Book of the Week: Royal Love by Josie Naclerio

If you enjoy police thrillers with romance, "Royal Love" by my friend Josie Naclerio is a fantastic story. That's today's book of the week.

We've been good friends for many years and have always helped each other out with our books. She has several series of books, one being about the Carabineri (Italian police) called "The Italy Protectors" series (and they all have HOT covers). - It does help to read them in order because she introduces the characters in later books. 

Another called the "Hockey series" and another about the Canadian Mounties.  (You can read summaries of 2 of the series below)

Josie has a unique style of writing, where she tries to "put you in the moment." She's also one of the most amazing storytellers. She creates her characters and gives them backstories, family ties, friends that become the key character in their own books in each series, and takes you to locations around the world (although the Italy series mostly happens in Italy, there are adventures that take you elsewhere). 

When I was reading it I was anxious to get to the end to find out how it was resolved with the criminal characters. I didn't expect some of the big things that happened to Nico, the main character who is a Carabineri (Italian police) officer, and it will surprise you, too.  

The romance aspect of it was also intriguing, bringing a love interest who was royalty. In the beginning, you would never expect things to come together. Josie weaves an interesting story with a lot of great charcters and a LOT of police action. Because I'm a gay guy,  I can only say about the romance parts they are steamy, although I wish it were about two guys. :)  Seriously, though, this is a GREAT read!  

ABOUT ITALY'S PROTECTOR SERIES - The Italy's Protector's Series, formerly The Carabinieri Series, by Josie Naclerio are set in stunning Italian locations, from Pompeii, Florence, Rome, Naples, and other areas. The series follows the lives of Italian Carabinieri, and other Italian polizia dedicated to protecting their country, cities, towns, and balancing the search for love.

From ancient ruins, past ghosts, family secrets, fighting crime, and escaping destiny and the ever present evil and its intent on wreaking havoc in their lives and those they love.

ABOUT THE HOCKEY SERIES - The hockey series follows the players of the Boston hockey team and their search for romance while striving to win hockey's ultimate prize. Past ghosts spring up in their attempts to foil each's pursuit of love and winning The Cup.

Why Living in New England is Awesome: The City of Boston handed residents $2.2M to decide funding. Here’s what they picked.

It's so great to live in New England, a part of the country where intelligent people who care about others use resources to help those less fortunate and give them a chance to be successful and comfortable in life. One example just happened in Boston when residents got to decide which programs would get some of $2.2 million. Today's blog is about what they picked.  (there's also a separate program called "Boston Cares" - featured at the end of the blog).

(Image: from the Boston Office of Housing. 2025 Statistics. Tthe Mayor's Office of Housing is reflecting on the progress that our divisions and partners have made across Boston in 2025 to expand housing access, strengthen stability, and invest in our neighborhoods. )

The City of Boston handed residents $2.2M to decide funding. Here’s what they picked.

The winning ideas include funding for immigrants’ legal defense, programs to expand access to healthy food, and initiatives supporting housing stability, workforce training, and youth financial literacy. 

 By Samantha Genzer, Boston Globe, February 27, 2026

Boston residents decided how $2.2 million in city funding is spent this year, selecting projects that support immigrant legal defense, expand access to fresh food, and strengthen housing and workforce programs across the city.

Mayor Michelle Wu and the Office of Participatory Budgeting (OPB) announced last week the eight winning projects of the second cycle of Boston’s Participatory Budgeting Initiative, “Ideas in Action.” Collectively, these proposals will receive $2.2 million in this year’s budget.

From Jan. 15 to Feb. 15, more than 4,800 Boston residents voted online and in person to determine which projects would move forward, according to the city.

“We are grateful to every resident who participated and look forward to implementing these investments across our neighborhoods,” Wu said.

The participatory budgeting process starts with residents submitting ideas for how the city should allocate funds. Community members then collaborate with city staff to refine proposals before a public vote. The projects selected by residents will begin receiving funding this spring. 

“Participatory budgeting continues to demonstrate what is possible when residents have a direct voice in shaping Boston’s future,” Wu said. Each of the eight winning proposals will receive dedicated funding, with the relevant city departments overseeing implementation. OPB will coordinate with lead departments on next steps later this year, according to the city. “We look forward to advancing implementation to ensure these investments are delivered effectively and translate into measurable progress across the city,” OPB Director Renato Castelo said.

Here are the winning proposals.

1) Immigrant Legal Defense Fund 

Department: Office of Immigration Advancement Budget: $400,000

The proposal will fund immigration legal services, including consultations, application assistance, and legal representation for immigrants facing detention or deportation. The measure comes amid increased immigration enforcement activity in New England. During “Patriot 2.0,” a month-long operation in September 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than 1,400 people, according to ICE.

