Peggy Trotter – Real Life Romance & Romantic Excerpt- Part 1 of 1

Shannon here: Historical romance author, Peggy Trotter shares insight into her real life romance plus an excerpt from her debut novel, Year of Jubilee. Comment or answer the question at the end of the post to enter the drawing for an e-book copy. Deadline: June 20th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Peggy:


Be a fly on my living room wall.
“Sug, I can’t find my sunglasses! And I laid my cellphone down somewhere. I’m not sure what I did with it. Maybe it’s in the car.”
Or a drosophila on my kitchen ceiling.
“Sug, do we have anymore pecans? I was sure we had some in a bag somewhere.”
Or a sneaky moth on my bathroom mirror.
“Sug, where’s the floss? Are we out? I thought we had a couple extra boxes.”
Perhaps a stray gnat on my jewelry box?
“Sug, have you seen my favorite pair of jeans? I know I hung them in the closet and now they’ve disappeared.”
You see. My husband of 30 years is a superhero. Look, out in the driveway! It’s a bird, it’s a plane. No, it’s SuperFinder! No lost article has a chance of remaining hidden. And what, WHAT would I do without him??? You see those quotes above? They’re real. Oh, the bug’s types have been changed to protect their identities, but the crazy woman who seems in constant search of her belongings? She’s real. She’s . . .me!
I’ve never seen a man who so patiently keeps me supplied with my sunglasses and cellphone.
I think also, it’s the manner in which he does it. He’s not like, Doofus, why can’t you keep track of your stuff? Or screaming, For Pete’s Sake, organize! Never does he lose his temper or quip a nasty dig. Nope. He gets up and begins searching. And in three minutes tops, he’s located my sunglasses—all four pair, my cell phone, the pecans, the floss, and pulled my jeans from the closet.
He’s my hero. I won’t lie. He loves me despite my scatterbrained tendencies. You know, when you’ve got a full-time job and you write in your spare time while trying to keep up with church, family, grandchildren, grading, and all your wonderful hobbies, including your current DIY project, it’s hard to stay organized. Or at least it is for me! LOL
Do you want to know how many pairs of cheaters I own? Eight. And I can never find more than one at a time. Every once in a while after I’ve found time to clean, I might find all eight pair. But this is a fleeting anomaly. Needless to say, my superhero hides his cheaters so I can find them and use them. He knows I eventually lose all of mine and go get his, which are always in the same spot.
You see, romance isn’t all about flowers, and candy, jewelry and sappy cards, although those things are wonderful, too. Except the flowers. I’m allergic, and my SuperFinder knows this. No, romance is about giving of yourself to your spouse, even when it’s doggone inconvenient or irritating. It’s about helping over and over again, even though you’ve done it seventy times seven without one complaint.
There’s nothing more fetching than watching my SuperFinder dig in and clean that messy kitchen while I’m up to my neck doing the laundry and cleaning the bathroom. Yowza, move over Matthew McConaughey, SuperFinder’s in the house. And he’s doing dishes. Ahhh. My hero.
And isn’t that the way the Lord intended it? My gorgeous helpmate with a heart full of love and patience. Yep, he’s the guy for me. And with him for my muse, my characters can’t help but ooze some of that same genuine goodness.
Here’s a yummy excerpt from my debut novel, Year of Jubilee, a Historical Christian Romance:
“Why? Why are you going behind my back asking Elsa about me?” Jubilee demanded.
Rafe looked up in confusion and a scowl crossed his handsome features. “What am I supposed to do, Jubilee? You’ve practically stopped talking to me. How else can I figure out what’s going on?”
Her anger climbed to a higher plane. “You don’t have to know anything about me. We’re just business partners, remember?”
Rafe opened his eyes wide and slung his head as he spoke. “Well, according to Elsa, you want a baby and that’s more than business in my mind.”
Jubilee gave a gasp and brought her hands to her face. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Elsa. Oh, why had she told him that? Suddenly the uncharacteristic anger that had exploded from her dissipated and nothing but a horrible sadness rose up. She clenched her fists to her cheeks, vaguely aware that water dripped from the hem of her dress. He grabbed a napkin to wipe the front of his shirt.
“No,” she said quietly, “she misunderstood.”
Rafe’s movements froze. “So you didn’t tell her…that?”
She hung her head. How could she lie to him? No, she hadn’t told her exactly that, but she did indeed yearn for a child of her own. She took a quivering breath. “Let’s…just drop this.”
She rubbed her right hand wearily across her forehead. He came around the table, picked up her unused napkin and wiped the moisture from her face. A fervor burned in his eyes. From anger? Jubilee wasn’t sure. Then he moved to dab her throat, pausing a split second before moving lower. He continued until he’d wiped her dress down the front, ending at her dripping hem. Then he stood, tossed the napkin to the table, and reached forward to put his hands upon her elbows, pulling her closer.
“Jubilee,” His voice thickened and her head came up. “We can do whatever you want.”
His hands slid up to her upper arms, moving up and down in a gentle caress. Jubilee swallowed a lump, warmth cascading from his touch, mesmerized by the bright flecks of yellow around the pupil of his startling jade eyes. His words grew deep and hushed. “If a child will make you happy, I’m willing to do my part.”
Jubilee barely heard the words he’d crooned as his face come closer. Softly, so softly, he touched his lips to hers, and Jubilee drew to him until their bodies met. All the love she possessed for him seemed to blossom as she sighed against him bringing her arms up to encircle his neck. Rafe’s embrace tightened at her response, the kiss deepened, awakening a shadowed fear in Jubilee. Suddenly with all her might she pushed him away and stumbled backwards several steps. They were both breathing heavily, eyeing each other with yearning and wonder.
About Peggy: Peggy Trotter is a small town Hoosier native who teaches 1st and 2nd grade at an awesome Christian School and writes Christian Romance in her spare time. God blessed her with a wonderful husband who cooks and helps clean while supporting her crazy dreams. She has two incredible grown kids, one fabulous son-in-law, a gorgeous soon-to-be daughter-in-law, and two rays of sunshine, commonly called grandchildren.
She finaled in the Indiana Golden Opportunity Contest in 2013 in the Inspirational Category, and is a 2014 ACFW Genesis Finalist in the Novella Category. Seldom does she stand still, but when she does, it’s to praise her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Creator of all gifts and Bestower of all blessings!

