Category Archives: Lifestyle

Love a Beach Read? Romance, adventure, and fun by Rachelle Ayala #RachelleAyala @mimisgang1 #mgtab

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Summer is prime beach reading season, and women’s beach reads are a genre all their own. The perfect beach read for women combines several key elements that make it compelling, entertaining, and ideal for reading on vacation.

A beach read should be light and fun. Women often choose easy page-turners with a generous dose of humor when lounging by the ocean or poolside. Plots are fast-paced and focus more on fun, witty banter between characters rather than complex world-building. Compelling characters and addictive drama are a must, but the overall tone should be feel-good rather than heavy.

The setting plays a huge role in immersing readers in summer vibes. Beach reads usually transport us to sunny, tropical locales like a Hawaiian resort, Caribbean island, small coastal town, or European vacation hot spot. The glittering blue ocean, flowy sundresses, icy cocktails, and warm sand between toes create the ultimate escapist backdrop for temporary getaways between the pages.

Travel and adventure are common themes, as beach reads allow us to live vicariously through characters while we relax and recharge. Following a heroine as she checks items off her wanderlust bucket list or reinvents herself in an exotic new environment provides exciting yet comfortable literary journeys from the security of our beach chair.

Of course, romance is a must for any successful women’s beach read. Flirty banter, meet-cutes over piña coladas, and passionate affairs under the moonlight satisfy readers’ summer cravings for fantasy and fun. Scandalous love triangles, fake engagement plots, and romances between seemingly mismatched characters provide playful and irresistible romantic tension.

The best beach reads for women combine all these elements into page-turning books you can’t put down until you find out what happens. The stories whisk you away to an imaginary getaway full of summer fun without having to leave your lounge chair. With the sound of crashing waves in the background, these entertaining tales make for blissful beach reading any woman will enjoy.

These are all the reasons why I love reading and writing beach reads. I get to travel to fun and exotic locations, create adventurous situations and of course, add in a hunky hero, matchmaking locals and animal friends, and we get an irresistible romance to spice up the soothing sounds of the surf.

My latest beach read, Where Love Blossoms, provides the perfect escape if you’re looking to relax with a side of sweet romance. Maya Chance finds herself instantly attracted to the dashing and somewhat mysterious Luke Hastings. The fictional island of Ile d’Amour is the perfect setting with its tropical scenery, quirky locals with an eye for matchmaking, tall tales of its pirate heritage, and natural beauty. Add a pet monkey who’s endearing but mischievous, a wise innkeeper, an observant bartender, and a taxi driver full of stories and tales, and you get a heartwarming romance with plenty of humor and fun.

Where Love Blossoms by Rachelle Ayala (99c or KindleUnlimited)

An Unforgettable Vacation in Egypt.

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If you are looking for a different and memorable vacation, at an incredibly low price, I suggest you carefully read this blog. My kids have just returned from a one-week vacation in Egypt.

Riding a camel wasn’t easy, but we made it

Using the highly recommended Memphis Tours, they organized the whole trip from the US by email and paid 25% of the whole amount when they made their reservations. The rest was paid when they arrived in Cairo. The price included hotels in Cairo and Luxor with breakfast and lunch, car transportation, flight to Luxor, and visits to all the monuments. Before traveling they got their visas and recommended vaccines. My daughter and son, and their families flew to London and boarded the same British Airways flight to Cairo.

Lunch at the 9 Pyramids Restaurant. We came by camel!

At Cairo International Airport, they were met at the gate by a Memphis Tours Representative who took their passports and asked them to follow her. Bypassing the long lines, she took care of all the formalities, passport control, and customs, and led them out of the airport to their van in no time. The Rep introduced them to their driver, English-speaking guide, and bodyguard who would accompany them for the whole week. This completely reassured my daughter.

The van drove them to the Kempinski Hotel (German chain of hotels) in downtown Cairo, right on the Nile. That first night they had dinner on the terrace of the hotel and enjoyed the magnificent view of Cairo by night.

At the step pyramid of Saqqara with Emad, our tour guide, an M.S. in History and a well of information.

