For this lovely Halloween Blog Hop, I wanted to give you a little view of how I envision the Cleary house from FIRST IMPRESSIONS. The book takes place in the Fall. Since the East Coast is so lovely this time of year, I simply had to set the plot in what many consider the most beautiful place to be in the autumn, namely, New England.
Seamus Cleary bought the rundown, abandoned farmhouse when he first came to Carvan, thirty years ago, and spared no expense restoring it. He found out from Serena MacQuire that the farm was originally owned by the Johannsen family. When Mrs. Johannsen died, her husband was so grief stricken he wouldn’t let anyone take her body from the home. Serena’s mother, Alaina, was the one to convince him to do so. Ever since then, the house has stood vacant. The villagers in Carvan believe Mr Johannsen haunts the house – something Seamus wasn’t told when he purchased it! A native of Scotland, Seamus isn’t one to be bothered by the thoughts of ghosts and hauntings, though. This is the house he brought Serena to as a bride, and the one in which their 4 children grew up in. In fact, twins Padric (FIRST IMPRESSIONS) and Moira (THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME) were born in the guest room because their parents couldn’t get to the hospital fast enough!
All my MacQuire Women stories take place in the fictional town of Carvan, Connecticut. Since FIRST IMPRESSIONS is an autumn story, I pictured the Cleary house as decorated for the season much like this:
I can picture the 4 Cleary kids running around this farm in Halloween costumes, helping their mom give out the candy to the Trick-or-Treaters who come by, and generally just enjoying a childhood steeped in love and laughter.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS tells Padric Cleary and Clarissa Rogers’ story.
Family Practice Doctor Clarissa Rogers’ first impression of Padric Cleary is biased and based on gossip. The handsome, charming veterinarian is considered a serial dater and commitment-phobic by his family and most of the town. Relationship shy, Clarissa refuses to lose her heart to a man who can’t pledge himself to her forever.
Pat Cleary, despite his reputation, is actually looking for “The One.” When he does give his heart away, he wants it to be for life. With his parent’s marriage as his guidebook, he wants a woman who will be his equal and soul mate in every way.
Can Pat convince everyone – including Clarissa – she’s the only woman for him?
I’ll be giving away 1 free e-copy ( from AMAZON) of FIRST IMPRESSIONS to a lucky winner who tells me this:
What Halloween candy was your favorite one to receive when you trick-or-treated as a kid?
Leave me your answer in the comments section of my blog post.
Have a wonderful, candy-filled Halloween, and don’t forget to visit the plethora of wonderful authors participating in this blog hop!
Peggy Jaeger, Author 
Love your blog posts almost as much as I have loved M&M’s for most of my life!
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Is there anything as good as a pack of M&M’s??? Well….LOL
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Snickers
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That seems to be a favorite of a lot of people – my hubby included! Thanks for stopping by!
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Reese’s peanut butter cups….perfection in a bite! Great post, Peg!
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Casi -the words peanut butter and chocolate are such perfection, aren’t they??!! Hee hee
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Love your vision of the Cleary house. Love the cover of First Impressions! I’ll take a Kit Kat bar please 🙂
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Oh my God, Kit Kats!!! Like the song, once you eat one you can’t get it out of your head how they good they taste!!!!
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Enjoyed the post. Snickers are my favorite!
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Karen – those are my hubby favs, too! He likes me to put them in the freezer first. I’m always worried he’s gonna break a tooth when he bites into them, frozen!!! hahaha.
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Twix
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There’s something about a graham cracker, chocolate and caramel that just makes me go “Ahhhhhhhhhhh”
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Peanut butter cups!
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Krystal – again, my love affair with peanut butter and chocolate is legendary! Thanks for stopping by!
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Candy corn flavored M&Ms and Kit Kats. I have to hide the bags from myself!
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Hahah Judy. That’s why I don’t buy candy until 10/31!!! Then I give it all away!
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I always liked getting those bags of M&Ms, because it seemed like they held “so many” instead of just one candy bar… and now i have kids who DON”T LIKE M&Ms… can you imagine?
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Katie- I loved them for that same reason!! it seemed like you got more candy than everyone else!!! Have you seen the advertisements for the new CARAMEL M&s coming out next year!!! I’m drooling already!
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Frozen resee’s cups. I have a secret stash hidden in my freezer.
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See, now I can’t even hide anything in my freezer – or my house – because my husband is a world class finder!!!!
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Skittles. Thanks for the chance.
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My hubby’s second favorite candy!!! Skittles rule the world!
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I love your picture of the Cleary house! And my favourite treat at any time of year is chocolate – any variety, filled or solid, just can’t get enough!
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You can never go wrong with chocolate!
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It has always been M&M’s!
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You know what’s so very great about M7M’s aside from the flavor?? You get SO MANY OF THE THEM in a packet. I always feel like I’ve gotten a great, long lasting treat, esp. if I eat them one by one – which I do just to make them last.!
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I loved to get almond joys.
Nancy Burgess
jean60212@gmail.com
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I always loved to get Almond Joys.
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