Alpha Male Diner: Guest Cook Kasey Mackenzie + Give Away

Welcome back to the Alpha Male Diner! Kasey Mackenzie has stopped by to share her finger licking-good recipe for Warhound. And as always...don't worry, you will want this dish going straight to your thighs...

Scott Murphy (Warhound)    

Recipe created by Kasey Mackenzie   

Blackhearted Betrayal

1 half-Irish, half-Egyptian Warhound

Shoulder-length auburn hair
Amber yellow Hound eyes
Deeply-bronzed skin
Delectable warrior’s body
Deadly weapons secreted everywhere
add: Boldness, confidence, loyalty
Wicked sense of humor

Take one insanely sexy, shape-shifting Warhound in human form.  Add the loving influence of a woman as tough as he is, but soft enough to bend when needed—just like him.  Stir in all kinds of supernatural trouble to pump up the combustion between them.  Keep the two on their toes by mixing in various friends, enemies, ex-lovers, and a whole lot of complicated history so things never get boring.  At the end of this spicy cooking marathon, depend on one thing:  these two will melt into a perfect, harmonious whole of kickass and take names.  Always together, fiercely loyal to each other, but able to stand on their own two feet when needed.  Now imagine that the woman is you.  Et voila!  Way better than “finger-licking good”.

Sampling of recipe

potential spoilers for Blackhearted Betrayal

***

I turned to Scott, only to find him nocking an arrow to his crossbow. “So when did you take up archery?”

He laughed at the question I’d blurted out unintentionally. “I don’t tell you everything, baby. Have to keep you guessing so you don’t get bored.”

As if that would ever happen in a relationship involving a Fury and a Warhound . . . I was just relieved to find we could share a moment of humor in light of all the crap going down. “Can I count on you Shadowhounds and Charlie to cover our perimeter?”

“Consider it done.” His glance fell upon Jeserit, setting up shop at the center of Sahana’s perfectly sketched pentagram. The muscles in his jaw tightened, and he pulled me to him roughly. My eyes fluttered shut, and I drank in the feminine scent of berry-flavored candy contrasted with the more masculine musks and sandalwoods that comforted my soul because they meant Scott was nearby. He sucked down those candies to stave off his cigarette cravings, the smoking a habit he’d given up for me.

Rather than kissing me as expected, he ran his hands through my hair and murmured sweet Egyptian nothings in my ear. I didn’t waste magic translating his mother’s tongue, just savored his scent, sound, and most importantly, touch. For this one moment I could forget we were on a desperate quest to stop Anubis before he could bring war to both our world and the immortal; forget that Scott had betrayed Anubis the way Jackal-Faced betrayed his fellow gods; forget that one of us might well have to make the sacrifice Jeserit had made when she chose to carry on knowing that her husband faced certain death. For now, we were just Scott and Marissa, two people who loved each other, who always had and—I hoped—always would.

I opened my eyes to find his devouring my face as if he could imprint it onto his memory the way a food connoisseur would a meal. My pulse skittered as emotion welled inside me. “Gods, Scott, I love you.”

“I know,” he murmured, fisting his fingers in my hair possessively. “As much as I love you. I gave up my god for you, Marissa, and I would do it again, a thousand times over. This is love, not whatever emotion is driving—Anubis—to betray immortal law and steal the free will and bodies of those weaker than he. Remember that no matter what happens, but also remember this: Your Mandate must come first.” I opened my mouth, but he pressed a finger against it. “I know you, Riss, and I saw that silent war waging across your face back in the oasis. Love is important and worth fighting for—worth dying for—but true love would never ask someone to sacrifice honor and duty for mere selfishness. You do what you have to and let the rest of us do what we have to. Even if that means letting go.”

Like I’d had to let my grandmother go. Like Jeserit had to let Mijai go. I’d had no choice but to accept Vanessa’s passing months earlier, and that had been the most gut-wrenching loss of my life—worse than losing my father, mother, or grandmother. Scott I loved with even more strength, more fire and passion, and I couldn’t imagine living life without him again. But, if push came to shove, could I honor our love and his request and fight on if I had to?

“I—I will.”

Scott pressed a frenzied kiss against my lips before pushing away. “I knew you’d make the right choice.”

From the acclaimed author of Green-Eyed Envy comes a tumultuous tale of unrest among the Furies...

As Boston’s Chief Magical Investigator, Riss Holloway has been responsible for solving any crimes committed by or against supernaturals. But now she’s taking a leave of absence from the Boston PD and heading home--to focus on her duties as a Fury: like assisting her mother with an unsettling friction brewing in the Sisterhood, a faction of Furies sworn to serve all the Deities equally. These days, someone is playing favorites, drawing Riss into a tumultuous civil war embroiling every god and goddess. What was once a precept, to stand as a united whole policing arcanekind for millennia, has been divided by something Riss never imagined—and choosing sides could be the most dangerous move she’s ever made.

 Website/twitter/FB/blog

Kasey Mackenzie lives with her husband and son in St. Louis, Missouri; home of the Gateway Arch, the baseball Cardinals, and the world’s greatest thin-crust pizza.  Kasey was one of those students who always had her nose in a book—so no big surprise when she was voted “Teacher’s Pet” in her high school yearbook.  Today, she is a voracious reader of fantasy, romance, suspense, and “soft” science fiction.  She adores her German shepherd puppy, two cats, playing softball, and has recently taken up knitting.  So far she can cast on, do the knit stitch, and cast off.  Hey, it’s a start!

Kasey can be contacted via email at k a s e y a t k a s e y m a c k e n z i e d o t c o m removing all spaces and substituting the @ and . symbols.  She welcomes any and all reader reactions (assuming they are courteously made).  She does reserve the right to mock and snark at any and all rudely-made comments–she is an urban fantasy author, after all!

Shades of Fury series

Red Hot Fury

Green-Eyed Envy

Blackhearted Betrayal


GIVE AWAY
Kasey is offering two winners a copy of 
Blackhearted Betrayal 
(US/CAN only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway