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A Match Made in Heaven, books on sale, contemporary romance, Dearly Beloved, guest author, Judith Sterling, Peggy Jaeger, The Wild Rose Press, weddings
I’m thrilled to have a sister Rose (published by The Wild Rose Press) as my guest today. Welcome, Peggy Jaeger! Dearly Beloved, Book One of her contemporary romance series A Match Made in Heaven, is currently on sale for 99 cents, and she’s here to tell us what inspired the series in the first place. Take it away, Peggy…
Three years ago my daughter was in the wedding party of one of her sorority sisters from college. The bride hailed from one side of the country, the groom, the other. Where to have their ceremony so that all could participate proved quite the question for them.
They decided to have a “destination” wedding, but the destination was in the continental US so that both families could attend without breaking their bankbooks on air fares, exorbitant hotel fees and the thousand other little wedding costs that pop up. They chose a venue where they could have the marriage ceremony, the reception, the afterparty, and also, where the guests could stay, all in the same place. My daughter jokingly called it “a one-stop wedding.”
It’s amazing how something like that simple statement can spark an idea.
The moment she uttered those words a new book series jumped into my mind and A Match Made in Heaven was born. Book 1, DEARLY BELOVED, was released in November 2018, and the ecopy is currently on sale for just 99cents until 6.21.19.
I love a good wedding and I adore a good wedding romance. Luckily for me, I get to write about them, too!
And your lucky readers get to read about them! Thanks so much for joining me today, Peggy. Now, here’s the scoop on the story itself:
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.
A peek inside the pages:
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…
Where to buy the book:
More about Peggy:
Peggy Jaeger is a contemporary romance writer who writes Romantic Comedies about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them. If she can make you cry on one page and bring you out of tears rolling with laughter the next, she’s done her job as a writer!
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, she 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’s created the families she wanted as that lonely child.
When she’s not writing Peggy is usually painting, crafting, scrapbooking or decoupaging old steamer trunks she finds at rummage stores and garage sales.
A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, Peggy is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.
As a lifelong diarist, she caught the blogging bug early on, and you can visit her at peggyjaeger.com where she blogs daily about life, writing, and stuff that makes her go “What??!”
Where to find her:
Judith Sterling 