Passion in Print by Karenna Colcroft

Literary Nymphs Interview

Title: Beta Test

Author: Karenna Colcroft

Publisher: Passion in Print

Genre: Paranormal

Release Date: June 16, 2012

What inspired the story?

It was a case of character hijacking. In my M/M paranormal series Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat, one of the secondary characters started demanding his own story. Justin Ruel, the Beta of the City Pack in Boston, Massachusetts, struck me as an interesting character, and definitely straight, so I talked to the owner of MLR Press/Passion in Print Press about doing a heterosexual romance with Justin as the hero. She okayed it, and then I needed a heroine. The “what if” part of my brain kicked in and I started wondering what if a werewolf pack Beta found out that his mate was human? So Tareth McConnell was born, and once I had her, I had the story and conflict.

The events in Beta Test take place concurrently with those in Veggie Burgers to Go, which is the second full-length novel in the Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat series, and the RWDEM characters make cameo appearances in Beta Test.

EXCERPT:

Tareth could barely see where she was going as she ran into the woods on a muddy, puddled path. She didn’t care. She had to get away from Justin. She couldn’t believe he’d brought her all the way out here, to the middle of freaking nowhere, to tell her he was a werewolf.

A werewolf, for fuck’s sake! Those didn’t exist anywhere, let alone in the middle of freaking Boston, Massachusetts. She’d fallen for the guy, and now he’d turned out to be a lunatic. And she had no way to get home unless the lunatic took her.

The rain poured down on her. She didn’t care about that either. She would rather be soaking wet than stuck in the house with Justin. In there, she might have been able to find a place away from him, but he would have been able to find her too easily. She didn’t know what he might do to her.

He hadn’t given her any indication of that so far. As connected as she’d felt to him, surely she would have known if he was dangerous. Or crazy.

But he had to be crazy. The alternative was that he had told her the truth, and that just wasn’t possible.

A huge pine with rain-slicked bark loomed ahead of her, and Tareth adjusted her route to avoid it. Too late, she saw the root sticking out of the ground. The muddy path gave her no purchase as she attempted to stop herself. She skidded forward, caught her right foot on the root, and ended up face-first in the mud.

“Tareth!”

At the sound of Justin’s voice behind her, Tareth’s heart raced. She couldn’t tell from the single word whether he was angry or worried, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. She had to keep going. If she was lucky, he wouldn’t be able to catch up to her. The path she’d found had to lead somewhere. If she kept going, she might be able to find another house where someone would be able to help her.

She tried to scramble to her feet. A sharp pain in her right ankle sent her back to the ground, this time sitting up in a patch of damp, sticky mud. Damn it!

“Stupid fucking root,” she muttered under her breath. It wasn’t quite as satisfying as yelling at the top of her lungs would have been, but she didn’t dare to yell. Not with Justin so close.

“Tareth?”

His voice was nearer now, and he sounded worried. That didn’t mean she wanted him to find her. Tareth tried to stay perfectly still, hoping that somehow he wouldn’t notice her if he came up the same path she’d used. Of course, she knew how futile that hope was. How could he miss the mud-covered woman sitting there glaring at a root?

“There you are.” He rounded the curve in the path. At first Tareth saw only his shape. When he came nearer she saw the relief in his expression. And behind it, the same tenderness with which he’d looked at her earlier. At the sight, her heart rose, and she couldn’t help smiling.

Then she remembered why she was out there and the smile faded. She couldn’t get away from him now. Worse, she would need his help to return to the house.

Despite her fear, she knew he would help her. He wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. Even though she worried that he was the bad thing that might happen. Looking into his eyes, she could see how much he cared about her. And she felt the same way.

She still loved him. Even if he was crazy. So what does that say about me?

Where can we find your website?
My website is www.karennacolcroft.com. People can also find me, chat with me, rant at me, or whatever on my Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/261093317316839/. And I have a monthly e-mail newsletter which includes info about my upcoming events and releases, exclusive excerpts, and a contest each month; people can sign up via the form on the home page of my website if they want to receive it.