Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
It was a close call in this month’s group read poll, but Andrea Cremer’s Nightshade claimed the title with 29 percent of the votes. (Cynthia Hand’s Unearthly was a near second at 27 percent.) We are incredibly excited you guys are ready to read Nightshade, because we love this book. We tapped it as one of our Best Books of 2010. We talked Cremer into telling us about writing a sexy book without any sex... 
Well, damn. To say you guys liked the YA love interest poll would be a complete understatement (you can vote here). Heated debates over Russian God Dimitri from Vampire Academy and our snarky boy Jace from The Mortal Instruments laced the comments. Also, you really loved hating on Team Edward. As a matter of fact, to the commenter Emelia who left quite possibly my favorite comment ever, email me. I will... 
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... 
(Ed. note: Our giveaway for a Soul Screamers shirt and a copy of My Soul to Steal is now closed. The winner will be announced on Dec. 30.) My Soul to Steal (Soul Screamers #4) Rachel Vincent Published: Jan. 1, 2011 Dec. 21, 2010 (Harlequin Teen) Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars (NOTE: We will reference events in book 3 My Soul to Keep. Spoilers from earlier books are... 
Lover Awakened (Black Dagger Brotherhood #3) JR Ward Published: 2006 (Signet) Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Rating (out of 5): 5 stars **This review will reference events at the end of the second BDB book, Lover Eternal, and does not recap the world built in book one, Dark Lover. If you haven’t read the earlier books, please check out the reviews of Dark Lover and Lover Eternal.** Zsadist is the... 
Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood #2) J.R. Ward Published: 2006 Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Rating (out of 5): 4 stars **Please note, this review assumes you’ve read the first BDB book, Dark Lover. If you haven’t, please check out our review here.** The second Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, Lover Eternal, focuses on Rhage. He’s the one all the brothers call Hollywood. He has that leading... 
Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood #1) J.R. Ward Published: 2005 Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Rating (out of 5): 5 stars As of late we’ve read too many paranormal romances where the story is either all character focus and no sex or all steam and no connection to the people involved. And that’s what makes reading J.R. Ward’s first Black Dagger Brotherhood novel Dark Lover so incredibly... 
Ed. note: We loved Andrea Cremer’s YA debut Nightshade so much it made our Best of 2010 list. We’ve noted it is one of the sexiest books without sex we’ve ever read. So, we asked Andrea about that line between sensual and sexual. We think you’ll enjoy her thoughts as much as we did. When Less is More by Andrea Cremer One of the cardinal sins of emerging writers is overwriting. Describing the heck out of... 
Firelight (Firelight #1) Sophie Jordan Published: Sept. 7, 2010 Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Rating (out of 5): 4 stars Often in paranormal romance tales the guy is the one troubled with paranormal attributes. The woman is either human dealing with the fact the guy she’s into is from the ‘other’ world or her paranormal issues are ‘safe’ compared the life-and-death danger that comes with being a...
Nightshade Andrea Cremer Published: Oct. 19, 2010 Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon Rating (out of 5): 5 stars I couldn’t put down Andrea Cremer’s Nightshade for more than a few moments at a time. After reading the majority of the 450-page book in a single sitting, I looked at my husband and just mumbled, “Wow.” Following a curious look from my better half, all I could say was Nightshade is by far... 