(A box of zucchini stored in the new cooler at the Greater Boston Food Bank's Yawkey Distribution Center in South Boston, July 14, 2025.(Will Katcher/MassLive)

2) Neighborhood Fresh Food Access Initiative 

Department: Office of Food Justice Budget: $500,000

This initiative will provide grants to local organizations working to increase access to healthy foods in neighborhoods with higher rates of food insecurity. Funds may support food pantries, pop-up markets, farmers markets, food vouchers, and refrigerated food distribution, according to the proposal. Similar efforts have taken shape in other Massachusetts municipalities. Last month, Cambridge endorsed the Plant Based Treaty, a global initiative aimed at promoting plant-based diets and more sustainable food systems.

3) Bridging the Gap: Assistance for Housing Stability 

Department: Supportive Housing Division, Office of Housing Budget: $200,000

Through grants to nonprofit organizations, the program will offer one-time financial assistance for housing-related costs, including storage fees, arrears, moving costs, start-up expenses, and basic furniture. “We are very grateful not only to Mayor Wu for her leadership in creating the opportunity for residents to engage in the Participatory Budgeting Process, but to our neighbors, Boston’s residents, who have awarded the Mayor’s Office of Housing $200,000 for our proposal,” Sheila Dillon, chief of housing and director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing, said. The funding pool is intended to help low-income families, people with disabilities, and those with intersecting marginalized identities secure or maintain stable housing.

4) Immigrant Career Pathways: Bridging Language and Employment 

Department: Arts and Culture Cabinet, with support from Office for Immigrant Advancement Budget: $300,000

According to a 2025 report from the Boston Planning Department, roughly 47% of Boston residents who are part of the city’s language access population are not U.S. citizens. The report also found that about 53% of residents with limited English proficiency speak English “not well” or “not at all.” The Immigrant Career Pathways proposal combines English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes with skills training in fields such as child care, construction, and small business development. The goal is to address language barriers while connecting immigrant residents to workforce opportunities, according to the proposal.

5) Green My Block 

Department: Office of Green Infrastructure Budget: $100,000

Green My Block will fund community-led greening projects on city-owned land, including spaces along roadways and sidewalks. Residents, schools, and community groups will receive resources and contracting support to maintain native plantings and improve neighborhood green space. “We are often approached by neighborhood groups and residents who have a vision for underused city-owned spaces along roadways and sidewalks,” OGI Special Projects Manager Ronak Sathyanarayana said. Sathyanarayana said there are dozens of sites across Boston that they have identified as potential spaces for community-led greening initiatives. The project will also launch a webpage for residents to view potential sites on a map, she said.

“We hope Green My Block will empower neighbors to meet each other and work together to beautify the streets and sidewalks we all share, fostering a sense of shared stewardship,” Sathyanarayana added.

(Photo: The curb cut-outs in this Boston bioswale allow water to flow in. The native plants absorb the water, diverting it from the sewer system. (City of Boston Office of Green Infrastructure)

6) Workforce Training Programs Focused on Trades 

Department: Office of Workforce Development Budget: $300,000

This initiative will expand access to vocational training in trades such as HVAC, automotive repair, computer skills, and culinary arts. The program aims to create pathways to higher-paying jobs while helping meet the city’s demand for skilled workers, according to the proposal. “At a time when federal investments in job training are flat or declining, we need to keep moving forward to meet the needs of residents and employers at a local level,” the Worker Empowerment Cabinet shared in a statement. “These funds will allow us to provide critical training opportunities and meet the need for skilled workers in growing industries.”

7) Youth Financial Literacy and Empowerment Workshops

Department: Center for Working Families Budget: $250,000

The workshops, designed for young people aged 14 to 24, will be offered at youth job sites, local events, and colleges. Topics include banking, credit, investing, budgeting, and career readiness. Massachusetts has not required any formal financial education for students, according to the Worker Empowerment Cabinet. Therefore, many use social media or other free resources to expand their knowledge, which can contain misinformation or lead to predatory financial practices, the cabinet said. “Youth in Boston deserve the opportunity to know how to manage their hard-earned wages and build a financially stable future for themselves and their families,” the cabinet said.

8) Small Business Development Resource Program 

Department: Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion Budget: $150,000

The program will provide technical assistance and other support to small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. According to the proposal, it will prioritize individuals who have not previously accessed city resources, with the goal of strengthening long-term financial stability and growth.

