A Shot At Love by Peggy Jaeger (VBT, guest post, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

Once again, I have the pleasure of hosting a guest post from prolific author, Peggy Jaeger, who answers my question...

ELF:  What do you think is the strongest attraction about the genre(s) you like to write in?

           

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.

           

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A Shot At Love

by Peggy Jaeger

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GENRE:   Contemporary Romance

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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 . . .

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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.

Amazon preorder link

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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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GIVEAWAY

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The tour dates can be found here