Peggy Jaeger's Blog, page 51
September 9, 2023
#SundaySnippet 9.10.2023
Today’s snippet comes from the 9.18.2023 release of A PRIDE OF BROTHERS: DYLAN, the third book in the POB series.
As the name implies, Dylan Keane is front and center in this one. A cyberspecialist/bodyguard/hacker, Dylan has been hired to suss out a corporate thief. He centers on a dream team member named Harper Vale. Here’s Harper’s impression of Dylan:
“Guys like you always have an agenda.”
“Guys like me?”
She lifted a shoulder, then a hand in a careless wave, slicing the air. “Good-looking, likable. The kind who only has to smile to make a girl feel like she’s the queen of the world. Guys like you always have ulterior motives when it comes to me, so let’s get to it and forget all the schmoozing.”
She counted to ten while he simply gaped at her. She figured the insults alone would make him leave her to her desired solitude. Her dismissive attitude would certainly add to the swiftness with which he’d go.
After she got to ten, she took a breath, astounded he still sat across from her. Then, something happened that she’d never counted on: he smiled. Not the full wattage aren’t-I-just-the-hottest-thing-you’ve-ever-seen smile he’d tossed her a few minutes ago. No, this one was real. She’d bet next week’s pay on it. And, holy crap, it was more devastating and…alluring, than anything she’d seen prior.
Her face scorched with heat at his gentle perusal. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He tilted his head to the left and tucked his cheek between his teeth. “You think I’m good-looking?” he asked in a voice so filled with conceit she couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of her.
When his grin broadened, showing off the second mortgage his parents probably took out to pay for his perfect orthodontia, something shifted low in her belly, something she hadn’t felt in quite some time: arousal.
“Do you own a mirror?” she asked.
He nodded. “Couple.”
“Well, then.” She sliced her hand in the air again in a there-you-have-it gesture.
Watch the trailer: POB
Add the book to your GOODREADS WANT TO READ LIST: POB
Preorder your copy today; POB
September 6, 2023
August 31, 2023
Labor Day weekend 99cent sale!!!
If you’re looking for a good read to get you through the last weekend of Summer, INFLUENCE will be 99cents for Labor Day weekend.
Brand influencer, Lizzy Cray, is killing it.
She’s got a list of high profile clients who pay her handsomely to help their products explode on social media. Everything from cameras to cashmere, shoes to smoothies. One picture of her with a product and the money practically prints itself.
Why does this trust fund-baby need to work so hard to rake in the cash? That’s a question journalist Dominick Templeton wants an answer to, because Lizzy Cray used to be known in the gossip pages as socialite and wild-child Mackenzie Craymore.
Mackenzie disappeared from the public’s eye twelve years ago, right after her fiancé, hotel-heir, Lucky Blumenthal, died in a fiery car crash rumored to be fueled by drugs and alcohol. But now she’s back, still hauntingly beautiful, rebranded, and from everything Dominick’s researched about her, a much different person. When she ignores all his attempts at an interview, Dominick tries a different tactic and soon becomes embroiled in a world he never imagined…with a woman he’s rapidly falling for.
August 30, 2023
August 28, 2023
#teaserTuesday 8.29.2023 INFLUENCE
So, I’m still hyping my newest NYC Romance INFLUENCE, and decided for today’s Teaser tuesday, to give you another little look between the pages!
Somewhere between waiting for her to arrive and when I spotted her walking into the restaurant, I realized how excited I was to see her again and not simply because I had a story to write. I hadn’t felt this level of anticipation about a woman in a long, long time.
Kissing her like that, without asking permission, or even wondering if she felt the same way I did should have felt like a mistake.
Should have…but didn’t.
And also wasn’t a mystery.
Mackenzie Craymore was, without a doubt, the most intriguing woman I’d ever met. I wasn’t lying when I said I’d been wanting to kiss her since we’d danced.
“I love walking in the park,” she said as we ambled along. We’d joined midday runners, joggers, moms and nannies with baby carriages, rollerbladers, as we walked, hand in hand.
“When we first moved here,” I said, skirting around an elderly woman walking her Schnauzer, “I spent most of my free time here. Biking, or with my skate board tucked in my backpack. I hung out here every afternoon after school.”
“Alone or with friends?”
