news, so we might as well start there. I’m slowly working through reviewer applicants, but you may have noticed Monday’s review of Unravel Me came from a new reviewer. I’m super excited to have Amanda join the team. She has great taste in books and doesn’t mind when I bother her on Twitter. Both essentials. Expect to see more from her soon, plus other new VBC team... 
I’ve been a long-time fan of Jeaniene Frost’s books. I’ve been a fan of Bones since before Chapter 32. Then there was Vlad. I wasn’t smitten with him until Once Burned hit shelves last year, then I understood why he earned a spinoff series.
However, VBC’s Candace has been in love with Vlad since he first stepped on page in the Night Huntress books. She’s dedicated to... 
I have a regular feature over at my writer blog talking about applying Krav Maga lessons to writing. These typically deal with fight scenes and characterization. The last post covered the importance of regular training, as in your character isn’t magically good at fighting. After sharing the link a bit on Twitter, I found that it was a common pet peeve among readers.
You don’t need to have an... 
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... 
We skipped Book Bits last week because it was Thanksgiving here in the States. I hope others had a lovely holiday. Mine involved more shopping than was probably necessary (though we skipped shopping late on Thanksgiving or early-morning Black Friday madness), seeing Daniel Craig in all his Bond-y goodness in IMAX, eating more than I should have and having a Downton Abbey binge with my mom. It was a good... 
We’re doing things slightly differently this year. This is the first year where we have associate reviewers at VBC. As such, it didn’t feel quite right to only include my top 10. So, you’ll find my 10 picks for the absolute best books of 2012 and below that a top 5 list from Jo and Candace, respectively. Plus, of course, we have your winner for the reader’s choice best book. (See the Best Of lists... 
If you’re a regular reader here, you know I value strong world building in novels. I’m more likely to give a book a rare 5-star rating if the mythology for the world feels real. This is especially true when the world is so vivid that the most fantastical elements becomes downright plausible.
I need everything to make sense. I appreciate the logic authors put into the rules within their books.... 
