Mona Risk

Two USA Today BESTSELLERS

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Mona Risk

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October 9, 2014 would remain embedded in the memories of fourteen authors as THE day they fulfilled their dream and reached their goal. It’s difficult to describe the joy that we shared on our loop and in our homes when we read that SWEET CHRISTMAS KISSES was a BESTSELLER #51 on the USA Today bestsellers list.

SRR+Xmas

SWEET CHRISTMAS KISSES made it to the USA Today Bestsellers list three times.

Here are links to buy the bestselling box:

Amazon Kobo i-tunes Google Nook

HER CHRISTMAS CRUISE, my contribution to this box, will take you on a wonderful cruise to Spain and Italy with Julia and Tony.

The perfect fiancé is a cheater and the fabulous Christmas wedding is off. But the would-be honeymoon cruise may fulfill the dreams of Julia and her unexpected companion.

Three weeks later another box where I contributed AN UNUSUAL CHRISTMAS also became a USA Today Bestseller.

Kindle US Kindle UK Nook Kobo iBook

My contribution to this coming box is AN UNUSUAL CHRISTMAS.

Running away from Christmas celebrations and the demons of her past, Dr. Jillian has dedicated her life to saving third-world children. In Belarus, a baby girl, four little boys, and a handsome doctor may teach her the true meaning of Christmas.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged brides celebration, christmas stories, USA Today Bestseller | Leave a comment

An Unusual Christmas setting

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Mona Risk

From where do you get the ideas of your stories? How do you decide where to set your plot? Are your characters real? Writers often hear these questions from their readers.

Let me tell you why I decided to set AN UNUSUAL CHRISTMAS in a little-known country such as Belarus.

In a different life, or more precisely ten years ago, I was a Ph.D. in chemistry and Director of an environmental laboratory. I spent a boring predictable life supervising a staff of chemists who analyzed drinking water, hazardous waste and other polluted materials.

Suddenly everything changed when I won a contract to refurbish a military laboratory in Belarus and traveled fifteen times to Minsk. My first trip to Belarus occurred at the end of October. I traveled with an official delegation that included two government officers, their interpreter, two auditors, my lab manager and computer specialist. The beginning of my book relates my first impressions: cold weather, gray skies and cigarette smell everywhere.

The curious looks of the local people made me feel as if I was wearing the wrong clothes. Of course I didn’t have a chapka (that fur round hat), but I remedied the problem with a visit to the bazaar where I bought myself a cutesy real-mink chapka.

Between May and October there is no heat in Belarus. I literally froze in my drafty hotel room, and continuously requested and begged for a hot cup of tea. I was often offered vodka instead.

I was so well received by everyone, officers, directors, chemists, journalists, I fell in love with this country. Several Belarusians invited us to visit their homes. The men prepared the drinks–unadulterated vodka, with no ice cubes or orange juice. The ladies cooked and the children who were fluent in English acted as interpreters.

When my chauffeur’s wife delivered a baby girl and chose me as a godmother, I visited her right after her delivery, brought her food, and had the unique opportunity to learn a lot about Belarusian hospitals.

Many special episodes of my fantastic trips to Belarus are related in the two books I wrote several years later: HER RUSSIAN HERO and AN UNUSUAL CHRISTMAS.

I hope you will discover a new country and interesting culture while reading AN UNUSUAL CHRISTMAS. It was fun describing Minsk, the capital of Belarus, as my heroine discovers her new working area and shows her impressions of the hero’s daily life and traditions.

My story highlights the hospitality and warmth of the gorgeous and gallant Belarusians who toast with vodka and make a woman feel like a goddess. Is it any wonder that Dr. Jillian Burton, an American physician on a mission to Belarus, loses her heart to the gorgeous doctor in spite of her life-long pledge never to fall in love?

An Unusual Christmas by Mona Risk, USA Today bestselling author.
Running away from Christmas celebrations and the demons of her past, Dr. Jillian has dedicated her life to saving third-world children. In Belarus, a baby girl, four little boys, and a handsome doctor may teach her the true meaning of Christmas.

AN UNUSUAL CHRISTMAS is my contribution to the TEN CHRISTMAS BRIDES Box.

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Posted in Contemporary Romance, Uncategorized | Tagged Anthology, babies, Belarus, Boxed set, brides, Christmas, doctors, holiday, Romance, USA Today Bestseller | Leave a comment

Ten Christmas Brides Release Day

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Mona Risk

★•**•.★ Release Day Blitz & #Giveaway ★•**•.★

Ten Christmas Brides
by Ruth Cardello, Nina Bruhns, Donna Fasano, Rebecca York, Helen Scott Taylor, Patrice Wilton, Mona Risk, Annie Jones, Alicia Street, and Mimi Barbour

Genre: Holiday Romance
Release Date: October 21, 2014
Hosted by: Book Partners In Crime Promotions

Synopsis:

Join ten New York Times, USA Today and National best-selling authors to celebrate the holiday season with a boxed set of stories brimming with emotion, holiday spirit and happy ever afters. From sweet to sexy, suspense to small town drama, travel from Belarus to Africa to the snowy Highlands of Scotland as Santa delivers our gift to you–love, laughter and happiness this Christmas!