“Mostly alone. Later on, when we’d been back awhile I started making friends. It was hard, at first, because by the time I arrived on scene the social cliques had already formed. Life long friends who all go to the same schools, same camps, same music lessons, tend to congregate. When you’re an outsider,” I said, “It’s hard to worm your way in.”
She sighed. “Kids can be mean.”
I shook my head. “Not so much mean as insulating. And I didn’t mind being on my own.”
Anything was preferable to the silence that met me at home every day and night.
“Is that when you began writing? During those alone times?”
Surprised, I turned to find her staring up at me with the question on her beautiful face.
“That’s an astute question.”
With a careless shrug she said, “Doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. A lonely kid, living in new place. No friends. There aren’t many scenarios that fit. I don’t picture you as the kid who sat at home and played video games all day long.”
I laughed. “Nope. Not even close.”
She nodded. “So, that leaves potential mayhem and rabblerousing, or something worthwhile to occupy your time. And again, I can’t see you being the kid who stole from the local bodega or did a little pharmacology dealing on the side.”
I speared her with a speaking glance. “I’ll have you know I can cause mayhem and mischief with the best of them.”
Her laugh was so free and easy I couldn’t help the feeling of contentment it bolstered in me. I really wanted to kiss her again, but from the dark recesses of my brain I remembered I had a job to do and no matter who alluring I found this beautiful woman, I needed to do it.
“Enough about me. I want to ask you something, something about your new career.”
Her sigh floated on the gentle breeze around us. “Go ahead.”
“Why do you do it? I mean, no offense, but I don’t think you have to work, do you? Your family wealth is solid.”
It was subtle, and if I hadn’t been looking down at her when I asked, I might have missed it, but the corners of her mouth tightened a bit, her smile loosing some of its luster.
“What’s that old saying?” she asked. “You can never be too thin or too rich?”
I wasn’t buying it. Not for a second. But I knew I had to tread lightly. Otherwise, she’d shut down even more.
“Is that why you do it, then? For the money? Because I don’t see you as the type of person who courts fame and loves the attention.”
She stopped walking and looked up at me through her sunglasses. I wished I could see her eyes, try to discern what was going on behind them.
“Let’s sit.” She tugged me toward an empty bench. The earthy scent of fresh grass invaded my senses and somewhere behind us I heard a power mower working.
Mackenzie dropped my hand, placed hers in her lap as she faced me. Shaded from the tree canopy above us, she finally removed her sunglasses by shoving them up on her head.
She looked about sixteen years old as she pulled a corner of her mouth between her teeth.
“You’re right about my family’s wealth. My great-grandfather set the next five generations up for life, and my father and grandfather have only added to the family coffers.”
I nodded.
She sighed again. “If you Googled me then you probably spotted an article or two about me from…before. From when I was younger.”
Another nod. “Lots of them, in fact.” My lips lifted. “The gossip pages were filled with mentions of your escapades.”
She rolled her eyes. “I did a lot of stupid things when I was a teenager, and then in my twenties, to garner attention. Some I’m not proud of, some I couldn’t care less about. Once something is on the Internet, though, it’s never lost. Or forgotten.”
“Truth.”
“When you’re young you don’t care what people think about you, what they write about you. You feel invincible and that it’s no one’s business but yours what you do, or say. How you conduct your life. It’s when you get more mature that you begin to realize your actions and the opinions of others do make a difference.”
“Again, that’s true. Reputations are lost and gained on one simple act.”
She nodded. “You must know I was engaged.”
“Lucky Blumenthal. Hotel heir and ridiculously wealthy in his own right.”
“His parents built that empire. When he lost them, he personally made it his mission to keep the business growing.”
“He was a bit of a reckless wild child, though.”
“He was, but his brain for business was unparalleled.” She bit down on her cheek again. “You know what…happened?”
I unwound her hands and pulled one into my lap, cocooning it with both of mine. For once I didn’t think words were necessary.
August 27, 2023
#SundaySnippet — INFLUENCE
Influence will be 1 week old tomorrow – I can’t believe she’s so old already, LOL!! In honor of her 1 week birthday, I figured a Sunday Snippet was in order. Here ya go:
The place Nick chose, The Good Pig was one I’d never been to before, situated on the west side of Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th streets. I wondered at the reason for the odd name.
The moment I came into the place my focus was stolen from checking out the surroundings when I spotted Nick at the bar, his attention zeroed in on the front door. He stood, a drink sitting in front of him, an elbow leaning against the top of the bar, one hand in his trouser pockets.
