Author Archives: Peggy Jaeger

Today’s #Firstlinefriday is from my Deerbourne Inn book, HOPE’S DREAM frorm The Wild Rose Press.

“Quaint. A description Tyler Coleman had never used before.”

Hope Kildaire gave up her dream of becoming a nurse practitioner when a car accident killed her father and left her mother an invalid. Working two jobs and caring for her mother leaves the twenty-seven-year-old with no time for fun or relationships. When a law firm representing her paternal grandparents sends her several letters, Hope ignores them. She despises the family who disowned her father and wants nothing to do with them.

Lawyer Tyler Coleman’s job is simply to obtain Hope’s signature on a legal document. Getting it is harder than planned, though, when an unexpected attraction blossoms between them. If Ty is honest with Hope about why he’s in Willow Springs, he’ll fulfill his assignment but may risk hurting her.

The opportunity to have everything she’s ever desired is at Hope’s fingertips. Will her dream come true at the expense of Tyler’s love?

If you read my post from August 13th, you know I attended the Bigelow Free Library Romance Day Book and reader event yesterday.

To say it was a resounding success would not do it justice. It was phenomenal.

10 authors, moi included, spent from 10am until 12:30 pm speaking, chatting, and discussing books with a never-ending crowd of readers who were excited to see us, learn about our stories, and buy our books.

I met sosososo many amazing women who have now become new-to-me-readers, that I was over the moon. Still am.

I love – really love – doing library events.

Libraries are the educational and knowledge backbone of this country. What is being done to them with defunding and book banning right now is a national disgrace, and I wish more people were speaking out against these budget cuts.

If you know anything about me, you know I was practically raised in my public library as a kid. My mother worked full-time and couldn’t afford child care or an after-school babysitter, so every day from second grade on ( I was 7) I was left to walk myself home from school. Instead of going home to an empty apartment and watching television for hours until she came home, I walked to my local library, which was halfway between school and home, every day and sat, did my homework, and read myself through the children’s section of books.

The lovely librarians became my childcare providers. They asked me about my day, helped me with homework when I needed it, and recommended age-appropriate books for me to read. They truly fostered my lifelong love of reading. They became my mentors, my responsible adults, and ultimately, my friends.

My very first piece of identification, other than my birth certificate, was my library card. I still have one, even now in the digital age!

It’s surprising I didn’t grow up to be a librarian. But my path was pointed in a different direction.

To this day my love of libraries is still huge. I support my local one financially, with book donations, through their bi-annual book sales, and as a FRIEND OF THE LIBRARY, an organization that helps them defray and offset the budget costs they’ve faced.

I could probably do a dissertation on why book banning is so inherently wrong, but that’s a post for another day.

For now, I want to publicly thank Marie LeTarte, the director of the Bigelow Library, for hosting my fellow authors and me and for making National Romance Day one for us all to look back on with fond remembrance.

I’ve already got 2027 penciled in for National Romance Day at the Bigelow Free Library!

Today’s #Firstlinefriday is from my book SABLE, ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID.

Sable groaned as she spotted her oldest aunt, Teresa, moving like a heat-seeking missile across the ballroom, aimed straight for her.

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 three tours in the Army without focusing on a goal. And making Sable Miller fall in love with him is his best goal yet.

…come spend it with several other authors and me!

This coming Saturday, August 15, 2026, head on down to Clinton, MA to the Bigelow Free Library from 10 am until 12:30 as several authors, including myself, participate in a Romance Book Event/Festival to celebrate Romance Day.

Here’s a list of just some of the participating authors who will have their latest books for sale:

Moi ( LOL)

Kari Lemor

Kristen Strassel

Jillian MacGregor

Judith Paolercio

and more!

IYKYK that Libraries are something I treasure ( and you should too!) so having this event on Romance Day is just so perfect.

Come on down and see us. Buy a book. Enrich your mind.

Most of all…have fun!

~ Peg

“I swear if one more aunt corners me and tells me she has the perfect girl for me, I’m gonna pull a Usain and Bolt outta here.”

CHANCE ( LAST MAN STANDING)

Chance Miller, divorce lawyer extraordinaire, knows the whole happily ever after dream is an urban myth. He deals with miserable and wedded warring couples every day and swears staying single keeps him sane and happy. His friends and family consider him the last single man standing and fear he’ll never find someone and settle down. But Chance relishes his carefree status and unencumbered lifestyle and has no plans to change anything.

If only his relatives would stop trying to set him up with their version of the perfect woman.

Fredrika Poole already experienced her one great love, and the widow can’t read any future romance in her tea leaves. She’s content to bake, run her business, and care for her daughter.

When Chance meets Freddie and discovers her marriage thoughts run on the same road his do, he realizes she’s the answer to his prayer for keeping the relatives at bay. But the pixie barista has a way of making Chance question everything he’s always thought about love, marriage, and wedded bliss.

Will his last man standing status go unchallenged? Or will Freddie be the one woman he wants…but can never have?

to release day.

