The internet has made a lot of things easier in our lives, and sometimes I wonder how people met each other before the era of dating websites. Have you ever noticed that the popularity of different dating sites seems to change over time? In order to improve your chances of meeting people, it can help to try new and different sites.
One of the latest sites I've heard about is https://speeddatingcupid.com/. This site is described as a place for speed dating, where it only takes a minute to register and start connecting with potential dates.
New people across the US are joining the site and uploading their profiles daily. The site has several features to allow you to meet people in a low-key way. For example, you can easily set up friend lists, and you can send messages or winks to other people on the site. It's free to sign up and get started using the site. There is also a premium level available for those who want to try more features.
Some other cool things about the site are that it has a blog where you can find articles about love and dating related topics, and the site runs contests where you can win prizes like a free premium subscription.
With a free site like this, what can you lose? Check it out and let me know what you think by sharing your experience in the comments below.
Author Jade Whitfield is a 22-year-old mother of one. She has a love for all things romance and believes that everybody should aspire to find their "Forever Love."
I was in the process of writing a completely different novel at the time which is actually still in my files. As soon as the idea for Liv and Noah popped into my head, I just had to write them. I wanted to write a book that, although it contained heavy drama, was basically very uplifting.
2. Have you always been a fan of romance novels as a reader?
Yes, though my penchant was fantasy, I am now obsessed with romance. I love reading about the journey of soulmates--it's very inspiring.
3. What did you find most challenging--and what did you find most fun--about writing your first romance novel?
There are certain parts that were quite heavy and difficult to write in the way that gave them the respect they were due given the subject matter. On the other hand, there are definitely comedic elements that were really fun to write.
4. How would you describe the relationship that develops between Liv and Noah in your novel?
It's very sweet. Even though they are stepbrother and sister, the book doesn't focus on that as much. It's more about two people who are absolutely meant to be together, overcoming all obstacles.
5. Now that Forever Love is finished, what project(s) are you currently working on?
I'm working on my next book which is romance but quite different than Forever Love. It will be announced after the release of Forever Love, and there will be a snippet at the end of Forever Love, too.
Truth Devour writes: "It is hard to determine precisely what my passions are, given the world presents with so many opportunities. The spaces I like to dabble: writing, reading, traveling, photography, painting, drawing, poetry, music--basically anything that gets my creative juices flowing and supports the mood I am feeling compelled to express. I embrace as many creative variants as time allows to willfully drink from the experiences that assist in coloring the pages of the books I choose to write and you choose to read."
Listen to Truth read the first chapter of her novel, Wantin, in the video below. Wantin is the first book in Truth's Enigma series.
1. What first inspired you to start writing your Enigma series?
I had already written eight novels which to date have remained unpublished. In a turn of chance, I was presented with an awakening to the realities of my life's expiration date. It was at this point I decided to re-evaluate my career choices to pursue a path more fulfilling to me. Shifting my career to align with my creative desires was set to present an ultimate impact in all facets of my life. This resulted in me creating the Adult Contemporary Romantic Trilogy I have titled the Enigma series. I felt it was important to create something that was more than just a love story. It is a compelling life story.
2. How would you describe your protagonist, Talia Jacobs?
The self-publishing review group made the statement: Talia is the type of person everyone wishes they knew but very few get to meet.
She is her own person. A clandestine individual who sees the world through her own unique style of assessment and understanding. She internalizes an immense amount and trusts few. Life has consistently reminded her that she is responsible for herself and that she must be accountable and responsible for her choices.
There is a balance of strength and weakness in her that is depicted throughout the series. She admits to her mistakes and attempts to right her wrongs where possible. Talia has a natural ability to evoke strong connections with all who cross her path.
3. What are some of the challenges involved in writing romantic fiction?
To me this series is far more than just romantic fiction, and so I never personally felt there were any challenges. In saying this, I can imagine if I allowed myself to spend time thinking about the concept of romance I might begin to feel that it's all been said and done before, hence stifling my creative flow.
My biggest challenge when in the process of writing is to shield myself from what is out there in the marketplace. I refrain from reading or watching movies to ensure I reduce any outside influence or noise as I see it. Eg: It's hard to write lyrics and music to a song when you are listening to music in the background.
4. Why did you choose to self-publish your books, and what has your publishing experience been like?
I'm not a fan of rules, and when it comes to my creative expression, I really don't want to be told what I can and can't do. It's okay when you are known in the industry and have established followers and a proven demand for your works. I have no doubt those in this position can call the shots, but as a new person in the literary arena, I am less likely to be granted the freedom that self-publishing affords me.