Learn more and connect:    peggytrotter.com     diamondsinfiction.blogspot.com

http://peggytrotter.blogspot.com/      https://www.facebook.com/PeggyTrotterAuthor

https://twitter.com/Peggy_Trotter        https://plus.google.com/u/0/114013524674058453981/posts

https://www.pinterest.com/pegtrotter/       https://www.linkedin.com/pub/peggy-trotter/95/29b/44a

http://amzn.com/B00UZ78ZUA              http://www.prismbookgroup.com/Inspired.html

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25294770-year-of-jubilee

About the book – Year of Jubilee: Orphaned and widowed, eighteen year old JUBILEE STALLINGS clings to her southern Indiana farm as her only refuge. The wilds of Gibson County are just being tamed in the year of 1850, and Jubilee ekes a meager existence. But when RAFE TANNER, a cousin of her abusive dead husband, shows up with the deed to her property, Jubilee’s dream of her own home dissolves.

Rafe, stinging from his ex-fiancée’s rejection, offers a business marriage, throwing him and Jubilee together in an effort to make the farm successful. But scars from the past keep her in constant fear of her new husband. The pair masquerades as a love-struck couple at Rafe’s family farm, enduring the romantic notions of his family and the jealousy of his ex-fiancée.

Once home, Rafe realizes his newfound love for Jubilee, and sets out to court her. Meanwhile, Jubilee fights demons from her past as her husband reveals his interest. Can Jubilee let go of her distrust and pain to embrace God’s plan of true love and finally find a place to belong?

Question: Are you scatterbrained, organized, or somewhere in between?

Come back June 15th for Keli Gwyn!