On Day One, they went to the Pyramids, rode camels to tour the area, visited the Sphynx, and reached the restaurant where they enjoyed a delicious lunch of grilled lamb and chicken kabab. In the afternoon they visited the step pyramid of Saqqara, and went inside one of the pyramids.

The famous Khan El Khalili Bazaar where we shop to our heart’s content.

On Day Two, they visited the Citadel, (an old fortress) and the old museum and saw the King Tut exhibit. (The new Big Museum is still not open yet). After lunch they spent time in the Khan El Khalili Bazaar and enjoyed the inexpensive shopping.

The Temple of Karnak

On Day Three, they flew to Luxor, visited the Temples of Luxor and Karnak, sailed in a felucca and enjoyed a sunset on the Nile.

Going down a tomb in the Valley of the Kings. We saw King Tut’s mummy!

On Day Four, they left the Sofitel hotel at 8 am, (the renovated old Windsor Palace where many celebrities stayed). Right after breakfast, they went to the Valley of the Kings where they visited 5 Tombs out of 63, then they drove to the Colossi of Memnon, and later to the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Back at the hotel, they spent their afternoon in the pool, and after dinner attended a Sound and Light show at the temple.

In front of Queen Hatshepsut Temple. Her son had her head removed from all statues and paintings and replaced with his own head!!!

On Day Five, they flew back to Cairo, and on Day Six, they visited the Old Cairo churches that dated from the second century A.C. and the Ben Ezra Synagogue, sometimes referred to as the El-Geniza Synagogue or the Synagogue of the Levantines. According to local folklore, it is located on the site where baby Moses was found.

Sound and Light at the Temple of Luxor

The six-day trip to Egypt cost them less than any cruise or local vacation. The dads were happy to have a driver, the moms enjoyed the inexpensive shopping, and the girls were delighted to have Internet in both hotels. They were able to post their pictures on Instagram from day one. They are already planning another fabulous trip for next year to discover more wonderful monuments in Egypt.    

The Gods of Dark Love

The book is based on the Legend of Isis and Osiris. This is a sensual dark romance, with explicit love scenes, but not erotic in frequency or type.)

According to the legend, the evil Egyptian god of storm, Seth, killed his brother Osiris, chopped him into fourteen pieces and flung them all over Egypt. Isis, goddess of family, reassembled thirteen of his body parts. Since she couldn’t find his supernatural male member, where his godly power was stored, she reattached a human one. Isis has always loved Osiris, the charming god of labor. While dreaming of marriage, family and a son, she helps him fight Seth. Together they struggle to survive iniquities and perils.

His trip to the Afterlife has changed Osiris. He regrets his past womanizing. Guided by oracles she utters when they make love, they search lands and seas for his missing organ so he can recover his godly attributes. Osiris has fallen in love with Isis but the sins of his past and their unexpected consequences threaten to separate them more painfully than Seth’s mayhem and curses.

SECRET KISSES

The story is set in Ohio, and includes a visit to Egypt and a cruise on the Nile River. For love and friendship, three best friends will defy families and society.

Katy Mahoney, Hoda Seif, and Sarah Kohn. Three girls from different backgrounds and religions pledged to maintain their friendship forever.

For five years, the three friends meet and exchange confidences and advice. Life is so confusing for a woman in love with a man from a different religion. Sarah is concerned about Omar’s narrow-mindedness and decides he has to change. Katy knows she’ll have a battle royal on her hands with her pious Catholic mother. And Hoda is in a worse shape. Her family’s religion forbids her to marry an infidel.

Will the three friends manage to convince their families to let them marry for love or will tradition tear the lovers apart?

This book is part of UNFORGETTABLE LOVE, Unforgettable Wonder

No Expiration Date for Sex!

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“Humans are sexual beings throughout their lives, yet the culture has concealed that fact,” says Dr. W. Gianotten.in an interesting article I want to share with you

According to Rome, the purpose of sex is to make children. According to Hollywood, sex is only for the young, the healthy, and the beautiful. For the medical profession, sex consists mainly of risks or dysfunctions.

The results of these biases? Many middle-aged people fear their later sexual life. And medical professionals rarely ask about sexuality. “That failing can be harmful. Sexuality and intimacy are essential elements for quality of life, with clear physical, emotional, and relational benefits. Let’s look at the data when researchers dared to ask seniors about their sexuality,” Dr. W. Gianotten added.

