Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
It’s that time again. I spent far too much time attempting to whittle down the 100+ books reviewed on VBC this year to the absolute best. So, as those Amazon and B&N gift cards start rolling in, just use this list as your shopping guide. I personally promise the extreme awesomeness of all the novels listed below. Also, at the very end you’ll see the VBC Readers’ Choice winner (which allowed me to leave it... 
Flesh and Blood (House of Comarré #2) Kristen Painter Published: Nov. 1, 2011 (Orbit) Purchase at: Book Depository, B&N or Amazon Rating (out of 5): 4 stars Note: This review may contain spoilers for the first House of Comarré book. If you’re concerned, please read my spoiler-free Blood Rights review instead. I’m a bit of a reading masochist. Books that put my emotions in a constant upheaval tend to be my... 
Lessons from Readers & ‘Ritas I spent last Saturday at the Readers & ‘Ritas convention. My BFF Kristin from My Bookish Ways and I had a complete blast spending the day with many of our favorite authors. A few things I learned: 1. Kristen Painter is of the “go big or go home” mentality when it comes to costumes. She dressed up as one of the noble vampires from her House of Comarré series for the costume... 
Thanks to all those who voted in the poll, I’ve determined a discussion board is the best way to handle our group read chats. While I had planned to do this on Facebook, looks like they’ll be removing the “discussion” application on Oct.31. As such, I’ve created a group on Goodreads to handle all our group read discussions. Go join the group right now, I’ll wait. This is awesome for several reasons. One,... 
This month’s group read — Kristen Painter’s Blood Rights — has characters with chemistry that pops off the page. Only they aren’t a couple. Chrysabelle and Mal’s interactions ripple with tension and unspoken desire. They like each other, but both think it’s a bad idea. The complexity of their fight against intimacy is made exponentially complicated by the fact Chrysabelle needs Mal’s saliva to keep...
I guess my fangirl love for the first book in Kristen Painter’s new House of Comarré series won you guys over. The October group read poll results are in and Painter’s Blood Rights won by a mile. This is great as Blood Rights gives us lots of material to chat about. If you need encouragement to join in this month’s group read, take a quick peek at my spoiler-free review of the book. Blood Rights (House of...
It’s that time again. As much fun as we had with Spider’s Bite, it’s time to vote for next month’s read. After putting the word out on Twitter and Facebook, I narrowed the list down to six recommendations — OK, I put Blood Rights in there because I want to talk more about it. I have no shame. If you’re not familiar with the books, blurbs and links for more info, etc. follow the poll (if you’re viewing on... 
After my mad gush-fest on Kristen Painter’s Blood Rights yesterday, I’m encouraged to move forward with an overhaul to the VBC recommendations page. I know you guys use it quite a bit, and I try to make sure it only has the best of the best. If it’s on that page, I’ll personally vouch that it rules. But I’d like to be able to showcase more books via our recommendations page. Right now it’s mostly a...
Blood Rights (House of Comarré #1) Kristen Painter Published: Sept. 27, 2011 (Orbit) Purchase at: Book Depository, B&N or Amazon Rating (out of 5): 5 stars There are a handful of books that I go on a recommendation binge with as soon as I read the last page. It happened with Unholy Ghosts. It happened with Nightshade. It happened with Blood of the Wicked. And, there’s no question about it: Kristen... 
