BAKED WITH LOVE tells the story of a Innkeeper, Maureen O’Dowd and Police Chief Lucas Alexander. Friends forever, these two are reluctant to share their feelings for one another. One has a secret, the other is unsure of the reaction to a love declaration.
Innkeeper Maureen O’Dowd lives to cook and bake, spoils her family and friends, and is an expert at keeping secrets, especially about the man who’s held her heart for years.
Police Chief Lucas Alexander is dealing with an aging father and a moody teenage son, and he’s in love with a woman who only wants to be friends.
How can these two fiercely private people reveal their feelings for one another without destroying the friendship they already have? And if they’re successful, will another secret, if revealed, drive a wedge between Maureen and Lucas that can never be repaired?
I’m so excited to announce BAKED WITH LOVE is also a FINALIST in the 2021 RONE AWARDS from InD’Tale magazine in the STEAMY/Contemporary category!
I’ve been so thrilled to have all three books in this series featured in this event and I want to give a big shoutout to NN Light for the wonderful promotional opportunities they give authors.
If you’ve read the books, I hope you’ve enjoyed them. If you haven’t, now is the perfect time of year to do so because…June Wedding season! Heehee.
Lawyer Cathleen O’Dowd wants to break free from her boring image. Widowed young, she’s toed the good-girl line but now wants a little fun and laughter in her days…and nights. Living in a small town, though, she can’t do anything that would tarnish her professional reputation.
Mac Frayne’s tragic past has turned him into a sullen loner. In town to write a book on the city’s founder, his plan is to get it done, then head home to his solitary existence.
When circumstances force them to work together, their opposing personalities clash, but the sexual attraction between them is palpable.
Can a simple affair with an end date be just the thing to brighten up their lives?
Welcome to Women’s Fiction Day! It’s our day to celebrate the authors, the stories, the craft, and the community that make Women’s Fiction vibrant, essential, and, one of the best genres on the literary scene.
First established by WFWA (Women’s Fiction Writers Association) in 2019, this day celebrates the authors, readers, bookstores, and fans of the women’s fiction genre.
WFWA describes women’s fiction as “layered stories in which the plot is driven by the main character’s emotional journey. The driving force of women’s fiction is the protagonist’s journey toward a more fulfilled self.”
As a gift for stopping by the giveaway tour, I’m offering 2 kindle copies of my just-yesterday published Holiday Novella SANTA BABY to two readers/authors who comment below and tell me their favorite Women’s Fiction author!
I love a good wedding, a book about weddings, and a promotion about weddings.
I’ve got all three today over at N.N. Lights Celebrate Weddings Bookish Event! Hop on over to the website to see my post about DEARLY BELOVED. Then enter the rafflecopter for a chance to win an Amazon GC.
And if you haven’t read DEARLY BELOVED yet ( tsk tsk!! LOL) here’s what it’s all about:
Colleen O’Dowd manages a thriving bridal business with her sisters in Heaven, New Hampshire. After fleeing Manhattan and her cheating ex-fiancé, Colleen still believes in happily ever afters. But with a demanding business to run, her sisters to look after, and their 93-year-old grandmother to keep out of trouble, she’s worried she’ll never find Mr. Right.
Playboy Slade Harrington doesn’t believe in marriage. His father’s six weddings have taught him life is better as an unencumbered single guy. But Slade loves his little sister. He’ll do anything for her, including footing the bill for her dream wedding. He doesn’t plan on losing his heart to a smart-mouthed, gorgeous wedding planner, though.
When her ex-fiancé comes back into the picture, Colleen must choose between Mr. Right and Mr. Right Now.
Amazon reviewer: “The dialogue is fast and fresh, the situational humor keeps the pages turning, and the characters are endearing. Family and forgiveness are huge themes here, and the author draws in the reader with humor and heart.”
N.N. Light’s reveiw: “What makes this a must read? Peggy Jaeger’s immense talent for dialogue and emotional depth. I found myself reading Colleen’s inner dialogue, laughing hysterically and thinking to myself how Colleen sounds like me.”
You all know I just love when one of my WIld Rose Sistah’s comes to visit. Today, it’s Maria Imbalzano, who’s been here before!!! She’s got a new book out and I just think it looks divine. She sent me a little bit about it and I thought I’d share it with all of you…
The series is about four friends from high school who are now in their early thirties. Each of the girlfriends has their own story and this book is Alyssa’s story. I had a lot of fun researching and writing this book.
