Peggy Jaeger, Author

So, the third book in my ROMANTIC HAUNTINGS series from Magnolia Blossom Publishing is almost ready to send to the editors. I thought I’d give you a little sneak peek at my character images for Genevieve Gordon and Declan Wolffe, my heroine and hero.

Gigi is a tenth-generation witch, real estate agent, and all-around great gal. I actually gave her lavender eyes just like Liz Taylor and they’re a plot point in the book. Gigi’s vowed never to marry because explaining her status and abilities to a would-be-husband is daunting to say the least and might prove catastrophic in the long run. The only man who’s ever known what she is Declan Wolffe, her first and only love. The problem is, Declan left town at 18 leaving her brokenhearted and in the emotional dust without so much as a backward glance.

But now Dec’s back in town.

Declan’s family life was anything but exemplary. His father was an abusive alcoholic, his mother a schizophrenic who never sought treatment. The town viewed Dec as less-than, something he always hated. When he left at 18 he made a promise to himself that one day he would return a success. And he has.

And he wants Gigi back in his life.

The problem: She’s made her own promise to never let any man stomp on her heart ever again, and that includes her first love.

Sound good?

I hope so, hee hee. More details to come once I have a publishing schedule, but for now, here’s a little snippet I wrote about these two meeting up again:

IT’S WITCH O’CLOCK SOMEWHERE

A sudden kerfuffle behind her had heads turning. The City Council members all shifted and glanced over her shoulder at something in the back of the room.

The noise level rose and Gigi, along with every other person in the room, tried to see what was causing the commotion. From the doorway into the chamber she could see a tall man with shoulders almost as wide as the door, standing and regarding the room.

From her vantage point she couldn’t see his face, only the outline of his body and the fact he wore dark sunglasses. He was huge, though, that much she could tell. Well above six feet.

A wave of sound swelled around her until it became a tsunami of words she couldn’t discern with any clarity.

The man moved into the room and Gigi was stuck at once by his command of the space. Those standing in the aisles moved out of his way as he stalked – there really was no other word for it – toward the front.

There was a familiarity to that strut, but she couldn’t for the life of her think what it was.

Short hair outlined his face, dotted with streaks of stark silver at the temples. His skin was deeply tanned, giving an indication he spent a great deal of time out of doors. A fawn-colored sports jacket covered a jet-black collared shirt open at the neck, sans tie. As he moved through the crowd, and even though she couldn’t see his eyes behind the glasses, she had the unmistakable impression he was staring right at her.

Her heart rate kicked up a little as a sixth sense of awareness shot through her.

Harlan Peters banged his gavel to quiet the rumbling room. When the noise hushed, his voice rang out. “Sir, you are interrupting a town business meeting. Who are you and what business do you have here?”

“My apologies,” the man said.

The voice was hauntingly familiar, too.

He stopped just shy of the podium where she stood, his attention focused on the panel at the front of the room.

“I meant no disrespect, but I thought it might make a difference if you heard from me in person,” he said. “It is, after all, my proposal you’re voting on.”

A collective gasp ran around the room.

“You’re Weber?” Peters asked.

A smile as recognizable now as it has been twenty years ago lit the man’s face and made Gigi’s lungs empty of air.

“Weber’s the name of my company,” he said, “named after my—”

“Mother,” Gigi finished.

Turning to her, the man removed his sunglasses and she found a pair of eyes she’d thought never to see again in this lifetime.

With a nod, he said, “Hey, Genny,” a corner of his mouth dipping down on one side in a smirk that still snuck into her dreams. “Long time.”

“Not nearly long enough,” she said to the first boy she’d ever kissed.

And the one who’d shattered her heart into a million irreparable pieces.

Anger crashed through her and before she could get a grip on the escalating fury the ceiling lights flickered and then two bulbs directly above them simultaneously exploded.

And just in case you haven’t read them, here are books 1 and two in the series, MERRY’S GHOST and THE HAUNTING OF WILTON JUNE