******************************* 

ABOUT THE BOSTON CARES PROGRAM

Boston fosters a deeply connected community focused on neighborly support, utilizing extensive volunteer networks like Boston Cares (New England's largest) and government-backed initiatives to address food insecurity, homelessness, and education. Key opportunities include hunger relief, youth mentoring, and elder companionship 

WEBSITE: https://www.bostoncares.org/ 

SCIENCE: Needle-free insulin? Scientists invent gel that delivers insulin through the skin in animal studies

A new polymer gel can deliver insulin through intact skin in animal tests. The hope is that it could someday offer a path toward needle-free diabetes treatment. 

Needle-free insulin? Scientists invent gel that delivers insulin through the skin in animal studies 

LIVE SCIENCE By Sayan Tribedi Feb 11, 2026

For many people with diabetes, managing their blood sugar levels requires daily insulin shots — but now, scientists have invented a new polymer-based gel that can deliver insulin through the skin without needles.

The gel, described in a November study in the journal Nature, normalized the blood sugar levels of diabetic mice and pigs within one to two hours of application. The animals' blood sugar then stayed in a normal range for approximately 12 hours.

The gel's speed and long-term effects are comparable to that of "basal" insulin shots, which deliver a steady dose that stabilizes blood sugar between meals and overnight. These are typically used together with fast-acting insulin that's used just before, during or after meals to control big spikes in blood sugar triggered by food.

The gel is "mechanistically elegant," said Suchetan Pal, an associate professor and head of the Biomaterials Laboratory at the Indian Institute of Technology Bhilai, who was not involved in the research.

 However, for now, it is still strictly experimental. To date, the gel has been tested only on mice and pigs and not on people, Pal told Live Science in an email. Human skin — which is variable in its thickness, fat content and pH — may behave differently than animal skin.

How the gel slips past the skin's defenses 

Human skin's outer layer, the stratum corneum, is only about 10 to 15 micrometers thick, thinner than a human hair. But the dead cells and fats that make up the layer form a shield that's tough to penetrate. While some small molecules can cross this barrier, larger proteins, like insulin, normally cannot.

 The team behind the study overcame this challenge by engineering a pH-responsive polymer, which they call OP.  At a pH of around 5, the skin's surface is acidic, while deeper layers of the skin are closer to a neutral pH of 7. At the skin's surface, the OP polymer becomes positively charged. This positive charge helps it stick to the fatty acids within the skin, much like opposite ends of a magnet attract each other.

As the pH gradually increases in deeper layers, the OP polymer changes to a neutral state that enables it to diffuse through fats in the skin. Insulin, which is chemically linked to the polymer, is thereby carried through skin layers that it wouldn't normally be able to penetrate on its own.

 Lab tests with mouse and pig skin confirmed that OP penetrates all layers of the skin, whereas insulin alone remains stuck on the surface. The researchers then tested whether applying the OP-insulin gel to animals' skin could lower their blood sugar.

In a mouse model of diabetes, applying the gel once lowered their blood glucose to a normal range in about an hour and maintained it within that range for roughly 12 hours. However, Pal noted that this effect required a very high OP-insulin dose of 116 units per kilogram of body weight (U/kg) — far beyond a typical human dose of insulin. ​​This could raise a concern that the insulin delivery through the skin might not be efficient enough.

But notably, the researchers were able to use a lower dose in diabetic miniature pigs, whose skin closely resembles that of humans. Using a single dose around 7.25 U/kg, the gel restored the pigs' blood glucose to normal levels. And using the gel repeatedly caused no skin irritation or inflammation, the team found.

More research needed If these animal results translate to people, the needle-free insulin gel could potentially help patients with a fear of or aversion to needles, thus helping improve their treatment adherence and easing the burden of diabetes management.

Not for Emergency Situations

Because the gel's absorption into the bloodstream is slower and steadier than that of an injection, it cannot quickly reverse high blood sugar in an emergency, Pal noted.

However, experts cautioned that hurdles remain before the gel could be approved for human use. "The polymer hasn't shown any side effects in mice or pigs," said lead study author Youqing Shen, a professor in the School of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Zhejiang University in China, told Live Science in an email. "But humans have used insulin for decades, so we need to investigate long-term toxicity."

Shen also said the insulin dose delivered through the gel must be carefully controlled, since too much can result in dangerously low blood sugar. In sum, developers would need extensive preclinical safety studies, an Investigational New Drug (IND) filing with the Food and Drug Administration, and human clinical trials before a skin-based insulin therapy could reach patients.

While the pig experiments offered a better model of human skin than the mice did, Pal also cautioned that the lower dose of insulin had lower efficacy. This underscores the amount of development still needed to achieve effective insulin delivery at safe and clinically relevant human doses.​​ The long-term safety of using the gel repeatedly is also unknown.

