I tried capturing the full moon through a window. Didn’t go like I wanted…
Author Archives: Peggy Jaeger
#Sundaysnippet A KISS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS #holidayromance #holidaytbrlist
To celebrate the opening of my 2022 Holiday website book store, every Sunday I’m going to post snippets of the books available to purchase in the store.
Today is an oldie but a goodie. From my first SAN VALENTINO holiday book, A KISS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
With Christmas just a few weeks away, Gia San Valentino, the baby in her large, loud, and loving Italian family, yearns for a life and home of her own with a husband and bambini she can love and spoil. The single scene doesn’t interest her, and the men her well-meaning family introduce her to aren’t exactly the happily-ever-after kind.
Tim Santini believes he’s finally found the woman for him, but Gia will take some convincing she’s that girl. A misunderstanding has her thinking he’s something he’s not.
Can a kiss stolen under the Christmas lights persuade her to spend the rest of her life with him?
He came toward me and I could see every ripple of muscle, every action and reaction of his gait, every blink of his eyes, as it happened. Detailed, distinct, delicious.
The bright sun shone low due to the hour, but it haloed around his form, bathing him in light.
He looked like an angel.
A dressed-all-in-black angel, but an angel, nonetheless.
“Need some help?” he asked when he was within a foot of me.
I still hadn’t moved, my fingers cemented around the ladder rungs. I couldn’t feel them anymore. Merda, I couldn’t feel anything I was so numb from just looking at him.
But I could hear. My blood, as it river-rafted crazily through my temples; my heart drumming like a heavy metal band in my chest.
And his voice. Mio Dio, his voice.
When I was six I had a terrible chest cold. Wheezing, choking on phlegm, unable to cough anything up. The doctor told mama to keep me warm and hydrated and the cold would ride itself out in time. Nonna Constanza, ancient even when I was a kid, scoffed and prescribed her own old-world remedy. She sat me in her lap, cooing to me with her singsong voice and held a tiny shot glass up to my lips coaxing, “Tu bevi, Gia bambina. Tu Bevi.”
Drink, Gia baby. Drink.
She tilted the glass back into my mouth and I did. I drank every drop.
I don’t remember much after. Daddy told me later I slipped into a mini-coma for about sixty-two hours, bombed out of my head from the anisette nonna had dosed me with.
But this is what I do remember. The amber-colored liquor slipped down the inside of my mouth to the back of my throat and onward into my belly, tasting of melted marshmallows and warming each place it touched like a million little hits of heat popping everywhere inside me. When it reached my tummy it settled and dug in, filling my senses with the sweet flavor of mama’s Sunday morning caramel rolls and sugar.
That’s what his voice sounded like: warm and sweet, thick, delicious, and soothing.
My entire body relaxed when I heard it. My paralysis flew and my frozen-in-place digits melted.
He’d held my stare the entire time, never wavering, never becoming distracted by something else. He looked straight at me; just me. Like a missile dead-eye-aimed for a target.
“Here,” he said, moving in closer, so close I could make out the actual color of his eyes now. I’d thought they were dark and from far away and they were. But seeing them now, face-to-face, I spotted little flecks of yellow and slivery shards of gold mixed into the center and surrounded by a ring of deep, rich, mink.
If his voice was warm and soothing, his eyes were hot enough to singe, and mama mia, I wanted to be burned.
Honestly – I love this book and this family sosos much!
To order the book directly from my bookstore, click this link: WEBSITE BOOKSTORE
Filed under A kiss Under the Christmas LIghts, sunday snippet, Writing
A visit with author JUDITH STERLING & a sneak peek at her new book TRIP THE LIGHT PHANTASMIC #Gothicfiction #newrelease
I love when author friends come to visit me and bring me word of their new books. Judith Sterling has a brand new series out – THE GOTHIC GWYN MYSTERIES – and she’s here today telling me all about book 1, TRIP THE LIGHT PHANTASMIC.
I’ll let her explain the plot and give you a little sneak peek!
Judith….
Trip the Light Phantasmic
(The Gothic Gwyn Mysteries, Book One)
By Judith Sterling
Gwyneth Camm has just inherited her great-aunt’s house in Salem, Massachusetts, along with an extensive collection of gothic romance novels. As a PhD student who prefers “serious” books, Gwyn has always avoided pulp fiction. Now, in honor of her beloved Aunt Ethel, she gives one of the gothics a try…and promptly falls asleep.
When she wakes, she finds herself inside the story, thrust by forces unknown into the heroine’s role. There’s magic afoot, and the only way back to her own life is to play her part and solve the mystery.
When fiction becomes fact, anything can happen…
I stepped out into the crisp, fresh air of an autumn evening and inhaled deeply. To my eyes—and lungs—the terrace was Heaven, illuminated by electric lights whose glow reached partway down a wide stone staircase. Darkness hid the rest of the grounds and whatever else lay beyond.
I turned to my savior as he closed the doors to the dining room. “How can I thank you enough?”
“By telling me the real reason why you wanted to leave.” He closed the distance between us. His broad shoulders looked sturdy, dependable.
“I’m not sure you’ll like it.”
“I still want to know.”
