Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
Surprises are coming here at VBC. I have some new things in the works as we approach Alpha Showdown 2013 and come up on our three-year anniversary (when did that happen?). I hope you guys are enjoying the new voices here at VBC. We’re going to try to work in more backlist titles (as in books that have been out for a while). As always, if you have suggestions, let me know.
You Could Be Reading New... 
Can I tell you guys how excited I am for this year’s Alpha Showdown? It’s going to be bigger than ever, and the bracket has more new characters and women than ever before. I can’t wait to see how the voting goes down come May.
Wrath and Beth Get Another Book
When I finished Lover at Last, I immediately started speculating about which couple might be next. I was so wrong, people. J.R. Ward... 
Last week, I introduced you to new reviewer Amanda. Well, now I’d like to point to you a couple new associate reviewers. I highly recommend you check out Mary’s review of Fury of Fire and Krista’s review of Immortally Yours. Get to know the new folks. I’m excited to have more voices at VBC. Lots of exciting things in the works. Plus, you know, Alpha Showdown nominations are open... 
The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines #3)
Richelle Mead
Published: Feb. 12, 2013 (Razorbill)
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon
Reviewed by: Chelsea
Rating (out of 5): 4 stars
So. This is awkward.
I’m going to admit to setting crazy high expectations for The Indigo Spell, and then being a little disappointed it didn’t hit that mark. Yes, there’s that bold four-star rating just a few lines up.... 
Oh, readers, this has been a crazy week. We started Character Love Letters here at VBC. All month long you’ll find love letters on the blog. Some are from readers to their favorite book characters. All are swoon-worthy.
Also, I’ll be heading to the Olde City, New Blood mini-con this weekend in Florida. I have pretty new VBC trading cards on me. If you’re attending, do be sure to say...
In an effort to help you keep that to-read list updated, I’ve compiled the hot urban fantasy and paranormal romance releases for February 2013. All dates are U.S. and tentative. Also: Click the title of any book to visit the Amazon page for pre-order or purchase goodness.
I’ve included genre classification with each book: UF is urban fantasy, PNR is paranormal romance, F is fantasy and... 
We’re bringing Book Bits back to its regular Thursday slot. (Thanks for the feedback last week.) Let’s get to the good stuff.
Shiny! Gena Showalter Cover Art
Gena Showalter shared the cover for her next Lords of the Underworld series, The Darkest Craving. The book is set for release on July 30, 2013. Here’s the back-cover copy:
Having endured weeks of torture in the bowels of hell, Kane... 
We’ve gone too long without a proper Book Bits post. (Did you miss it? Let me know, because your preferences do dictate content here at VBC.) To make up for the hiatus I’ve made the theme of this post kissing. Yep. You may swoon in three, two, one…
The Indigo Spell teaser trailers
I’m all sorts of excited about the next Bloodlines novel from Richelle Mead. Third books are her... 
I have a regular feature over at my writer blog talking about applying Krav Maga lessons to writing. These typically deal with fight scenes and characterization. The last post covered the importance of regular training, as in your character isn’t magically good at fighting. After sharing the link a bit on Twitter, I found that it was a common pet peeve among readers.
You don’t need to have an... 
I’ve had a higher-than-usual number of book recommendation requests on the VBC Facebook page and via Twitter of late. While I can, of course, just point you to the recommendations section, I decided to take a look at the most popular reviews here at VBC. Consider this post your quick access to the books reviews VBC readers found helpful.
TOP 10 MOST POPULAR
VBC REVIEWS
Dead Reckoning by Charlaine... 