I’m not much of a woodsy, camping, hiking sort of gal, but Alyssa needed to get away from her job and her life. So she headed to Glenn Pines, a resort in the Pocono Mountains for a week where she learned she had erroneously signed up for the Adventure Package. There would be no relaxing massages and soothing pedicures for her.
While there, she learned a lot about herself, allowing her to realize her adventure-less life had its drawbacks. Having lived through Alyssa’s daily experiences, I think it would be fun to change it up for my next vacation—which generally involves a beach, book, and lounge chair—and live in a bare bones cabin while participating in group activities that would challenge me. Is anyone up for a mountain adventure?
A little about SWORN TO FLY –
Risk-averse ER nurse, Alyssa Beckman, is about to lose her job because of yet another bad decision. In order to put her life back on track, she books a week at a rustic mountain resort to ponder her next steps and rejuvenate. But when she arrives, she learns she’s enrolled in boot camp, an adventure program far out of her comfort zone.
While there, she meets Gabriel Sutton, a world-travelling high fashion photographer who is in danger of losing his clients as well as his status if he doesn’t start following the rules. While hiking, kayak racing, and participating in team challenges, sparks fly between Alyssa and Gabe as they encourage each other to take different life paths. But will those paths lead them farther apart or bring them closer together?
I was born in Trenton, NJ , in the heart of Chambersburg, the Italian section of town. My father was a barber and my mother, a State employee, who also taught me to jitterbug at the tender age of four. We loved to dance in the living room while watching American Bandstand. Hardly star material, but I was driven nonetheless. The product of a Catholic School education, I learned the basics, and took for granted I would be successful doing something, even if it entailed cutting hair. I attended Rutgers University as a psychology major, but after three years decided I liked political science better. My first job led me to Manhattan where I worked as a paralegal for four years before attending Fordham University School of Law. There I learned to think like a lawyer, write like a lawyer, and speak like a lawyer, all while living like a pauper in the city of my dreams. Living in New York City, albeit on a tight budget, allowed me to indulge my love of ballet, art museums, and theater. Did you know you could walk into a theater after intermission and no one checks your ticket? I enjoyed the second half of many plays as well as ballets.
My love of reading dates back to my childhood when I would borrow at least four books from the library every week. During the summer, I would sit in the house and read, until my mother, totally frustrated, would send me outside to play and lock me out. I always found my way back in. However, I must confess, I hated to write. In every English and writing class throughout college, I dreaded trying to be creative. As a friend from law school so aptly put it, “The reason why we’re here is because we don’t have a creative bone in our bodies.” I agreed.
Despite my dislike of creative writing back then, I embraced legal writing, and was first published in Volume 5 of the Fordham International Law Journal. My article was entitled “In re Mackin: Is the Application of the Political Offense Exception an Extradition Issue for the Judicial or Executive Branch?” I would advise you against reading it, for you will surely fall asleep.
Following law school, I returned to central New Jersey and took a job at a local law firm where I have been a partner for many years. My area of practice is divorce, and while emotions run high and clients are living through the worst time of their lives, I find the practice very satisfying. In addition to litigation, I have added mediation and collaborative divorce to my repertoire, which are much more civil ways of dealing with issues in family law cases.
In addition to practicing law and raising two daughters, I’ve been working towards my second career. Memoranda of Law and Legal Briefs, although fascinating, pale in comparison to writing romance/women’s fiction. So how does one transition from divorce lawyer by day to romance writer by night? That’s the beauty of having two distinct passions.
Santa Baby releases into the novella-reading world today via all digital markets.
This little story was a joy to write and it sets up the full length FIXING CHRISTMAS that comes out on 11.9.2021.
As part of the Dickens Holiday world, SANTA BABY is set 38 years in the past on a snowy Christmas Eve in the tiny town of Dickens – somewhere in New England. Amy Dorrit, owner of Dorrit’s Diner, discovers an abandoned baby -literally – on her doorstep before opening her eatery for the day. What happens next sets up the rest of Amy’s life – and the future Dorrit’s Diner books.
It’s Christmas Eve morning in the tiny New England town of Dickens.
Santa’s arrival is imminent, and a hint of snow is in the air.
Amy Dorrit is just about to open her popular diner for the breakfast rush when she discovers an abandoned baby on her back doorstep.
Amy knows she should call the authorities and turn the infant over to them, but she just can’t. Thoughts of her own abandonment as a baby flood through her and she wants to keep the little one out of the hands of the authorities until the mother – hopefully –returns.