I’m a little late with this post – it should have gone up on Saturday, August 1st, but…life.

On 9.1.26, THE JANE AUSTEN MURDERS releases in ecopy over on Amazon. It will also be in KU at that time.

Homicide Detectives Elizabeth Bennett and Frank Churchill are called to Longbourne College when the body of student Charlotte Lucas is found bludgeoned to death. Charlotte, a scholarship student, had a healthy supply of designer clothes, jewelry, and a safe deposit box loaded with cash. Where did she get them?

During Lizzy’s investigation into Charlotte’s life, she discovers the student had an antagonistic relationship with her English professor, Dr. Darcy. Word on the street is they couldn’t stand one another and the night before she was killed, the duo had a loud, contentious argument in front of the entire class.

When more clues start popping up about Charlotte’s extracurricular activities, Darcy becomes the primary suspect.

But did he do it?

If you’d like to read it in print, I’ll have copies I can send you, signed and personalized. Just use this link to order ( and PS…it’s cheaper than ‘zon. US continental residents only, though, because of ridiculous shipping costs.)

…in a good way, lol

It’s the start of a new month so, in my never-ending attempt to acquire more new-to-me-readers, I figured now would be a good time to list all the social sites I am on in the hopes that at least one of them will spark the attention of a new reader who will want to follow me.

Run-on sentence much? lol!

You can follow me all these places ( or just on 1) but the goal is to have you follow me!!!!!

Website ( where I blog about life and books and stuff)

Facebook

Instagram

Tiktok

Youtube

Substack

Pinterest

Goodreads ( listing my books and the books I review)

My Amazon page ( listing all my books)

And, of course, to make it even easier, here’s my Linktree.

So, basically, if you’re scrolling through a social site and come across this logo:

or this one…

you know it’s me…

Enjoy your days, Kids. And, please: follow me somewhere.

and more to come!

So, taking a page from my career playbook, I have booked a few new summer/fall book signings that are drivable from my home base, and I don’t need to shell out money for hotels! Always looking to save cash in this economy, kids!

Here’s a current list, and I have a few more in the works for winter, so stay tuned!

I’ll have all my new 2026 titles available and holiday books galore.

Hope to see you.

~peg

It’s no secret my newest book – a non-romance, murder mystery – THE JANE AUSTEN MURDERS, is releasing in ecopy on 9.1.26. The print copy will release on 8.10.26

You can preorder the ecopy at Amazon and it will be in KU for 90 days. As far as the print version goes, you can either order it from Amazon or from my website. The advantage of my website is that the copy will be autogpraphed/personalized, and it costs less. Shipping is included, too.

This book was originally published on the Kindle Vella platform ( remember that one?!) and once the site shut down, Amazon said authors could publish their works any way they wanted. I waited a bit because…life, but now I’m offering it to readers who never took advantage of Vella.

I’ve updated the story a bit, changed a few things – nothing central to the plot – and I think it’s even a better story now. But I’m biased.

Here’s the blurb:

Homicide Detective Elizabeth Bennett and senior partner Frank Churchill are called to Longbourne College when the body of student Charlotte Lucas is found bludgeoned to death. Charlotte, a scholarship student, had a healthy supply of designer clothes, jewelry, and a safe deposit box loaded with cash. Where did she get them?

During Lizzy’s investigation into Charlotte’s life, she discovers the student had an antagonistic relationship with her English professor, Dr. Darcy. Word on the street is they couldn’t stand one another, and the night before she was killed, the duo had a loud, contentious argument in front of the entire class.

When more clues start popping up about Charlotte’s extracurricular activities, Darcy becomes the primary suspect.

But did he do it?

So…why write a book using the entire cast of Jane Austen characters in this day and age?

The idea came to me one day when I was re-reading Pride and Prejudice for what had to have been the fifteenth time. To say I love the story is too tame a descriptor.

I wondered, as an author will, what the characters would look like in modern times. Would the passion between Lizzy and Darcy hold up across the centuries? What scenario would force them together, because I didn’t think a woman on the hunt for a man to marry and take care of her would fly in these times.

Plus, Lizzy always reminded me of a woman born before her time – a badass; a feminist; a gal out to make her own way in the world, unapologetically.

Giving her the occupation of homicide detective seemed appropriate. Once I had that, the story unfolded itself.

This version was originally published under the Kindle Vella platform and it got such great traction there I decided to publish it as a standalone novel once the criteria and rules of Vella were completed.

Back in my 20s and 30s before I ever thought to write romance books, I was fascinated with crime, true crime, and serial murderers. I grew up in the era of Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and Son of Sam. All my books up on Kindle Vella show that fascination, this one included.

I hope you liked reading about Lizzy and Darcy in this format. Who knows? Maybe I’ll make them a crime-fighting duo in a series. Heehee

Happy Reading,

Peg

Just a few more days to get some of my ebooks for less than half the price on SMASHWORDS!

These are the titles available for sale:

Fill your ereader today, courtesy of SMASHWORDS!