Peggy Jaeger and a Secondary Character from HOPE'S DREAM

Peggy Jaeger visits today with a look at her upcoming release HOPE'S DREAM (November 5), a novella with the new Deerbourne Inn series from The Wild Rose Press. This series is set in an historic property in the fictional town of Willow Spring, Vermont. Looks like another great series from The Wild Rose Press! 

Secondary Character for Hope’s Dream

Hope’s mother, Casey Sewell Kildaire.

When I set out to write Hope’s Dream, I knew I had to give her a mother who was as equally strong spiritually and personally as her daughter was.  She needed to be someone Hope could continue to look up to and be willing to sacrifice and change her future for. Someone who valued love, commitment, and strength of character above all else, especially when those core foundations and beliefs become challenging.

Luckily, Casey Sewell Kildaire leapt off the page for me.

When she and her husband are involved in a horrific car accident when driving along a snowy, icy Vermont road one night, Casey’s world – and that of her daughter’s – changes forever. Trapped in the car for several hours with her dead husband before they are both found, Casey suffers a traumatic injury to her spine and her right arm suffers severe nerve damage from being pinned against the door. When they are finally discovered, Casey is life-flighted to a hospital where the prognosis for her survival is guarded. Before she goes into surgery, she makes a request to her Godfather, Hobson Drucker, concerning Hope and which he reluctantly carries out. This secret between the two of them is something neither thought would ever be revealed.

Casey comes through the surgery but the damage done to her spine is permanent, making her paralyzed below the waist and with limited mobility and function in her right arm and hand. She and her husband had never felt the need to purchase any sort of health insurance, so the funds for Casey’s rehabilitation and medical treatment needs run out quickly. This leaves Hope unable to continue to pay for college so she drops out and becomes her mother’s sole caregiver, while working two jobs to help support them.

Despite the hardship and heartache the accident caused, Casey remains an upbeat, pleasant and charming woman who loves her daughter beyond all measure. She feels terribly guilty that Hope has devoted her life to caring for her and wants nothing more than for Hope to find a man who will love her like her father loved Casey.

When Tyler Coleman first meets Casey he is immediately taken with her beauty and kindness. Despite her physical limitations, he is impressed with how quick-witted and witty she is and understands why Hope would devote her life to her mother’s care.

I could have written Casey Kildaire as a bitter, lonely, manipulative woman who browbeat her daughter and blamed the world for her problems. The reason I didn’t want to portray her this way was because Hope needed a touchstone in her life. She’d loved her father unconditionally and growing up it had always been just the three of them, devoted to one another, a strong, vital family unit. Just because Casey became incapacitated from the accident, her basic core personality didn’t need to change. In fact, it couldn’t. If it had, Hope wouldn’t have been able to grow into the woman she is – kind, caring, empathetic. Casey is her benchmark for how to be a good person. 

I loved writing Casey and I hope anyone who reads HOPE’S DREAM can imagine themselves remaining upbeat and positive in a situation where the opposite could – and many times does – hold true.

Blurb:

Hope Kildaire gave up her dream of becoming a nurse practitioner when a car accident killed her father and left her mother an invalid. Working two jobs and caring for her mother leaves the twenty-seven-year-old with no time for fun or relationships. When a law firm representing her paternal grandparents sends her several letters, Hope ignores them. She despises the family who disowned her father and wants nothing to do with them.

Lawyer Tyler Coleman's job is simply to obtain Hope's signature on a legal document. Getting it is harder than planned, though, when an unexpected attraction blossoms between them. If Ty is honest with Hope about why he's in Willow Springs, he'll fulfill his assignment but may risk hurting her.

The opportunity to have everything she's ever desired is at Hope's fingertips. Will her dream come true at the expense of Tyler's love?

Buy links for HOPE'S DREAM:

Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HSSYK4V/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

Wrp:  https://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/6303-hope-s-dream.html

Nook :  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hopes-dream-peggy-jaeger/1129675139?ean=2940161540640

Itunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/hopes-dream/id1437725682?mt=11


Excerpt:

Hope stood behind the bar, filling two glasses with draft beer. She hadn’t spotted him approach, so he took the moment to observe her unawares.

A reserved smile graced her face as the guy waiting for his order chatted her up. Early twenties by Tyler’s guess, the kid stared at Hope with a serious case of attraction. He knew how the younger man felt. 

During their lesson her hair had been woven into a braid. In the lodge, when she’d removed her hat, he’d likened the colors to butterscotch and honey. Now with it unbraided and freely floating down past her shoulders, the colors burst into life. Gold and red highlights shimmered from the waves framing her face, as if each strand had been hand painted for emphasis. In the tavern’s subdued lighting, Hope was a bright, vibrant beacon, sparkling with health and life. 

Tyler was drawn to her light, her vitality, as if he’d spent his existence until that moment in perpetual darkness. 

Hope turned, reached for something behind her, and caught his eye. 

For a moment her body froze, her hand still outstretched, her eyes widening in surprise when they lit on him. She dipped her chin and regarded him from under her eyelashes as she finger-swiped the hair falling across her face behind her ear. A quick head bob his way indicated she’d be right with him. 
With an expert’s finesse she uncorked a bottle of Jameson’s, poured a thimbleful each into two shot glasses, then added them to beer-guy’s order. He slid a bill into her hand and then waved off the change she tried to give him back. He scooped the drinks, then carried them back to his table. Hope slid the change into one of the jelly jars behind the bar marked with several names, hers among them, and made her way over to him.

“Hey, New York.” Sweet laughter warmed with surprise rang in her voice. “How are the legs?” 

Tyler groaned and stretched them out in front of him. “Better after a long, hot soak, but I’m betting they’re gonna feel worse in the morning.” 

She tossed him a quick, sympathetic look. “Make sure you take some kind of analgesic before going to sleep tonight. It’ll help. Trust me.” 

“Will do.”

“What can I get you?”

He spurted off the name of one of the draft beers. 

She pulled it and then brought it back to him. “Anything to eat? I know the inn doesn’t serve dinner.”

He glanced up at the selection board again and asked, “What do you recommend?”

“The soup’s hot and fabulous. Comes with a salad or fresh bread. The burgers here are always great, but I’m biased.” Her open smile charmed him. 

“Sold.” 

“So,” he said after she came back from placing his order, “you’re a woman of many talents. Ski instructor. Bartender.” 

The brighter colors in her hair glistened when she shook her head. “We in the business prefer the term mixologist.” 


Author Bio:

AUTHOR 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 was a finalist in the 2017 STILETTO contest for the same title.

In 2018, Peggy was a finalist in the HOLT MEDALLION Award and once again in the 2018 Stiletto Contest.

A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, she is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.


Social Media Links:

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 

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BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/peggy-jaeger