Peggy Jaeger's Blog, page 58
May 23, 2023
May 21, 2023
#mugmonday 5.22.2023
My darling friend, Cheryl, gave this to me for my birthday! She really gets me and gets that I’m a writer, lol!
May 19, 2023
Boobs Between the Books! A Girl’s night out fundraiser for EVOLVE PINK…
I am so excited – and honored and humbled – to be attending BOOBS BETWEEN THE BOOKS – a fundraiser for the wonderful Breast Cancer Support service, EVOLVE PINK.
EVOLVE PINK strives to bridge the gap between treatment and true healing for breast cancer survivors.
I’ll be joining a wonderful array of Authors who’ll be talking about all things writing and romance. PLus, we’ll be having a book signing with a portion of the proceeds to go to EVOLVE PINK!! WinWin!!!
Jodi Payne https://www.facebook.com/jodipayneauthor
Elizabeth John www.facebook.com/elizabethjohnauthor
Shari Nichols https://www.facebook.com/sharinich/
Roz Lee http://www.facebook.com/authorrozlee
Ruth Casie https://www.facebook.com/RuthACasie/
Kathy Fawcett (writes as K.M. Fawcett) https://www.facebook.com/kathy.m.fawcett
Miriam Allenson facebook.com/msallenson
Kimberley Ash Facebook.com/KimberleyAshAuthor
Lisa Olech https://www.facebook.com/Lisa.A.Olech.Writ
Rose C. Carole https://www.facebook.com/RoseCCaroleAuthor/
Nicole S. Patrick
Stacey Wilk www.Facebook.com/staceytwilk
and me, Peggy Jaeger: https://www.facebook.com/PeggyJaeger.Author/
Registration is FREE!!!!
Come and enjoy a FREE DINNER & DESSERTS donated by Dream Dinners of Flemington, Max’s 31 in Califon, Costco, & Shop Rite. BYOB and your questions for the authors!!!
May 18, 2023
#FIRSTLINEFRIDAY 5.19.2023 #romanticsuspense #bodyguard #NYCromance
Today’s first line come from the second book in A PRIDE OF BROTHERS, this one featuring the youngest brother, AIDEN.
This little treasure won a whole passel of awards and was a RONE finalist in 2022 in the romantic suspense category. This is the review that garnered a crowned heart:
May 16, 2023
SABLE ( Always a Bridesmaid- book 12)releases today! #sweetromance #fakedating #friendstosomethingmore
So unless you’ve been living under a rock – or don’t follow this blog ( LOL) you know today is release day for SABLE, my addition to the ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID sweet romance series.
This book was a joy to write because I got to use my medical/nursing knowledge and since it’s a sweet romance, I didn’t have to write any sex scenes, hahaha!
SABLE MILLER is Chance Miller’s sister. Last year, Chance was featured in the LAST MAN STANDING series and he got quite the following, so I’m hopeful readers enjoy Sable just as much.
Here’s the cover jacket for SABLE:
ALWAYS BEING A BRIDESMAID IS GETTING OLD…
Pediatrician Sable Miller is sick and tired of being the go-to, dependable bridesmaid in all her family and friends’ weddings. But her demanding job, the ridiculous hours, and endless family commitments keep her from finding the perfect man. A matchmaking service? Sounds like too much work. Swipe right dating? Not her thing. The bar scene? When was the last time she even had an evening free to go to a bar?
And forget about dating the myriad of on-the-make doctors and residents in her hospital. Besides, workplace romances never work out.
Sable’s options to meet the man of her dreams and start a family are dwindling and time is running out, because she promised herself the next wedding she would attend would be her own.
Kristopher Lee, the Physician’s Assistant assigned to Sable has a crush on his new mentor. But she’s got a hands-off rule when it comes to dating someone she works with. Kris is nothing if not persistent, though. After all, he didn’t survive two tours in the Army without focusing on a goal. And making Sable Miller fall in love with him is his best goal yet.
and a little excerpt:
They each declined a cocktail, Sable preferring a diet soda, Kris, water. A few minutes spent perusing the menu, then once their selections were ordered, Sable took a sip of the table water and said, “So. How was your day off? Do anything aside from sleep?”
“Few things. You?”
She shook her head. “I usually take the Saturday after my last night tour and sleep until early afternoon, then lounge around a bit and go to bed early so I can acclimate myself back to my normal routine. I don’t like to be foggy headed and tired when I start back up on days on Monday morning.”
“I’m on nights for the first six months. Not sure what happens after my probationary period ends. I guess I go where and when they need me the most.”
“You don’t mind the shift work? The crazy sleeping hours?”
“I got used to erratic hours in the army. There’s no real nine-to-five time frame overseas. You work when you’re awake, sleep when you can. Luckily, I do well on a few hours rest.”
Sable sighed. “I envy you that. I’m ridiculously stuck in my ways when it comes to sleeping.”
