Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
Circle of the Moon (Soulwood #4) Faith Hunter Published: Feb. 26, 2019 (Ace) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Margaret Rating (out of 5): 4 stars Note: While review will be spoiler free, it does make reference to previous books. If you haven’t started this series yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Blood of the... 
I’m very excited to say Lost Souls (Soul Charmer #3) is out today. Most of you are aware this is my—Chelsea, the HBIC at VBC—book. This series packs in all my favorite things, which means it makes sense to share it here at VBC. And now with the first major story arc closing (and, yes, there’s another arc coming for books four, five, and six), I’m even more in love. If you like your books gritty, like your... 
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 2019. 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, SF is science fiction,...
The third book in Chelsea Mueller’s Soul Charmer series comes out in a month. A month, y’all. That’s my book. I always try to be upfront about this part. 🙂 Lost Souls brings a big punch of soul magic and even bigger changes at the Soul Charmer’s emporium. It’s always weird talking about your own books, though, so I’ll tell you that Kelly from Reading the Paranormal says: “Gem City is dangerous and deadly... 
In An Absent Dream (Wayward Children #4) Seanan McGuire Published: Jan. 8, 2019 (Tor) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review Source: Purchased Reviewed by: Amy Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars Notes: While this review will be spoiler free, it will reference previous books. If you haven’t started this series yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Every Heart a Doorway. In An Absent Dream is the story about... 
Summoned to Thirteenth Grave (Charley Davidson #13) Darynda Jones Published: January 15, 2019 (St. Martin’s Press) Purchase at: Amazon or Book Depository Review Source: Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for and honest review Reviewed by: Amy Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it will contain references to previous books in the series. If you haven’t yet... 
The Lost Queen (Wilde Justice #2) Jenn Stark Published: Dec. 27, 2018 (Elewyn Publishing) Purchase: Amazon Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Amy Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars Note: While this review will be spoiler free it will reference events from the previous book The Red King (VBC review) and also the Immortal Vegas series (VBC review of book 1,... 
In an effort to help you keep that to-read list updated, I’ve compiled the hot urban fantasy and paranormal romance releases for January 2019. 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, SF is science fiction,... 
Assembling our annual Best Books list is always a challenge, but I’m going to be honest this year was easier. Our team had really strong favorites this year. There were books that spoke to us, that we flashed in everyone’s faces until they’d buy the book, too. Sure there were some series enders (Kate Daniels), but we had some remarkable debuts this year that captivated us—and we hope you’ll add them to... 
Urban fantasy can be aligned with the old-school police procedural style—think Harry Dresden, early Anita Blake books, The Hollows—solving supernatural crimes. Over time the genre has expanded, and while I still love a good gumshoe urban fantasy, as the genre has grown it’s pulled in the best from other worlds. It’s slipped to the crime end, it’s sucked in small-town mysteries (hey, Charlaine Harris!),... 
