Mixed Book Bag: A Shot at Love by Peggy Jaeger

A Shot At Love

by Peggy Jaeger

Be sure to read where Peggy goes for inspiration.

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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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Where are five places you might visit for inspiration for your books?

Food is a universal…thing. All cultures around the globe cook their special brands of cuisine. Since I write a romantic cooking series, WILL COOK FOR LOVE, I need a pretty broad view of culinary tastes from which to cull recipes and story lines. In my books, food is love, so, in that vain, I might just need to jet off to these following places SOON to grab some local color and boost my recipe file.

My first stop is going to be TUSCANY. Ever since I read Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes, I have wanted to take a month long sabbatical to Tuscany, tour the countryside and take cooking lessons from old world master chefs. The vibrant, fresh taste of tomatoes picked from the vine right before cooking; the home made pasta using eggs lain in, and gathered from, the backyard chicken coup; learning how to make the traditional Lampredotto sandwich to perfection. You know, maybe a month isn’t enough. Let’s increase it to eight weeks, or even 12!

A train ride later and I’ll be in ROME. I can roll a pretty tasty meatball, but I want to learn from the best, so it’s off to an authentic Roma restaurante, where the chef d’cuisine will show me how it’s done. The finest of meats, the softest of cheeses, and everything else that goes into making the perfect polpetta.

After basking in the wealth of Italian tastes, it’s off to the GREEK ISLES. I want to learn how to make Baklava that will make grown men cry when they taste it. I want to perfect my Tzatziki recipe and learn the nuances of the perfectly layered Moussaka. And I really want to swim in the Mediterranean sea!

A quick flight later and I’ll be in IRELAND, home of my ancestors. I make a pretty kick-ass Guinness stew if I do say so. But eating a true lamb stew made by a native of Eire would be a delight to the taste buds! My Irish Soda bread is mouthwatering (again, if I do say so myself!) but having a slice made from fresh buttermilk and stone ground flour – and learning how to roll the dough just right – would be something I’d invest time, effort, and a great deal of taste testing in!

An over night flight will bring me to the HAWAIIAN ISLANDS where a plethora of mixed island foods prevails. Purple Yams, sweet potatoes, Poki just to name a few. Spices that can bite the tongue and sooth the palette.

By the time I get home I’ll probably be 15 pounds heavier and have a cookbook of recipes in my head. Now I just have to surround those recipes with romantic storylines……

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EXCERPT

A woman stood next to the vehicle, a cell phone at her ear, her back to him. Tall, maybe as tall as him, and slender, her back tapered down to a miniscule waist, her legs clad in tight, faded jeans. When she turned Ky almost stopped midstride, the questions he intended to grill her with jumping out of his head. His breath caught as he simply stared at the loveliest woman he’d ever seen.

Hair the color of midnight, straight as a board, fell to just below her shoulders, blowing back from her face in the gentle afternoon breeze. Blunt, chopped bangs, fringed a pair of large, bright blue eyes. Plump, coral colored lips moved as she spoke into the phone and for a brief, hot second, Ky wondered if they’d taste as delicious as they looked.

Her gaze stayed on him as she spoke.

“I’ve gotta go,” she said into the phone. “Yeah. I’ll call when I’m done. Love you, too.”

“Miss Laine?”

She tucked the phone into her back pocket.

“I’m Special Agent Pappandreos. I need to speak with you about what you saw.”

“Special Agent?” Those delicate brows furrowed under her bangs. “Like, FBI?”

Jesus, where does a woman get a voice like that? Whiskey laced with honey and rolled into one smooth pitch.

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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.

Website/Blog: http://peggyjaeger.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/peggy_jaeger

Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00T8E5LN0

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peggy-Jaeger-Author/825914814095072?ref=bookmarks

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/peggyjaeger/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13478796.Peggy_Jaeger

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mmj122687/

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:

Peggy Jaeger will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.