But will the mom come back? And if she doesn’t, what is Amy prepared to do about the baby who has, already, claimed her heart?
Here’s a little peek inside the covers….
“What in the name of all that’s holy are you holding, Amy Dorrit?”
Willie Jackson stood at her office door, a lit cigarette dangling from a corner of his mouth, his leather jacket hanging open and his eyes as big and round as his county-famous blueberry pancakes.
“What does it look like?” Amy dug around in the carrier searching for a bottle, pacifier, something, to soothe the baby’s cries. “Lose the cigarette. It’s a baby and I’m pretty sure it’s hungry.”
He lifted those shocked eyes to Amy’s face. “Girl, you been keeping secrets from ol’ Willie?”
“Oh for Pete’s sake. Are you nuts, William Jefferson Jackson? It’s not my baby. I found it at the back door when I came downstairs.”
“Whose is it?”
“No idea.”
“What is it?” Holding the small bundle like a football in one arm, she shoved the piece of paper she’d found at him. “Same answer. I haven’t looked yet. Here, read this. I found it tucked inside the blanket.” Once he had it, Amy placed her pinky finger over the baby’s lips. It immediately rooted, then latched on to suck.
“I knew it. It’s starving.”
“ ‘I’m sorry,” he read aloud, ‘but I can’t take care of her—’ well, we know it’s a girl –‘I have no job and no way to hold on to one with a baby. Please forgive me for leaving her like this, but I saw how kind you were yesterday and I know you’ll take care of her like I can’t.’” Willie scratched his head. “Well, shit. We got us a real abandoned baby, here, Ames ol’ girl.”
“Don’t curse in front of her.” She shot him an annoyed glare, her left eyebrow inching up her forehead to her hairline.
“It ain’t like she can understand me. She’s a baby, fer Chri-” Her other eyebrow followed its twin. “Er, pity’s sake.”
“I need something to feed her with.” She glanced around her office. “Can you get me one of the cake decorating bottles? The ones with the plastic tip? I think that’ll work.”
“What’a’ya gonna feed her? Frosting? You ain’t got no mother’s milk and you can’t feed her coffee creamer.”
“Dam-I mean, drat. You’re right. I can give her a little water to hold her over until I can run out and get her some formula.”
“Shouldn’t you call the police? I mean, she’s been abandoned, ain’t she? You can’t just keep her.”
Fellow Sistah-Dickens author Nancy Fraser has a Dickens prequel releasing, too, on June 14th – Making Christmas, that’s available for preorder now.
I found out yesterday, that 2 of my books are now RONE AWARDS FINALISTS in this years’ InD’Tale Magazine Rone awards.
Can you spell E-U-P-H-O-R-I-A???
BAKED WITH LOVE is a finalist in the Steamy Contemporary Category, and…
A PRIDE OF BROTHERS: RICK is a finalist in the SUSPENSE/THRILLER category ( They spelled my name wrong, but…still a finalist, hee hee!)
Now, its up to the judges to determine the winners.
I’ll keep you posted ( while I’m saying nightly prayers for a win! LOL!)
Thank you to my wonderful publisher, THE WILD ROSE PRESS, for taking a chance on an unknown and untested writer 6 years ago, and my amazeballs editor Eilidh Mackenzie who makes every word I write -better!!!!
Summertime is here and before you head out to the pool or beach to catch some sunshine, check out this a-m-a-z-i-n-g giveaway hosted by N. N. Light’s Book Heaven. Win bestselling and award-winning books in digital, print and audiobook formats plus a few Amazon gift cards. One winner per prize. It’s the coolest giveaway online. You don’t want to miss out. The list is long and personally. If there’s a particular book or prize you’d like to win, be sure to say which prize you want when you enter via Rafflecopter. Enter below and good luck!
My book DIRTY DAMSELS is one of the books in the giveaway so if you haven’t read it yet, here’s your chance to win it!!
What if Cynderella had a one-night stand with a man named Prince?
When I first saw Cynderella all covered in soot in that sexy maid uniform, I knew I wanted to be her Prince.She’s a smart and savvy businesswoman who’s built her cleaning company from the ground up. But now that Dirty Damsels was booming, I’ve been hired to arrange a hostile takeover. But the temptation of having her was too much to ignore… We ended up spending one night together–a night neither of us will forget.
Now, I want more. I need more. I want to spend every night, skin-on-skin, with my beautiful Ella. Problem is, when she finds out who I really am, she’ll never forgive me.
