~The Morrigan by Kennan Reid~ Guest Post

Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance

Release date: March 16, 2015

 Synopsis:

Morrie Brandon is the best horse trainer in Oklahoma, able to tame the wildest of beasts. She's also the Celtic goddess of War and Sex, The Morrigan, abandoning her supernatural life for a simpler, more human one. When Morrie is hired by a secretive Scottish family to capture a killer horse ravaging their Highlands manor, the past she has spent thousands of years running from calls her back. Will Morrie learn from her past mistakes and embrace the bold goddess she truly is, or is it too late?

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Author Bio:

Kennan Reid traveled from the vast, open spaces of Texas to the vast, open ocean of California where she enjoys sitting outside in the sun, tossing a frisbee to her dog, Barnabas, and on occasion, writing a few words hoping one day they behave and become a book. When she's not pretending to be a romance author, she is writing young adult novels about elves, witches and reincarnation. The Morrigan is her first adult romance novel and after falling in love with the fiesty goddess and her crazy sisters, will not be her last.

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Excerpt:

“Did no one tell ye it’s rude tae give a man the best night of his life and then run away?” a voice rumbled low and soft and managed to be as seductive as it was menacing.

“Kade,” Morrie sighed, hoping he couldn’t hear the desire and relief laced in the sound.  

She shouldn’t be this excited over knowing he had raced home after her, but inside she nearly bounced like a giddy school girl.  

And what did he say?  The best night of his life…Morrie would have to admit, she felt the same.

She spun around on the stool to face him, leaning back when she found him standing too near.  

He closed the small space, towering over her as he dipped his head to be eye level with her, forcing her back against the bar. 

“Ye will no’ leave like that again,” he growled.  

Morrie frowned at his order and opened her mouth to respond, but the words caught in the back of her throat.  

Emotion flickered in his eyes, eyes that had grown black with what could have been either desire or fury, she wasn’t sure.  But also something else… 

Morrie tilted her head to the side. “Did I scare you?”

Kade huffed with quick offense and straightened up, leaning back from her.  But his expression changed to one of wonder. 

“Like ye would no’ believe,” he admitted on an exhaled breath as though surprised by his own revelation.

“I told you I was here for business.”  And that business was quickly becoming an obsession of hers.  

A challenge that would determine just how far down the mortal hole she had fallen and whether she could find her true nature as a goddess once again.  

This job tested her mettle because it should have been done by now.  She knew she could find the horse if she used her powers, but she needed to know she could find him on her own.  

Though why she needed that, she couldn’t say.

Kade turned his angry eyes on her. “Do ye really expect tae succeed in this daft quest?”

Morrie blinked, surprised by the…well, vehemence of his question and the turn of his questioning.  

Of everyone in the home, he had seemed the least concerned about her reasons for being there.

“If I didn’t think I could catch him, I wouldn’t stay.”  And she had thought he wanted her to stay, but his question had elicited an unwanted response—one of insecurity. “If you think I’m wasting my time, then I should just leave.”  

For emphasis, she moved to slip off the stool, to really get away from him before he could see just how his doubts had touched her, but he stopped her by placing his hand on her hip.

“Wait, that’s no’ what I want.”  Morrie paused but crossed her arms over her chest, pressing her lips together and waiting for him to continue.  Kade sighed. “O’ course I think ye can catch him.  If anyone can, it’s you.  I doona doubt ye.” He blinked, like a discovery had been made. “Maybe ye’re supposed tae. In fact, I’ll help ye do so.”

Morrie gave Kade a sidelong glance.  He was up to something, she just wasn’t sure what.

“You’ll come with me to the loch?”  

There it was again! 

A passing cloud of fear across his face, but this time it was different.  It seemed spurned on by a different place.  

But it came and went so quickly, Morrie soon questioned seeing it at all.

“I’ll follow ye anywhere,” he answered her and there was a deep truth behind his statement. “Just doona leave again like ye did this morn.”

Morrie studied him like a suspicious package wrapped in a thin veil of desperate relief.  He seemed changed from the night before—this emotion even different than the cloud that settled over him after the encounter with his mother.  

Kade either wore many masks or his true nature was too complex to determine.  

Like the horse, Kade was a challenge.

And Morrie was a sucker for challenges.

And his dark eyes turned her into a puddle and it seemed there was nothing she could do about it.  Her shoulders slumped before she muttered, “Stop making me melt.”

