Reading Romances discussion

Nat: Welcome to Reading Romances, Peggy! Let's begin getting to know your references a bit, when did you first start reading romance? 

PJ: I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time when I was 11. There was a lot about the dialogue and the exposition I didn’t “get” at that age, but I knew it was the penultimate romantic read even at that young time in my life. I never read Harlequin books growing up as a teenager, but after 11, my next foray into romance reading was at 17 with the release of Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss. This book had everything. Everything. Including going beyond the bedroom door, which as a teenager, was forbidden fruit and therefore, highly desirable to read. But Woodiwiss was an amazeballs writer. From that moment on I was hooked.

Who are your favorite romance writers and their book that stands out the most for you?

My all time favorite is Nora Roberts and the book that did it for me initially was Irish Thoroughbred, her first release. I connected with her characters immediately and found her writing style so incredibly engaging. It still is to this day. Shanna had me on the first page and only got better. I read every single Woodiwiss after that. I am so saddened she isn’t around anymore to keep writing. Lisa Kleypas’ Wallflower series were all equally great.

How to you like your heroes and heroines to be and what's the craziest writing idea you've ever had?

I like my H/H to be normal, everyday people with flaws, quirks, interests, and emotions. There’s nothing worse to me than to read a flat, one-dimensional heroine and then have the hero fall endlessly in love with her in a heartbeat. I always think, “what did he fall in love with? Noodles have more personality than she does.” I like my women self-sufficient and my men hard bodied and witty. Smarts is expected in both and a little show of temper now and then – in the best possible way – makes me happy because it shows me they’re real people with emotions on the page. I personally like my heroes to have hair always in need of a trim. Just love that feeling of twining fingers through it, ya know?
Craziest writing idea? Hmmm. Well, I wrote about a ghost haunting a cottage in the Hamptons. That’s about the limit of my crazy in romance. But I did write a short story that won a few literary awards about an innkeeper who kills her elderly borders and then cooks them as dinners for her non-elderly ones. Is that crazy, or just gruesome??!!


What makes you toss a book aside in frustration?

As I said before, a flat one-dimensional heroine makes me stop reading post haste. Also a contrived meeting between the h/h. My all time least favorite way for them to meet is the “accidental” bump into one another where one of them spills something on the other and yadayadyada…. That book gets trashed pretty rapidly.

What's unique about the romance in First Impressions?


The romance isn’t as unique as the characters who are falling in love, I think. My hero, Padric Cleary, is a successful veterinarian everyone deems a player because he’s dated so many women and quickly loses interest in them. My heroine, Clarissa Rogers is a family med doc, a prodigy (she was in med school at 16), and has heard enough about the hero through gossip and rumor to steer clear of him. Clarissa is just the type of woman ultimately Pat needs – one who’s not willing to fall at his devotion-alter – and he wants her in his life, but she wants nothing romantic to do with him. When he helps her through one of the worst events in her life, she starts to see him for the man he truly is and not the reputation that follows him around.

If you could only describe a single scene to encourage someone to read your novel, which scene would you describe?

This one, because it sets the tone for how their relationship begins – and tries to progress along the same lines. Since this is a romance novel, we know it doesn’t exactly go according to plan! There’s a strong physical attraction between them, but Clarissa is wary of everything she’s heard about him.

“Have you ever been friends with a girl before?” she finally asked.
“Friends?”
“Yes. Friends.”
“Have a beer and shoot some pool friends? Or the kind with benefits?”
She laughed out loud, shook her head and grinned. “Have you ever been friends with a girl without having sex mixed into the equation?”
“Not since I was sixteen,” he admitted and then felt his neck heat. “Why?”
She cocked her head again. “It’s no secret I’m attracted to you, too. I think my reaction to the way you kissed me proves it.”
“Why am I hearing a ‘but’?”
Her lips twitched at the corners. “But I don’t jump into bed with a man because I’m attracted to him.”
“I never thought you did.”

“Good to know.”

He cocked his head. “So, what’s being friends got to do with anything?”

Clarissa sighed and settled back against the doorframe. “Can I be honest?”

“I would hope so.”

“I’ve been hearing about your reputation with women since I moved here, and I’m not looking to be the flavor of the week.”
He stared at her for a second as hurt washed through him. “When you say honest, you don’t pull any punches.”

What makes a romance novel a great love story and how would you define "romance"?

