Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
We’re getting all our ducks in a row for the Fall into (Urban) Fantasy event, but that doesn’t mean we’re skipping out on the monthly Group Read. We want to talk Ill Wind by Rachel Caine (review). Join us on Saturday, Aug. 27, at 1 p.m. CST for a chat on all things djinn, Joanne and David. The Ill Wind discussion chat will be held on Twitter at 1 p.m. CST on Saturday, Aug. 27. We’ll tag the conversation...
This month’s poll was very close, but Rachel Caine’s Ill Wind edged out Jeannie Holmes’ Blood Law by three votes. That means August is going to be all about the elemental power, the secretive djinn and urban fantasy goodness that comes with the first Weather Warden novel. While this one is an urban fantasy, our paranormal romance readers will love the chemistry between Joanne and David. If the synopsis... 
I made a deal with Kristin from My Bookish Ways: I’d start one of her favorite series, if she’d start one of mine. So, in exchange for her learning to “stay to the light” with Karen Marie Moning’s Darkfever, I dived into Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden books. Ill Wind (Weather Warden #1) Rachel Caine Published: 2003 (Penguin) Purchase at: Book Depository, B&N or Amazon Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars Joanne is...
It’s that time again. We’ve had an interesting time with the July read A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole, and we’ll have the time and date for the group chat soon, but we need to start planning ahead. This, of course, is where you come in. We have three adult and three young adult titles in the poll, same as always, so just let us know which book you’d like to read for the August group read. The poll... 
Quick back-end thing: J3WH59ZHEZY6 After taking hiatus in December during our Winter Book Preview, Contest Roundup has returned. (And we will have a new contest coming up very soon. You will love it.) So, we’re back to our normal Thursday link-fest to fantastic book giveaways. Didn’t win our giveaway of The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney? No worries! The Book Smugglers blog is giving away a copy. The contest... 
Last night the entertaining Heather Brewer stopped in at my local Borders store for a book signing. This last Tuesday the final book in her Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series, Twelfth Grade Kills, was released. Her teen series does great things by merging, as she put it, the things she knows (how it feels to be bullied and vampires). It was great to see her behind that podium. Coming from a small town (her... 
Whoa! This week there are a few mega contests with multiple winners and big prizes. We’ll get right to the good stuff. This is the last week to enter our contest for Vampire Academy swag. There will be four winners and it’s open internationally. Score shirts, bookmarks and keychains. Get your name in the ring while you can. 25 books. 3 winners. Total awesomeness from in which a girl reads. Books up for... 
To say we were surprised by the response we received to our favorite vampire authors poll would be an understatement. The comments provide a few interesting discussions, with book suggestions and a debate on Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series. The poll results have three clear favorites: Richelle Mead, Charlaine Harris and Hamilton. The No. 1 thing we took away: Our blog readers had different... 
Instead of splitting things up, I am reviewing the first two Morganville Vampires novels together. This isn’t just for simplicity’s sake (though, that’s nice, too). Looking at the first book alone might do a disservice to a promising series. Glass Houses isn’t bad at all, but the majority of the book is world building. Whereas, with Dead Girls’ Dance we get really see these characters move forward and... 