“How’d you fare in med school and as an intern? Those hours are crazy.”
“Poorly, to be truthful.” She smiled. “Back then I survived on Red Bull and determination.”
He laughed.
“When I finally graduated I slept for three days straight. Chance was so worried about me when I didn’t answer my phone he barged into my apartment, worried he’d find me sick. Or worse.”
“Chance?
“My older brother.”
“I don’t remember you having a brother in school with us.”
“I didn’t. He graduated years before we even got into high school. Chance is ten years older. He’s turning forty in a few weeks.” She shook her head.
Their salads arrived and conversation halted for a moment. Once they were alone again, Kris said, “You got a wistful look on your face when you mentioned your brother. Everything…okay, with him?”
“Wistful?” She considered the word. “Maybe. No, everything’s great with Chance. He finally got married a few months ago to a widow with a six-year-old, so, instant family.” She wiggled her hands in the air as she smiled.
“First marriage at forty? Wow, slow starter.” Kris grinned and Sable laughed at the description.
“Not so much slow as determined to remain the last man standing. Chance never saw marriage as one of his life choices.”
“How come? Too busy having fun playing the field?”
“No. Although, in truth, he did date a lot. A lot”. She laughed. “It was really because of all the stuff he deals with every day at work that made him relationship averse.”
“What does he do to have such a strong reaction?”
“He’s a divorce lawyer. One of the best, to be truthful. His clients love him because he’s excellent at what he does. Other divorce lawyers hate going up against him.”
Kris winced.
“Oh, gosh, sorry,” Sable said, heat flying up from her neck. “I forgot. I’m…sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He shrugged and shook his head. “It’s been three years since my divorce was finalized. I’m over it. Really.”
Who was he trying to convince, she wondered.
“We don’t have to talk about it,” she said, understanding there was still some pain there, “if you don’t want to. I know this was billed as a catch-up meal, but we can skip over a few things.”
He was silent for a moment as he regarded her. He’d always had such an intense way of looking at people, she remembered. As if trying to memorize every aspect of a face, or get inside the person’s head when they were talking. Most of the teenage boys she’d known hardly ever established eye contact, only doing so when they wanted something from her, and even then not lighting on her face for more than a second or two. Even as a teenager herself Sable had considered that behavior beyond rude, thinking at the time boys didn’t like her because they never looked at her.
Now, as a pediatrician, she knew the ins and outs of a child’s personality traits and recognized the non-establishment of eye contact as a universal trait among the age group, boys and girls alike.
Kris, though, had been the exception to the rule and still possessed that probing characteristic. As a sixteen-year-old with a serious crush she’d thought his eyes and the way he looked at her were the stuff of dreams. At thirty? Well, she could admit when his gaze drifted across her face and wound up back at her eyes, she still got a little fluttery.
He glanced down at his salad, then forked in a mouthful. After swallowing he asked, “So what finally changed your brother’s mind about marriage?”
“Freddie,” she said with a huge grin. “His wife. Her real name is Fredrika,” she added when his eyebrows flirted with his hairline at the name. “She owns her own coffee bar in the building Chance used to work in. That’s how they met.” She grinned. “Funny story about their first meeting, too. The ex-wife of Chance’s client happened to be in front of him on line, getting a cup to go after a hotly contentious settlement meeting. She spotted Chance, called him a few choice names, then tossed her iced coffee on him.”
“Thank goodness it was a cold brew.”
She nodded. “Freddie was horrified, came to his rescue and…” she shrugged.
“Love at first sight.”
“More like severe interest on his part. Freddie, as I said, was a widow and she’d vowed never to get involved with a man again and remarry because, in her words, she’d already found the love of her life.”
“Since your brother was marriage-shy, that fact must have been encouraging?”
“More than you realize,” she muttered and took a sip from her soda.
“There’s a story there. Spill it, Sable.”
I hope that whet your romance reading appetite!!
You can read the entire series here: ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID
and the men of LAST MAN STANDING here: LMS
And one last thing: I’m over on the ROMANCE SWEET READS Facebook group all day today talking about romance, books, having contests and doing a giveaway. If you’r free, stop by and play a game or learn more about the books featured in the series. There’s a big giveaway at the end of the perpetual party, so enter as many times as you can – each comment gets you an entry. I have posts at 9 am est, 12 noon, 3pm ESt, 6 pm EST and then at 8 pm. I’llbe checking the comments until Friday, when I pick my winners. Come join me for some fun!!!
Happy reading ~ Peg
A BOOKTHRONE #Kindlevella Promo Event. #entertowin
I’m partnering with a bunch of fabulous #Kindlevella authors for a May sweeps promo to get people excited about the Vella platform.
FIND NEW & AMAZING STORIES ON KINDLE VELLA 
Start Binge-Reading.