He looked effortlessly elegant and supernova hot at the same time. Magazine model gorgeous looks combined with raw sexual heat.
What a combo.
I stumbled in my Paredos as I made my way to him.
And I never stumble. Not in six inch stilettoes, kitten heels, or flats.
This guy really got to me.
His smile started in one corner of his mouth and ambled toward the other, his lips parting to reveal his pleasure. His entire face smiled, causing tiny lines to fan across his temples and two twin crevices to pop up on his cheeks.
I couldn’t ever remember any man grinning at me the way he was, not even Lucky. My insides went into a free-fall like when you’re on the downslope of a rollercoaster, and I felt my clutch tremble in my hand.
He met me more than halfway, his hand extended.
“You look lovely,” he said as he slid that hand around my bare upper arm and bussed both my cheeks, European fashion.
My toes tingled in my Paredos.
“Thanks,” I mumbled as he removed his hand from my arm and slid it around to my back, stopping just above my waist as he guided me forward.
“I reserved a table in the back,” he said. “It can get loud in here at lunchtime, but the noise is buffered back there.”
He led me through the packed bar area through a connecting door and into a deceptively large dining room. A white shirted, bow-tied waiter met us and escorted us to a booth along the back wall. Once we’d slipped all the way in, he handed us menus and said he would be right back to take our drink orders.
“You were right,” I said, as I opened my menu simply for something to do with my shaking hands. “It’s much quieter back here.”
Nick ignored his menu, instead, leaning his elbows on the table and threading his fingers together. His gaze took a slow stroll over my face, the smile that sent tingles all the way down my spine focused on me.
“I’m really glad you said yes to lunch,” he told me. “I’ve been looking forward to this since last night.”
Those little tingles increased.
I smiled at him, unsure of what to say, another facet of my personality that isn’t usual. I never have trouble making small talk with anyone. Deportment lessons mixed with social graces were ground into me as a child.
Apparently, with this man, deportment went dormant.
Our waiter returned, took our drink orders – a diet soda for me, water for Nick – and then recited the specials of the day.
“What do you recommend?” I asked him.
His pleased smile told me most people never consulted him. My father and mother raised me to be respectful to everyone we interacted with be it a bus driver, garbage man, or the prince of a neighboring monarchy. I was the type who over-tipped, always said please and thank you, and tried to be gracious and courteous to everyone.
“You can’t beat our Caesar salad,” he said, pen poised above his order book. “Our chef does something to the dressing that makes it stand out in a crowd.”
“Sold. I love a good Caesar. I’ll have it with grilled salmon, please.”
He beamed at me, then took Nick’s order of a turkey club.
“You have that effect on men, you know,” he said once our waiter left us.
“What effect?” I wasn’t being coy. I really didn’t know what he meant.
“When you smile at them and give them your undivided attention they practically melt.”
Pleased and embarrassed, I shrugged. “My mother taught me it’s much easier and nicer to be polite to people than demanding and rude, which many in our position can be and are.”
He nodded. “My mother taught Charlie and me the same thing. You get more flies with a drop of honey, she always says.”
“She’s right.”
He nodded again, then unfolded his hands, slid one across to me and weaved his fingers with mine. The gesture shocked me. So much so, I didn’t pull back or give any indication I wasn’t fully on board with him touching me.
“Did I mention,” he said, one corner of his lips lifting, “how glad I am you took me up on my offer of lunch.”
I laughed. “Once or twice,” I said.
The smile broadened and I swear my ovaries popped to attention.
What. The. Actual. Hell??
The waiter returned with our drinks, and a huge smile for me.
Flattering? Sure. But I was still trying to come to grips with how my female organs were all moving to alert status simply from Nick holding my hand.
August 24, 2023
#fridayfive What NOT to put in a book review
If you’ve been following me for at least a week (LOL) you know I’ve been talking about the good, the bad, and the necessary details of book reviews.
Today’s Friday Five is 5 things to NEVER include in one if you are a book reviewer.
