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Round 8 of the Alpha Showdown 2012 puts a human in the ring, but if anyone can hold their own amid the weird stuff it’s Terrible.
Drug enforcer Terrible knows a thing or two about magic and ghosts — it goes with the territory of being a part of Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts world — while Kate Daniels has plenty of experience with supernatural types of all flavors as the heroine of Ilona Andrews’ series of the same name.
Both are fearless and tenacious, but which will win the battle?
Read the pitches, then make the call. Who should advance to the next round in the Alpha Showdown? The poll at the end of this post will be open for two days (closing at 11:59 p.m. CST on May 22). Remember, alphas don’t share titles. Your votes decide who advances in the Alpha Showdown 2012.
You know him from: Downside Ghosts series by Stacia Kane
First appeared in: Unholy Ghosts (VBC review, Buy it on Amazon)
Supernatural status: Human
Championed by: Jen at Red Hot Books
Being Alpha isn’t about being pretty. It’s not about being witty or snarky or supernaturally gifted. A real Alpha inspires respect and maybe a healthy dose of fear. There are few people foolish enough to cross Terrible. He’s a drug dealer’s enforcer, willing and able to take apart any threat with his bulk and bare hands. No fangs. No fur. Just raw power and grit.
His size is impressive and his looks are intimidating, but those are the not only reasons he makes us quake. Terrible possesses unwavering loyalty –not only on the job– but to the woman he has given his heart to. He makes us swoon with the simplicity and single-minded focus of his love and desire for Chess. A man of few words, he means what he says and his actions speak for themselves.
He’s got flaws and he has fears but he’s not ruled by them.
He’s never arrogant, never selfish. He doesn’t abuse his power. But he is strong. He is fierce. And he never gives up. He’ll fight to the death to defend and protect what’s his.
Whether you find him in a bare-knuckled brawl in the street, a frenzied fuck in the bathroom, or an unguarded moment of vulnerability, there’s something undeniably compelling about this man. He is Terrible. Wonderful. Terrifying. Amazing. Alpha.
Where you know her from: Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews
First appeared in: Magic Bites (VBC review, Buy it at Amazon)
Supernatural status: Magic-wielding badass
Championed by: Julie from Yummy Men and Kick Ass Chicks
Kate Daniels is the ultimate Alpha. Really that is all I should have to say to convince you, but I know that it is part of our makeup as human beings to doubt what is said to us outright – that it is in our nature to require more information before deciding on anything important. And seeing that choosing only one Alpha *whispers “Kate”* is probably the most important verdict you will have to make this year, I will grant you what you need: I will tell you exactly why Kate is the only Alpha and I will do so so thoroughly that you will not have a single doubt in your mind.
When you think Alpha, you think strong, loyal, dependable, smart and willing to die to guard those they are sworn to protect. Kate is all those things and more.
She can battle the creepiest vampires, monsters and deities you will ever see. She is loyal almost to a fault; throwing herself into impossible situations because she sees a threat to someone she cares for. Hell, she would die to protect even those she didn’t know just because she felt that standing up and fighting is the best thing to do. She has walked through fire and even stabbed herself in the stomach because it was the best way to save those around her. And if she wants an opponent dead, they will be dead, pure and simple. She is a skilled fighter and one of the most (if not the most) powerful magic users around. Her Power words are scary they are so potent. On top of all that, she has the entire shifter population bowing down to her as she is already their Alpha through being Curran’s mate.
Think about it: She has fought twenty-two shifters to keep Curran in his rightful place as Alpha. That’s no easy feat considering shifters are crazy badasses. So what does it make you if you conquered 22? The Ultimate Alpha that’s what!
I mentioned that she is Curran’s mate. She is a force to be reckoned with on her own, but with Curran by her side, she is even more unstoppable. She never uses him as a crutch nor does she rely on him to help her save the world – she can do that all by herself thank you very much. It’s just nice to have her BFF Andrea and her mate Curran by her side for support sometimes. She is loyal to them therefore they are loyal to her and they would walk into battle just because she asked them too. That right there is proof that she is an amazing woman and that she is capable of leading.