****Readers who like the following topics will enjoy DIRTY DAMSELS: Sexy romance, Modern Fairytale, NYC, female CEO, Corporate Romance, Single woman, female business owner, HEA
This is the very first time my new ROMANCE GEMS sistah, prolific author M.J. Schiller, has visited me and WOW! am I thrilled. She’s just had a brand new book release yesterday, book 3 in her LOVE AND CHAOS series ROCK IT TO THE MOON and man-oh-man does this book ( and the series ) look fabulous! The cover alone is enough to get me all hot and bothered!
Check it out:
She’s given her life up for others. Maybe Dex’s form of chaos is just what she needs.
Blurb ~
While love had come to some of the other members of Just Short Of Chaos, Dex Rogan had no interest in getting tangled up in that mess. That is, until he stumbled upon Tatum backstage.
Before Tatum, I would have told you love was for chumps. But I would have been wrong. The moment I saw her, it was like BAM! This driving urge to be with her was more jarring than someone smacking me in the face with my drumsticks would be. And every moment since has just solidified her place in my heart. By the time I found out she was off limits, it was too late. I was all in.
Tatum Salvetti doesn’t have time for love. If it can’t be color-coded or found on the periodic table, she doesn’t need it. But when an ugly incident drives her into Dex’s arms, she’s shaken enough to step out of character for once.
I wasn’t looking for love that night, I was looking to escape, and Dex was the perfect distraction from my train wreck of a life. …He was perfect, period.
But I’m in astrophysics. I’m not stupid. I knew it wasn’t going anywhere. Even if he wasn’t just interested in a one night stand, we wouldn’t be able to hide a relationship from Zane. My brother seemed to still think of me as the ten-year-old he met when our parents wed. Well, it wasn’t any ten-year-old girl in Dex Rogan’s bed that night, and if Zane found out about it, he would go apeshit. I was trying to get away from chaos, not create it.
Tatum has sacrificed her whole life for others. But maybe this time she could think of her own desires. Could Dex’s brand of chaos be just what she needs?
Excerpt~
She had one hand on the cinderblock wall and with the other she was messing with her shoe strap. The shoes themselves were sexy as hell, but as my gaze rose up her legs to the black dress she wore, farther along a shapely body all the way to her golden hair twisted neatly behind her, glowing in the fluorescent lights…she simply stole my breath away. Like I couldn’t breathe. She looked like she was dressed more for a municipal orchestra pit somewhere, not like someone attending one of our concerts, and that alone made her stand out. Then the way she rocked that prim little dress of hers…. It wasn’t low-cut or revealing in any way, but the soft sway of the fabric against her curves was magical. Then she laid those big baby blues on me, and I was a goner.
It dawned on me suddenly that she was standing outside of Zane’s dressing room, waiting for him. My heart dropped.
Damn it.
The lead singer always scored the hottest women. It didn’t even seem to matter that Zane was getting married soon. He’d never cheat on Grace, but this angel was waiting for him, not for me. Normally this would have me cursing under my breath, slinking off like a dog with its tail between its legs. But I was just so struck. I couldn’t walk away. I had to have her.
Admittedly, I was pretty floored by that fact. I’d never felt anything close to that for a woman before. It was like this instant, driving urge to make her mine. The kind of thing they wrote about in those romance novels Grace read.
Our gaze connected and she froze for an instant. “Oh, hi. I…umm…don’t have a pass but I’m—” She hopped around, still trying to adjust her shoe strap and losing her balance, a little purse that dangled from a gold chain falling off her shoulder.
Her obvious nervousness and bumbling made me feel like she was more attainable, more on my level, and my confidence surged. I took her arms to stabilize her. “I’m not here to bust you. Relax.” I flashed her a smile.
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-two-year-old and three twenty-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.
I’ve been sitting on the edge of my chair for the past few weeks just waiting for this day to arrive so I could finally – FINALLY – show you the amazeballs cover graphic designer Kristian Norris made for A PRIDE OF BROTHERS: AIDEN. Ready??
Ta-daaaaaaaa
I know you all haven’t read the book yet, but when I tell you this cover is a perfect depiction of the book, believe it!!! And did you notice the Easter Egg the heroine is holding??? Hee hee. It’s a copy of book 1 in the series, A PRIDE OF BROTHERS: RICK. So cool. So ridiculously cool.
I’m doing a professional cover reveal tour with N.N. Lights Bookheaven for this cover, too. Plus, I’m doing a $10.00 Amazon gc giveaway
Open to US residents only.
