Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
Update: Barrons dominated this round like the alpha he is. He advances in the Showdown.
The first-ever Alpha Showdown champion re-enters the ring. His opponent is new to the Showdown, but not to fighting.
Can Simon take out the big, bad Barrons?
We’ve lined up great bloggers to explain why each alpha deserves to advance. Read the pitches, and then make the call.
You know him from: The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning
First appeared in: Darkfever (VBC Review | Red Hot Books Review | Amazon)
Supernatural status: No One Knows
Championed by: Jen at Red Hot Books | @RedHotBooks
It’s been years since I have had the chance to get down and dirty with Jericho Barrons. Years. But time hasn’t dulled the memory. He is not a man you could ever forget. Maybe it’s the barely restrained animal in him. Maybe it’s the tightly controlled violence. More likely, it is the way that he oozes sex. Dominance. Strength.
Barrons is a unique blend of primal and polished. His veneer is slick and civilized. But underneath, you know he would probably be just as comfortable doing it in the dirt as he would be a top silk sheets. Hell, he’d like it better.
Barrons uses whatever is at his disposal to get what he wants. His mind, his experience, and his body are all weapons—to intimidate, to seduce, or to destroy at will. Skilled in the Druid arts, he can bend your mind to his control. That’s if his sex appeal doesn’t do the trick. The dark hair, golden skin and strong, chiseled features are likely to make you weak in the knees long before he needs to use The Voice.
His beast form is a creature so base and raw, there isn’t even a name for it. But you want to know him anyway. You want to put your hands on him. You want to fuck him. And you know it will be the best you’ve ever had.
He’s not perfect, but that’s not what Alpha means. It’s not about gentle and sweet; or pretty words and poetry. It’s about all those things that may make you uncomfortable even as they turn you on. It’s about power and knowing what to do with it. Jericho Barrons definitely knows what to do with it. Whether it’s love or war, he is sure to come out on top.
You know him from: The Others Series by Anne Bishop
First appeared in: Written in Red (VBC Review | SmexyBooks Review | Amazon)
Supernatural status: Alpha Wolf Shifter—Leader of the Lakeside Courtyard. Views humans as a food group.
Championed by: Tori Benson from SmexyBooks, Heroes & Heartbreakers and RT Book Reviews Magazine | @smexys_sidekick
Alpha shifters are a dime a dozen but how many will tell you upfront that they hate you, want nothing to do with you, and hold you in the same regard as a chicken nugget? And think you’re just as tasty?
Simon Wolfgard is one of the terre indigene—the “others”. The wolf Alpha of the Lakeside Courtyard, Simon rules his territory with sharp claws and teeth. His humanity is only a physical disguise he wears in order to deal with the humans who occupy his world. Make no mistake though. The terre indigene are animals first. They look at the world and its inhabitants through the eyes of a predator and have no moral qualms with making you disappear if you get in their way.
“It was so much easier when all we wanted to do was eat them and take their stuff.”
Large and in charge, Simon is extremely attractive despite his surly grumpy attitude. Strong, commanding, and completely untamed; he is the ultimate alpha through and through. He doesn’t like humans but he will use them in any and all ways in order to make his slice of the world better for his people. He demands obedience and respect. Any attempts to resist his authority is dealt with swiftly and painfully. Protective to the extreme, once Simon accepts you into his pack, you belong to him forever and he will fight tooth and nail to ensure nothing and no one hurts you.
Though he’s not the most romantic, remember he’s a wolf first, he is willing to bend a little for his favorite tasting squeaky toy. Games of the heart make no sense to him and forget about human emotions. He won’t or can’t understand the appeal of a partner beyond biological physical release. But if you can grab and hold his attention; convincing him that a few nibbles and licks can lead to even more fun, then you may have a chance at taming this alpha into the most faithful of men.
WINNER – JERICHO Z. BARRONS
Who will continue in the Alpha Showdown?
Only votes submitted via the Rafflecopter form below will be counted. This means your vote is tied to your email address. It also means we’re giving away something awesome.
For Round 6, we’re giving away a copy of Vicki Pettersson’s The Scent of Shadows. This contest is open internationally, provided The Book Depository ships to your location.
You can get additional entries into the contest by tweeting, following and the like, but your vote is still only counted once.
Always, Barron. Always! <3
Totally Barrons! !!
JZB…BARRONS!
Almost too easy… Barrons!
Jericho Z Barrons!!!!
Gotta be barrons!
Barrons. THE ultimate alpha!
Barrons of course!! 🙂
Barons, not a clue who Simon is!
Oh! Written In Red and Murder of Crows are fantastic books. Anne Bishop proves that sex is not necessary for a story to be enthralling, horrifying, and humorous. Simon is much more intriguing than Barrons, and has shown himself to be an adaptable Alpha.
It’s difficult to think of many tougher than Barrons. Has to be J. Barrons!
Jericho Zigor Barrons
Barrons!
Barrons! He’s the ultimate alpha!
Love Barrons
Easy! Barrons is THE ultimate alpha. If it wasn’t for VBC I would never have met Mr Barrons. So thank you. 😀
of course Barrons
JZB for the win!!
Barrons
BARRONS
Barrons for sure
Barrons! Barrons! Barrons!
Intimidating and sexy and scary as hell with shades of unapologetic gray.
Barrons
Barrons were always by my favorite BBF!
JZB
Barrons!!
Barron is the ultimate alpha male…..
Ok, that was hard, as I did not know both. I am a sucker for men named Jericho but I also adore werewolves and wolfshifters in their basest form. Unfortunately only one I could chose. 🙁 So Jericho it was.
But I am a winner as now I want to read both books and maybe get excited for another series altogether. YAY 😀
Barrons, of course.
I liked Written in Red a lot, but Simon has nothing compared to Barrons!
JZB
Simon doesn’t make me want to kick his ass, even though he’s a total alpha. Barrons is just a jerk, ugh!
Barrons!
No contest here. Barrons, hands down!
Simon!
Simon!
Barrons. No question.
Simon Wolfguard This was my favorite book so far this year.
Not Barrons
Hands down no contest. Barrons takes this one.
Barrons
JZB will ALWAYS be the Alpha! He may be a constant jackass, but he can always be counted on to get Mac out alive and protect those she loves. Besides NOTHING but K’vruck can kill him!
I vote for Barrons since I don’t Simon, but after Tori’s pitch I’m running to Amazon now….
It will never be anyone but Barrons! He’s ruined every other alpha male for me!
Barrons!! No Question.
Simon. We need new blood around here! Maybe that’s not the best choice of words? Fresh meat?
BARRONS 🙂
Barrons
Written in Red and Murder of Crows are two of my favorite books, and wanting to see how Simon will continue to deal with Meg and his feelings for her makes me extremely impatient for book 3!
This was a difficult one. As much as I completely agree with everything said about Barrons and however much I think there’s no doubt about his being an alpha, I voted for Simon. I think “fresh meat” (see Mags comment) is a great way to put it. I would love to see Simon advance on and match up against the other contenders.