Take a good book to the beach with you by Peggy Jaeger

 "Hot time, summer in the city. Back of my neck getting burnt and pretty."

Any body else remember that old Lovin' Spoonful song?? Hee hee. I'm showing my age, I know.

When I was younger and a sun worshiper, I lived for the summer days I could take a few hours at my local beach, soak up some rays, and read without any interruptions or worries. Back then, my beach reads were mostly comprised of the newest Jackie Collins, Kathleen Woodiwiss, or Nora Roberts book that happened to release in the summer season.

The hours of escapism while sitting in the sun were marvelous and made me truly know the definition of BEACH READ; fabulous heroines meeting hunky heroes and engaging in adult behavior ( read :SEX) while escaping from danger, or trying to solve the world's problems.

Hey, it's not called escapist fiction for nothing.😉

Nowadays I shun the sun like Lestat because...wrinkles.

But I still enjoy a great book that can be classified as a beach read. And hey - I even write them now. LOL.

One of my favorites that I've penned has just gone on sale for only 99cents. 

IT'S A TRUST THING tells the tale of Nell Newbury, one time Park Avenue darling, whose father - a Madoff devotee - bilked people out of billions. The notoriety almost killed Nell's mother and made the young girl grow up fast. Nell runs her own company now, keeps out of the public eye, and isn't looking for love.

And then she meets a handsome economics professor who knows nothing about her and who makes her toes go numb with just a glance.

Do you like to read at the beach? Or on a boat? Or sitting in the park on a lovely summer day?

Take IT'S A TRUST THING with you the next time you go. You'll have a fun time reading it. One of my reviewers called it a "RomCom with angst, a klutzy heroine you can't help rooting for, and redemption."

That about says it all. Hee Hee

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April Showers as art, by Peggy Jaeger

Weird title for a post, right?
Hee hee.

This month's theme, APRIL SHOWERS, hits home for me in a big way.

First, I love the rain. In any form. The more torrential the rain, the louder the thunder, the blacker the sky gets, and the brighter the lightning, and I am a happy camper. I know...weird. Maybe I was a meteorologist in a former life. Who knows. But rain, simply, does it for me.

I adore cozying up in one of my big comfy chairs during a rainy day with a book, a pot of tea, and cookies. Lots of cookies. With a blanket I've crocheted over my lap, and sometimes even a fire roaring if I can convince hubby to make one, and I am hard-pressed to find a more relaxing, joyful way to spend a few hours.

So what's this all got to do with the title of my post? Let me 'esplain.

Several years ago, I wrote the fourth book in my MacQuire Women series, THE VOICES OF ANGELS. The book was a prequel to my first romance, SKATER'S WALTZ. When it came time to let the art designer at Wild Rose Press know what I was looking for in a book cover, I had something tangible to show her for the first time. I'd once spied a very famous photograph in an art museum devoted to photography that I fell in love with. I always remembered the picture because I knew, someday, I was going to write a story based on it. And I did, hee hee!

I sent the cover artist a copy of the picture and told her the theme and vibe I was going for was something like it:

This is the book cover she came up with:






Isn't that divine!!!

It's exactly what I wanted. We didn't even tweak it. The moment she sent it to me I said YES! That's the one.

On a funny side note, my friend Jill found a mug for me right after the book was published and sent it to me because it reminded her of the cover:






There's an important storyline in THE VOICES OF ANGELS concerning severe Spring storms. My heroine, Carly Lennox, is terrified of storms due to a child trauma concerning one. When she and my hero Mike Woodard, are engulfed in a severe storm on the way to her farm, all Mike wants to do is comfort Carly. He comes to the realization that he wants to comfort her for the rest of his life, if she'll only let him into her heart.

I detailed the storm and Carly's reaction to it over several pages. Unlike me, she is paralyzed with fear when the rain and thunder start. And, luckily, she lets Mike soothe away her fear.

