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Alpha Showdown 2016 Round 13: Kane Malloy vs. Barrons

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VBC: Home of Alpha ShowdownThe matches in this year’s Alpha Showdown have certainly lived up to the name. The battles have been close, the champions true alpha. It’s gotten heated, and if you think the choices were hard before, it’s about to get worse. Take a look at the bracket!

The alpha who wins this bout will secure himself a space in the championship round.  Kane has defeated both Jane Yellowrock and Mercy Thompson. Barrons has bested Slade and Adam Hauptman. Who will move on?

Your votes will decide!

We’ve lined up excellent bloggers to fill you in on why each alpha deserves to advance. Read the pitches, and then make the call.

KANE MALLOY

You know him from: Blackthorn Series by Lindsay J. Pryor
First appeared in: Blood Shadows (Amazon)
Supernatural status: Master Vampire

Championed by: Tracey Rogers from Tracey Rogers Author

They say you always remember your first and you will remember this first timer. Step forward vampire, Kane Malloy. Not just any vampire, Kane, leader of the east side of Blackthorn, is a master vampire. A dual feeder, he’ll take your blood and your energy too. And you’ll thank him for it. With some serious skills, this bad boy can take down both the third and the fourth species.

Blood Shadows by Lindsay J. Pryor // VBCMaster vampire and a master of sex, Kane isn’t purely a vamp of action, he has the cunning label snagged too. He’s a game player, cleverly building his alliances and earning loyalty. He’s waited patiently in the shadows for years, plotting vengeance for the death of his sister, Arana, whilst remaining mindful of the Blackthorn prophecy and the looming war ahead. His enemies fear him and rightly so—with no soul, Kane will dare to go there. You want dark? Kane will go as dark as it gets.

Some say he’s a bad ass anti-hero, I say he’s a bad ass anti-hero—but maybe a little misunderstood. Fiercely protective of those he loves, he has his tender moments. So tender they’ll make you weep. He has a cobra tattoo guarding his heart, but still he let Caitlin in. But this vamp sure as hell doesn’t sparkle. He’ll have males fearing for their lives and females falling at his feet—with only his killer smirk. You’ll definitely want Kane on your side, you’ll want Kane all over you. Did I mention he has skills? Oh and a bow! Luscious navy eyes and a bow. Hello hotness.

‘I’ll make you feel as alive as I can. I’ll make your pulse race and your heart beat so fast it hurts.’ Blood Dark

You’re asking for an alpha—he’s here. Kane’s loyal to those who deserve his loyalty and ruthless to those who don’t. Please don’t underestimate this vampire, he’s already sussed out the competition and smirked.

JERICHO Z. BARRONS

You know him from: Fever series by Karen Marie Moning
First appeared in: Darkfever (VBC Review | Amazon)
Supernatural status: Immortal. Beyond that we don’t know and we don’t really care.

Championed by: Zee at The Saucy Wenches Book Club

Jericho Barrons. He’d laugh one of his very sexy laughs if he ever found out he was being pitted against these “alphas.” Sure, they’re great fighters, immortals who’ve been around for centuries, some longer, some not so long—vampires, werewolves, shifters, demons, charming talkers, talented lovers, and other fierce competitors I’m sure. But the plain, hard truth is, none of them are even in the same league as Barrons.

Darkfever by Karen Marie MoningThere’s absolutely nothing wrong with loving all of them, as long as you can admit one fact. Absolutely none of them will ever stand a chance against this vital, ferocious, compelling, virile, deadly, almost omniscient creature who you will never be able to fit neatly into a category. His sheer presence on page is enough to wipe every other so-called alpha from your mind.

The others might moonlight as gallant knights in shining arming, especially for the ladies, but Barrons will do no such thing. He will help the most distressed of damsels grow into their own heroes if they so choose. And that is the mark of a true alpha. He can kick ass with one hand tied behind his back, he can kill within seconds, it doesn’t matter how powerful his opponent is, and he can do all this without breaking a sweat. And when every soldier on the battlefield has fallen, Barrons will still be standing. I mean, even death cannot defeat him.

