Also, a quick housekeeping note: The Alpha Showdown is all about fun and finding new books. Support your favorite character to the fullest, but in doing so please do not tear down the other character’s author. You can, however, comment your little hearts out on the ways Alpha A would massacre Alpha B. Now, that’s all fiction and no real feelings get hurt. Deal? With that out of the way…

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. Remember, alphas don’t share titles. Your votes decide who advances in the Alpha Showdown 2012.

ROUND 3: LOTHAIRE vs. CAT

Lothaire, the Enemy of Old

You know him from: Immortals After Dark by Kresley Cole
First appeared in: A Hunger Like No Other (VBC review, Under the Covers review, Buy it at Amazon)

Supernatural status: Vampire

Championed by: Under the Covers | @UTCbookblog

Behold! Lothaire Konstantin Daciano, Sovereign of Dacia, Realm of Blood and Mist, son of King Stefanovich of the Horde and Ivana Daciano, Heir to throne of Dacia. Grandson of Serghei Daciano King of Dacia. But you can call him Enemy of Old. We just call him Sexy.

Ruthless, brutal, beautiful…maybe a little sanity challenged, he nonetheless has a powerful charisma that will draw you just close enough for him to rip out your heart and gleefully snack on it as you watch. In the bloodthirsty world of the Lore, Lothaire is the most feared and yet most lusted after vampire ever known. With white hair, eyes of blood red, firm, sensual lips with a hint of cruelty and a past so dark and full of secrets, no woman should want to know…but we do.

Having relied on his own cunning strength for centuries, he is a fearsome enemy. Unlike Cat, he needs no government backup or a big bad boyfriend to hold his back. With only his wits and wicked sharp fangs, Lothaire could shank Catherine Crawfield with not a hair out of place. I’m sure her fangs would make a cute pair of earrings for his beloved Bride, Elizabeth.

The half-breed wants to take on the ultimate vampire? No contest. Lothaire would dropkick her so hard not even Chapter 32 could revive her. So, Red Reaper, who’s your daddy?

Cat a.k.a. Red Reaper

You know her from: Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost
First appeared in: Halfway to the Grave (Louise’s review, VBC review, Buy it at Amazon)

Supernatural status: Vampire… with an occasional heartbeat

Championed by: Louise from Between the Covers | @BtweenTheCovers and @MonsterMaX3

I’m sorry to waste your time with this pesky restating of the obvious, but Chelsea is a stickler for the formalities. So, to make her happy… and to offer the appearance of a fair shake to the others in this competition… I will offer a brief summary of the many reasons why Cat is the biggest badass on the block.

* Cat grew up thinking there was something evil inside of her, thinking that she herself was evil. Despite the conditioning of her whack-a-doodle mother and fanatical grandparents, which would have turned a lesser not-yet-turned half-vamp into a homicidal maniac, she went out nightly to hunt vampires that were faster and stronger than her in an attempt to right the wrong done to her mother, and to prevent anyone else from falling victim.

* Cat is strong, both mentally and physically. She never gives up, never quits. And she never backs down or leaves any of her people behind. Even when the fight is one it looks like she has no chance of winning, she will stand her ground and do all she can to protect those under her care.

* Coldly practical and able to rationalize and strategize with the best of them, Cat manages to maintain her compassion and is utterly loyal to those she cares about. There is not one person she loves who she would not take a bullet for. *pauses to think, counts on fingers… breaks out toes* Actually, there may not BE one person she loves who she hasn’t already taken a bullet for.

Cat is the epitome of what an alpha is: a leader who puts the welfare and safety of those in her care before herself; someone strong enough to defend those too weak to protect themselves; someone willing to make the sacrifices necessary to protect and provide for those under their care. And she does it all in stilettos and skin tight leather. There’s no contest here… Cat has titanium ovaries *thinks all the boys in this showdown… especially Lothaire… should try to top that* and is the obvious choice.

SHOWDOWN VOTE

View This Poll

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. Remember, alphas don’t share titles. Your votes decide who advances in the Alpha Showdown 2012.

ROUND 2: CHARLES CORNICK vs. KING DORIAN

Charles Cor­nick

You know him from: Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs
First appeared in: Technically, Charles first shows up in Moon Called (Buy it at Amazon), the first Mercedes Thompson book, but later appears more prominently in the Alpha and Omega novella Cry Wolf (Buy it at Amazon).

Supernatural status: Werewolf

Championed by: Jennifer from The Book Nympho (a.k.a. @TheBookNympho)

Charles Cornick is a silent and deadly werewolf, who is dominant enough to back down an alpha of a pack without drawing on the strength of his alpha. He has been his pack’s top enforcer for more than one hundred years. Charles prefers to go without reinforcements to a kill because he believes that more wolves tend to muck things up. He is so superior at his job that even members of his own pack are afraid of him.