Runs June 1 – June 10, 2021.
Winner will be drawn on June 11, 2021.
Here’s one of the fabulous graphics she made me: When you read the book, you’ll know why this Chocolate lab is so important – she’s actually one of the main characters!
Here’s the blurb:
Lexi Buckley wants answers about her younger sister’s death. The police have labeled it a suicide, but Lexi doesn’t believe it. Stymied in her investigation, she doesn’t know where to turn next. After a chance encounter with a private investigator, she thinks her prayers have been answered.
Aiden Keane has never been an answer to a prayer before, but he agrees to help Lexi. A quirky combo of brains and beauty, the pixie blonde makes him feel things no professional ever should for a client.
When their investigation puts Lexi’s life in jeopardy, her safety becomes his number one priority. The hard part is not falling for her.
Here’s a little snippet between Lexi and Aiden…
After the best sleep he’d had in weeks, Aiden woke refreshed, recharged, and starving. A quick protein shake and he was out the door, his dog on his heels.
Brontë was in rare form as he ran her in the park on the beautiful June morning. He knew Dylan ran between five and seven miles every day, and it seemed he’d gotten Brontë up to his level. The dog, who typically started to slow down at about mile three of Aiden’s runs, was still going strong at the five-mile marker.
“I should leave you with Dylan more often,” he told the dog when he stopped and found a bench to sit and rest for a bit. “He pushes you a lot more than I do.”
The dog gave him one of her serene smiles, stretched out on the ground next to the bench and yawned before dropping her head over her paws.
When he pulled his beeping phone from his running shorts, an unfamiliar number crossed the screen.
“This is Aiden.”
“Oh, hi…I wasn’t sure if I’d get you or an answering machine. This is Alexis. Um, Lexi. We met. Yesterday. On the plane?”
Aiden smiled at how nervous—and cute—she sounded. How could she possibly think he’d forgotten her?
He stretched his legs out and dropped his free hand to scratch Brontë behind her ear. “You get home okay after we landed?”
“Um, yes. No problems.”
“Well, what can I do for you on this beautiful day, Lexi?”
“Oh, is it? I haven’t been out yet. I, um, had a lot to do when I got home.”
He chuckled to himself, thinking he wouldn’t be surprised if she hit him up with some statistic about how much of a vacation a person who just got home from a vacation needed.
A deep breath came through the phone, and the idea she was trying to gear herself up to ask for help drifted through him. Should he take pity on her and offer his services again, or wait for her to ask?
He had nowhere to be, nothing to do, so he slouched down even more on the bench and waited her out.
“Well,” she said after clearing her throat, “I’m calling because, after everything we talked about yesterday, and because you’re a, you know, private investigator, I, well, I want to ask for your help. Hire you. I want to hire you to help me find out what happened to my sister.”
His grin grew.
“I don’t know how much you charge,” she continued. “But I need help—your kind of help and expertise. I can’t do more than I’ve already done, and I’m at a standstill. So, like I said, I’d like to hire you to look into it. I don’t have much available cash now, but I can give you a retainer to start.”
“Don’t worry about the money. I’ve got a few days free, so how about I take a look at what you’ve got first, no charge.”
“Oh, I can’t not pay you. It seems…wrong, somehow.”
“Like I said, let’s not worry about it right now. Wait to see if I even have anything to offer. You may have already exhausted every avenue.”
“I seriously doubt that.”
He could hear the gears in her mind turning. “When would you like to start?”
“The Reverend John Trusler is credited with saying, ‘There’s no time like the present,’ so how about now?”
The tiny breath he heard her pull in charmed him into another smile. In truth, he’d been hoping she’d say now.
“I’m sorry. That was rude. You’re probably busy after just returning home. Got a thousand things to do. We can make it another time at your convenience.”
“Give me an hour and text me your address,” he said, pushing to a stand. Brontë lifted her head, and when Aiden gave her the signal to rise, she did and positioned herself by his side.
“Really? Oh, thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. I’ll text you my address right now. And I’ll see you shortly. Thanks, again.”
“Lexi? One thing before we hang up.”
“Yes?”
Aiden rubbed his dog’s head, rewarded with a lolling tongue and a doggie-grin.
“How do you feel about dogs?”
I don’t have any purchase links or a release date yet, but when I do you can be sure I’ll be posting them EVERYWHERE!! hee hee.
Peggy Jaeger, Author 