Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmas in the Caribbean

by Rebecca Royce

Happy Holidays everyone!! Whatever version of the holidays you celebrate, I hope you are enjoying yourself and that you are having a wonderful time.

As a child, we went away every year to the Caribbean. (I know, I was deeply spoiled and didn’t appreciate it at the time. Can I go now, Mom? Can I? Can I?)

Eventually, we started to go away to the same place year after year and it became comfortable to us. To this day, I think of that beach on St. Croix in the USVI as my happy place. The resort was called The Buccaneer.  (Or “The Buck” as my father would refer to it.  We’re going to “The Buck” kids.)


There wasn’t a lot to do there.  Mostly, we read, took walks, and once we were old enough (18 in the Caribbean) we drank tropical drinks. It was the time of year when my brother and I would actually get along.  Gosh, even thinking about it now as I write this, I miss being there so much! The last time I went was in 2007.  We brought my son. It was the last time the whole family could get together and go away at the end of the year. I have great pictures of my oldest son (then 16 months, now 6 years old.) All in all, it was a great experience.

In I’ll Be Mated For Christmas, the character of Bethy does not have happy memories. Her Holiday traditions keep her unhappy and, in some ways, unwell.  But Luke, who is the Alpha of a Werewolf pack, is about to come along to change that.  With some help from Madame Evangeline and her dating services!

**Comment and let me know your favorite holiday memory and 
I will enter you to win a $10 Gift Card to Amazon.com from me**



Happy and Healthy Holidays Everyone!

With Joy!
Rebecca Royce

20 comments:

  1. Sounds a great place to spend Christmas! Obviously made a big impression on you. Favourite Christmas memory - the first time both kids were old enough to really understand what was happening - and the look on their faces as they followed a trail of chocolate coins down to the room with the presents - followed by squeals of delight.The magic is still there, of course, but that first time....ahhhhh

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  2. Nice! My favorite Christmas memory was the year my mom scraped together money for a plane ticket to Italy to go visit my then boyfriend, now my husband of 15 years. We were pretty poor growing up, so it was a huge deal. Great post! laurakayeauthor @ gmail.com

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  3. I spent many Christmases in Florida as a child. My parents wanted to escape the cold winters of Wisconsin and the best time to do that was during the school break and the end of the year. We drove down in our RV and it typically took us 2 1/2 days to get there but it was better than being in the snow. To this day, I really dislike the snow. I guess that is why I live in California now! Wow! I really miss those year...and haven't been back to Florida in almost 10 years. I think I need to plan another trip!

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  4. It's hard to decide, but I think my favorite Christmases where when we would travel to my grandparents's and all the aunts, uncles, and cousins would get together. The laughter, food, and presents were awesome. I hope to pass this on to my daughter.
    koonie2888 at yahoo dot com

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  5. Oh, I'm going to have to go with meeting a handsome naked man on a tropical beach some 20 years ago. (And he still looks great!)

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  6. Love the Caribbean, Rebecca, and any time family can get together and do nothing but hang out sounds perfect to me. Hope you get to go again soon. My favorite Christmas always included hanging with family. My grandparents are all gone now and most of the cousins have families of their own, so the extended family does not get together for the holidays anymore. I really miss the days when Grandma's house would rock with laughter.

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  7. Christmas of 2010 was my favorite. My father had been ill during the spring and summer and we just didn't know what the outcome was going to be. We were bless and he covered to spend another holiday with us.

    Thanks,
    Tracey D
    booklover0226 at gmail dot com

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  8. I can't think of a favorite holiday memory, as they're all great. One of the more memorable Christmas's involved my dad coming to pick me up from my grandmother's. I was quite young, maybe five. And there was a huge snowstorm. He started driving, but my dad and I had to take the train the rest of the way home, otherwise we would not have made it home for Christmas.

    All the best to you, Rebecca!

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  9. My most memorable Christmas memory was when my brother & me received bikes. through a comedy series of events after sneaking out to fill the tires with air. We snuck back to bed, and went back to sleep. We are awakened a short time later by huge bang, and the whole house scamper downstairs to the living room to the Christmas tree. We discover the tree on its side on the floor with the 2 bikes alongside the tree. Lastly, our cat is sitting on top of the mantle above the fireplace meowing loudly. We soon discover that the tire on my new bike has exploded due to the fact that my brother put too much air into the tire....*S*
    Busted! Good thing that our parents didn't get angry but laughed at the situation....*S*
    Thank you for this event as for the blog tour!

    Darcy
    pommawolf @hotmail.com

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  10. My favorite Christmas memory was that my grandfather always did the tags that went with the presents. Each tag had a riddle that you had to figure out before you could open your gift. For the longest time, I kept those tags because they were memories of happy times.

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  11. My favorite Christmas memory was each year at my grandparents on Christmas Eve, when my grandfather would read the story of the first Christmas aloud from his Bible. Everyone there (all 11 of their children, their spouses, all the grandkids, great grandkids, a few extra friends & family) would all gather around, sitting quietly, & listening. I really miss this since he passed away. I do have some DVDs of various years, but it is not the same.
    manning_j2004 at yahoo dot com

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  12. My favorite holiday memory as a child was receiving a life-size stuffed pony under the Christmas tree. It was identical to my real pony. I was one thrilled little girl.

    geishasmom73 AT yahoo DOT com

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  13. I remember Christmas Eve's the most vividly. We always has chicken soup and chili and cocoa, all while playing board games and card games. I didn't care about opening presents since I was enjoying all the family fun we were having.

    I wish we still did this part of the holiday, but everybody is too busy to get together more than once.

    Thanks for the giveaway!

    joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com

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  14. One of my favorite holiday memories was the year that my Mom and Dad surprised my sister's and I with a week cruise to the Caribbean. I know I didn't appreciate then as I would now, but it really was a fabulous family vacation.

    caity_mack at yahoo dot com

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  15. My favorite childhood memory was getting the doll I wanted.My parents made the mistake of giving it to me first to open. I didn't want to open any other gifts. My sister took the doll and told me to hurry up and open my other gifts,then she'd give it back.I had that doll for years.
    elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net

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  16. I used to think my favorite memories were from when I was a kid, but now that I have my own, Christmas with them are my favorite.

    elena(at)elenagray.com

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  17. I have so many favorite holiday memories. One was when my parents surprised my sister and me with a huge barbie dream house. We played with it for days! We weren't even interested in the other presents. lol Thank you for sharing! Happy holidays!
    shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com

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  18. Hello! I'm going to add your book to my TBR list, I just love the 1NS series! I'm seriously missing the beach right now, our tradition is to take our son to Disney for the holidays, he's my only child. The past two years we went on Disney cruises, they are so magical and fun, but still, Christmas on the beach cannot compare to the snowy weather and chilled air we have in the midwest. I hope our son remembers our trips as fondly as you do. Best of luck with sales. Leta Gail www.theliteraryblonde.com

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  19. My favorite memory (at the moment) was the time we were at church and the priest tried to bless my son. The guy started moving his hand in the sign of the cross, and my little guy gets into Power Ranger stance and tries to karate chop him.

    We have ... a few interesting church stories LOL

    (And yes, I'm totally jealous of your holiday vacays as a kid :P)

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  20. My favorite holiday memory is 15 adults & 17 kids crowded into my grandparents house on Christmas Eve. I love that so many of my cousins grew up locally, so we got to see each other for all the special occasions. My brothers & sister ended up spread all across the country, so their kids don't have that close cousin relationship I had.

    drainbamaged.gyzmo at gmail.com

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