Recipe for Love by Ruth Cardello, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author.
All Madison Andrade wants for Christmas is a place to hide and she finds it in the home of a lusty French chef. Richard D’Argenson’s recipes are famous, but they lack one necessary ingredient–love. Spend a steamy holiday with this unlikely couple and fall in love -Andrade style.

Must Love Santa by Nina Bruhns, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author.
Detective Nick Palladin just needs to close one last case in Vice–going undercover as Santa–before getting his Christmas transfer to the K-9 Unit. But when a cute little fluffball and the knockout holding her leash stumble into the op and are attacked, Santa and his faithful dog come running to the rescue!

An Almost Perfect Christmas by Donna Fasano, USA Today bestselling author.
Aaron Chase is desperate to give his daughter a perfect Christmas and elicits the help of Pediatric Nurse Christy Cooper to do it. When Aaron’s impish eight-year-old talks them into a make-believe wedding, can the magic of Christmas make the vows stick?

Christmas Captive (The Decorah Security Series) by Rebecca York, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author.
How did hard-driving businessman Jordan Campbell end up in a coma? And can nurse Hannah Andrews use her psychic talent to connect with him and trap his would-be killer? As she and Jordan work together, she knows she’s putting her own life–and her heart–at risk.

The Army Doctor’s Honeymoon Baby (The Army Doctor’s Series) by Helen Scott Taylor, USA Today bestselling author.Army doctor, Blair Mackenzie, secretly loves his childhood friend, Lorna, and protects her in the African refugee camp where they work. Lorna depends on Blair–he’s her best friend, the only man she’s ever loved. She longs to admit her feelings but a family secret from their past prevents her.

Kiss Me Santa by Patrice Wilton, National bestselling author.
Widowed schoolteacher, Cindy Harris meets Brad Williams–posing as Santa–when she takes her young son to the mall. Imagine her surprise when he shows up as the hot-shot realtor selling her family home. Sparks fly between them. Can the magic of Christmas give them the best gift of all — love?

An Unusual Christmas by Mona Risk, USA Today bestselling author.
Running away from Christmas celebrations and the demons of her past, Dr. Jillian has dedicated her life to saving third-world children. In Belarus, a baby girl, four little boys, and a handsome doctor may teach her the true meaning of Christmas.

A Cowboy for Christmas by Annie Jones, Award-winning and National bestselling author.
A single mom who has pinned all her hopes on reviving a popular tourist dude ranch gets a Christmas surprise that may change everything when her son asks Santa for a new dad. And that very night a Christmas-skipping cowboy shows up at their door.

The Christmas Honeymoon by Alicia Street, Award-winning and National bestselling author.
Quiet librarian Serena always loved Christmas, until she was jilted before her December wedding. A year later, while trying to rekindle her tarnished holiday spirit, she meets Damien, handsome daredevil–and a total Scrooge. Their unlikely mutual attraction brings on a challenge that leads to one very romantic Christmas.

She’s Not You by Mimi Barbour, National bestselling author.
Sick and widowed, running scared from a man who insists she belongs to him, Belle is forced to let the charmer down the hall help out. Not just for her sake, but it’s Christmas, she’s in trouble and her little girl has decided their sympathetic neighbor is her special hero.

Enter the Giveaway: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/7996b6c523/

Join the Facebook Party & Enter the Special Giveaway:

Add the book to your Goodreads Shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23303877-ten-christmas-brides

Buy Ten Christmas Brides:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1t14Ez9
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1reXzUa
Barnes & Noble: http://ow.ly/CmXdm
Kobo: http://ow.ly/CmXmK
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1DhZHTL
iTunes: http://bit.ly/1rimQNy

A Special Gift From the Ten Brides Authors!

A book full of delicious cookie recipes to share with the family this Christmas!
In this book you’ll find favorite cookies of the heroes and heroines in the Ten Christmas Brides romance-novel boxed set. Some are the treats our characters remember fondly from their childhoods. Others are the ones they enjoy today—or make to give as gifts. Here you’ll find everything from Almond Crescents, Coffee Pecan Delights, and Swedish Teacake Cookies to Rocks, Butterscotch Brownies and Scottish Shortbread. And each recipe comes with a note explaining how it fits into the author’s story, so you’ll have a little more insight into her characters and plot.

The recipes are the authors’ gifts to you this holiday season. Enjoy these special goodies and have a wonderful Christmas. Best wishes from the authors of Ten Christmas Brides!

Buy Favorite Christmas Cookies:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1yKd8fC

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/ZxQ7x5

Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1nspOUa

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1yKdzGK

iTunes: http://bit.ly/ZIel8a