Kade frowned. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” Morrie stood up, placing her body much too close to Kade’s, but she couldn’t appear weak.  She pulled out some money and slapped it down on the bar to well cover her tab.

“Alright, you can help.  But what happened last night cannot happen again.  I am your brother’s employee, I am your employee.  And for us to entangle ourselves…” Kade’s responding grin caused Morrie to roll her eyes and regret her word choice, but she continued on, hands on her hips, “would only result in an unnecessary distraction.”  

She hoped to glower that smirk right off his beautiful lips.

At the fire in her eyes, Kade threw up is hands in surrender. 

“Aye, lass, as ye wish.  If ye insist on lying tae yerself and pretending, then I will no’ impose my will on ye.”  

Morrie’s face burned with outrage, but that only resulted in Kade laughing at her, gazing down with desire in his smoldering eyes and adoration in his smile. 

“Stop that!” she complained, pushing past him.   

“Stop what?” he asked with feigned innocence.

She whirled around and nearly smacked her face into his chest.  

Sighing, she stepped back and looked up at him. 

“Stop trying to provoke me.  Nothing will happen between us.”

“If ye say so.  As I said, I will no’ impose myself on ye, but if ye canna keep yer hands tae yerself, lass, I will no’ stop where they may roam.  And we both know they’re curious, lil’ things.”  

Volumes were spoken in his heated gaze.  Morrie flushed anew.

Her body grew rigid, her hands balled into fists at her sides.

“My hands do not—there will be no—gah!” Morrie sputtered and turned her back to him, stomping out of the restaurant and towards what was going to surely be a violent battle of wills.  

For the first time in her existence, Morrie didn’t know if she would be the victor.

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Interview with the Morrigan, aka Morrie Brandon

Throughout Celtic Mythology there have been warriors, heroes, and legends that have carved their names in the annals of lore; many among a cast of characters as long as it is impressive.  But few compare to the Queen of Magic and Mischief, the Goddess of War and Sex, the Morrigan.  She once graced the bloody battlefields of what is now Ireland and Scotland, tipping the outcome of war whichever way suited her whim and leaving behind a path of conquests both from her sword and her bed.  She was worshipped for her magic, her skill, her cunning and her body. 

To introduce my new book, The Morrigan, first in the series, Damaged Deities, I’ll be interviewing the title character, also known by her human name, Morrie Brandon.

Kennan: Welcome, Morrie.  Please tell our readers a little about yourself.

Morrie:  My name is Morrie Brandon and I’m a horse trainer in Oklahoma.  Before that I ravaged the battlefields as a warrior goddess...I was kind of a badass.  Still a badass.  I have two sisters, Badb and Macha, who now go by Bev and Macy.  Bev is currently running from her Pict-turned-werewolf boyfriend and Macy is most likely starting World War III somewhere.

Kennan:  What took a legendary goddess of War to Oklahoma?

Morrie:  It has the fourth highest mortality in the country.  When you never age it helps that those around you die off quickly.

Kennan:  Wow.  Blunt as ever.

Morrie: *shrugs* I see no reason to be any other way.

Kennan: You’re living a more mortal life now, so what exactly caused you to retire from the world of the supernatural?

Morrie: *glares* While I’d rather not talk about that, let’s just say it was due to poor decision-making involving a lying god and a hot-headed Celt.

Kennan: Speaking of “hot-headed Celts” what can you tell us about Kade MacLeod?

This is where our guest exhibits an array of expressions from blustering to blushing...I think I’ve nit a nerve.

Morrie:  What’s there to say about Kade that he wouldn’t already tell you himself? He’s certainly not shy of singing his own praises.  He’s your typical cocky Scot, only tall as a tower and strong as a mountain...with dimples and dark eyes... *blinks* He’s a stubborn ass.

Kennan: He told me to ask you about your “curious hands”...care to elaborate?

Morrie: Did he now?  No, I don’t care to elaborate, I’m sure he’s told you plenty already, insufferable man.

Her eyes flash and the walls rumble with what sounds like thunder.

Kennan:  Well, I think I’ll stop before you strike me with lightning or cut my head off--I’ve heard too many things about you.

Morrie: *grins* I’ve worked hard for my reputation.

Kennan: Any parting words for our readers?

Morrie: Yes! *points her finger* Always check the room before going to sleep.  You never know when you may find yourself in someone else’s bed and then he’ll never let you forget about it!