(Day 1) Guest Post: Abigail from All Things Urban Fantasy

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Hello and welcome to Day 1 of The Battle of the Sexies!  Kicking off the guest posts is a person whose blog and posts always manage to make me go back looking for more.  She is one of the nicest bloggers I have had the fortune to speak with, and she was kind enough to give me advice when I had initially started Book Faery.

Her name is Abigail, and she runs the blog All Things Urban Fantasy.  Sound familiar?  The name should, since it's one of the best blogs out there!  If you haven't checked ATUF out, then I highly suggest you do.

Connect with Abigail:

Twitter | Blog | Goodreads

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My Uber Alpha Male

Alphas males are one of the crucial elements to good paranormal books. The paranormal genres are really among the last acceptable places to find good alpha males. Think about it. It really isn't acceptable anymore for a guy to be a aggressive, take charge, domineering, jealous alpha. And for good reason. In real life, those kind of character traits would send most sane women running. But in fantasy, specifically in urban fantasy when you're often dealing with werewolves and vampires, its a whole different story. We don't just accept alpha males, we crave them.

A lot of the time these guys are hundreds of years old, literally from a different time where gender roles were defined much differently then they are today. What qualities would make up my perfect alpha male? To answer that question, I'll borrow certain traits from some of my favorite UF guys to create the three qualities that makeup my Uber Alpha Male:

Nearly uncontrollable desire aka the scary/sexy quality:

• Kisten from the Rachel Morgan/The Hollows series by Kim Harrison
• Edward from the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

Both Kisten and Edward have difficulty distinguishing between sex and blood. On the surface that doesn't sound super sexy, but hear me out. It takes normal human desire and multiplies it until its all consuming. In Every Which Way But Dead, when Kisten grabbed Rachel up against the wall after she did jumping jacks in his sweats, he wanted her in every way imaginable. Ditto for Edward kissing Bella in her bed the first time. That tiny sliver of self control was all that kept those guys from taking everything they wanted.

The protector aka the physically impressive quality:

• Curran from the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews
• Adam from the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs.

Curran is described in the books as huge, whether in his 8 ft tall half lion/half man warrior or full on Beast Lord. He throws people around as easily as pillows. And Adam is the Alpha of the Tri-Cities werewolf pack and ex Special Forces.  He isn’t huge physically (just under 6 ft tall) but he lethal in both human and wolf forms.

Call me old fashioned, but I love the idea of a big strong guy who could cause some serious damage should the need arise.  What is even better about Curran and Adam is that they fight along side Kate and Mercy. Plus muscles are nice to look at :)

The semi-reformed guys aka the bad boy quality:

• Bones from The Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost
• Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel TV show
• Damon from The Vampire Diaries TV Show (not Damon from the book series by L.J. Smith)

 

Granted Bones, Spike, and Damon each have a lot of personal baggage that have screwed them up in significant ways but, reasons or not, these guys can be jerks. They kill, deceive, and even have hit the women they love. Yet I still love them (Spike especially). Why? Because they try to change, to be better men, the kind of men worthy of the women they love. Yes, Spike still gambled with kittens and basically everything he did in season 6 was seriously twisted, but he eventually did what Angel never could, willing seeking his soul for Buffy.  I will forever love him for that.

Of course these are just my picks. What about you?  What are the essential traits that you look for in Alpha heroes?  Who exemplifies them for you?

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What's a better way to start off this event than by giving away a book that's got a super sexy alpha in it?  Gena Showalter's generously offering one participant a signed copy of The Darkest Whisper.

For more information on this book, check out my review.


Connect with Gena:
Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads

Bound by the demon of Doubt, Sabin unintentionally destroys even the most confident of lovers.

So the immortal warrior spends his time on the battlefield instead of the bedroom, victory his only concern until he meets Gwendolyn the Timid. One taste of the beautiful redhead, and he craves more.

Gwen, an immortal herself, always thought she'd fall for a kind human who wouldn't rouse her darker side. But when Sabin frees her from prison, battling their enemies for the claim to Pandora's box turns out to be nothing compared to the battle Sabin and Gwen will wage against love.

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3. Giveaway ends 9/4.  Be sure to check back after that and see if you've won!  I will not be emailing winners after they are announced on the blog.  Winners will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is picked.

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