So that's where the title for the blog came from. Art karma led to cover karma that led to a tea cup karma! Heehee

If you're interested in learning about the VOICES OF ANGELS and all the MacQuire Women books, check out my Amazon page. Here's a little about TVOA:
Love is the last thing Carly Lennox is looking for when she sets out on her new book tour. The independent, widowed author is content with a life spent writing and in raising her daughter. When newscaster Mike Woodard suggests they work on a television magazine profile based on her book, Carly’s thrilled, but guarded. His obvious desire to turn their relationship into something other than just a working one is more than she bargained for.

Mike Woodard is ambitious, and not only in his chosen profession. He wants Carly, maybe more than he’s ever wanted anything or anyone else. As he tells her, he’s a patient man. But the more they’re together, Mike realizes it isn’t simply desire beating within him. Carly Lennox is the missing piece in his life. Getting her to accept it-and him-may just be the toughest assignment he’s ever taken on.


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Until next time, Kids ~ enjoy your month ~Peg

Love makes the world go around....with a little help from Cupid by Peggy Jaeger

 Our theme this month is Cupid, falling in love, and Valentine's day. Since the 14th has come and gone ( happy belated, btw!) I got to thinking that, as a romance author, I actually play Cupid's role.

Society's image of Cupid is typically a small chubby boy-child in a diaper, with blond curly hair and angel wings,  sporting a secret smile, and armed with a bow and arrow. 

While I'm a girl and a long way from being a child(!), I resemble the little cutie in the chubby, blonde, smirking department. See?

Hee hee.

So it's not wrong to say I play the role of Cupid, sans arrow, when I'm getting my characters to fall in love. 

My favorite couples to write are ones that, ordinarily, wouldn't meet and fall in love. The opposites attract trope is actually a mirror of my own HEA. Hubby and I came from two different worlds growing up. He from a stable, loving, multi-sibling family, blessed with money and status. He had advantages I could only dream of when it came to schools, friends, and opportunities for the future. My humble beginnings included a single divorced mom,  being an only child, alcoholism and living paycheck to paycheck and sometimes not even that. Little was expected from me for my future and most thought I would turn to the dark side and not amount to much.

I didn't. 

One of the main reasons I didn't was because, as a latch key kid, I spent most of my afternoons when school let out in the public library while my mother was at work. The library opened up worlds to me I didn't know existed and I knew from a young age I wanted more to life than I had.

So what's this got to do with Cupid, you ask? My favorite books to read as a child where the happily ever after ones. As an adult, I switched from fairytale HEA's to  grownup ones, which led me to write my own HEA's, thereby assuming the role of matchmaker, of Cupid.

Get it?? hee hee

Many of my romance novels center around couples who, by some quirk of fate ( okay, me. I'm the quirk of fate!!)meet, fall in love, have some kind of external force move them apart, and in the end,  realize they can't live without one another, so they make their own happily ever after ending. Or I make it for them, which is more the point.

I may not have angle wings and wear a diaper (yet) but I do so love playing Cupid.

The latest couple I've thrown together is in BAKED WITH LOVE the third installment of my Match Made in Heaven series. 

Maureen and Lucas have been friends for ever, each secretly in love with the other. Why haven't they told one another their feelings? You'll need to read their story to find out but it involves a secret one of them has.

Intrigued? Here's a little more about BAKED WITH LOVE...

Innkeeper Maureen O'Dowd lives to cook and bake, spoils her family and friends, and is an expert at keeping secrets, especially about the man who's held her heart for years.

Police Chief Lucas Alexander is dealing with an aging father and a moody teenage son, and he's in love with a woman who only want to be friends.

How can these two fiercely private people reveal their feelings for one another without destroying the friendship they already have? And if they're successful, will another secret, if revealed, drive a wedge between Maureen and Luca that can never be repaired?

And as an added bonus, the e-book is on sale for just #99cents until March 11, 2021. If you haven't read it yet, now is a good time since the price will revert back to normal after that.

Until next month, peeps. Stay warm. Stay healthy. Wear your mask and wash your hands - sorry, it's the Nurse in me that has to say that.

