Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1) S.A. Chakraborty Published: Nov. 14, 2017 (Harper Voyager) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: purchased Reviewed by: Beth Rating (out of 5): 4 stars Nahri is a con—she uses her fake “talents” to “heal” those who may be possessed by spirits, and then she charges fees, steals what she can, and disappears. She does have some talent—she knows when... 
Shadow’s End (Elder Races #9) Thea Harrison Published: Dec. 1, 2015 (Berkley) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Jannelle 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, Dragon... 
Shadows at Midnight (Shaede Assassin #5) Amanda Bonilla Published: Sept. 24, 2015 (NYLA) Purchase: Amazon Review source: copy provided by author 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 in the series. If you haven’t started yet, check out VBC’s review of Shaedes of Gray. First of all,... 
Jinn and Juice (Jinn and Juice #1) Nicole Peeler Published: November 25, 2014 (Orbit) Purchase: Amazon Review source: purchased Reviewed by: Margaret Rating (out of 5): 4 stars Lyla was cursed to live as a jinn for a thousand years. If she’s unBound, she’ll become human again when the curse expires. She’s been hiding out in Pittsburgh, hoping to stay under the supernatural radar. Rivers in the human world... 
The Genie Ignites (Zubis Chronicles #1) Kellyann Zuzulo Published: March 2012 (Boroughs Publishing Group) Purchase at: Amazon Reviewed by: Mary Rating (out of 5): 3 stars I’m a newbie to the genre of the Genie, a virgenie, if you will. As is Bethany O’Brian, but that doesn’t keep her from having some 3D dreams about a mysterious lover. As a reporter specializing in Middle Eastern diplomats and affairs... 
Throughout our Character Love Letters event you’ll see other readers publicly admitting their love for fictional characters. Today is the first of 2013’s fan letters. Jen from Red Hot Books professes her love for Tyler from Amanda Bonilla’s Shaede Assassin books. I love this series, too (though I swoon more for a certain arrogant royal…). You can check out the VBC review of the first book Shaedes of Gray... 
Oracle’s Moon (Elder Races #4) Thea Harrison Published: March 6, 2012 (Berkley) Purchase at: Book Depository, B&N or Amazon Review by: Candace Rating (out of 5): 5 stars I started counting time for you. I want to change who I am for you. You are my Grace. He was too full and there weren’t enough words. He said, “I did not know I needed grace until I met you.” A few select titles count as blockbusters this... 
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...
