Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
I’m a big fan of Karen Mahoney’s writing. Both her nerd-girl vampire Moth from Falling to Ash and alchemist Donna Underwood from the Iron Witch trilogy are young adult protagonists I connect with and ones that resonate with teen readers, too. The third book in the Iron Witch trilogy The Stone Demon releases today. It is excellent (and Donna wears a really gorgeous dress at one point, which made me wish I... 
It’s so much fun seeing what book y’all are recommending as the best book of 2012. (Many of you have named some of the ones you’ll see in my top list. You have excellent taste.) If you haven’t voted yet, you still have time! Plus, by nominating your favorite book you get entered to win any book VBC has reviewed—and that is more than 250 choices. For those of you who have been following my Krav Maga for... 
Falling to Ash (Moth #1) Karen Mahoney Published: Sept. 27, 2012 (Random House Children’s U.K.) Purchase at: Book Depository Reviewed by: Chelsea Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars Funny and engaging with a dusting of darkness, Falling to Ash is a fresh vampire tale—and that pleases me so very much. It’s my favorite Karen Mahoney book thus far. (Read reviews of The Iron Witch and The Wood Queen.) Moth (neé... 
Cover Reveal: Midnight Blue-Light Special Have you seen the cover for Seanan McGuire’s next InCryptid novel? Look to your right. While I may like the artwork for Discount Armageddon a bit more, Midnight Blue-Light Special’s tone feels cohesive to me. Thoughts? Chapter One of Touch of the Demon When I was at Authors After Dark, Diana Rowland talked about just how much readers are going to love Touch of the... 
Looky! It’s Rachel Morgan! Kim Harrison shared the cover art for the next Hollows novel. The artwork for Ever After features our favorite witch/demon/badass Rachel Morgan in what sure looks like the Ever After. It’s set to release Jan. 22, 2013. The book is available for pre-order already. Taste of Falling to Ash (that didn’t come out right…) Karen Mahoney posted a nice snippet from her forthcoming novel... 
If you’re joining us in this month’s group read of Jeaniene Frost’s Once Burned, we’re posting weekly discussion topics over on our Goodreads group. It’s free to join and we’re already talking Vlad as a hero and all things Leila. Hope you’ll join in. Cover Art Explosion: Karen Mahoney, Yasmine Galenorn, Andrea Cremer, Ilona Andrews So very pleased to see another pretty cover for Karen Mahoney. The Stone... ![Auction: YA Prize Pack featuring signed books from Jennifer Estep, Julie Kagawa and more [Books Fighting Cancer]](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1322599400l/11022222.jpg)
Need some great young adult urban fantasy and paranormal romance? This prize pack has some favorites of mine, and the authors were kind enough to sign many of the books in this prize pack. And we have audio books up for grabs in this pack, too! Highest bidder will take home: Signed set of the first three Mythos Academy novels by Jennifer Estep: Touch of Frost, Kiss of Frost and Dark Frost Signed hardback... 
It’s (finally!) the return of Book Bits. Did you miss your weekly dose of book news? (I actually really like writing these posts, so I’m thrilled to be back on schedule.) Books Fighting Cancer — Starting This Weekend at VBC This first Bit is actually a VBC heads-up! This weekend we’ll be having a HUGE fundraising event benefiting the Barrow Neurological Center. These are the people who did their best to... 
Thanks to everyone who provided feedback and suggestions on yesterday’s captcha-related post. I am going to look into utilizing additional spam filters before considering bringing back captcha. Also, did you know Alpha Showdown 2012 starts on Monday? It does. And it will be epic. Have you started placing your bets? Excerpt from Karen Mahoney I enjoyed The Iron Witch and The Wood Queen by Karen Mahoney,... 
Before we get into the news, just a quick housekeeping bit. I changed my Twitter name. *gasp* So, if you’ve been following @VampBookClub, you’ll now see @ChelseaVBC popping up in your stream. Don’t worry. It’s still me. As we add more reviewers, etc., I thought it might be helpful to differentiate. Also, you can follow Candace — our new PNR reviewer — at @cpblackburn73. Cover reveal: Falling to Ash I’m a... 