This is such a fabulous question – I think I could write a dissertation on it, but don’t worry, I won’t.
For me personally, a great love story is all about how the two protagonists discover their love and the depth of their emotions for the other. The simplest way to explain this is with a movie. In Sense and Sensibility (the Emma Thompson version) there is a scene where Marianne Dashwood ( Kate Winslet) is playing the pianoforte for a group of people. Colonel Christopher Brandon (the fabulous Alan Rickman) enters the room and then stops when he sees her, leans against the doorframe and just watches her play, bedazzled by her beauty and talent. You can see his love for her begin to birth on his face in an instant as his gaze travels along her profile, watches her hands move over the keys, etc. This man falls quick, hard, and for life.
In the Kiera Knightly version of Pride and Prejudice, the scene in Pemberley where Darcy says goodbye to Elizabeth and the Gardners after they visit him is another indication of depth of emotion. Darcy helps Lizzy into the carriage and when he releases her hand, you see how he reacts to her touch. There have been entire websites devoted to “Darcy’s Hand.” Look it up, you’ll see what I mean.
For me, the word “romance” in its truest form, is the story of how these two people discover that the other completes something that was missing from their lives. I know that hokey line in Jerry MaGuire, “You complete me,” has been made fun of to death. But at it’s very core, that is what a romance is to me. You’re going along fine, doing well in life - or not! – and then, WHAM! You meet someone who gives you something you didn’t even know you wanted or fills you with such a sense of completion you hadn’t realized you were lacking. Love that!

This or That:
1. Alpha or Beta?  Love me a little mix of both, really. If I absolutely have to chose (don’t make me!), beta. I love me a hunky nerd.
2. Wallflower or Belle of the Ball?  Wallflower, all the way. If I lived in the Regency era, I would have been a perpetual one.
3. Debutante or Spinster? Spinster, same reason as the last question.
4. Virgin widow or Secret baby? Virgin widow every time. Sooooo sexy when it comes time for the hero to discover it firsthand.
5. Titled peer or Working man? Working man.
6. Love at first sight or Second chances? Arghghg! I hate choosing! Second chances get me in the heart every single time, so I choose that one.
7. City or country? Country.
8. Writing or Reading? Both – I’m not choosing on this one!
9. Plotter or Pantser? Plotter, all the way.
10. Your turn to ask a question: Does it make me sound dithery when I don’t choose one over the other?? Hahaha. I’m a Taurus, you’d think I could be more decisive.



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

Her current titles, available now, include SKATER'S WALTZ and THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME, books 1 and 2 in her 6-book The MacQuire Women Series, published by The Wild Rose Press.

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.

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peggy-...

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

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



Peggy Jaeger will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Good luck!

Enter to win a $20 Amazon/BN GC - a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for hosting today!

It was such a pleaseure answering these questions - thanks so much for hosting me and I hope we get a lot of feedback and questions today. PJ

Sounds like a great read.

Thanks, Rita!

Thanks for stopping by, Peggy! =)

Thanks for the giveaway!

Cali- you're welcome and good luck

Great questions and answers. I even googled Darcy's hand as I had forgotten that scene :-)

Stacey - I referenced it in the wrong scene - it's actually after the family picks up a recovering Jane from Bingleys! But still a telling scene.

Peggy, once I saw the clip I knew what you meant. In the BBC version with Colin Firth it was the hand scene after the Gardiner's visit. I'm actually a HUGE fan of the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice and it cracked me up when I found out that Miss Elizabeth Bennett (actress - Jennifer Ehle) played a part in the Fifty Shades of Grey movie :-)

Oh that's right. She played Anna's mom, didn't she. Weird casting but I do love Colin Firth....and Mathew Macfaydyn. They are so different but each bring Darcy to life.

I'm thinking of trying to find a really old Pride and Prejudice as a comparison. I can't get enough of watching them over and over again.

Stacey - there is one more video version of the book. It is old, tho. Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier star in it. I believe it's a 1940-ish version but it is available on dvd. Verrrrrrrry dated movie.

Thanks Peggy :-) ♥

Enjoyed reading your post today. You are a new-to-me author, so it's fun reading stuff like this to get to know you better.

Karen thanks so much for stopping by. This was a fun interview to do

This sounds like a wonderful read. Thank you for this opportunity
You're a new to me Author and I look forward to reading it.
Carol L

Carol L - thanks for your kind words. If you do read the book, I hope you enjoy it. A lot of heart and pieces of my soul went into writing it!

thanks for the chance

Amanda good luck