Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
The Taking (The Taking #1) Kimberly Derting Published: April 29, 2014 (HarperTeen) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: Borrowed from the library Reviewed by: Amanda Rating (out of 5): 3 stars *Cue X-Files theme* Kyra Agnew was a mostly normal high schooler. I say mostly because she did stand out in one way—she excelled at softball. Good enough to have top colleges scouting her. But after... 
From VBC’s Chelsea: We’ve covered the best books of 2013, but we’re ready to look forward here at VBC. There are so many wonderful reads waiting for us in 2014. To help you get excited for new books, we’re going to post our reviewers’ most anticipated 2014 books. Add your favorites in the comments. Today Amanda gushes over VBC favorite Nalini Singh and several other stellar picks. (See Amy’s picks and... 
Don’t forget, tonight is our group read chat. All the details can be found here. You know you want to talk about Sookie, Eric, Jason and Debbie Pelt with us tonight as we talk Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris. I’m still on my reading high from My Life as a White Trash Zombie (review), so let’s get into the good stuff. Read Chapter One (and a smidge of two) of Drink Deep Still reeling from the end of... 
Our week has been mass chaos. So, we’re cutting right to the chase today. Read on for the excellent contests we came across this week: Our giveaway of a signed copy of Andrea Cremer’s Nightshade ends this Sunday. Make sure to get your entry in by Jan. 24. You can win signed copies of Cynthia Hand’s Unearthly, Kimberly Derting’s Desires of the Dead and Ellen Schreiber’s Once Upon A Full Moon over at... 
First, a quick recap of all the giveaways we have about to wrap-up here on the blog. Today is the last day to enter our Eve Silver giveaway. You can win either Sins of the Heart or Sins of the Flesh (books one and three in the Otherkin Trilogy respectively). We promise they are excellent. We also are nearing the end of our Vampire Babylon giveaway. Chris Marie Green has signed copies of the first four...
