I’m happy to welcome back award-winning Wild Rose Press author Peggy Jaeger to the Power of 10 series. Today, Peggy shares fun facts about her state and her new release, Dearly Beloved.

Here’s Peggy!

Joanne – I love visiting you and your readers! Thanks for this opportunity to tell you a little about my adopted state, New Hampshire.

All of my books are centered on the East Coast of the US. Hey, I’m an East Coast girl – so take that Katy Perry! Hee Hee.

My newest romance series, A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN, is set in the fictional New Hampshire town of Heaven, a charming quaint New England town filled with history and a bunch of quirky residents.

I simply love New Hampshire – especially in the Autumn. I’ve lived in NH for over 25 years, my daughter was raised there, and I can’t see myself moving any place else, any time soon. I’d like to tell you a few fun facts about my state so you can get a better feel for why I’m so happy to live there.

#10. Every autumn, millions of travelers drive up the Eastern Coast of the USA to view the fall foliage. In New Hampshire, we call these tourists Peepers and autumn we refer to as Leaf Peeping Season.

#9. Maple syrup is a NH commodity and it takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make I gallon of maple syrup. And in my opinion, NH maple syrup is the best in the nation!

#8. New Hampshire science teacher Christa McAuliffe, was the first non-professional astronaut ( civilian) to go up in space. The Christa McAuliffe Planetarium is located in Concord, NH and is a state-of-the art science museum dedicated to this brave woman who perished in the Challenger Space Shuttle explosion.

#7. The beautiful town of Dover, NH was settled in 1623, making it the oldest permanent settlement in the state.

#6. The state bird is the purple finch.

#5. The state flower is the purple Lilac ( New Hampshirites, apparently, lovelovelove the color purple!).

#4. The first potato planted in the USA was at Londonderry Common Field in the year 1719.

#3. NH adopted the first legal lottery in the 20th century in 1963.

#2. Of the 13 original New England colonies, NH was the first to declare its independence from England 6 months before the Declaration of Independence was signed. Even back then NH was a trailblazer!

#1. (and my favorite fact of all!) in 1833, the very first free public library in the US was established in Peterborough, NH, a town just over beautiful Mount Monadnock and 15 minutes from where I live!

If you ever get the chance to drive up through New England during autumn, make sure you stop along the way through New Hampshire and take pictures. Lots of them! The colors are phenomenal.

Blurb

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.

Excerpt

I stared at him for a moment, mulling over how I wanted to ask him what I’d been dying to ask since we’d been in my office.

Finally, because there was no other way to get around it but bluntly, I said, “I feel like we need to discuss your father. Come to a decision about where he fits in the wedding.”

When the warmth in his expression shifted to ice, a weaker-willed person might have stopped there. Since I’m not weak and my parents have always told me I have a real problem with knowing when to quit, I pushed on. “It seems to me as if Isabella wants him to be included. Whether in a father-of-the-bride role, or simply as a guest, I really do think she’d like him to attend, but, for whatever reason, she’s reluctant to press you on it.”

Did I say ice? What’s colder than ice?

Because whatever it is, that was the expression floating in Slade’s eyes right then as he glared at me.
Warning bells blared in my head, but that thing about me not knowing when to quit? Yeah, it’s real.

“I think Isabella’s afraid of upsetting you if she tells you how she feels or asks your permission. She loves you so much and respects your opinion.”

“You don’t know anything about my sister. Or me.” He lowered his hands from his hips, kept them fisted at his sides. “Or our relationship with our father.”

“True, but I get the sense—”


He barreled over me as if I hadn’t said a word.

“You’ve been hired to do a job, Miss O’Dowd. I suggest you do it and keep your thoughts about my family to yourself. You’re a wedding planner, not a family counselor.” His voice dropped a level, deepening as it became softer. The cadence became clipped, the tone more…lethal.

If this was the way he acted in business, it was a wonder he hadn’t been convicted of corporate homicide yet.

“Look, I’m not asking simply to be nosy,” I said, my voice rising in opposition to his. “I really do have to plan all this out. There’s still the rehearsal and the dinner after it left to deal with. Then there’s the reception seating. Plus, if he is included, I’ll need to make sure he has a room, a tuxedo, and find out if he’s bringing a guest.”

“What aren’t you understanding about this, Miss O’Dowd?” Slade asked, taking a step toward me. If he’d thought to intimidate me with his height, he’d miscalculated. Retreat wasn’t a word in my lexicon. I simply lifted my chin and stared right back at him.

“I understand a lot more than you think, Mr. Harrington. About all sorts of things. Arrogant and pigheaded men included.”

When he continued to stand like a plank of wood in front of me, his mouth turning down and creasing the sides of his jaw, I knew—knew—I should stop.

But…

Buy Links

Amazon | Wild Rose Press | Barnes & Noble

Bio

Peggy Jaeger is a contemporary romance writer who writes about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them.

Family and food play huge roles in Peggy’s stories because she believes there is nothing that holds a family structure together like sharing a meal…or two…or ten. Dotted with humor and characters that are as real as they are loving, Peggy brings all topics of daily life into her stories: life, death, sibling rivalry, illness and the desire for everyone to find their own happily ever after. Growing up the only child of divorced parents she longed for sisters, brothers and a family that vowed to stick together no matter what came their way. Through her books, she has created the families she wanted as that lonely child.

Tying into her love of families, her children’s book, THE KINDNESS TALES, was illustrated by her artist mother-in-law.

Peggy holds a master’s degree in Nursing Administration and first found publication with several articles she authored on Alzheimer’s Disease during her time running an Alzheimer’s in-patient care unit during the 1990s.

In 2013, she placed first in two categories in the Dixie Kane Memorial Contest: Single Title Contemporary Romance and Short/Long Contemporary Romance.

In 2017 she came in 3rd in the New England Reader’s Choice contest for A KISS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS and was a finalist in the 2017 STILETTO contest for the same title.

In 2018, Peggy was a finalist in the HOLT MEDALLION Award and once again in the 2018 Stiletto Contest.

A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, she is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.

Where to find Peggy…

Website/Blog | Twitter | Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads | Instagram | BookBub | Book Gorilla | YouTube

Happy Release Day!