The 2015 UK national research study on sexuality found a link between age and a decline in various aspects of sexual activity — but not a zeroing-out. For example, among men ages 70-79, 59% reported having had sex in the past year, with 19% having intercourse at least twice a month and 18% masturbating at least that often. Above age 80, those numbers dropped to 39%, 6%, and 5%, respectively. The reason behind the declines? A combination of taboo, fear of disease, use of medications or other interventions that disrupt sexual function or cause disfigurement, and a little bit of age itself.

What about women? Among women ages 70-79, 39% said they’d had sex in the past year, with 6% having intercourse at least twice per month and 5% masturbating two times or more monthly. Above age 80, those numbers were 10%, 4.5%, and 1%, respectively. Driving the fall-off in women were the same factors as for men, plus the sad reality that many heterosexual women become widowed because their older male partners die earlier.

Although erectile problems affect many in long-standing relationships, there is no reason to abstain from sexual pleasure. Many couples will replace intercourse with more cuddling, kissing, digital stimulation, and other forms of sexual pleasure.

What about the expiry date for sex? Beckman’s group interviewed 269 Swedish seniors, all without dementia, at age 97. Sexual desire was affirmed by 27% of men and 5% of women in the survey. Meanwhile, 26% of the men and 15% of the women said they missed sexual activity.

When caring for those with chronic diseases, or cancer, in the course of physical rehabilitation, and even in the last phase of life, the clinical experience indicates that patients are happy when physicians address sexuality and intimacy. Roughly 25% of patients are sufficiently helped simply by talking about sex. Addressing the importance of sexual pleasure is nearly always valuable.

If addressing sexuality has benefits, what about sex itself? We are gradually learning more about the many short-, intermediate-, and long-term health benefits of solo and joint sexual activity. Short-term benefits include muscle relaxation, pain relief (even, perhaps ironically, for headaches), and better sleep — all pretty valuable for older adults. Examples of intermediate-term benefits include stress relief and less depression.

Research from the United States has found that hugging can reduce the concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines, and kissing positively influences cholesterol levels. Finally, while the long-term benefits of sex might be less relevant for seniors, they do exist. Among them are delayed onset of dementia and a substantial reduction in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular problems in men. More sex has been linked to longevity, with men benefitting a bit more than women from going through the entire process, including an orgasm, whereas women appear to gain from having a “satisfying” sex life, which does not always require an orgasm.

MHO, any book dealing with romance or sex will greatly benefit you. Voila!!!

Amazon

Celebrate the Big 30 with Romance!

Once again, the amazing writers of The Authors’ Billboard have come together to bring you a box set filled with amazing stories of Unforgettable Love: Unforgettable Wonder. The 30th in the Unforgettable Romance Series box set collection will give you tingles and set your heart atwitter.
Join these talented and award-winning ladies on incredible and diverse journeys, where lovers find each other for the first time – sometimes under difficult or seemingly impossible conditions – or are reunited by fate after being torn apart by situations or deceptions.

No matter what life throws at them, these strong men and women will discover that Love will prevail.

Mona Risk – Secret Kisses: Will the three friends manage to convince their families to let them marry for love or will tradition tear the lovers apart?

Rebecca York – Nightfall: Will the mail-order bride be able to introduce her virgin husband to the pleasures of married love, while hiding her secret, all while living on a nearly lawless planet where savage wildlife roams?

Susan Jean Ricci – Sharing Sea Glass: A summer adventure nearly turns tragic when a young woman almost drowns. Her gratitude morphs into something else entirely different when she gets to know her handsome savior.

Stacy Eaton – Sometimes You Win: Can Haley be lucky enough to win the lottery and Devon’s heart too?

Josie Riviera – 1-800-IRELAND: A strong minded Irishwoman pursuing her dream. A disillusioned businessman ready to retire. Can two determined people separated by years find true love at the end of a rainbow?

Susanne Matthews: Beneath the Ashes: Can the archeologist’s fantasies really be memories of a past life in Pompeii? And if she gives in to them, what will happen to the future she has planned?