If you're looking for me, here I am: 

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The end of a series...I think not by Peggy Jaeger

 I've got a holiday post all ready to go on my usual date of the 27th of the month, but I wanted to take an extra day this month to let you all know a few exciting things coming down the pike for me in 2021.

First, yesterday, the third - and supposedly final - book in my Match Made in Heaven series, BAKED WITH LOVE, released. This was by far my favorite book in the series to write because the friends to lovers trope is my end-all, be-all favorite romance trope to read and, therefore, write.

When I sent it off to my editor I actually cried because I was already missing the O'Dowd sisters, their feisty grandmother Nanny Fee, and all the men who found an HEA with the sisters. I was truly in a funk because I wouldn't be seeing them anymore. I had two more series I had to write the second and third books for, plus my indie book series. I was sure to be so busy I wouldn't really miss the O'Dowds and the New England town of Heaven, right?

Yeah, no. Turns out, your favorite characters really are like your children and you miss them terribly when they're not around.

I found that out after I finished the WILL COOK FOR LOVE series. Kandy Laine still had 4 sisters left to find their HEA.

So, I concocted a new series titled A PRIDE OF BROTHERS, which not only features Kandy Laine in cameo roles in each book, but also lets me delve into at least one sister's life - Abby, who starred in APOB: RICK, the first book. The brothers in the series are Josh Keane's brothers - and Kandy's brothers-in-law. Book two, which I am almost finished with is titled APOB: AIDEN, and features the youngest Keane bro.

So, since I couldn't let go of the Laine's and Keane's and was able to reintroduce them in a brand new series, I figured I could do the same with the O'Dowds. 

Makes sense, no? Heehee

Drumroll please....As soon as the third APOB book is completed, I'm starting a brand new series set again in Heaven, New Hampshire, titled HEAVEN'S MATCHMAKER and staring Olivia Joyner - whom we met in book 2, TODAY, TOMORROW, ALWAYS. 

Olivia is a third generation professional matchmaker and I've already got 4 books plotted out. It pays to be a hermit during a quarantine, folks!

Until then, I hope you gift yourself and the romance readers on your holiday gift list a copy of BAKED WITH LOVE. It's available at all retailers, plus the print edition is available at my website store at the drastically reduced price of $ 10.00. There's still time to get it by Christmas, peeps.

I won't see you again until after the 25th, so I want to wish everyone a Happy Hanukkah, A Merry Christmas, and a Blessed Kwanza!!!! See you on the 27th and I hope you get a lot of great books as presents this year ( with mine included, heehed!)

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Post-Thanksgiving gratitude by Peggy Jaeger

 Yesterday, here in the lower 48 ( heehee) + Alaska and Hawaii, it was Thanksgiving. This year's holiday was like no other in any of our memories. The last pandemic was over 100 years ago, so no one really remembers what Thanksgiving 1918 was like.

But we will remember this year's holiday. We'll be talking about Thanksgiving 2020 for years to come - to our grandkids who may be too small now to have memories of the upside down world we now live in; in decades retrospectives on New Year's Eves to come; even in books about this time period which will one day be called "historical."

This was the first Thanksgiving in my 60 years that I spent away from most of my family. We're being responsible and since my daughter lives in a state with travel restrictions - as do hubby and I - we made the decision to stay home, stay safe, and do our part to prevent this scourge from spreading.

And it was hard.

Really hard.

But it made us reflect on what's really important. When all is said and done, it's family that matters more than anything else.

 If I can say one good thing about this pandemic - and believe me I can only say 1 good thing about this pandemic - it's that by staying home and staying safe, we've all come to realize the importance of the people in our lives. Yes we are all missing things - going out to dinner, seeing a movie, therapy shopping. But they are just things. It's the people who matter the most. Not being able to see my daughter yesterday means that I made it safe to see her in the future. By staying away, now, we will all be able to be together later on because we will all still be here, alive and well.

My husband and I typically go to mass on Thanksgiving morning, this year no exception. Yes, we wore our masks. Yes, we socially distanced as per church and state guidelines. And yes, I said a prayer for all those close to me and for our world in general. And I said a big thanks to God for giving us the courage and strength to weather this stressful time.

