Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
We’ve talked about the essential urban fantasy books and our favorite new UF books, so it’s about time we talked about the vampires, demons, and shifters that make paranormal romance. This is not my list of the all-time best paranormal romances. These ten titles are the ones that have had significant influence on the subgenre and the ones every paranormal fan has read—whether they loved it or hated... 
Magic Triumphs is almost here! To say the VBC crew is excited would be an understatement. Kate Daniels has won the Alpha Showdown. Curran has won the Alpha Showdown. We know you love this series, and while we’re sad to see it end, we’re so excited to see what Ilona Andrews has in store for us with Magic Triumphs (out Aug. 28, we pre-ordered. Did you?). To celebrate, Ace Books and participating blogs (hey,... 
These Rebel Waves (Stream Raiders #1) Sara Raasch Published: Aug. 7, 2018 (Balzer+Bray) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review Source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Amy Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars Six years ago, Lu was a solider in the revolution to free Grace Loray from the religious dictatorship of Argrid. Now, Grace Loray is trying to stabilize the... 
Spellslinger (Spellslinger #1) Sebastian de Castell Published: July 17, 2018 (Orbit) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Amy Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars In order to earn his mage name and join his family as a member of the Jan’Tep (“People of True Magic”), Kellan must master the six types of magic as well pass the... 
Wild Hunger (Heirs of Chicagoland #1) Chloe Neill Published: Aug. 14, 2018 (Berkley) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Margaret Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars Note: While review will be spoiler free, it does make reference to events in the Chicagoland Vampires series. If you haven’t started yet, check out VBC’s... 
We’ve been talking about our favorite urban fantasy series here at VBC recently. We listed 10 Urban Fantasy Series You Need to Read and 10 “Rural Fantasy” Series with small-town settings. But we noticed that most of those series debuted in 2011 or earlier and thought some of our readers might be looking for something newer. Here are some of our favorite “new” UF series, which we’re defining as ones that... 
The Serpent (The Immortal Dealers #1) Sarah Fine Published: July 24, 2018 (47 North) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Margaret Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars The unfortunately named Ernie Terwilliger has a fairly mundane clerical job at a hospital. She hasn’t taken a vacation in years for fear of leaving her... 
VBC founder and HBIC Chelsea has a new book out today. It’s the second in the Soul Charmer series, and promises magic, murder, and rented souls. We also have it on good authority the heroine’s character arc is pretty epic and if you weren’t already in love with Derek, you will be now. However, since Chelsea runs this blog, we don’t review her books…because that’s a little weird, right? But we’re excited... 
It’s Independence Day here in the U.S. and I love this holiday. Maybe because I love fireworks. Or because barbecue. Or because I get to make really great pool party playlists. It’s a little odd having the holiday in the middle of the week, as many of us have to work on the days surrounding it. (And if I’m honest, I’m totally getting writing in today.) But we need to celebrate. We haven’t had a Win It... 
A few weeks ago Chelsea posted her list of essential Urban Fantasy series. It’s a good list. I’ve read and enjoyed all of those series. But I felt like there was one glaring omission. My gateway to urban fantasy was the Sookie Stackhouse series, so any UF list I made would have started there. When I asked Chelsea about it she said that Sookie defies many typical UF conventions, first and foremost with its... 