Men want to fuck her, women want to be her. She is fair and just. She can make you laugh and she can bring you to your knees. She is unbreakable, trustworthy, strong and totally kick ass. When voting, she is the best choice. The only choice. Why?
*queue lightning strikes and thunder claps*
Because she is Kate Daniels and she IS the ultimate Alpha!
What, too much? Never.
What’s with this years Alphashowdown!? How can I know every participant and love ALL of them?????
First Curran against Hawke and now this?!?!????
I love Terrible! He doesn’t have the looks but he has the right attitude BUT I do love Kate Daniels MORE! Although I’m a woman (and not gay) I’m in love with her because she has a smart mouth, she doesn’t take sh** from anyone (including the Beast Lord) and she can kick major ass with that wicked sword of hers!!!
So! My vote goes for Kate!!!!! Woot! Woot!
What’s with this years Alphashowdown!? How can I know every participant and love ALL of them?????
Simple answer: VBC readers have very good taste in alphas.
Sorry ladies, but this is a Kate Daniels win for me~! It would have to take someone really powerful, like JZB for me to vote for someone else. Kate is the definition of Alpha to me, and I would find it ridiculous that she would lose this in an actual fight. But I know how many Terrible fans are out there, so it all depends on how you look at the competition between the two. But in my opinion, Kate would wipe the floor with Terrible. She has been a trained killer since she was able to walk. 🙂
Noooooooooo! Say it ain’t so. You are officially kicked out of the Terrible Girl Club. LOL
Hahaha. Kate will always be my number one! XP
Always go by my numbers one hero’s and heroines first and I am freaking crazy about Kate more than I will be about Terrible. It goes, Fever, Kate Daniels, Night Huntress as my top series and I can never vote against them! LOL
Go Kate! Mya-hahahahaha! 😉
Mariya is right. Even though I adore Terrible, anyone who has read the Kate Daniels books knows that she’d destroy Terrible. Complete bad ass!!! Does this mean I need to revoke my Terrible Girls status, too? (please say no!) 😀
Man! I haven’t read either of these series (I plan to), but these campaign speeches are AWESOME! Both of them, but…
“Being Alpha isn’t about being pretty. It’s not about being witty or snarky or supernaturally gifted. A real Alpha inspires respect and maybe a healthy dose of fear.” – DAMN RIGHT! So based on the speeches, Terrible gets my vote. I mean when I saw he’s human, I thought… oh NO competition here,Kate will get my vote… But then I read this, and i just have to give Jen credit!!
Woo-hoo!!
Oh, CRAP this is almost worse than a Cat/Bones matchup! I have me some Terrible fever, (ya dig?) but I think Kate could hand Terrible his butt in any fight. Julie has a great point when she said that Kate fought 22 shifters in less than 2 weeks to stay at Curran’s side. She’s super badass.
Sniff sorry Terrible. I still love you!
You can love them both, even if you can’t vote for them both. 😉
Haven’t read Stacia Kane, so don’t know Terrible, but reading the write up by Jen from Red Hot Books, sure has made me want to go and read this series.
Loving the Alpha Showdown 2012.
READ IT! One of my favorite series. It’s heroine, Chess, didn’t make the showdown — she’s not the alpha type — but fantastically complex character.
Was just introduced to Terrible recently (thanks to a contest at VBC I might add. Thank you!) and I love him. I want to snuggle him until he realizes how awesome he is, but…against Kate Daniels, no.
Kate is Alpha, I wouldn’t be surprised if she takes this whole thing. Point to Kate!
Concur my friend. I just recently read Terrible and while he’s pretty awesome, um, in a matchup against Kate, IMVHO, Kate would kick arse. 🙂
This is really difficult because I really want to support Terrible, but I’m sorry I have to vote for Kate!
Yo Terrible, I love you you are awesome, and your series is one of my favorites, but Kate Daniels is the greatest alpha heroine of all time!!
Word.
Imma let you finish!
Sometimes you just have to go all Kanye for your alpha.
LOL
You tell them, girl! 😉
TERRIBLE!!!!
