Maple cooking day in my house today. I’ve got her food for the next month…
Why couldn’t I have a dog who could eat dog food???
Yearly Archives: 2022
Photo of the day, day 39
She truly believes is she stares at me long enough she can hypnotize me into playing with her….
Filed under year in photos
New #kindleVella episodes coming your way 3 times a week, starting today!
The outpouring of love and support I’ve received from my Kindle Vella story THE JANE AUSTEN MURDERS has prompted me to start putting up 3 episodes/chapters per week, starting today.
The first three chapters are free to read, the rest available for a small token fee from Amazon.
Are you a Kindle Vella reader?
Here’s the link to the Jane Austen Murders so you can start, or just continue with the story.
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? Charlotte had a very antagonistic relationship with her English professor, Dr. Darcy, and he soon becomes the primary suspect. But did he do it?
And I just found out today that the Jane Austen Murders has been named a TOP FAVE by kindle vella readers! That little gold crown above the cover is everything!!! LOL
And I have a few other stories also on Vella you might want to try:
Someone is murdering teenage girls in Washington, DC. The FBI’s special division, the SPCD – the Sexual Predators of Children – has been working the case for the past 6 months. When a Senator’s daughter goes missing, the team, led by Tucker Petrie, has to call on retired profiler – and his past partner – Kella O’Brian. Reluctantly, she rejoins the team and they search for a link to the girls who have been abducted, then killed.
A cheating husband. A group of widows. A hospital bed. A priest. What do they all have in common? Death.
Photo of the day, day 38
Just one of many physical affirmations I have around my office to keep me going when the imposter syndrome thoughts pervade my brain…
Filed under year in photos
#SundaySnippet 2.6.2022
From MIX AND MATCH –
Will their friendship always be relegated to the friend zone?
They arrived at the diner in tandem. Always hearing his mother’s voice in his head, he held the door for her, then guided her to a booth along the back wall.
“Well, now, there’s two people I haven’t seen in a month of Sundays,” Ruthie Tewksberry, the owner, said when she spotted them. “I’ll be right over, kids.”
Jasmine slid into the booth, Donovan opposite her. Before they could settle, Ruthie made a beeline for them, two coffee mugs clasped in one had, a pot of coffee in the other.
Before he could even protest, she glanced down at him and said, “Don’t worry, I brought you a teabag and the water’s coming up.” She plopped the bag down next to him.
“Ah, Ruthie, darlin’, when are you gonna say yes and marry me?”
“When I get in a time machine and go back thirty years,” she quipped, making him laugh. “Don’t mind being called a cougar but I sure ain’t robbing any cradles. Jazz, how’s your mother doing?”
“Good. Working. What else?” She shrugged.
“Woman has more ambition than anyone I’ve ever seen.” She shook her head as she filled one of the mugs and placed it in front of Jasmine. “So, you two want to hear the specials, or do you know what you want already?”
Jasmine ordered her craving grilled cheese, while he went with a simple chicken burger.”
“Give me ten and I’ll have everything on the table. Here’s your water, Van.”
He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “You’re a living saint among us mortals, Ruthie darlin’.”
“Oh, you.” A flush ran up her cheeks as she swiped a hand in the air at him, a huge grin on her face.
“I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen her blush before,” Jasmine told him once the woman had gone to place their order. “Do you do that intentionally or does it just come naturally to you?”
“Do what?”
“You know.” She waved a hand at him. “All that charming, flirting, full-on-accent stuff. Darlin’ this and love that.“
His grin started slowly at her attempt to mimic his accent. It was actually pretty good, he thought. Then it spread when the import of her words filtered through. “Ya think I’m charmin’, do ya?”
She tossed him an eye roll that should have looked comical but on her was as sexy as hell. “I said what you did was charming, not that you are.”
“Ah, Jasmine my love, you wound me to the quick, you do.” He made a show of placing both hands over his heart and attempting a pout. His reward for the ridiculous theatrics was her laugh, which came quick, free, and naturally.
“Now there’s a lovely sound,” he said gazing at her face.
She shook her head. Still smiling, she told him, “I truly don’t think you can help yourself.”
He shrugged. “It’s not a question of helping m’self or not. It’s just as easy to pay a compliment or give a kind word as it is an unkind one. And it makes me feel good to know I’ve been able to put a smile on someone’s face from something I’ve said.”
He couldn’t decipher the expression on hers as she regarded him across the table. Before he could ask about it she said, “Did Olivia call you after”—she lowered her voice—“our date?”
“Aye, she did. First thing the next morning. Did she call you?”
“No, which is weird. She usually checks in right away.” Her brows knit together. “What did you tell her?”
He was prevented from answering right away as Ruthie delivered their food.
“You need anything else, give a holler,” she told them.
Once they were alone again he said, “The truth. The evening was pleasant, you were a lovely woman and I enjoyed getting to know you a bit, but you didn’t think we were well matched.”