Rachelle Ayala – Longer Than: Storytelling and horses foil Desiree’s father’s plan to marry her off to Kyle’s cousin, the town’s most eligible bachelor. Desiree wants to please her father, but when Kyle weaves his magic with her as his muse, she’s drawn into a romance haunted by his dark tales.

Taylor Lee – All Gia’s Men: Fiercely independent, accustomed to controlling and managing every element of their lives, will this go-it-alone couple embrace or reject the joys of parenthood?

Mimi Barbour – My Cheeky Angel: In one sweet night of loving, everything changes friends. Due to an overabundance of nightcaps, his lady ‘buddy’ doesn’t remember the night he can’t forget!

Are We Living in the Wall-E World? AI, Robots, Social Media, and a Sedentary Lifestyle by Rachelle Ayala #mgtab @mimisgang1

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Who remembers Wall-E? That adorable and curious little robot who couldn’t resist collecting interesting trinkets he found among the heaps of trash. With his big expressive eyes and his cockroach buddy, Wall-E swoons over the love scenes in Hello Dolly and yearns for someone to love. One day, Wall-E meets Eve, an advanced robot sent from the spaceship Axiom to search for signs of life on Earth, which has turned into a garbage planet.

Today, in 2023, when I look around, I realize we’re on the brink of a Wall-E world. While I hope we don’t ruin our environment, we’re definitely looking and acting like the citizens aboard the Spaceship Axiom. For one thing, we’re glued to social media, instant messaging, and video chatting. I see high school and college students standing around looking at their cell phones instead of talking to the people next to them. Everyone walks around in their own little “screen bubble” instead of making eye contact with the folks nearby. This behavior was puzzling to Wall-E in the scene where two guys were video chatting about playing golf and just happened to be floating in their hoverchairs right next to each other without seeing each other face-to-face.

Not only are people glued to social media, but they are not aware of their surroundings, preferring the “virtual” world rather than the physical one. In one scene, Wall-E knocks the screen from a female passenger and she’s surprised to see that they have a pool. We’re headed into that space with virtual reality games where people play in a metaverse, build virtual assets, build virtual towns, and make virtual friends.

However, the biggest gamechanger in 2023 is the explosion in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. We already have robot waiters who deliver food to the table and kiosks where you can order food and get it from a locker. Whatever tiny bit of human interaction is going the way of the dinosaur as robots will quickly take care of our physical AND social needs. People would rather chat with ChatGPT who is always affirming and encouraging. What’s more, with AI generating avatars for video conferencing and social interactions, we could soon be engaging with completely fabricated faces and voices. As we saw in Wall-E, the captain of the Axiom found himself at the mercy of an AI system that dictated his actions.

Finally, we have to be mindful of our sedentary lifestyle and dependence on processed food. We’ve been controlled by the Big Food Industry just like the people on the Axiom. The result is metabolic dysfunction and a whole host of preventable diseases and chronic conditions. Today, 88% of people in the United States have insulin resistance and we are paying for the consequences of our unhealthy lifestyle with skyrocketing medical bills. One can easily see how far we have become a Wall-E world by contrasting “man on the street” or “people on the beach” photographs taken in the 1950s with that of the general population surrounding us.

There’s no need to panic, but being aware of these issues and making small changes can have a big impact. Each of us can do our part to create a healthier, more connected world.

Start by reaching out to a friend for an in-person catch-up, or make it a point to take a walk in the park without your phone. These little moments of genuine connection and fresh air can make a huge difference.

Taking control of our health is also essential. We can do this by focusing on reducing insulin resistance through healthier food choices and regular physical activity. Remember, every small step counts towards a better, healthier life. [Read Dr. Benjamin Bikman’s book, Why We Get Sick].

And don’t forget about the simple joys of reading a paper book. Not only is it a great way to unwind, but it also helps you avoid the blue light from screens that can disrupt your sleep.

Be sure to watch the romance between Wall-E and EVE when they dance outside the spaceship Axiom and inspire the folks inside to yearn and hope for a better (and more physical) future. Wall-E (2008)

While you’re decompressing from the Wall-E world, be sure to check out my free ebooks and audiobooks. https://rachelleayala.net/free-books/

Wall-E (2008), an animated film from Pixar.