All the way baby!
TERRIBLE, baby. He is human. He doesn’t need magic to scare the crap out of everyone. He is the dregs of Downside’s worst nightmare. People jump out of his way when he walks down the street, and their worst nightmare is that he is coming for them. He clocked a rival, with NO RETALIATION! He is the biggest, baddest ALPHA of Downside.
“Terrible was coming, his gait easy and steady, but the way his gaze fixed on xxxx and the tire iron dangling loosely from his hand were more eloquent than anything else could have been….The tire iron flew from his hand, spinning sideways like a frisbee…Terrible picked him up and threw him—threw him—onto the grass…”
Fist bump! Dig!
Exactly! HUMAN, and the scariest man around. Kate is fierce, but Terrible is the defintion of Alpha, even without supernatural abilities.
(And I dig your quote; one of my favorite Terrible moments!)
Excellent quote!
Give me the chatter. *fist bump* I love him. 🙂
Yes! I mean, I love a LOT of the alphas(and not trying to take anything away from them),but Terrible is the only HUMAN one who isn’t propped up by immortality or some supernatural crutch that gives him his badassery! The man is EPIC and had me from the very first “Aye” and him blushing at Chess mentioning his “lady friend”. Big,brutal,ruthless,loyal,raw male who blushes? Yeah… he’s the one who gets my vote 🙂
Wow, Zee! That just gave me chills, and made *me* blush remembering the “Aye” that made me fall in love: “Oh, aye. You gonna let me show you?” *THUD*
My vote goes to Terrible! He is just so real, and I actually love him even more because he is not as beautiful as a rennaissance painting!
Terrible all the way!!!! 🙂
Terrible!!
Though, I have to admit, that was a mighty fine pitch ya gave there Julie! All my votes will always go to T!
Oh well… 😉
I vote for TERRIBLE!!
well even if I would agree that terrible is a really great choice, against Kate it’s really not possible. I can’t choose him when there is the awesome Kate Daniels! She is a real Alpha!
I didn’t just vote for Kate Daniels because she is a badass female. I voted for her because she is just that damn good. Good enough to be Alpha.
Haven’t read the Downside series yet, it has been added to my ever growing pile of “When I get some extra cash I will buy this book”. That being said, I LOVE Kate.
I love her personality on a whole. She is just this side of crazy, & offers no apologies for her attitude/self. She always manages to come out of whatever fight she enters for the most part whole. Even injured, she continues to fight for the ending she wants. Kate protects those that are weaker than her, regardless of who she ends up taking on. She had a childhood that was less than ideal, & yet she is still able to find the happy. Plus, watching her & Curran together is just about the darn funniest thing I’ve ever seen…
I mean come on, Kate snapped hordes of demons off at the knees just by saying one word (Magic Burns, I believe) she headbutted a man with a sword in a deathmatch( i mean really, that’s in Magic Strikes). let’s see, she outmatched a woman so old, there were stories in the bible about her children (Magic Bleeds) and she would hand Terrible his ass hands down
but i have to say if her and curran go up, that would be the real challenge, lol
Oh my goodness can you imagine?! That would be a very tight race! lol
Oh, god. If that happened I don’t know who’d I vote on! They’re both so great! 🙂
This is so hard! I love Terrible. But when it comes down to it, I think Kate would win hands down in a fight.
I never got into Kate Daniels so Im definitely picking my man Terrible!! There’s nobody better!!! I don’t see how she can win against that formidable man in a fight….
Ego vos mergam, nec merger a vobis.
I sink you, that I will not be sunk by you.
AND SO IT SHALL BE!!! Terrible all the way
LOVE that littlestrongheart!!
THAT. Was Awesome. 🙂
LOOOOOOOOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Terrible it is! After what Chess did I have a feeling no magic will easily kill him or anything else for that matter.
Terrible is one of my all time favorite heroes, however Kate Daniels is my all time favorite heroine. So, with a little pang in my heart for Terrible, I vote Kate Daniels!
I don’t know who Kate Daniels is, but Terrible is one of my new favorite characters! Besides, he’s badass 😉
Jesus, this is like Sophie’s Choice for me. My favorite female character against my favorite male. Torture!