SPOILERS. n evernevernever put spoilers in your review. This kills the suspense for the person who wants to read it because they already know what’s going to happen. Think of it this way – would you have wanted to know the ending to these movies BEFORE you saw them: Psycho, Star Wars ( the original) The Usual Suspects. Notice I didn’t tell you what those endings were. If you feel you want to or have to put spoilers in your review ( and believe me, you really don’t!) Then please tag it at the very beginning of the review with SPOILER ALERT. This will give the reader of the review the option to not read the review until after they’ve read the book.Foul language. I read a review the other day of a book where the first line read “This book was f***ing* gross.” The word did not have the asteriks. There is no need to curse in a review- even if you are using the word as a joyful one as in “this book was f***ing great!” And I’m gonna add, this is a personal preference. But in all honesty I won’t read a review with curses in it. There are so many fabulous words in our language, foul ones don’t do it for me.Attack the author. Reviews are opinions. I get that. But if you don’t like the book or it wasn’t for you, simply state that. Don’t write that the author is a hack, writes like a second grader who can’t think for himself, or should stick to his/her day job. Like cursing, this is unnecessary. don’t rewrite the book. There’s nothing more insulting than putting into print these words: This book would have been better if... OR I would have written the ending this way. I’ve seen both in reviews and my thought is always, (1) you didn’t write the book, and (2) if you think it should have been written that way then you go write a book with the ending you think is better. And yes, I sound mean and nasty, but this really irks me.One-star and write a review for a book you DNF’d ( did not finish). First of all, I can’t believe Goodeads allows 1 stars for stated DNF’d books. This just seems counterintuitive to me. Simply saying you didn’t finish it should be enough. Adding because you didn’t like the characters or plotline, is fine. But why should the author be penalized with a 1 star that brings down their entire rating for a book that wasn’t finished. In all honesty – again – if someone DNF’s a book it usually means it is a 1 star. Or less. No need to rate it, the thought is inherent in the DNF.Agree? Disagree? That’s fine. Every reviewer is different, but as an author, I wouldn’t enjoy seeing any of the above things in a review for one of my books. Just sayin’.
August 23, 2023
The Slay’s the Thing…a new #cozymystery by famed author Louise Stevens
My good friend and excellent writer, Louise Stevens, has just released her 10th book! And it’s another 5 star read for me. This cozy mystery is the start of a new series for Louise, SECOND ACT COZY MYSTERIES, and I can guarantee the series is a winner!! Here’s a little about the book from Louise:
The second act of Amanda Seldon’s life is about to begin. She’s leaving behind her corporate career behind and moving back to her small New England hometown to pursue her dream of being an author.
In a play, the second act is where all the exciting stuff happens, but Amanda doesn’t expect life in Maple Hills to be murder. Literally.
But when murders happen, Amanda is quick to get her sleuth on, along with her two childhood best friends, her fun-loving aunt, and her neurotic rescue dog. What could go wrong? They’ve all read a lot of mystery novels, and Fluffy is an attack shih tzu.
If you love small-town cozy mysteries with quirky characters, an adorable dog, humor, and heart, then the Second Act Cozy Mysteries series is for you!
Peggy here – doesn’t that sound fabulous? Trust me, it is!!
I’m Amanda Seldon and I knew it would be a change to leave my soul-sucking corporate career and move back to my sleepy hometown to pursue my dream of being an author. But I never suspected it would literally be murder.
Working part-time at a summer stock theater is perfect to earn some cash. Until someone gets killed and the police chief suspects me. The cherry on top is the chief’s brother is my childhood crush, and I don’t want to be wearing an orange jumpsuit when we meet again. I set out to find the murderer with my two best friends, fun-loving aunt, and my anxious rescue dog. No problem, right? We’ve all read plenty of mysteries, and Fluffy is an attack shih tzu.
It’s the second act of my life, and in a play that’s when the exciting stuff happens. Exciting is fine, but will I be a free woman when the curtain goes down?
I hustled Fluffy into the theater and rushed down the aisle toward the stage. The dim emergency lighting, which was left on all the time when the theater was in operation, was the only illumination. Once we reached the stage, Fluffy trotted up the steps before me, and I followed along.
On the stage, my dog made a beeline for the very spot I wanted to avoid. The one where we had found the body. Who knew Fluffy was such a little ghoul?
“Not that way, Fluff. We need to get to the stage door on the other side of the stage.” I tugged gently on her leash, but she continued to sniff the wooden floorboards.
While I debated how I could juggle everything else I carried to try to pick her up like a furry football and make a break for the stage door, she finally stopped sniffing and lifted her head.
“That’s a good girl, Fluff, let’s go home.” I turned and walked toward the other side of the stage, but stopped short when the leash pulled taut and wouldn’t let me go any further.
