Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
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... 
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... 
If you’re a regular reader here, you know I value strong world building in novels. I’m more likely to give a book a rare 5-star rating if the mythology for the world feels real. This is especially true when the world is so vivid that the most fantastical elements becomes downright plausible.
I need everything to make sense. I appreciate the logic authors put into the rules within their books.... 
Recently, I’ve written a couple posts for Heroes and Heartbreakers looking at damaged heroines and the urban fantasy locales that will never make a tourist guide. The more I think on it, the more thankful I am not to be in the shoes of so many of the protagonists from my favorite books. Honestly, it might sound interesting to be a Guardian in Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series, but after... 
This month’s group read — Kristen Painter’s Blood Rights – has characters with chemistry that pops off the page. Only they aren’t a couple.
Chrysabelle and Mal’s interactions ripple with tension and unspoken desire. They like each other, but both think it’s a bad idea. The complexity of their fight against intimacy is made exponentially complicated by the fact... 
Bloodlines (Bloodlines #1)
Richelle Mead
Published: Aug. 23, 2011 (Penguin Teen)
Purchase at: Book Depository, B&N or Amazon
Rating (out of 5): 4 stars
Bloodlines may be a separate series from Richelle Mead’s remarkable Vampire Academy, but it’s set in the same world with some of the same characters. It also takes place following the end of Last Sacrifice, the final VA book. If you read... 
A few times I’ve been asked why I review young adult novels on a blog written, by and large, for adults. The answer is always a simple one: the novels are excellent reads. When written well, YA has epic emotional pull. The latter teen years (and into college) are a tumultuous time when we experience so many things for the first time. It’s easy to get pulled into the rush of first love and first... 
Today’s the final preliminary round of the Alpha Showdown. We couldn’t make it an easy one. We have two feisty, strong woman up this time. Will you go with Kate Daniels, who wields both magic and one hell of a sword, or Rose Hathaway, who has killed so many strigoi that we’ve lost count?
You can get a refresher on just what this Alpha Showdown thing is here, but a key point to remember:...
We’ve spent the last two days with kick-ass ladies, but today it’s time to get back to the guys. And while we’ve already heard a few of you gripe about how difficult the battles are, today it doesn’t get any easier. Dimitri versus Jace?
Oh, we’re going there. Two of the most popular YA hotties are going to battle it out in Round 4. Will snark win out over stealth with a stake?... 
Those who follow VBC on Twitter may know things are stressful these days here at the VBC HQ. One of my close family members has a rare brain cancer — complete with experimental treatments. (He has the best doctors and is in great spirits.) My point in mentioning this isn’t to be a downer, but to say things kind of suck. I’m in a perpetual state of tension, but I’ve been getting a... 