Looking forward, the team will need to figure out the optimal formulation and dosing for the gel; devise a way to scale up its manufacturing; and run clinical trials, Pal said. Nonetheless, he finds the idea exciting and believes it could create an avenue for needle-free diabetes care.

Tyrannosaurus Rex, king of dinosaurs, may have had New Mexican cousin

New findings suggest there were Tyrannosaurs' much larger than previously known, roaming New Mexico 74 million years ago! Today's blog is about that research. 

(Photo: Anthony Fiorillo, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science executive director, speaks Thursday in a collection hall about the shape of a tibia bone found in San Juan County that may be a close ancestor of T. rex. Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican) 

T. rex, king of dinosaurs, may have had New Mexican cousin

Santa Fe New Mexican, By Alaina Mencinger amencinger@sfnewmexican.com

ALBUQUERQUE — We know Tyrannosaurus rex, history’s most infamous carnivore, only ate meat. But did the top predator’s cousin prefer it with red, green or Christmas?

New analysis of a leg bone discovered in San Juan County found what may be a close ancestor of T. rex. The analysis raises new questions about the origin of the species — and indicates there were tyrannosaurs much larger than previously known roaming New Mexico 74 million years ago.

The findings, co-authored by two researchers at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, were recently published in Scientific Reports.

“It informs us about the ancient biodiversity of New Mexico, and that’s a big thing,” said museum executive director and paper co-author Anthony Fiorillo. “We now know more about the history of life in this state.”

T. rex is typically hypothesized to have evolved in Asia or North America. But the analysis of the New Mexico fossil might indicate the species originated in North America, as it’s not the only example of an early, large tyrannosaur in the American Southwest.

That raises questions about what in the environment at the time might have led to the larger body sizes, Fiorillo said.

“These really big tyrannosaurs may have originated in the southwestern part of the U.S., possibly Mexico,” Fiorillo said. “The follow-up question to that has to be: Why?”

The almost-complete tibia, found in the Bisti De-Na-Zin Wilderness, has an unusual shape and size for its age, estimated at 74 million years old. That’s between 6 million and 8 million years before T. rex roamed the Earth.

While most of the dinosaur’s contemporaries, and T. rex’s predecessors, would have weighed between 2 tons and 3 tons, this one is estimated to have weighed double that. T. rex, the largest of the tyrannosaurs, weighed in at around 10 tons; many animals evolve larger over time.

“Now we know there were tyrannosaurs this big living at 74 million years ago,” said Spencer Lucas, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science curator and fellow co-author.

Lucas was part of a paleontological survey in the late 1970s that uncovered the leg bone.

It didn’t seem to be anything special at the time — Lucas, who was a University of New Mexico student when the bone was discovered, said he didn’t even recall finding it. The bone went into the university’s collection, then was moved to the museum’s a few years later.

(PHOTO: 031226_DinoTibia04rgb.jpg Spencer Lucas, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science curator and part of a paleontological survey in the late 1970s that uncovered a dinosaur leg bone, walks through the collection hall Thursday toward a tibia that may belong a close ancestor of the T. rex. Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican)

But with a few decades more knowledge on tyrannosaurs and a pair of fresh eyes — in this case, Nick Longrich, lead author and senior lecturer at the University of Bath, England — researchers found this tibia was unusually large for the era and had a shape more like T. Rex than other tyrannosaurs.

Fiorillo pointed to a triangular shape near what would be the animal’s ankle and the straightness of the bone shaft, both of which are more characteristic of T. rex than its ancestors.

“Those are features that these highly derived tyrannosaurs, like tyrannosaurus and tarbosaurus, have,” Fiorillo said. “When we get into some of the more primitive kinds of tyrannosaurs, [the shaft] has a bow to it, and this shape is different.”

There are still questions about the bone. It’s unknown if the tyrannosaur was male or female, full-grown or juvenile. Lucas sees the need for additional fieldwork to uncover more samples. The badlands are constantly eroding, Lucas said, exposing new fossils.

“This bone has been here for about 40 years,” he said. “I want to believe it’ll be here 40 years from now. There may be a totally different understanding by then.”

Welcome Jimmy and Joey to our family!!

After the devastating losses of all three of our canine kids, we connected with a rescue to adopt a bonded pair of Dachshund/Chihuahua mixes. On Saturday, March 28th, it was the "Gotcha Day" of little Jimmy and Joey.  **They have a back story, which I will share in another blog, but this blog shares the amazing story of how there is no such thing as a coincidence when it comes to someone on the other side (like Cody, Dash and Tyler) orchestrating it. 