“You agreed,” she said, a tad defensively.
He took a bite of his sandwich. He hadn’t. Not really. And he hadn’t related everything Olivia and he discussed. He didn’t share, for instance, the matchmaker had said to go slowly with Jasmine. The fact she wanted to be friends was encouraging because it was the first time she’d ever said that about one of the men she’d been introduced to.
“Because you were so adamant about it,” he said.
Now Jasmine pulled a pout and hers wasn’t meant to make him laugh.
“What did she say after you told her I didn’t think we were,” she lifted her hand, “suited?”
“That she had a few more women who looked promising—her word—that she’d introduce me to.”
“Oh. Okay, then.” She sat back in the booth. “Well…okay.”
He wasn’t sure but she seemed…put off by that.
Promising.
“No more talk of that now,” he said. She visibly relaxed at his words. “Tell me what you’re thinking I should be bidding on the house.”
Preorder here: Mix & Match
Watch the book trailer here: Mix & Match
Filed under sunday snippet
Photo of the day, day 37
The other day I showed you the chocolate/banana muffins I made for my daughter. Here’s today’s cinnamon swirls I baked for hubby last night.
12 muffins went on the plate at 7pm. This morning? 3 left – and I didn’t eat any.
Neither did the dog!
So that leaves just one person in the house who did….
Filed under year in photos
Photo of the day, day 36
Once upon a time, pre-Covid, my daughter gave me this card as my Christmas present. That was Dec.25, 2019. She was supposed to get married on May 24, 2019. She and I were going to have one last Fling before the Ring the night before and go out to dinner in NYC and see Hamilton.
Sadly, covid hit hard and the wedding was postponed as was the fling before the ring.
I found this card the other day when I was cleaning out my office and I have to admit, it made me cry for so many reasons…
Filed under year in photos
Photo of the day, day 35
The Freedom Tower at 5 a.m. from the Jersey side of the river.
I miss the Trade Towers…..
Filed under year in photos
Photo of the day, day 34
My reading material for this month ( so far)
1 book for pleasure ( the Nora)
3 books for craft (The Trope Thesaurus, Body Language, Irresistible blurbs.
2 books on self-betterment: Positive Thinking, and Next Level thinking
And 2 research books for my next PNR book for Magnolia ( 1001 Spells, and The Witches Almanac ) Get the notion this next book is about a witch? Heehee
What’s on your reading list for the month?
Filed under year in photos
A new release from friend and author, M.J. Schiller is out today!
I love when someone I know has a new book release. M.J. Schiller‘s series Love and Chaos has a new addition, out today: ROCK OF SALVATION. Here’s a little glimpse to whet your reading appetite!
Sometimes it takes a bad boy to redeem a good girl. But will she end up being his Salvation in the end?
Jericho Tyler was comfortable in his role as the wild man of Just Short Of Chaos.
Different gorgeous women throwing themselves at him every night? What self-respecting hetero male wouldn’t dream of that? But when Salvation steps out of his shower and into his life, things start to change.
Oh, yeah. I knew the second I saw her that she didn’t belong backstage. And she didn’t belong with a man like me, for sure. But I didn’t let that stop me from seeing just how far she was willing to go to keep up her little naughty girl charade. And if she had something to prove, why not prove it with me?
Salvation Jones was not like the rest of her family.
In a parcel of toe-the-line, conservative preacher’s kids, she stood out like a piece of her costume jewelry at the Inaugural Ball.
I must have had a far-sighted stork reading the directions for my delivery. I was louder than they were. More boisterous. I got into more trouble. I’d heard, “Oh, Salvation,” in my mom’s disappointed voice for so long I began to think the O stood for Olivia, or something. It’s not like I meant to misbehave, but it just came naturally to me. I’d tried to be who they wanted; now it was time for me to truly be myself. They say, “Go big or go home,” so why not start out by seducing a rock star? And not just any rock star, the luscious, womanizing Jericho Tyler. Now that was somebody worth sinning for!
Sometimes it takes a bad boy to redeem a good girl. But will she become his Salvation in the end?
I stepped away from the door and peeled my sweaty shirt off. A shower was going to feel amazing. And I was moving in that direction, until I was brought up short, realizing my shower was already running.
Did Dex get our dressing rooms confused?
It wouldn’t be the first time something like that had happened. I started to cross to rap on the door and it opened, a big ball of steam rolling out. A form emerged through the mist. A beautiful, womanly form. As the steam dissipated, I got a better idea of what I was looking at. She stood with a towel wrapped around her and one twisted on her head. Her gaze lifted to mine.
“Oh.” Her mouth became a perfect circle for a moment. Then she cleared her throat. “Uhh…hello—” She stopped abruptly and ran a hand up the door frame. As what appeared like an afterthought, she cocked the opposite hip awkwardly, in a position that she seemed to think was sexy. And, while it had its merits, her shaky voice, in fact, her whole demeanor told me she was an amateur.