The learning curve for self-publishing and marketing is steep. I really enjoy the challenge of being an advocate for my own work. I'm constantly learning new things about the process.
5. Would you tell us a bit about the project(s) you're currently working on?
I am just in the process of finalizing book one called Illuminarium of the Soliloquy's Labyrinth Series. I am planning to release this at the beginning of May this year. This series will fall under the genre of Adult Contemporary Fantasy / Paranormal with a psychological edge.
NOTE: Truth Devour would like to invite you to participate as a reviewer of her books. Here's some info about her review crew project...
Take the journey with me...
CALL OUT FOR: SUPER REVIEW CREW
Soliloquy's Labyrinth Series
I'd like to put together a team of bookworms who enjoy reading & review contemporary fiction to participate in the assessment of my entire series as it is released. (Est. 5 Series). The Super Review Crew will receive advance notification of upcoming releases which includes things like cover reveals, release dates & a guaranteed spot to be among the first to hold the opportunity to review the E-book for free.
Join the Super Review Crew mailing list to confirm you would like to participate. All readers selected on the team must be able to download the book via AMAZON USA, as this is where the gift card is issued from. This is an E-Book review.
All participants are asked to post a star rating & review to AMAZON & Goodreads at a minimum. If you are able to Blog, post on social media this is treasured and much appreciated but completely up to you.
I'm looking for open & honest reviews so no opinion will be vetted, squashed or edited by me. I want you to place your review directly to the sites you are connected with. I will read them there & always be grateful for your participation.
Spread the word to your friends who might be interested, book clubs ~ all are welcome.
Geraldine Litz is a retired elementary teacher. She is an award winning author and has published historical nonfiction articles in regional and national magazines. She lives in Georgia with her husband and family. She would love to hear from you at GeraldineWLitz@gmail.com. You can also Like her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GeraldineWLitz.
Geraldine is the author of a newly published romance novel, Fire and Ice. The book is available on Amazon in print and digital formats. She provided the following synopsis:
1. What are the particular pleasures and challenges involved in writing a romance novel?
I wanted to write a realistic romance intermingled equally with a mystery. There are explicit sex scenes, but I wanted readers to feel the couple is really in love, and not have the scenes just for the sake of adding sex to the story.
2. How do you find the right balance between romance and mystery/suspense?
Sometimes that can be difficult, and readers complain it goes too much one way or the other, depending on what they particularly like to read. I set up the mystery first and had the lead detective and the woman involved in the mystery to come to terms with a genuine relationship between the two of them. Then I tried to combine the mystery and romance in a way to just make a good story.
3. What inspired the story of Fire and Ice?
My team teacher was from the area in the book and inspired a lot of the story about ranches, the desire for oil and the need for water. Out of that came the conspiracy in the story: two men who used to be friends began to compete... one became rich and the other lost all of his money to the rich one. Now their children have met over a murder and they discover the conspiracy among their families which complicate any relationship between the two.
4. How would you describe your novel's protagonist, Claire Whitaker?
An independent strong woman who has major reasons for avoiding the touch of men and she pulls back so much she appears cold to others but the hero will be able to find the fire hidden in her depths as they solve the mystery. She is the daughter of the rich oilman.
5. You have inspired your young granddaughter to write and publish her work. What advice do you have for families and teachers wanting to encourage their children to write?
Listen to their stories. Children are terribly creative and they have ideas you should foster and work with as you encourage them. I did that with my granddaughter when she came up with a story and now Ashley Litz has published her own book, No, No, Sammy!, on Amazon about her sister and my poodle. I had to find an artist to do the illustrations but we found a very good and reasonable one. Don't give up on children if they like to write and draw. Develop their creative juices!
JB Lynn, author of the best selling Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman series, is a compulsive reader, a runner (the really slow sort), an enthusiastic cook (who doesn't get the appeal of the Food Network), and someone who has an irresistible urge to eavesdrop at all times.
The Neurotic Hitwoman series has it all: murder, romance, suspense, comic relief, and talking animals with attitude. Learn more about the series on JB's website. The books are available for purchase via Amazon, iTunes, and Kobo.
Below is an excerpt from Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman.
*
You just know it’s going to be a bad day when you’re stuck at a red light and Death pulls up behind you in a station wagon.
I'd been using the rearview mirror to touch up my lip gloss when I spotted him. Okay, maybe he wasn't really Death, but dressed in a black raincoat with the hood pulled up covering his face, he sure looked like he could pluck a scythe out of thin air.
It was one of those days when I kept catching the specter of Death everywhere. I'd catch a glimpse of him in the condensation on the bathroom mirror as I stepped out of the shower, or burnt into my morning toast, or in the pile of dog shit I narrowly missed stepping in... or didn't.