I looked back at my dog, only to find her staring fixedly up into the rafters over my head. She growled low in her throat. My gaze nervously flicked in the direction she was peering, and I caught a glimpse of a shadow up above.
Someone was in the rafters.
Get your copy here:
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3PzFYg9
Apple: https://apple.co/3PCx6X8
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3JzYEbL
Smashwords: https://bit.ly/3XtOUFM
Tolino: https://bit.ly/3CRwYLW
Vivlio: https://bit.ly/3COUhWv
Louise Stevens is the author of the Port Sunset Mysteries series. A lover of mysteries since her discovery of Nancy Drew many years ago, she is thrilled to be writing cozy mysteries now. She lives in Maryland with her husband, who also loves a good mystery, in a house packed with books.
Louise Stevens is the pen name of contemporary romance author Donna Simonetta
Add THE SLAY’S THE THING to GOODREADS want to read list here: Goodreads
I was sososo lucky to receive and ARC of this fun book, and you can read my review here: REVIEW
August 22, 2023
August 21, 2023
#tuesdaythoughts #bookreviews from an author’s viewpoint
So yesterday I talked about what a reviewer should include in a book review. Today, I’d like to get an author’s perspective of a review.
As an author I know just how much time, effort, sleepless nights, and worry go into writing, editing, and releasing a book into the reading universe.
It’s considerable.
So when a reviewer lovesloveloves your book, 5 stars it, and then makes sure those in her/his realm know about the book, you, as an author, are floating on a success high.
Now, there are always those who won’t love your book. The reasons are varied and include everything from the reader doesn’t like the POV you’ve written in ( happens to me all the time with readers who don’t like first person or won’t read 3rd omniscient), can’t relate to the plotline or characters, or were expecting a sweet story and you had them having steamy sex on every conceivable surface they could find ( also happens to me!)
Your role as writer is to have thick skin.
Just like every single person on the planet won’t like you as a person, every single reader on the same planet won’t like what you’ve written every single time, every single book. Some books just don’t resonate with a reader. That doesn’t make it a bad book, just not for them.
You may think you’re the next Nora Roberts and a reader thinks you write like their third grader.
You may think your book is the next best thing everyone’s been waiting for and a reader thinks your story’s been told before, 1 million times, and yours is just meh.
You may think every review should be a 5 star one, and many a reader is giving you 3 stars – which is still good. I don’t know why we’ve been conditioned to think it’s bad, but we do. It’s just not what you want.
My advice? Get over yourself, move on, and keep writing what you love. Do not – DO NOT – under any circumstances – engage with that reader and try to prove them wrong, or shame them, or call them stupid/illiterate/not worth living – add your own adjective here. Their review is their OPINION. Their opinion is not wrong to them; you just don’t happen to agree with it.
I’m repeating myself here, but get over yourself and move on.
Reviews and ratings are important to writers for not only the ego part of the writing equation – it’s also important for how to get others to read your book – new readers, especially. We fear that a book that has just 3 or 4 star reviews will be passed over by someone looking for a new author to read. I am the type of person who, if I see a bunch of 4/5 stars and a couple 1 stars am intrigued and if I don’t know the author or the book, will dive into learning about it. And every time it comes down to what I’ve already said – that book just didn’t resonate with that reader.
And here’s something I’m not ashamed to admit: I never read the books that are all the rage with 50,000 5 stars and glowing reviews up the wazoo because I’ve found – believe it or not – those books are typically not something I enjoy reading.
Remember Oprah’s book club? I read the first three books she had on her show. Hated everyone of them. Struggled, struggled so hard, to get through them. By book 4 I figured, don’t bother. Her reading type is different from mine. I like lighthearted, upbeat, love stories. She, apparently back then, didn’t. All those books were angsty, overly emotional tomes. It doesn’t mean those books were bad, they were just not for me.
That’s how, as an author, you have to look at those 1,2, and even 3 star reviews. Your book just wasn’t for that reader.
Does it make it hard to see a 1,2, or even 3 star review on Goodreads or Amazon? Sure. I wouldn’t be human if I said it didn’t. But if there are legitimate reasons why the reader rated it that way, then just accept, and move on.
And remember – not everyone is going to like you in real life. Don’t expect it to be any different in your writing one.
Move on, and keep writing what you love.
(P.S. I know I’m gonna get some flack for this piece. That’s okay. My skin is uberthick. As I said, this is my opinion, just like a book review is.)
