Title: Merry’s Ghost
Author: Peggy Jaeger
Genre: PNR, Ghosts, Mystery, Murder mystery
Book Blurb:
When writer and paranormal investigator Chase Seacort comes to spend a few weeks at a friend’s Hampton getaway, all he wants is to be alone, finish his current book about East Coast hauntings, and try to put the horrid events of his past year behind him. All thoughts about a quiet respite alone vanish when he meets his quirky, gorgeous neighbor. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty captivates him with her perpetual smile and free and easy personality. Merry June lives a quiet life in her beach house, devoting herself to her two loves – art and photography. Once she discovers Chase’s identity, she can’t wait to introduce him to her great-grandaunt Davinia. But Davinia rarely shows herself to others. You wouldn’t either if you were a ghost trapped between this world and the next. With Chase’s help, he and Merry investigate the mystery that’s kept Davinia’s spirit prisoner in the house for over 100 years, and in so doing discover a history of infidelity, heartache, and murder. When a face from Chase’s recent past puts Merry’s life in danger, he must fight two battles for the woman he’s come to love – one on the spiritual plane and one in the physical world.
Excerpt:
She was staring out the window, peering at the darkening clouds that were sailing closer to shore.
"Another storm's coming," she said. "That was quick. Just a few minutes ago, the sky was clear." She turned her attention from the sky and noticed the laptop sitting on the writing table in the corner. The table was littered with textbooks, all open.
He saw where her gaze traveled and quickly stood, crossing to the desk.
"Are you a writer?" she asked, rising and following him.
While he made the effort of closing the books from her view, it didn't stop her from grasping one and reading its title.
"The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal." She looked up at him, a question in her eyes. Taking another she said, "Ghosts, Goblins, and Legends. Pretty heavy stuff," she told him, her dimples deepening.
He wondered if she was laughing at him. "It's for research," he told her, wanting to yank the book from her hand.
"Hey, I've read this one, Paranormal, Parapsychosis. It was great.” She turned the book round to its side and read the name emblazoned on the jacket. "C.D. Seacort."
With what he took to be wonder in her eyes, she turned and gaped at him. For a second neither of them spoke.
"I'm assuming that Chase is a nickname for Charles," she said.
He nodded.
"Charles David Seacort, to be exact."
"Like you said earlier, guilty."
"C.D. Seacort, writer of ghost stories, psychiatrist to New York's elite. Ghostbuster. You're pretty famous yourself, you know. I read an article in PEOPLE last year about you. Too bad I never looked at the photos, or I would have known who you were before now. I wish Peter had told me."
He shrugged. "Pete's a friend. He knew I needed some privacy."
Merry nodded. "I read A Ghost in Greenwich twice. It was incredible."
"Thanks."
"Who’s taking care of your patients while you're here? I'm sure they must be lost without you."
He drew the curtain down in his eyes again. "I gave up my practice," he said, voice tight and emotionless. "I needed to finish a book I've been working on."
"What's it about?"
He swiped a hand through his hair, relieved she hadn't pressed. "A collection of hauntings along the Eastern seacoast."
"Really? Cases you've worked on?"
Her eyes were gamboling and he could feel her sudden excitement. "Some. Mostly cases from recent history. One hundred years or less."
"It sounds fascinating."
Seeing the way her eyes sparkled in the dimly lit room, he knew she was telling the truth and not humoring him.
The wind sprang up then, blowing and whipping the curtains through the double deck doors. The sky had blackened, the surf began to roar as it blasted onto the shore.
"I could kill Peter for not mentioning who you were," she told him, ignoring the events going on outside the house. Even with the death threat dangling from her lips, he watched her entire face light up like a Christmas tree. "But I think I can guess why he didn't. Come on." She slammed the book she was still holding down on the table and grabbed his hand.
When she tried yanking him with her, he resisted, causing her to slam into his chest with force.
The air knocked its way out of her lungs as she stood, unmoving, half-laying across his torso.
Where her air supply had been stripped from her, Chase was forced to hold his breath. One small exhale and he knew he would pull her closer, drop his head to her face, and enslave her lips with his mouth. He tried to bank the desire that gushed through him, but found it tough going when her body was pressed so temptingly to his. With every ounce of will he possessed, he asked, "Where are we going, Merry?"
Her eyes never leaving his, he watched as her lips parted and broadened, the crevices at the corners of her mouth deepening. "To my house. To meet my ghost."
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Amazon Exclusive and KU: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09L8LN3KD
What makes your featured book a must-read?
If you like books about ghosts, romance, or if you like solving murder mysteries Merry’s Ghost can satisfy any or all of those desires!
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card:
Open Internationally. You must have a valid Amazon US or Amazon Canada account to win.
Runs January 25 – February 3, 2022.
Winner will be drawn on February 4, 2022.
Author Biography:
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??!"
Social Media Links:
Website/Blog: http://peggyjaeger.com/
Twitter:https://twitter.com/peggy_jaeger
Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00T8E5LN0
Pinterest:https://www.pinterest.com/peggyjaeger/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peggyjaeger_author/