The Pat on the Back Award from Stephanie Burkhart

I met Steph B. as I called her at the Spa. We regularly read other blog, excerpts, posts and comments. Steph made my day when she posted a lovely review about my first book TO LOVE A HERO on her blog

http://sgcardin.blogspot.com/

Steph traveled to Eastern Europe when she was in the Army as an MP. I traveled to the Russian countries on business trips as a program manager to refurbish army laboratories. We both like to set our stories in the European countries we visited.

I love the award I received from Steph. The golden 7 is an honorary thing. I received it from Steph and I will pass it on to more blogs.

It matches well the certicate I received today from READERS FAVORITE for 2009 BEST ROMANCE.

I am supposed to tell you 7 things about myself. Then, I'll list 7 blogs I particularly enjoy reading. Next, I'll contact each of my seven authors and tell them their blog is on my list. Hopefully, each will do the same thing.

7 THINGS ABOUT ME:

#1 - I have one green eye and one hazel.
#2 - I am fluent in three languages.
#3 - I have been all over the world and visited more than 50 counties.
#4 - I was an A student and earned a Ph.D. in chemistry
#5 - I have never been athletic. Took tennis lessons and quit. Took golf lessons and quit.
#6 - I am terrified of height and can't walk on a bridge.
#7 - I love the ocean.

Here's the 7 blogs I give I "Pat on the Back to."

#1 - http://www.autumnjordonsnotes.blogspot.com/

#2 - http://bethtrissel.blogspot.com/

#3 - http://www.jenyfermatthews.com/blog/

#4 - http://www.lianalaverentz.blogspot.com/

#5 -http://mjdaniels.blogspot.com/

#6 - http://www.sandracox.blogspot.com/

#7 - http://sharondonova n.blogspot. com

Reviews for Babies in the Bargain:

The Long And The Short Reviews~ 5 Books. Best Book of The Week. Ms. Risk has done an outstanding job with Babies in the Bargain and is a very talented writer who gives the reader what they are after. I highly recommend this book. This one will keep you on your toes and make you beg for more. I can't wait to read more of Ms. Risk's work in the future.


Romance Junkies~5 Ribbons. BABIES IN THE BARGAIN is one novel that pulls you into the story and holds you captive to the last page.

Reviewed by Vince~ 5 Hearts

“Babies in the Bargain” could serve as an object lesson on how to ‘show’ and not ‘tell’ a story. You always know exactly what the characters are feeling, indeed, for the most part you 'feel' along with them. It’s a great read.

Night Owl Romance~

Babies in the Bargain is a sweet and sexy medical romance that will have you cooing and awing while also shedding a few tears.

Joyfully Reviewed~ Romance blooms amidst tragedy in Babies in the Bargain. It tugs heart strings and stirs emotions.

WRDF Review~ This was a great read, romantic and at times bittersweet.Enjoyable from beginning to end, Babies in the Bargain sports believable characters, an ultra romantic story line, and a thoroughly satisfying ending.

Readers Favorite~ 5 Hearts and Gold Medal WINNER-

2009 BEST ROMANCE-

This is Mona Risk at her best. The story will bring tears both sadness and joy. The characters are easy to relate to. The plot is excellent. Fans of romance will love this story.

Got Romance! ~ 4 Diamonds This story is both heart warming and heart wrenching. Ms Risk has created beautifully written, well rounded, realistic characters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

READERS FAVORITE 2009 WINNER

While I was competing and gathering votes for the Preditors & Editors Readers Poll, I completely forgot I entered my medical romance BABIES IN THE BARGAIN in a contest

Today I was surprised with good news:
BABIES IN THE BARGAIN won READERS FAVORITE 2009 BEST ROMANCE

I was given a Golden seal and a review:

Mona Risk

BABIES IN THE BARGAIN~ 5 Stars

Romance - Contemporary
Reviewed for ReadersFavorite.com

Holly Collier spent the last seven years dedicated to her career of medical training in Neonatology. After Marc Suarez broke Holly’s heart in med school she vowed to never let it happen again. The anesthesiologist was back in town and working at the Washington Children’s Hospital. She was determined not to let him distract her again...

This is Mona Risk at her best. The story will bring tears both sadness and joy. The reader watches as Marc matures and as Holly’s heart thaws. One tiny baby makes a difference in both their lives. The characters are easy to relate to. The plot is excellent. Fans of romance will love this story.

Awards will be distributed in Las Vegas during an Awards Ceremony.
Thursday November 5th - Sunday November 8th is the Vegas Valley Book Festival, the largest in Las Vegas and voted the 10th best book fair in the world!

Since the event is in Las Vegas I think I can convince my husband to come with me!!!

My friend Patrice Wilton won the silver seal for her book, All Of Me.

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat~

Sunrise in Fort Lauderdale

Resolutions

So many of us are making resolutions during the first week of January. We type them on computers, or neatly write them on special papers, or like me scribble them on the back of a Chritmas card in awful handwriting so no one can read them. Sometimes, even I can't read those.