Charles draws on his skills in martial arts and his magic skills he received from his mother’s side of the family to help him in his job as assassin for his father and alpha, Bran. He thinks of his job as enforcer as carrying out justice, but at the same time he tries not to hate himself for being good at killing.

Charles is very much in touch with his wolf; he calls him brother wolf and uses him as his guide in many things. And like all werewolves he is dangerous, angry and possessive. Do not try to harm or take what is his.

Dorian

You know him from: Richelle Mead’s Dark Swan Series:
First appeared in: Dark Swan book 1, Storm Born (VBC review, Buy it at Amazon)

Supernatural status: Fae King of the Oak land in the Otherworld

Championed by: Pamela a.k.a. @SpazP | her blog

“Dorian used to watch you like a starving man who wants meat. Now he looks at you like he wants seconds.”

Dorian is the ultimate seductive Fae king with a healthy taste for bondage, and a huge hard-on for power… and Eugenie.

His bright, jewel-toned red hair and elegantly beautiful features are enticing by themselves, but are also his greatest weapon, easily leading others to underestimate him, something they only do once. He is very open with his sexuality, as sex is like breathing to the Fae, and he openly expresses his affections for Eugenie. He is conceited and self-absorbed, and yet how much more alluring is it when we realize he’d truly give up his Kingdom, and ultimately sacrifice himself, for Eugenie. HOT.

“That’s the last time you’re going to kiss me,” I warned when it ended.
He smiled knowingly, and in his eyes, I could see his own memories of that night. “So you say.”

Did I mention how incredibly arrogant he is? I did? And yet the arrogance will have you fanning yourself and wanting to slap Eugenie for being so reluctant to hook up with him. Exceptionally politically savvy, he knows the ins and outs of the Otherworld, and knowledge is power, which is also very exciting. Dorian is a character that wins you over and has you falling in love with him, despite himself. His teases are overflowing with sexual innuendo, and his playful nature is extremely hot, but when he takes Eugenie to task with her training, it only jacks up the heat further.

“You are the most boring teacher ever.”
He grinned and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, just as a knock sounded at the door. “It all depends on what you want me to teach you.”

Once Dorian makes it clear that he has to have Eugenie, he will not settle until he has her. He is the one person to stand behind Eugenie when she goes through a horrifically violent act, when nobody else will. Fiercely loyal, playfully sexual, unquestionably powerful, ruthlessly political, and passionately wicked… Dorian the baddest and hottest beast in here. He will kick your ass to the other side of the universe, while you’re still in a trance induced by his level of hotness.

SHOWDOWN VOTE!

Round one brings together a master vampire known for being ruthless with everyone except his wife and a witch who is not to be trifled with (she does have vampires, fairies and demons around her all the time).

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. Remember, alphas don’t share titles. Your votes decide who advances in the Alpha Showdown 2012.

ROUND 1: BONES vs. RACHEL MORGAN

Bones

You know him from: Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost
First appeared in: Halfway to the Grave (VBC review, Buy it at Amazon)

Supernatural status: Master vampire

Championed by: Candace from Vampire Book Club and Frost Fans | @cpblackburn73

Bones has gone head to head with a voodoo queen, ghosts, government agencies, a scary mother-in-law and the most-lauded literary vampire of all time, all to stand up for his woman and his people. Arguably, the most powerful vampire on the planet chose to share power with him. He’s looked death in the face and came out on the other side stronger. If you want the definitive Alpha, you need to look no further than Bones.

You want examples? Fine, take a seat and lets discuss what happens when you combine lethal precision, deadly fangs and undead sex drive to spare. Cat was unfortunate enough to come up against a vampire who had a heart literally in the wrong place. As the result of a staking gone wrong, Bones was about to lose Cat. He beheaded that vampire with the hood of a car. Yeah, that’s right, he slung a car hood with piercing accuracy.

Need more? He ripped the limb off a ghoul and, to add insult to injury, beat the ghoul with his own arm. I don’t know about you, but to bitch slap someone around with their own arm seems pretty badass to me. Not only that, but Bones appears to now have the ability to telekinetically whoop ass. That’s right, brawn and brains. He’s taken a bullet to the head, been faced death, had his mind taken over and fought with demons, all to come out better, stronger and faster on the other side.

Let’s not forget that nobody can rock chain mail like Bones.

When he’s not shagging Cat senseless or traveling the world keeping wayward vamps in line, he hangs with Mencheres, Spade, Ian and, on the rare occasion, Vlad. His line pays their tithes willingly and wet themselves at the very mention of his name. Why? Because he’s Bones. And he’s the ultimate Alpha.

Rachel Morgan

You know her from:The Hollows series by Kim Harrison
First appeared in: Dead Witch Walking (VBC review, Buy it at Amazon)

Supernatural status: Witch or ???