Rose Kennedy is credited with saying, after her oldest son was killed in WWII, that she knew God would never give her a burden too heavy for her to carry. This pandemic is a burden to the world and I feel that we have the strength to get through it and come out on the other side stronger and more thankful.

So. No book promo from me today, even though it's Black Friday and I've got 3 new books out ( hee hee and hint hint!) Just a simple moment of gratitude and thanks, instead.

See you next month peeps. ~ Peg 

A month of Changes by Peggy Jaeger

 September 2020 has been a month of change for the Jaeger clan.

On September 12, my darling daughter got married in a very Covid-compliant ceremony in New York. The original wedding was planned for over 300 people on the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. 2021 will see that celebration come to fruition if we get out of this pandemic, but for now, she married the love of her life, her soul mate and best friend in a small Catholic ceremony with the people they both love best in the world in attendance. He father walked her down the aisle, and yes, he wore a mask, but there was no missing the smile lighting up his face, evidenced in his shining eyes.

God smiled on the happy couple because the weather was glorious.

On September 14, we buried my brother-in-law. After an 11 year battle with cancer, he finally succumbed to its clutches and as a family we gathered to mourn him, celebrate his life, and bury him.

In the same weekend my husband and I gained a new son and lost a beloved brother.

Change, for sure.

On September 17 we welcomed a new member into our small nuclear family. A chocolate lab named Maple Leaf. It's been a long-ass time since we had a dog - much less a puppy - in our house. My first dog baby was born in 1987 and died in 1999. So for the last 21 years we've been without a family dog. It was time.

Meet Maple Leaf Jaeger, 12 pounds of 8 week old puppy love and energy. And just like the change a household goes through when a new (human) baby is brought into it, there's a lot of change in our house right now that concerns feeding times, midnight diaper changes in the form of walks, and teething issues. I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I'm really feeling my age right now!! I've finally discovered the answer to why you should have a baby ( and a puppy) when you are younger. Your stamina is much greater. Hee hee. Maple Leaf has her own Instagram account where I'm documenting her life with us. My husband says she won "Doggie Lotto" when we brought her home, and he's not wrong!! You can follow her adventures on Instagram, here: MapleLeaftheDog

Another change coming down the pike occurs in October. My newest indie-released holiday RomCom releases on 10.14.2020. I've gone back to the bosom of the San Valentino family for MISTLETOE, MOBSTERS, & MOZZARELLA and visited the Aunt Gracie branch of the family. I have to admit, when I was writing this one, I truly did laugh out loud at times - especially at Uncle Sonny and mama Gracie. I hope you'll find Madonna San Valentino's story a fun and inspiring one of family, faith, and love. So, why a holiday story in October? Because it's never too early for Christmas, RomComs, or love!

Finding a body in the freezer of the family deli isn’t the way Madonna San Valentino planned to start her day.

Adding insult to injury, the investigating detective is the one guy she’s never been able to forget. After seven minutes of heaven in the back seat of his car when they were teenagers, Tony Roma skipped town without so much as a thanks for the memory.

Just when Madonna thinks the present situation can’t get any worse, Tony is ordered to go undercover at the deli to ferret out a killer. Forced to work together, she vows to keep their relationship cool and professional. But with the sexy, longing looks he tosses her at every turn, Madonna’s resolve is weakening.

With Christmas drawing closer and Tony’s investigation taking an unexpected turn, Madonna is at her wit’s end. Can she really be falling for him again? And will he wind up leaving her broken hearted and alone like the last time?

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Spring, Stress, and Salvation by Peggy Jaeger

April's topic prompt here on the RGs is Read and Renew. I'll discuss the read part of that phrase later in the post, but first I want to talk about the renew aspect.

There's a boatload of bad news in the world these days. I don't need to tell you that. You're all sentient beings who watch television, read papers, and follow social media. I want to talk, though, about what all this bad news, these horrible images, feelings of isolation, doubt, and just plain terror are doing to your body.