(Joey is the darker colored one that looks more like a Dachshund, and Jimmy is the lighter colored one who looks more like a Chihuahua. These brothers love to nap together in the same rounded bed. Credit R.G.) 

ABOUT JIMMY AND JOEY - They were born on January 1, 2022 and they are actual brothers from the same litter. They're mix of Dachshund and Chihuahua. Joey is the darker colored one that looks more like a Dachshund, and Jimmy is the lighter colored one who looks more like a Chihuahua.  Joey is 7 pounds, and Jimmy is only 5 pounds. 

HOW WE KNEW IT WAS MEANT TO BE  

As a pet medium, I always say there’s no such thing as a coincidence when it comes to spirit, and in this chapter you’ll read about how spirits helped lead us to a rescue with so many crazy connections that it became apparent we were being guided.

After picking up Cody’s ashes and spending two days in the house without a living dog, we knew we needed to adopt and save a dog or two from a rescue.

(Joey (Left) and Jimmy (right) comfy on Daddy Tom's lap)

Looking at Rescues - Both Tom and I decided we would look at dog rescues to see if there were any bonded pairs we could adopt. But before we did, I checked my paranormal Facebook page messages.

Message from a Stranger -  There was a message from a woman named Susan who had read on my social media pages that Tyler, Dash and Cody have all passed. She wondered if we were looking to adopt, and she sent me a link to a dachshund mix named Slim from “Lovable Paws Rescue” in South Carolina. She even offered to get him from the rescue and work to obtain transportation. What an amazing person.

I wrote her back and told her I sent a note to the rescue and that we found two bonded dogs that we would like to adopt once we know a little more about them. Bonded pairs are harder to adopt because usually people only want to adopt one dog at a time. Hours later we met our friend for lunch. That's when it really got weird! 

After we looked through the Lovable Paws website and found the two Dachshund/Chihuahua mixes that we were interested in, we had a pre-arranged lunch with Jeff.

Meeting Our Friend Jeff - Jeff has been one of our best friends for over a quarter century (and best man at our wedding) and an uncle to all of our dogs. Jeff has always watched our dogs in Maryland for 20 plus years and now in Maine (he also moved here for family reasons) whenever we’re away and as uncles to his dog Myrtle, a Dachshund/Chihuahua mix, she stayed with us many times.

(Photo: Jimmy (left) and Joey (right) go into the same bed by themselves and curl up against each other)

Things Line Up -During lunch, we told Jeff about the two dogs and that the rescue is located in South Carolina. When we showed him the rescue website, he said “That’s my old high school friend, Steve’s rescue!”

In fact, he said just before he arrived at the restaurant, Steve had texted Jeff to say hello (as they have remained in contact, although 1,000 miles away). 

 At lunch, Jeff texted Steve and told him who we are, and her reminded us that we actually met him briefly 18 or so years before when we visited Savannah, Georgia, although none of us remembered what the other looks like. It was before he started the rescue.

Steve called and Jeff, Tom and I sat and talked about the two dogs, our three dogs who passed within 7 months, our volunteering as dog rescuers over the previous 20 years, and more.

Steve said he would send videos of the two dogs, and within an hour he did. His rescue had 156 dogs at the time we connected with him!

(Photos: Joey and Jimmy as they appeared on the Lovable Paws rescue website on March 8, 2026. Credit: Lovable Paws Rescue)

An Amazing Transport Connection - If we got approved to adopt both 4-year-old Dachshund/Chihuahua mixes, we were ready to fly down to South Carolina, rent a car and drive the dogs back to New England. Something else worked out in our favor, so we took this as a sign.

Steve informed us that having grown up in Maine, he opened a second rescue in Waterville, Maine and contracts with someone weekly to transport dogs between the South Carolina and Maine rescues. What are the chances of that? 1 in a trillion. 

Within the course of a week, our adoption application had been approved and we awaited the next step. On Saturday, March 28th at 4:15 p.m. we met the van transporting them (and quite a few other dogs) and we drove them home.

First Two Days - We don't know if they're totally house trained yet, but there have been no accidents and we take them out every couple of hours. They curl up in a bed together often.  They wag their tails a lot, and love backyard forest walks. In fact, just taking them out back on a leash they pull to walk the forest trails that we made. **They get along with other dogs, as our friend Jeff's dog, Myrtle has been visiting while Jeff is away. Neighbors visited with their 2 year old girl and the kissed the girl and were so well behaved. So, we know that Tyler, Dash and Cody led us to them.