Championed by: Nicole from Literary Escapism | @kyatty2007

Rachel has a talent for brewing some kick ass spells…and for finding herself in hot water. She has a tendency to leap before she looks. She’s fearless…well, she doesn’t let that fear hinder her. She also has help from a demon, who would love nothing more than to drag Rachel back to the underworld.

Between her mad spell brewing and help from the demon realm, Rachel could kill any other supernatural she faces. She may need silver for her first opponent, Bones, and while she doesn’t normally carry any, she won’t let that stop her. She’ll have a potion that can stop Bones in his track long enough for Rachel to disarm him and kill him with his own stake.

SHOWDOWN VOTE!

Dark Kiss (Nightwatchers #1)
Michelle Rowen

Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars

I have to give it up to Michelle Rowen; she can make waiting for a single kiss the hottest thing ever.

The majority of the novel has protagonist Samantha doing everything she can to keep from kissing people. It is the desire and the danger that lies with a potential kiss that will keep you turning the pages of Dark Kiss.

Samantha has been turned into a gray. She has no idea what this means, because the boy she’s crushed on forever didn’t explain a thing before he gave her the hottest kiss of her life and took her soul at the same time. Now she has an unyielding hunger to kiss others, and it just doesn’t make sense. Other grays may be giving in, but somehow she can resist it.

When she meets Bishop, she just thinks he’s a slightly crazy hottie. He knows more about her than she does, and the angel’s mission on earth means he might be her enemy.

Rowen’s characters are well developed, and I truly liked Samantha. She makes a handful of not-so-smart decisions, but they feel right for her. Bishop is delicious and tortured and complicated and … well… there is no way you will not want to kiss Bishop. Really.

Some of the elements of this one — angels, demons, souls on the line — reminded me of Lisa Desrocher’s Personal Demons, but better done. If you enjoyed that book, you will love this one.

If you like the long tease and heroines fighting against what they may become, Dark Kiss will be a win for you. I liked it and will be game to read book two.

Sexual content: Kissing

Also, did you know Alpha Showdown 2012 starts on Monday? It does. And it will be epic. Have you started placing your bets?

Excerpt from Karen Mahoney
I enjoyed The Iron Witch and The Wood Queen by Karen Mahoney, and now she’s shared a brief, spoiler-free excerpt from the upcoming The Stone Demon, the third book in the Iron Witch Trilogy. Have you started this series? If so, did the snippet whet your appetite for more?

Book trailer from Karina Cooper
I really enjoy Karina Cooper’s Dark Mission series — start with Blood of the Wicked — but she’s working on a new series, too. Her sexy steampunk series The St. Croix Chronicles starts with Tarnished and now we have a video tease for the book. Will you be giving Tarnished a shot? The book hits stores on June 26, but I suggest pre-ordering it.

Chess Putnam as a teenager
You read that right. On June 4, e-booksellers will have a new novella from Stacia Kane called Finding Magic. And it features an 18-year-old Chess. If you’ve always wanted insight into her background, here’s your chance. The official blurb is below, and I promise to shoot out the links to find it once the novella is available.

Karen Marie Moning has called Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts series “dark, sexy urban fantasy at its finest.” Now, in this breathlessly suspenseful eBook novella, Kane has written a prequel to her thrilling series. Before Chess Putnam was a magic-wielding Churchwitch, she was a student in the Church of Real Truth—with a keen sensitivity to magic, a strong rebellious streak, and a penchant for self-destruction. And in Finding Magic, a grisly ghost murder becomes Chess’s baptism of fire.

When eighteen-year-old Chess Putnam is offered the chance to train with a special team of investigators known as the Black Squad, she feels torn. She’s never been a team player and hates how one male Inquisitor condescends to “the new kid.” But at her first bloody crime scene, she gets a taste for investigation—and is hooked on the high. Though the seasoned Inquisitors consider the series of ghost murders random events, Chess starts to detect a pattern. Is a psycho killer summoning ghosts from the City of Eternity and using them as murder weapons? As Chess gets closer to the dark truth, she puts herself in grave danger and risks losing everything she’s fought so hard for.

Includes a special preview of Stacia Kane’s upcoming urban fantasy thriller, Chasing Magic!

Next Hollows novel hits shelves in January
Usually Kim Harrison’s The Hollows novels are a February treat. Things are changing, though. They’ve moved up the release date for Ever-After to Jan. 22, 2013. If you’re curious about how things are going to progress after the ending of A Perfect Blood (I am), then you now have one less month of waiting.

