For Christmas

 

What should Julia do when she catches her fiancé

cheating on her a week before their fabulous Christmas wedding? 

http://tinyurl.com/n9x4kqz

Of course, she calls off the wedding.
Tony is a dedicated psychiatrist. He is covering for a short while in his mother's travel agency when a desperate Julia comes in. Tony is there to pick up the pieces. Sparks fly between them and he is willing to put his life on hold to accompany her on the cruise that should have been her honeymoon. Nothing goes according to plan, but Tony believes the magic of Christmas will bring them together. 

A 5-star review by Seniorcitizen

Format:Kindle Edition

"A roller coaster of emotions we can all relate to. Add fabulous cruise ship, beautiful scenery, landmark locales and a budding romance, all during Christmastime, you cannot possibly go wrong. Julia and Tony forever. One terrific read again from Mona Risk."

Other books by Mona Risk:

http://tinyurl.com/ndvgf9d
 

HOLIDAY BABIES SERIES: A box set of three bestselling books at Amazon.com

CHRISTMAS BABIES: It takes a health crisis and two adorable orphaned babies to bring Dr. Madelyn Ramsay to her senses and force her to look life and love in the face.
VALENTINE BABIES: Can he love a woman expecting another man's baby?
MOTHER'S DAY BABIES: Can a woman from Kentucky teach an 'old dog' new tricks, even if he's a CEO?

DOCTOR'S ORDERS BOX SET: A box set of three bestselling books at Amazon.com

http://tinyurl.com/oaly3fu
 

BABIES in the BARGAIN: "ER" and "Grey's Anatomy" in the NICU.
RIGHT NAME, WRONG MAN: What's a girl to do when she whispers another man's name in her fiancé's arms?
NO MORE LIES: A lie that brings a smile or a truth drawing tears?

Airport security

I travel a lot and have to go to the airport two hours in advance to pass security check. Open the laptop, take off jackets, shoes, belts, watches, any jewelries, and stand legs apart in front of an x-ray machine. What next??

Canary Islands: Tenerife

The Canary Islands are part African, part Spanish with a lot of Atlantic thrown in. The islands were inhabited by a mysterious people called Guanches.

They were tall, blond and light skinned, but no one seems to know their origins. They lived in small round houses, as well as caves and cliffs.


A sculpture showing human sacrifice

They had elaborate burial procedures. We visited stepped pyramids that were a far reminder of the Egyptian pyramid of Saqquara or the Aztec pyramid of Mexico.

The Step Pyramid of Gui Mar in Tenerife

To explain the presence of similar pyramids in these distant sites, historians assumed that people from Egypt or the Canary Islands were able to cross the Atlantic Ocean on these types of canoes and made it safely by fair weather.

The name Tenerife means 'snow-capped mountain' in Guanche. The island is dominated by the impressive Mount Teide, the highest peak in Spain, over 12,000ft in altitude.



 The south of the mountain is arid while the northern slopes are lush and green with flowers and banana trees.


I forgot the name of this unusual tree.

The city of Santa Cruz is a lovely, fan-shaped capital city, with houses and street converging to the port.

The pretty Church of La Conception lies near the heart of the old city. It displays some fine baroque artwork and reminders from the islands' history.

On the Church plaza, lining the boardwalk, is a series of bronze statues representing knights, peasants, kings,..

Because of the mountain volcanic nature, the beaches have black sand.

Stay tune for a visit to the third island of the Canaries, Madeira. Meanwhile visit this site

http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9394-osiris-missing-part.aspx

 OSIRIS MISSING PART.

Seth, the evil god of storm, killed his brother Osiris, chopped him into fourteen pieces and flung them all over Egypt. Isis, goddess of family, has always loved Osiris and reassembles thirteen of his body parts. Since she couldn’t find his supernatural male member where his godly power is stored, she reattaches a human one to make him whole.

Osiris, the charming god of labor Egyptians revere is now a mortal without power, anxious to recover both his own magical organ and his godly status. Guided by oracles Isis utters during their lovemaking, they search for his missing organ and fight Seth until they find Osiris’s magical manhood and he recovers his godly attributes. Osiris has fallen in love with Isis but will the sins of his past catch up with him in the present and interfere with their future?

I wrote this story after visiting Egypt and cruising along the Nile River in April 2010, and I brought back a large collection of pictures and brochures of the ancient monuments.

Rome: Day One

We landed in Rome early in the morning and were supposed to be taken straight to the ship to start our Mediterranean cruise.