Here are the ten most common New Year’s Resolutions according to official polls:

1. Lose weight/ Eat right

2. Get fit/exercise

3. Manage debt/ Save money

4. Get a better education

5. Drink less alcohol/ Quit smoking

6. Relax/ Take a trip

7. Volunteer to help others
8. Spend more time with family & friends
9. Enjoy life more
10. Get organized

AND IF YOU ARE A WRITER, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE

I recognized so many of my resolutions. Definitely # 1 and 2, probably 3 and 6, and maybe 8 and 9. How about you? Do you recognize your resolutions?

Preditors & Editors Readers Poll

Dear Bloggers, Friends and Readers,

One of my books, BABIES IN THE BARGAIN, a sweet and spicy contemporary romance, has been nominated for Best Book of the Year at the Preditors & Editors Readers Poll along with many others. BABIES IN THE BARGAIN received 8 stellar reviews, including Best Book of The Week at The Long & the Short Romances. Would you please vote for me?

The link is http://www.critters.org/predpoll/novelr.shtml

1-You click on the little circle next to the book name.

2- Scroll down to the bottom of the page, enter your name and email in the white boxes

3- Enter the verification words in the little box,

4- Click on Submit Vote.

You will immediately receive an email from Preditors & Editors at the email address you have given them. You HAVE to click on the link they give you otherwise the vote doesn't count. It will open their site. You will see SUCCESS in green. That is their way of verifying that you have a legitimate email. And that’s all.

I would greatly appreciate your vote. Thank you so much.

Leaving 2009, Starting 2010

I haven’t been posting on my blog since last year. More accurately since the middle of December. Holidays, Christmas preparation, cooking, gifts buying and wrapping, children and grandchildren’s visit, elaborate dinners and playing with the little ones... Is it any wonder I didn’t find a moment to come to my blog? But I didn’t forget my friends and readers.

If I evaluate 2009 with a critical eye, I have to admit it was a good year. BABIES IN THE BARGAIN was published in July and Rx FOR TRUST in December.
BABIES IN THE BARGAIN received eight stellar reviews and was a bestseller for several months on The Wild Rose Press and won Book of The Week at The Long ad the Short Reviews.


French Peril, my Cerridwen Press romantic suspense, received an impressive review at Barbara Vey’s Publishers Weekly: Who wouldn't want to lose themselves in Mona Risk's French Peril? Traveling to the beautiful French countryside, staying in a marvelous, ornate chateau, eating fine food and drinking the chateau's wine, and let's not forget the charming and handsome host. Sign me up, Ms Risk, I'll be looking for your next foreign escape.

TO LOVE A HERO won Sweetheart of the Week at Romantic Studio.

On the health front, I kept my pledge of exercising with a trainer. She exhausted me four times a week for two hours each time but I didn't shed a single pound. I just converted the fat to muscles. As a result, I stopped going to the gym. By September I was so disgusted with myself, I paid a visit-- and a lot of money-- to Quick Weight Loss to learn to eat the proper way and give up all the delicious treats I love. To my utter amazement, it worked, although I cheated once in a while. I finally lost weight and managed to fit in my clothes again. I still have five pounds to drop.


Unfortunately, my mother fell several times, spent many days at the hospital, and can’t walk anymore. Another blow hit me in summer when my daughter and adorable grandchildren moved away to Virginia. But I survived and enjoyed fun trips, to Australia to visit my in-laws, in a Mediterranean cruise and to Canada for a wedding and sightseeing.

2010 seems to start on the right foot. On New Year day I received the first two reviews, both lovely reviews, for Rx FOR TRUST from Night Owl Romance and Got Romance! Reviews.

Night Owl Romance, Rx FOR TRUST was a fantastic read. The plot was very well thought out and the pacing on target.
Got Romance! Reviews, Mona Risk writes a charming story, keeping the reader entertained with the twists and turns in the plot.



And today my editor emailed me a contract for, Rx IN RUSSIAN, my second book in the Doctor’s Order series, a sweet and spicy romance between an American pediatrician on a mission to Belarus and a Russian surgeon.

Not bad at all so far with four days into 2010.





By the way my romantic suspenses, TO LOVE A HERO and FRENCH PERIL are on sale at the publisher, Jasmine Jade.
Down from $14.99 to $5.5 for the papercover books. Here are the links:

To Love A Hero: At Jasmine Jade
http://www.jasminejade.com/p-6651-to-love-a-hero.aspx?skinid=13

FRENCH PERIL: At Jasmine Jade ISBN:
http://www.jasminejade.com/pc-7354-35-french-peril.aspx



If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat.

eReaders

My Christmas letter to Santa Claus is written. I told him I have been a good girl and wrote TWO books this year, BABIES IN THE BARGAIN and PRESCRIPTION FOR TRUST, both published with The Wild Rose Press. As I explained to Santa, I deserve the toy I so badly want:
An eREADER

During the past few months, I had several discussions with my husband on the subject. We kept fluctuating from Sony to Kindle, back to Sony, back… We studied every model sold by Sony and Amazon. Somehow he managed to show me all the negative comments he could dig out of the Internet. Three months later, my husband convinced me the eReader was not yet good enough for me.