Crimson Moon re-released with bonus material
Earlier this week, I reviewed Crimson Sunrise by J.A. Saare. A few readers contacted me about trying to get the first book, Crimson Moon, on Kindle — and not being able to find it. That’s because the book was about to be re-released with new content. And, guess what, it’s now up on Amazon. So, if you haven’t started this one, go download it to your kindle now. Right now it’s just $2.99.

I’m very thankful we have such a strong, active community on Vampire Book Club. You are fun and have great insight into books and authors. I love reading your opinions on the books we review, the discussions on favorite characters, book recommendations and seeing you interact with your favorite authors here on the blog. So, I ditched the code, because I was worried people were being left out of our community. And I didn’t want that.

However, we haven’t had any more comments than usual, and it’s made quite a bit of work for me. I employ two spam filters on VBC. The first is the fantastic Askimet, which has caught 55,000 spam comments for me in the last year. THOUSANDS. It rules. The second is the built-in WordPress spam filter. Since removing the captcha feature on comments, I have between 200 and 250 comments in the WordPress filter each day. Two or three of those comments are legit. That means, each day I have to go through 10 or more pages of junk comments to make sure those wanting to participate here at VBC are heard.

So, here’s the question, readers: Do you care if VBC uses captcha in the comments? If it truly makes things easier for you, tell me and I will not reinstate captcha. However, if it doesn’t matter one way or another for you, tell me, too. Because when we start Alpha Showdown comments are going to quintuple here, and I want to make sure the extra work is worth it.

Crimson Sunrise (Crimson #2)

Rating (out of 5): 4 stars

J.A. Saare is at her best when she merges emotional turmoil with cutting action scenes. The latter half of Crimson Sunrise brings this repeatedly in fresh ways that make your heart break for some characters and want to hug others.

Crimson Sunrise picks up a few weeks after Crimson Moon. While Emma and Caleb are happily together, they haven’t had much alone time. The two are staying with Caleb’s parents and others in the werewolf pack are around … lots. Caleb’s wolf has claimed Emma as his mate, so this makes her family. And adjusting to their nature — and not being around her trueblood vampire parents — makes her a bit antsy.

A kidnapping puts the pack on high alert, and Emma is sure the trueblood vampires are involved. I don’t want to give anything away, but there are prophecies, trickery and our girl chooses to become either a vampire or a werewolf.

While the first half had me making Twilight illusions (only with the vampire being the one heartbroken and not loved ‘that way’ — poor Trent! — and the werewolf being the alpha asshole at times), this isn’t a bad thing. The romantic elements were elevated and the way Emma handled Trent and his feelings were far better than Bella’s stringing along of Jacob. That said, the second half ditched the love triangle bit and focused on Emma and Caleb working together to fight the big bad.

Saare manages to write eye-popping action scenes that evoke emotional revelations from her protagonists. It’s in these moments that we see Emma’s strength, her devotion to friends and family and just how much power this one woman holds. Really, once you make it halfway through this one, it picks up speed and intensity. The ending sets the stage for book three and some big-time drama while still giving closure. (Thank goodness.)

Sexual content: Sex, kissing, lots of interrupted making out

Many of you have mentioned — on both Facebook and Twitter — how you were surprised not to see Jericho Barrons defending his Alpha Showdown 2011 title this year. While there were no new books to make him eligible, it feels appropriate to make the first novel featuring the alpha our May group read.

If you haven’t started the series, it’s epic urban fantasy with sizzling romance undertones… and gets better with each book. Here’s the VBC spoiler-free review of Darkfever for added incentive.

Darkfever (Fever #1)
Karen Marie Moning
Published: 2006 (Dell)
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon

MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman.

Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands…

Speaking of favorites, I’ve been recommending books left and right lately. The ones that have gotten the biggest “thank you for suggesting this” responses in the last month have been Feed by Mira Grant, Divergent by Veronica Roth and Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning (click links for spoiler-free reviews).

Julie Kagawa cover reveal
While I continue to tell anyone and everyone they need to read Julie Kagawa’s new Blood of Eden series, she’s sharing new cover art from the Iron Fey world. While Meghan Chase’s story has concluded, The Lost Prince kicks off a new trilogy featuring her now-grown little brother Ethan (who looks mighty yummy in said cover art). The Lost Prince is slated for an October 2012 release.

Another taste of Once Burned
We’re getting closer to the release of Jeaniene Frost’s new Night Huntress spinoff series focusing on Vlad. That means more teasers! She’s just posted this snippet from the novel, and how badly do you want this book? This will be one you can expect reviewed at VBC in the near future. (And maybe a little giveaway fun with Jeaniene next week. Hint hint.)

Richelle Mead book tour
Author Richelle Mead has announced the dates for her book tour in support of The Golden Lily, the second in her Bloodlines series. I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and am, in general, a Richelle Mead fangirl. While she isn’t coming to my area on this tour, maybe she’s coming to yours. If so, take pictures!