The handsome young man who greeted us—too bad I didn’t have my camera available—had dark curly hair framing his face, attractive features la Roger Federrer and a cheerful smile. He apologized for the fact that we wouldn’t be able to board the ship before noon. To compensate for the inconvenience, Princess Cruise had arranged for us and other early birds a complementary guided tour of Rome while our luggage was transferred directly to the ship. Who could ask for a better deal? I forgot the lack of sleep, uncomfortable plane seat and exhaustion of the long trip.

Here are some of my pictures of Rome taken between 9:00 and 10:00 am from the so-comfortable tour bus before driving to Civitavecchia, the closest port to Rome.

Vittorio-Emmanuele Monument.

The Forum.

The famous Piazza d'Hispania with the unending steps and the church on the top. We didn't stop to look at the gorgeous view.

Here approaching St. Peter's Square.

As the bus circled around St Peter's Cathedral, I noticed there was a Sunday Mass celebrated on the piazza. Two large screens on each side allowed the congregation to view every detail.

The Pope would step on the third balcony from the right to give his blessing every Sunday at 10:30 am.

I thought I had a picture of the Colliseum but apparently my camera didn't click fast enough as the bus toured around the famous arena.

Back from vacation-Happy Father's Day

We are back from vacation, right on time for Father’s Day. Today, we celebrate and remember our Dads. My daughter and her children will come for dinner to wish my husband Happy Father's Day. My father is not around any more but I will pray for him and thank him for making me who I am, with love, example and support.

My husband and I had a wonderful vacation that took us literally out of our daily routine. We flew to Italy and spent a day in Rome, touring the city and admiring the monuments from the open-top tourist bus: the famous St. Peter's Plaza with a mile long line to enter the cathedral; the very crowded Fountain of Trevis where I didn't throw a penny but ate the best cassata siciliana, an ice cream to die for; the Plaza di Spania, with a thousand steps to go up to a church and the best view of Rome at our feet; the Bocca della Verita that reminded me of the movie Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Churches and monuments greeted us at every corner of Rome.The next day we drove to and boarded the ship we were going to call home for the next ten days.

There is a certain elation in boarding a ship. As you walk the gangway, you purposely throw away stress and trouble and get ready to discover a new world. To start, an officer gave us a plastic card, our passe-partout to open our room, buy drink, sign in and out when going ashore. For ten days we wouldn't need money on the vessel, no dollars, no euros or any other currencies. Relax, show you card, and voila. You will pay later, once the vacation is over and you are on your way out. That's when you will brace yourself, hand your credit card and remember that everything comes at a price, even good vacation.

We met our table companions in the dining room, three couples from Texas, California and England, and introduced ourselves with first names only. Who cared about last names as we daily exchanged notes and fun stories about morning ashore excursions, over delicious and complicated meals, and then rushed to reserve the best seats for the night show.First stop Portofino, a small town slopping over a green mountain down to the Mediterranean Sea, many castles, and an incredible scenery as we sailed to the neighboring Santa Margarita, another lovely medieval town.

Second stop, Monaco, home of Princess Grace. We visited her grave, always covered with flowers, in the cathedral, then toured the palace, casino, and winding narrow streets of the capital, Monte Carlo. We watched the change of the guard, a mini reproduction of the British show at Buchingham Palace and we had the unique experience to witness a fire in the plalace. Yes, a real fire with smoke, police screamimg, and fire trucks that came fifteen minutes later after the fire was doused. See pictures.

I will tell you more about my cruise tomorrow. Today, in addition to celebrating Father’s Day, I remember that my romantic suspense, FRENCH PERIL, will be released this coming Thursday. To celebrate my second book, I’m running a second contest. Just leave a comment on my blog.

Prizes: an onyx ring, adjustable to any finger, from Corfu, Greece. A golden bracelet coated with blue and green enamel from Corsica and a ladybug brooch with red and white rhinestones from Venice, Italy. I will post pictures tomoroow. I am still trying to recover from Jet lag and post- vacation blues.

Here is the blurb of FRENCH PERIL:

What could be more exciting for a young American architect than to live in a French chateau owned by a young count and to work on the restoration of a chapel in the Loire Valley?But when her professor is poisoned because he knew too much about a missing statue, Cheryl's summer job changes into a dangerous treasure hunt and Count François is faced with a difficult choice:Are the statue and his chateau worth endangering the life of the impetuous young woman who's turned his life upside down?