Monday, April 24, 2023

A Promise Fulfilled by Peggy Jaeger


A Promise Fulfilled
Ghosts of New England: Last Light Point: Book 4
by Peggy Jaeger

 

Book Blurb: 

 

Late October, Present Day 

 
After winning millions in a national lottery, local librarian Daisy Morgan sets out to revitalize the infamous Crow’s Nest Tavern. After saving the historic inn from the auction block, Daisy begins a major renovation only to discover some hidden secrets – and a few unearthly spirits – tied to the tavern’s history. 

 

Writer Keegan Warren arrives to do a story on the revitalization of the tavern weeks before the grand re-openingKeegan’s got a few secrets of his own about why he wanted the assignment – secrets that unfold no matter how diligently he tries to keep them hidden. 

 

With Daisy’s help, he unearths a centuries old murder tied to his family’s past. As they investigate, their mutual attraction grows. But will their budding relationship suffer when the truth is discovered? 

 

 

Excerpt: 

 

 

Down at the end of the boardwalk, Keegan found the town square used historically as an information highway prior to the modern age. He’d seen it referenced in research books as Execution Square. A tricorn-wearing town crier would have stood on a block of wood and read a royal decree or announced the names of the pirates and miscreants to be punished and hung for all to see. On hanging days, the square would fill with as many townsfolk as possible, children and even babies included.  

 

It never ceased to amaze him how bloodthirsty humans could be. 

 

The historical society had placed several tableaus in a semicircle surrounding what had once been the gallows. A sign next to it read Execution Square, just as his research had asserted. The structure was roped off and a large KEEP OFF sign stood front and center. Keegan didn’t have any doubts tourists and townies alike walked up the wooden staircase for a selfie when the mood struck. No guard stood watch, so the warning sign was more a suggestion than anything else.  

 

Keegan strolled to the edge of the square, which abutted the dock. Once a thriving waterway for European merchant ships delivering their wares to the new world, and pirates alike, the dock was now used as a walking path connecting the east side of the point to the west. Smack dab in the middle was another structure surrounded by rope and another warning signWith no will to stop himself, Keegan took the path toward it. 

 

A metal cage, at least five feet tall, hung from a ten-foot wooden pole, like a human-sized birdcage. The cage swung out over the bay, facing the ocean. While the gallows was a fast death, one quick rope snap to hang the miscreant by breaking his neck, the gibbet was a slow, painful, often lugubrious death. 

 

A criminal sentenced to die, usually for the crimes of piracy, murder, or treason, was thrown into the cage alive and shackled, and then the make-shift prison was secured with locks and ropes. They gave no food or water to the prisoner and, depending on weather conditions, the hunger of seagulls, and the health of the criminal, it could take anywhere from a few days to weeks for the person to die. The body was left to rot and when the stench got to be too much, or a new offender needed the cage, the remains were removed. 

 

The research was always a little blurry about whether the bodies were buried or tossed into the sea. Hangings, he’d read, were buried in the Potter’s Field at local cemeteries. He had a notion, though, more than one rotting corpse made its way to the backrooms of men who practiced the art of medicine, anatomy, and even alchemy, through a few well-placed coins greased along the undertaker’s palm. 

 

 

 

About the Anthology – 4 Complete Books, 4 Best Selling Authors 

 

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GHOSTS OF NEW ENGLAND: LAST LIGHT POINT 

A Multi-Century Romance Anthology 

from Best Selling & Award-Winning Authors 

Lisa A. Olech 

Kathryn Hills 

Nancy Fraser 

Peggy Jaeger 

 

Can true love conquer a deadly curse? 

 

Don’t look at the gibbet… Legend has it that disaster will strike all those who do. The townspeople of Last Light Point have come to respect the centuries-old advice. Those that didn’t, paid the price. 

 

4 stories – 4 time periods – 1 very haunted tavern in New England! 

 

A new romance anthology unlike any other from 4 best-selling and award-winning authors. 

 

The Pirate’s Promise by Lisa A. Olech (Autumn 1728) 

Smoke and Mirrors by Kathryn Hills (Autumn 1867) 

For the Love of Grace by Nancy Fraser (Fall 1941) 

A Promise Fulfilled by Peggy Jaeger (Late October, Present Day) 

 

 

Tell us about one of your secondary characters and what they bring to the story. 

 

Cooper Ross.  

   

In my story, A PROMISE FULFILLED, the secondary character of Cooper Ross serves as the sounding board in Daisy Morgan’s life. They’ve been best friends since the cradle, and are part of one another’s lives still, despite their quick marriage and subsequent divorce. Daisy would do anything for Cooper – even marry him so his grandmother could die a happy woman - and Cooper would give his life for Daisy, if necessary, without thinking twice about it.  

   

As her ex-husband, he’s very protective of her. He doesn’t want to see her hurt or used in any way, especially since she is now a multi-millionaire. Case in point – when she moved into the tavern, he gave her a baseball bat to keep at her bedside and helped install her state-of-the-art security system. He tends to go into alpha protection mode around her, and she calls him on it time and again, even though she knows and accepts that he’s simply wired that way. Daisy depends on him to help her bring The Crowe’s Nest Tavern back to life and knows he will do his best to see her dream fulfilled.  

   

When I set out to write Cooper as a character, I saw him in my mind as a big and burly guy, with arms like Popeye and the heart of the Cowardly Lion. He’s a born fixer and loves working on a project for the sheer joy of it. Cooper’s the guy you call when you have a problem be it a construction one, or a relationship one. He’s a willing ear, a shoulder to cry on, and the person who will always tell you the truth.  

   

Since he’s Daisy’s contractor, as well as her BFF, he knows what she likes, how she likes it, and is always willing to give her his opinion honestly and without the fear of rancor because he knows she values it. Cooper is excellent at his job, doesn’t cut corners – ever- and wants to see The Crowe’s Nest restored back to its glory as much as Daisy does.  

   

They didn’t marry for romantic love, but he will always be indebted to Daisy for saying yes just to make the last few months of his grandmother’s life happy ones. He can’t imagine a life where she isn’t part of his future as a friend.  

  

 Author Bio:


PEGGY JAEGER writes contemporary romances and rom coms 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 aspects of 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. 

 

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??!" 

 

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

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

 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peggyjaeger_author/ 



 

4 comments:

peggy jaeger said...

Caroline, thankyou so much for spotlighting me addition to the GHOSTS OF NEW ENGLAND anthology today! It is truly a pleasure to be here!

Kathryn Hills said...

Thank you for hosting today, Caroline! I love Peggy's book and how she ties up the mysteries surrounding centuries-old legends and the GHOSTS of Last Light Point. It's a great romantic read!

peggy jaeger said...

Kathy - I couldn't have done it if you, Nancy, and Lisa hadn't written such fabulous stories for me to tie up, LOL!!!

Lisa A. Olech said...

Thanks again, Caroline, for hosting all us ghostie girls!