When I attended the Romanticon Conference organized by Jasmine Jade (Elloras Cave and Cerridwen Press) half the attendees had an eReader in hands, for some it was a Sony, for others a Kindle. I asked them a lot of questions. Every person gushed with delight over her eReader and highly recommended it. I came back determined to buy my own.

My dilemma is still the same. Sony or Kindle?

The Kindle is light, easy to hold and manipulate. It would allow me to download books from Amazon.com but not from my own computer, which means I couldn’t copy the ebooks I already saved on my computer onto my new eReader.

Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation)


The Sony is smaller, heavier. It would allow me to buy ebooks from the various publishers and to download from my computer but not to buy from Amazon.

The Reader Pocket Edition and Reader Touch Edition are definitely capable of taking on Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader.


Help. Please share your experience. I need to specify to Santa which brand I want before he takes things into his own hands.

Prescription For Trust

Rx For Trust is officially out in ebook, paprerback and Chrisrmas early bird special at the Wild Rose Press, also availbale at Amazon.com. Amazon.co.uk. barnesandnoble.com, borders.com,

[CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO ORDER FROM THE WILD ROSE PRESS]

Rx FOR TRUST, the first book in the Doctor’s Order series, is a sweet and spicy romance that will make you smile, laugh and cry— the story of two psychiatrists with conflicting theories on how to treat their patients and tame their own emotions.

The story’s theme revolves around a famous saying by Walter Scott:
“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”

Short Synopsis: Successful physician and loving mother, Olivia Crane fiercely believes youthful mistakes should be kept secret and skeletons are better left in closets. Unfortunately, Dr. Luc George, the French psychiatrist she loved ten years ago, detests secrets and has a professional tendency to dig into people's minds.

Determined to rekindle their former relationship, Luc strolls back into her hospital and her life, tries to unravel her many secrets, and threatens to shatter her carefully constructed world. Against her better judgment, Olivia succumbs to his charm and welcomes another chance, but on her own terms. The past forgotten, no questions asked.

Can Luc help her conquer her inner fears or will he get burned by the past too? Will Olivia grab her second chance and finally find happiness with the love of her life?

Excerpt:“Fine.” He raised both hands in a conciliatory gesture. “But I am stunned by this situation. Help me understand you. We dated for a year. I loved you. Why did you not trust me?”

Loved. He used the past tense. Even if his love had survived for ten years, she’d killed it with her confession. The sadness underlying his question went straight to her heart. She dropped back into her chair, rubbing her forehead to lessen the tension.

Why did he have to linger over the painful past?

Luc touched her hand and enfolded it in his large one. “Olivia, you are a psychiatrist. You know you can’t bury your past forever. Not when you have a teenage daughter. At some point, you will have to deal with it. Can you please tell me why you hid your daughter from me?”

“Why can’t you understand?” She snatched her hand from his and exhaled, wishing she had a magic formula to erase her bitter past. “When I was a student, I was still hiding her from everybody at med school.” Resting her head against the back of the chair, she closed her eyes. “I told you I was terrified for her safety. Melissa is unfortunately the mirror image of her father. I was afraid that he’d find out he has a daughter and hurt us both.”

“Did he ever threaten you?”

Olivia blinked and struggled to suppress her bitterness. Threaten was putting it mildly. “He told me to ‘get rid of it’ when I said I was pregnant. And he got upset when I protested.”

“How upset?” Luc punched the palm of his left hand with his fist.

Feeling her control slipping under his scrutiny, she turned her head.

“Did he hit you?”

She didn’t answer. But he must have read the humiliating truth in her eyes.

“Mon Dieu. I wish I had known. I would have killed this monster. Is that the reason you turned away from me?”

She bit her lip, loathe to tell him how much she’d cried after he left. “Listen, we dated on and off during that year, but you were going back to France, and I wanted to concentrate on my career. Why would we start a long-distance relationship? Besides, I couldn’t trust anyone. Any man after...” Shaking her head, she averted her gaze. Luc was far too perceptive. “I was too frightened.”

“And you still are. You sacrificed a lot because of your inner fear. Don’t you think you need help, Dr. Crane? You need to learn to trust people again.”

“I’m fine now. When Melissa started high school, I introduced her to my boss and colleagues. I’m very proud of her.” She stood to signify the end of this conversation that had drained her.

Damn it. She didn’t need a shrink. After sampling his kisses last night, she roused to a surprising reality. She wanted him again. She wanted her French lover who lavished her with pleasure and tenderness during steamy nights.

His eyes narrowed, Luc crossed his arms over his chest. “But you still have not told your daughter the truth.” The archetypal psychiatrist, he followed the same line of questions.

Irritation flickered through her, and she struggled not to shout at him. “That’s not your problem.” The minute she’d confided in him, he tried to impose his views. “You see why I couldn’t tell you my secret? I didn’t want anyone interfering and destroying my daughter’s peace of mind.”