Once again, I have the pleasure of hosting a guest post from prolific author, Peggy Jaeger, who answers my question...
PJ: From the time I first picked
up Pride and Prejudice at 11 years
old I have been hooked on romance books. I’m not even sure I knew P&P was
classified as romance when I read it.
I simply knew it was considered a classic that had stood the ravages of time
and was one of the most popular books in the literature world.
After reading it I could see why, even at that tender
age. The characters were complex, the conflict of class distinction, personal
misrepresentation, jealousy, and miscommunication was high, and the end was
happy with the promise of forevermore being so as well for our hero and
heroine.
And for me, that’s what the strongest attraction to the
romance genre is.
I’ve heard it said from literary pundits who abhor
romance books that all the endings are the same and that’s the main reason they
won’t give the genre any credence. There’s nothing unexpected about a romance
book; nothing new; nothing fresh. It’s all about love and nothing else.
I, respectfully, object to that erroneous
characterization. To be more blunt about it, it’s a load of crap.
While yes, the
end result of a true romance book is a happily ever after, it’s the journey
to that ending that makes romance readers come back again and again even though
they know the hero and heroine will end up together.
Boy meets girl-boy
loses girl- boy gets girl back is romance in its simplest and most
simplistic form. I can understand why some readers would be put off by
that…simple (!) assessment.
But when you break the story down, when you get to the
guts of the plot and the conflict and the passions involved in finding that
happy resolution, well, that’s where no one tells a better tale than a romance
writer.
I’ve always said to new writers who want to “make it” in
the romance writing world that if you make me cry on one page, then have me
laughing until I need to find a bathroom for fear of wetting my pants on the
next, you’ve done a good job as a
writer. If you take those two elements and then get me invested in a conflict
that seems to have no happy resolution for anyone involved, you’ve done a better job. And then, if you take all
those facets and give me a hero worth swooning over and falling in love with, a
heroine I’d like to have as a BFF and who I know will have my back and every
one else’s in a crisis, and an ending that has me hopeful for the future of
love and mankind, well, then I’ll not only read your book, I’ll promote it,
become a member of your street team, and have you featured on my blog! You will
have done a great job!
So, while some still think the romance genre and
subgenres are archaic, boringly predictable, and all the same, I know the
truth. Romance is filled with uncertainty, longing, high stakes and great
rewards. Every day fresh, new voices,
emerge on the scene to take us places we’ve never been to before, and make us
experience emotions we didn’t know we possessed.
And although each ending may –yes – be predictable, the voyage
to that ending is anything but.
by Peggy Jaeger
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GENRE: Contemporary Romance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Nothing’s
impossible when love is on the menu. In Peggy Jaeger’s luscious series, the
only thing more tempting than a delicious meal is a truly delectable romance .
. .
Look for exclusive recipes in each book!
Photographer Gemma Laine is looking for arresting faces on the streets of Manhattan when her camera captures something shocking—a triple murder. In that moment, she becomes a target for the mob—and a top priority for a very determined, breathtakingly handsome, FBI special agent. With deadlines to meet and photo shoots on her calendar, Gemma chafes at the idea of protection, but every moment she spends under his watchful eye is a temptation to lose herself in his muscular arms . . .
With two of his men and one crucial witness dead, Special Agent Kyros Pappandreos can’t afford to be distracted. But Gemma is dazzling—and her connection to Kandy Laine’s high-profile cooking empire makes her an especially easy mark for some very bad people. Keeping her safe is much more pleasure than business, but as the heat between them starts to sizzle, Ky is set to investigate whether they have a shot at love . . .
Look for exclusive recipes in each book!
Photographer Gemma Laine is looking for arresting faces on the streets of Manhattan when her camera captures something shocking—a triple murder. In that moment, she becomes a target for the mob—and a top priority for a very determined, breathtakingly handsome, FBI special agent. With deadlines to meet and photo shoots on her calendar, Gemma chafes at the idea of protection, but every moment she spends under his watchful eye is a temptation to lose herself in his muscular arms . . .
With two of his men and one crucial witness dead, Special Agent Kyros Pappandreos can’t afford to be distracted. But Gemma is dazzling—and her connection to Kandy Laine’s high-profile cooking empire makes her an especially easy mark for some very bad people. Keeping her safe is much more pleasure than business, but as the heat between them starts to sizzle, Ky is set to investigate whether they have a shot at love . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
Dressed in similar sweats to what he’d worn the morning before, his body bathed in gleaming sweat, Ky pummeled one of the suspended bags. His hands were wrapped with white gauze, his arms toned and taunt as he executed each strike with perfect precision and technique.
Gemma stopped on the final riser and watched him batter the bag, fists moving with swift, defined actions, the jabs fast and hard, the recoils even faster.
Shoulders raised, elbows tight, hands balled and up blocking his cheeks and jaw line, he threw a right jab, left, then two rights, all aimed high, and a final forward thrust left, lower on the bag, his knees bending to give him balance.
Gemma wanted to race back to her room, grab her camera and capture the scene before her.
Kyros Pappandreos was the epitome, the very definition of a natural born fighter. Distinctly male, uniquely the warrior, his body moved with the grace of a panther, the stealth of a tiger stalking its prey, and the accuracy of a cobra striking. There was something so sensual, so primal, so animalistic about him, she knew she had to photograph him just this way.
She’d capture him in slow motion first, his tight fist connecting with his target, the sweat of exertion flying from his forehead. Then, she’d move to rapid fire, the image blurring with the speed of his hits. A pugilist, enigmatic, tough, and hard bodied, the bulging muscles and corded sinew in his arms distended with his action, outlined and bathed in the shiny moisture pouring from him.
Ky repeated the moves in the same series of strikes three more times before dropping his hands to his thighs.
He swiped at his forehead with the back of his hand, his breathing hard, but not labored, and turned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
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 is a finalist in the 2017 STILETTO contest for the same
title.
A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, she is a member of RWA
and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.
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The tour dates can be found here