What you end up feeling for Barrons during the course of the series isn’t some light romantic feeling that randomly makes you swoon when he says something pretty. The fact is, he rarely says pretty things, actions speak so much louder than words, one of the most amazing lessons Barrons teaches us. And when he does speak, his words are chock full of meaning.

What you feel for him is a living, breathing, pulsating, writhing thing with a life of it’s own. Almost as real as the beast he turns into. You can tell me you didn’t fall in love with him at first sight, and sure, I’ll believe you, but I won’t believe that you didn’t feel that surge of electricity, that spike of adrenaline, every single time he was on page. And it’s a feeling that never went away, it only got stronger with each book. And that’s the point isn’t it? If you’re totally honest with yourself, you realize that this beautiful, intense, life changing force of nature makes you feel things on levels that you can’t even begin to understand. And the beauty of it is, it’s something you don’t need all the answers to. It’s liberating. It’s unique. Barrons just IS. And you will always hunger for more when it comes to him. There will never be enough.

If you want an alpha to challenge you, invigorate you, dare you, scandalize you, and make every cell in your body feel more alive than it’s ever been, Barrons is the one you’re looking for. If the thought of that scares you… it should. You’ll never be the same once you’ve bumped into Barrons in Dublin. But oh, you’ll be so much more alive.

“He’s disturbing. Carnal. Base. Forbidding. Big and powerful, radiating primal hunger. His eyes are blades, slicing into you: dark, ancient, glittering with predatory intensity. He moves like a beast even in his human skin. A woman takes one look at him, her stomach drops like a stone and she runs like hell.

Which direction she goes in is the defining point: she’ll run away—or toward him—depending on her ability to be honest with herself, her hunger for life and willingness to pay any price at all to feel so damned alive.”

I know which way I’m running. Hard. Without looking back. What about you?

VOTE!

Who are you putting your money on: Kane or Barrons?

At the request of Alpha Showdown voters, we’re leveraging traditional polls for the voting, but also keeping reading for your chance to win awesome books. Your to-be-read pile could always use more. Trust us. Each poll will be open for 48 hours.

WIN!

Participating in the Alpha Showdown is all about fun, and free books equal fun, right? We hope you’ll find lots of great new reads during this year’s Alpha Showdown, and to help that along, we’re giving away some stellar reads.

For Round 13, we have a copy of Kresley Cole’s Shadow’s Claim from her Immortals After Dark spinoff series The Dacians (VBC review). You can read it without having read the IAD series (though, VBC highly recommends checking out IAD.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

125 Responses to “Alpha Showdown 2016 Round 13: Kane Malloy vs. Barrons”

  1. Tracey says:

    Blood Shadows was the first PNR I’d ever read and Lindsay J. Pryor got me hooked on the genre and I’ve devoured them ever since. So it was my absolute pleasure to champion Kane.
    As part of Team Blackthorn I can say with all honestly that we have all loved it and have participated with full enthusiasm. This is our first time taking part and we’ve had so much fun with it.
    I find it heart warming to read comments that say people are now going to try the Blackthorn series, especially as so many in Team Blackthorn are also now keen to read Karen Marie Moning books too. Myself included!
    If the intention of the Alpha Showdown is mutual respect and discovering more fantastic books to read – then well done VBC.

  2. BananaTricky says:

    I’m 94% through Blood Shadows and I REALLY don’t understand why people think Kane is good enough to beat JZB – he isn’t in the same class

  3. Julie says:

    I too was wondering who the Kane Malloy was, and what this Blackthorn world was all about… So many voted for this guy from the beginning of this Showdown. Which is the true reason for events like this to get other to see other authors and characters. I purchased Blood Shadows, and I’m having a really hard time getting into this world and the characters have not grabbed my attention. Looking at the list of Alpha’s on the list, Kane and two other I have never heard of and so far this character does not measure up to the other Alpha’s at all.

  4. jesca blue says:

    Dude every decking thing abt Barron’s is awesome

  5. jesca blue says:

    Dude every fecking thing abt Barron’s is awesome

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