“I’m sensitive to cigarette smoke. I was okay with it for a while, but then I had to get out of there.”
He performed a little smile. “You sound just like…”
I held my tongue, expecting him to elaborate, but the wait was wasted. “You were saying…”
He shook his head as though shaking off a memory. “Never mind. Why didn’t you tell the truth?”
“I didn’t want to seem rude. But I suppose I did anyway.”
“You’ll have to forgive Mother. She’s had her share of tragedy.” He took a deep breath, then sighed. “She was once a prima ballerina…world-famous. Until she married my father. They were happy for a time. Then she had an accident and was paralyzed from the waist down.”
“How horrible.”
He nodded. “Being confined to a wheelchair is…difficult for her, perhaps harder than for most.”
Out of nowhere, an icy gust swiped me. I shivered and rubbed my bare arms.
“You’re cold.” He removed his jacket and placed it around my shoulders. Though haunted by the smell of smoke, it infused me with his warmth and an odd sense of intimacy. He lingered behind me.
“Thank you.” Twisting around, I looked up into his finely chiseled face and detected a hint of interest.
His pupils expanded. “It’s the least I can do.”
Oh yeah? What more could you do if I let you? Best not to think about that.
A slight movement at one of the windows caught my eye. Penny, the maid, watched us from inside the house. Before I could acknowledge her presence, she dropped the curtain, hiding herself from view.
Okay. That was interesting.
Edgar followed my gaze. “What is it?”
“We had an audience.”
“Oh?”
“Penny was watching from that window.” I pointed to the one in question.
“Ah, Penny. I’ve known her a long time, and she’s a curious girl. Of course, it wouldn’t surprise me if she had company.”
I turned to face him. “Meaning?”
“This house has many eyes, and they’re always watching. You’d do well to remember that.”
Dude, you just upped the creep factor by half. “I’ll try.” I doffed his jacket and handed it back to him. “Thanks for this. I’m going now.”
“Where to?”
“My room. I know it’s early, but—”
“You’ve had a long day.”
You have no idea. “Yes. Should I go back through the dining room?”
“Better not. Roland will still be smoking. Go through the drawing room, over there.” He indicated the other set of French doors. His eyes held understanding, and if I wasn’t mistaken, regret. “Good night, Gwyn.”
“Good night.”
Get your copy here:
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKRG9KG9
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BKRG9KG9
Amazon CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BKRG9KG9
Amazon AU https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BKRG9KG9
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/trip-the-light-phantasmic-judith-sterling/1142591372
Apple https://books.apple.com/us/book/id6444068184
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/trip-the-light-phantasmic
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63119659-trip-the-light-phantasmic
Judith Sterling is an award-winning author whose love of history and passion for the paranormal infuse everything she writes. Through gothic paranormal mystery (The Gothic Gwyn Mysteries), medieval/time travel romance (The Novels of Ravenwood) and young adult paranormal fantasy (the Guardians of Erin series), she loves to whisk readers away from their troubles and remind them of the hidden magic all around us.
Her nonfiction books, written under Judith Marshall, have been translated into multiple languages. She has an MA in linguistics and a BA in history, with a minor in British Studies. Born in that sauna called Florida, she craved cooler climes, and once the travel bug bit, she lived in England, Scotland, Sweden, Wisconsin, Virginia, and on the island of Nantucket. She currently lives in Salem, Massachusetts with her husband and their identical twin sons.
You can conncet with Judith here:
Website – https://judithmarshallauthor.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/judithsterlingfiction/
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16291161.Judith_Sterling
BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/authors/judith-sterling
Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01MT3KB7L
The Wild Rose Press – https://www.thewildrosepress.com/bookauthor/judith-sterling
Filed under Writing
Photo of the day, day 314
Last swim of the year…for real this time. It got cold finally.
Filed under year in photos
#Releaseday for SASHA’S SECRET SANTA #dickensholidayromance #smalltown #slowburnromance
Bet you thought this day would never come, huh, since I’ve been talking about it FOREVEH!!! LOL
I am so happy SASHA’S SECRET SANTA is finally available. Did you preorder it? If so, thank you from the bottom of my writer’s heart!!! Hopefully, it’s on your Kindle right now! I’ve also made is available in Kindle Unlimited, so if you’re a subscriber…enjoy!
The early reviews on the story have been amazing and OH MY GOSH i want to cry happy tears at them!
InD’Tale Magazine says SASHA’S SECRET SANTA is a …”delectable holiday-themed book wrapped with emotions and finished with a big red bow on top!” And it was awarded a CROWNED HEART!
Mistress of Reviews says that …”this installment of a Dickens Holiday romance delivers all you could want in a love story.”
An Amazon reviewer said: “Sasha’s Secret Santa truly delivered all the feels. This was a captivating read that had me running the gamut of emotions but left me feeling warm and fuzzy at the end!”
Can I just say….wow!!! I am truly humbled. I hope you enjoy the book, too, and if you do, please let me know! My little ego needs recharging every now and again and the best way is when a great review gets posted.
Enjoy!
And then there’s this review from NN LIght’s Bookhaven that just about did me in, emotionally!!! These tears are such happy ones!
Filed under Dickens Holiday Romance
Peggy Jaeger, Author 