We’re giving away a $200 Amazon Gift Card to one lucky reader. Enter our giveaway for a chance to win for a Chance to Win.
https://www.bookthrone.com/may-vella-giveaway
If you read on Vella, please consider taking a peek at the stories I’ve there. And remember: the first 3 chapters/episodes are ALWAYS FREE TO READ!
May 14, 2023
#mugmonday 5.15.2023
Obligatory last name initial mug!
May 13, 2023
Happy Mother’s Day?
Mother’s day…
I’m not going to lie. This has been the hardest day of my life to date.
In 62 years I’ve lived through a lot.
A lot.
So that’s saying something about the agony of today.
Chronic pain; numerous surgeries; life-changing accidents; rejection; multiple types of skin cancer with subsequent disfiguring surgeries.
It’s a lot.
But it’s all paled in comparison to the unstoppable ache in my soul today.
This is the first Mother’s Day I’ve ever had without my mother.
The sadness surrounding me is like a cloak made of a heavy black depression that weighs more than anyone should bear.
Even during the times our relationship wasn’t perfect, Mother’s Day was always something I never forgot. Cards, small tokens, even just a phone call was all she ever wanted, just a reminder from me that she was my mother and I loved her.
My mother wasn’t one of those moms who demanded and expected hearts, flowers, and expensive gifts.
She was a simple woman with simple tastes and desires.
One of her favorite gifts, and the one she commented on every year on Mother’s Day, was a ceramic house I made her in third-grade arts and crafts class in school. I’ve looked at this item over the years and have always wondered, why the hell did she love it so much?
I know the answer now.
At least, I think I do.
We lived in apartments from the time I was born until I was in the sixth grade. That year, my mother and stepfather bought their first home. It was a tiny one-bedroom bungalow in a beach community on Staten Island. Low rent district, because it was in a flood zone, but a real house nonetheless.
And yes, I said one bedroom. They slept in it, I slept in the living room on an old Castro convertible – remember them?
The entire house couldn’t have been more than 750 square feet. It had a small fenced-in backyard that abutted a wooded area. The houses were separated from each other by three feet ( 1.5 feet on either side), which meant you could hear and see everything going on in the next house. Railroad track houses they were called. One room falling into the next.
I don’t know how much the house cost in 1971 but they had a sizable mortgage for the time. That, I do remember because money was really tight during those years. Those were the times when we didn’t eat vegetables because we couldn’t afford them, powdered milk was the only kind they could buy because of the cheap price, and we ate boiled potatoes five times a week and plain macaroni as our main meal on the weekends.
My mother loved that house.
Why? I think because it was the first real one she ever lived in. Her entire life until that moment had been spent in apartments. First as a child, then as an adult.
This was the first home that was truly hers and not owned by someone else.
I’m not gonna lie and say everything was honky dory in that house. It wasn’t.
The water pressure was practically nil, which meant taking a shower and actually getting soap and shampoo off you took five times longer than it should have. And the water was never really…hot.
The stove was an old burner flame one and the pilot light went out routinely 3-4 times a week. I learned how to light an oven at an age no child should. And with matches, not an electric lighter.
The walls were paper thin which mean no privacy. In the bathroom…in the bedroom.
You get the idea.
There was one thermostat to control the heat and it was in the living room so that meant in order for heat to register in the bedroom the temp had to be turned up high. I never went to bed without sweating.
And forget air conditioning. They couldn’t afford one. Summers were…difficult.
But my mother loved that house, despite all the issues.
And I think that’s why she loved that ceramic house I made her so much.
At the time I made it, we were still living in apartments where roaches were our roommates, junkies looking for a fix roamed outside the front doors, and crime lived in the lobbies.
That little ceramic house was my mother’s hope for the future; her dream where we would live one day. Safe, sound, and far from crime and urban squalor.
The funny thing is, that very first home in the beach looked an awful lot like the ceramic one.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, moms-to-be, aunties, sisters, and step-moms. If you’ve still got your mom with you, call her, give her a hug, tell her you love her.
Thank her.
I wish I could do every one of those things…
May 11, 2023
#firstlinefriday 5.12.2023 THE HAUNTING OF WILTON JUNE #pnr #Ronenominee #smalltownghost
Today’s #firstlinefriday comes from the ( you had to have guessed this!) THE HAUNTING OF WILTON JUNE. LOL. It’s the only book I’ve been talking about all week due to its RONE NOMINEE status. WILL is book 2 in the ROMANTIC HAUNTINGS series from Magnolia Blossom Publishers.
Here’s the first line:
Oh, and have I mentioned the book is a RONE NOMINEE ( LOL) If you’d like to vote for it, and haven’t already- despite all my begging!- here’s the link and the instructions:
To vote: PARANORMAL SHORT
Voting ends at midnight tonight!
Thanks for your support and have a great weekend ~ Peg