What sort of rebellious preacher’s daughter have we got here, pretending to be a dirty girl?
She wet her lips nervously, which was probably the most provocative thing she had done, even though she did that as if without thinking. “Hello, handsome.”
I stifled a laugh. Her come-on was straight from a movie. No, she didn’t belong here at all. “Okay. Get your clothes on.”
“But don’t you want to….” She gestured vaguely.
It suddenly irritated me. She waltzes in and uses my shower. If I’d done the same to her, I would have been arrested. That flash of anger made me want to embarrass her. I finished her sentence. “Slap the sheets? Screw? Get laid?”
It did knock her back a bit. She blinked. “Yes. All those. I guess….” She chewed on a nail.
I inwardly rolled my eyes. I’d put money on this chick being a virgin. I felt an urge to play with her. It was mean and beneath me, but I had a strong desire to see just how far she would go with this miserable charade of a seduction.
“Okay. Let’s get at it then.” I crossed to her in two big strides. “You won’t be needing this.” I plucked the towel from her and tossed it aside, then pulled her against me.
She gasped and fear shadowed her features. It made me feel sorry for her and wonder what her story was, but I needed to teach her a lesson.
“So, what are you waiting for?” An edge cut through my words, because now that I was near her, and could smell the floral innocence of her fragrance, see her pretty, pouty lips, look into what had to be the most doe-like, amazing eyes I had ever seen, my body awoke.
Oh, shit. I want her. I could so have her without a single worry about whether it was right or not. She was in my shower. But I already knew I wouldn’t do it. Couldn’t do it, to her.
I grasped her chin, tilting her head back. “I thought you wanted to do me?”
She blinked rapidly and I could feel her tremble, which freaking made me yearn for her even more. The towel on her head fell off, exposing red hair with a hint of curl to it.
Shit.
Redheads were my weakness. I brushed my lips over hers. “Come on.” I swallowed but kept trying to push her buttons without engaging mine. “What’s making you wait?” I ran my tongue around her lips and kissed them softly. “Isn’t this what you want?”
Holy shit! I haven’t felt this turned on in a long time, if ever. And it has to be for the virgin I’m unwilling to hurt. This sucks.
I angled my head and lowered my lips until I was a breath apart from her. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it? Huh?” My voice sounded husky. “You want to do it, right?” I kissed her again, longer this time, and deeper. I made the mistake of lifting my gaze to hers, and suddenly I felt weak. Because, in that one moment, I couldn’t see the little girl trying to pretend to be something she wasn’t. All I could see was the desire I had ignited in her.
Her nails raked the skin of my neck and scalp as she threaded her fingers through my hair. With a flick of her tongue, she lashed my lips. Then did it again, searing me with her mouth. Branding me. I let my hand drift down to brush along the skin of her hip. Each new contact with her stirred me all the more. In a rush, I scooped her up from beneath her thighs, and we banged into the wall. I brought my mouth to her neck, grazing her with my teeth, tasting her with my tongue. Her heat against my straining crotch made me even harder.
It was going to take all of my scarce self-restraint to resist her.
She’s somebody’s daughter. She’s somebody’s daughter. She doesn’t know what she’s doing. Although it freaking feels like she knows what she’s doing. She’s simply acting out. She’ll regret giving herself for the first time to a guy like me.
My entire being groaned.
She’s just another girl. Like all the rest. There’s nothing special about her, even if it feels a tad different this time. For me, it will be like every other time. I don’t need this. I don’t need her.
I pushed away, getting a glimpse of a killer body before turning from my temptation. But I could tell she was determined, and she wouldn’t leave unless I forced her to. Scared her. She was a novice. She would crumble. I could handle her. She was a kitten, and I was the king of the jungle. I was freaking Jericho Tyler.
Links:
Books2Read: https://books2read.com/Rock-Of-Salvation
Amazon: https://mybook.to/RockOfSalvation
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rock-of-salvation-m-j-schiller/1138588067
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/rock-of-salvation-3
iTunes: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1548110155
Book One, ROCKED BY GRACE, is on sale for 99¢.
Book Two, ROCKED BY LOVE, is on sale for $1.99.
Book Three, ROCK IT TO THE MOON, is up sale for $2.50.
M.J. Schiller is a lunch lady/romance-romantic suspense writer. She enjoys writing novels whose characters include rock stars, desert princes, teachers, futuristic Knights, construction workers, cops, and a wide variety of others. In her mind everybody has a romance. She is the mother of a twenty-seven-year-old and three twenty-five-year-olds. That’s right, triplets! So having recently taught four children to drive, she likes to escape from life on occasion by pretending to be a rock star at karaoke. However…you won’t be seeing her name on any record labels soon.
Filed under Writing
Peggy Jaeger, Author 