However, anyone who has read what Kate does for Curran when he is dying and she has to defend herself to the other alphas cannot disagree that no one kicks ass like Kate. She’s the ultimate alpha ( even without the magic). No one can compare! (sorry, terrible, I still love you very , very much)!
Kate Daniels books were old the 3rd one in.
So I’m voting for Terrible – and I would regardless who he was pitted against.
I vote for Kate Daniels
I did it. Terrible wins……………I do love Kate and she is super bad but love will win in the end……..and since I looooooooooooove Terrible. He wins, dig?
This was a tough one. If you took all the other Alpha’s supernatural abilities away, Terrible would win hands down against them. Yet Kate has the leg up with her talents, so I don’t see how she wouldn’t win. This was a tough choice for me. I do love both these characters.
Whoo hoo Kate!!
Whoo hoo!
Terrible I love you but I’m sorry (and sorry Jen). I have to go with Kate on this one.
I haven’t read Stacia Kane yet, but I think I’m bumping her up on my TBR list! With that said, Kate Daniels is so incredibly bad ass, I can’t see a human (or almost anything else) being able to best her! Go Kate!
Ahhh..this is so difficult.
Kate is like my all time favourite heroine ever.
And well Terrible is well Terrible.
I can’t decide.
He’s not gonna make it! End!
Terrible might be a badass *smh* but Kate has a really big sword! *grin*
Go for it Baby!
Kate hands down! She’s strong, relentless and has mad skills with her blood sword!
BTW, everyone…
If Terrible somehow manages to win, I will post a nice, new, Terrible-heavy long excerpt from CHASING MAGIC to thank my awesome readers for their awesome loyalty.
With these contests in the past, even if my character lost, I posted the excerpt anyway. But not this time. So if you want a new Terrible scene, you need to vote for him.
No win, no scene.
🙂
I did vote for him! I did 🙂
((TERRIBLE)) I NEED MY FIX!
No question ever-Kate Daniels for the win! She is the Ultimate Alpha. When magic is up, when magic is down, whenever, wherever she is the One! She is definitely Kick Ass! I kind of want her and Merit from the Chicagoland Vampires to meet up and become besties! ha!
Thank you for that~! Great Answer! I get the Terrible fans and the thing for the scene if he wins, but saying he is more alpha than Kate is ridiculous to me. She deserves the win. And I am thinking this is gonna be really close b/c it’s almost 100 votes seperating them right now.
I disagree. I love Kate and I think she kicks ass. But Terrible is uber-alpha. Saying who is more Alpha isn’t about who would win in a fight between them. It’s a state of being. Dominance that comes from within.
Kate is an alpha, no doubt about it. And her magic makes her stronger in some ways. But I think Terrible is even more bad ass because he stands up to danger and wipes the floor with his adversaries WITHOUT magic and years of training. It’s just him and his fists.
Yes!! Terrible MUST win!!
Terrible…. I love this series.
Terrible FTW!
TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I see he has gotten a lot more votes since the last time I checked in. YAY!
I love Terrible but I have to vote for my girl Kate. And I love that Kate is such a badass she gets to be included in the alpha showdown against a guy!
Who the hell is Terrible??
My vote is clearly for Curran! I’ll be his “can I” girl any day. 🙂 Just thinking bout him makes me want to read these books again.
Oh, you’re missin’ out, girl!! Stacia Kane, Downside Ghost series. Awesome 😀
WHOOOOOOOOT!! Terrible FTW!
I try to avoid these match ups because its always soooooo hard to choose but I always end up getting sucked in anyways! But at least this one is not difficult- hands down KATE FTW you can’t get no more Alpha than her yo! 😉
I agree. Terrible is an amazing character, but we’re talking Alpha here. Not cool characters but characters who could lead. Terrible leads because people are afraid of him or of his employer. Kate leads because people are drawn to her and want to fight by her side. Because she commands attention and power and not out of fear.
Terrible because he strong and soft on the inside. Plus the sexy car 🙂