Yes, I said ARE doing, not CAN do. Unless you're the type of personality who never lets anything outside of your body effect what's on the inside, then you're experiencing some type of physical or mental stress right now. 

As an old nurse who was a devotee of the Florence Nightingale school of health care, I know what stress does to a person and how, if it's not curbed, can lead to a slew of longterm and chronic health disorders.

So, first a primer: What is stress, really? Put bluntly, stress is a physical, mental, or emotional event that causes tension on the mind and/or body. Stress can be caused by external forces (from the environment, psychological, or social situations) or internal ones (illness).

Well, I would say without a doubt that what we're all living through right now is the very definition of stress.

So, what does stress do to you? In essence, it can effect almost every organ and system in your body. Mentally and emotionally, it can leave you with symptoms of irritability, anxiety, depression, headaches.

It can throw your digestive system off kilter and make you produce more gastric acid which could lead to an ulcer, or acid reflex. You can get constipated, or worse, have diarrhea.  

Stress can leave you so emotionally wrung dry you start to sit, stand and move differently because your muscles are tense, tight, and restricted.

And I don't even want to go into the sexual and psycho-sexual aspects of stress. Suffice it to say, you won't be getting any any time soon if you're stressed. You won't be getting any sleep, either, not the restorative kind, anyway.

What can you do to lesson the stress on your little psyches and bodies when you've been ordered to shelter in place, not so much as breath on another human being, and keep back 6 feet or more?

First, you can take a breath. 
And then another. A few seconds or minutes of deep breathing every day in a quiet place without distractions goes a long way in alleviating mental stress.

Second, you can move. No, not to another house or city, but get some exercise. An outdoor walk is preferable, but if you can't get outside ( we are in quarantine kids!) you can walk on a treadmill or ride a stationary bike. There are even video walk programs that fake your body into thinking you've walked a mile. Leslie Sansone has a whole slew of them on youtube.

Third, we are all in this new normal together so we all know what you're feeling like. TALK TO one another about it. It's not complaining ( which is what my husband thinks I do!) but a way to share the stress and maybe even laugh about it.

And speaking of laughing - please do. Often. Find an old I Love Lucy or Seinfield on Netflix or Youtube and watch it. Then watch another. Or watch THE BIRDCAGE with Robin Williams - you're guaranteed to laugh at that one! Laughing raises your endorphin  and oxytocin levels which decrease stress.

Now, as a writer I would be remiss if I didn't mention one other way to alleviate stress - and in my writer's mind, the most important one:
READ!!

Preferably something you like, as in, oh I don't know...books? Romance books? One of MY romance books, maybe? 

Hee hee.

Read something light and airy like chick lit. Or fun and flirty like a good RomCom. Or, if you really want to stimulate those endorphins and get that oxytocin flowing, something dark and sexy and...erotic.

I've got a new Sweet romance coming out next month titled VANILLA WITH A TWIST that might be just the thing you need to rid yourself of that toxic stress.  It's part of my publisher's new summer series called ONE SCOOP OR TWO. VANILLA WITH A TWIST is about a workaholic engineer and an ice cream parlor owner. It's the perfect blend of angst, romance, second chances, and ultimately an HEA.

Tandy Blakemore spends her days running her New England ice cream parlor, single-parenting her teenaged son, and trying to keep her head above financial water. No easy feat when the shop’s machinery is aging and her son is thinking about college. Tandy hasn’t had a day off in a decade and wonders if she’ll ever be able to live a worry-free life.

Engineer Deacon Withers is on an enforced vacation in the tiny seaside town of Beacher’s Cove. Overworked, stressed, and lonely, he walks into Tandy’s shop for a midday ice cream cone and gets embroiled in helping her fix a broken piece of equipment.

Can the budding friendship that follows help fix their broken spirits and lead to love?

And check out the great book trailer our very own Gem, Nancy Fraser, produced for me: 

https://youtu.be/VVaDd7JA5uU

And one last way to alleviate some of your stress is to enter our 

MONTHLY CONTEST AND GIVEWAYS

Until next time, peeps. Get working on lowering those stress levels ~ Peg