Death was idling behind me, and I was kinda freaked out. Which was why, completely forgetting about the damn April showers that had been falling for three days straight, I floored my crappy, beat-up, not-gently-used Honda the second that light turned green.
Hydroplaning, the car spun out into the intersection, with me pumping the brakes while wondering if I should have been steering into the skid or out of it, and berating myself for not having paid more attention during my high school Driver's Ed course.
I knew I was gonna die. I could already hear the angels singing.
Three months before, I'd had the same feeling as another car slid out of control. I hadn't been driving then; my sister's idiot husband had been behind the wheel. I'd been in the backseat, singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to my three-year-old niece Katie, trying to distract her from the argument her parents were having in the front seat. Suddenly the car swerved and squealed, and as we rolled over onto the driver's side, I distinctly remember thinking, Dear God, please don't let us die.
I didn’t think that three months later. In this moment I was resigned to my fate.
But then, miraculously, my little Honda gained traction, and I achieved a semblance of control over the vehicle. I wasn't in the clear, though. Squinting at the rearview mirror, I could see that Death had followed me through the rain-soaked intersection.
And I could still hear the singing of the angels, but it wasn't a heavenly sound.
It was loud. It was annoying.
From the floor of the passenger seat, I snatched up the bag of crickets that I'd bought for Godzilla. They were making an unholy racket. I shook it hard. That shut the little fuckers up.
When I first became responsible for Godzilla's care, I tried giving him freeze-dried crickets. But that damn lizard, he's got a discerning palate and insists on the live version, which is a pain in the ass because I hate bugs. Really hate 'em. Just looking at them gives me that awful creepy-crawly feeling, but I'd pledged to Katie that I'd take good care of the only pet she'd ever been allowed.
There was no way of knowing whether she even knew I'd made her that promise. She'd been in a coma, a "persistent vegetative state," as the doctors liked to call it, ever since the car accident. Her parents had died on impact, according to police. I'd walked away unharmed... except for the fact that I can now talk to a lizard.
"Call me God," he'd insisted the first time I'd thought to feed him.
He'd never spoken to me before. I mean animals, or reptiles or amphibians, or whatever the hell he is, don't talk. I know that. I haven't gone totally around the bend.
But the thing is, ever since the car accident, we can converse. And we do. A lot.
Maybe I've got brain damage, or maybe it's the emotional trauma of having my sister die and almost losing Katie, but I swear that I've turned into Doctor-freakin-Dolittle.
Of course, I haven't told anyone about my newfound ability. They'd lock me up in a funny farm like my mom. Or run a bunch of tests. Or run a bunch of tests and then lock me up. And if they did that, I wouldn't be able to visit Katie. And she'd be left all alone there, lying in a hospital bed, with only the witches to look after her.
My three aunts aren't really witches. I'm not so delusional as to think they've got magical powers. They're just extraordinarily evil in their own "helpfully" meddlesome way.
So I keep the secret conversations with God to myself. To the rest of the world, it probably appears that I'm coping pretty well. I wash my clothes, bring the newspaper in, and have even gone back to work in hell (also known as an insurance company call center).
My piddly paycheck isn't going to make much of a dent in the pile of hospital bills that are piling up faster than a Colorado snowfall, but it's a decent cover. It's not like I can go around putting HITWOMAN on my tax return.
Death, or at least the driver in the station wagon, coasted past as I turned my blinker on to signal my turn into Apple Blossom Estates. There's no such thing as apple blossoms. Three months before, God, licking his lizard lips after chowing down on a cricket, had pointed out that even he knew that. But it sounds fancy right? Or at least like the over-promising prose of a condo developer's advertising. It's not. It's just a fancy name for a brain injury rehab, or as they like to call it, a "premium care facility."
Parking in the visitors' lot, I left the bag o' bugs to their chirping (which sounded suspiciously like Madonna's "Like a Prayer") and headed inside. It was time to tell my boss that I was ready to kill a man. But you're probably wondering how a nice girl like me got a job like this....
The author of Hidden Flame, Elizabeth Bailey grew up in Africa with unconventional parents, where she loved reading and drama. On returning to England, she developed her career in acting, theatre directing, and finally writing. Elizabeth has 18 novels published by Harlequin Mills & Boon and recently began a Georgian historical crime series of which the first two books were published by Berkley Books (Penguin US). But since she still loves romance, Elizabeth is delighted with the opportunity to publish her work independently.
In Hidden Flame, we meet Benedict Beckenham. Seeking shelter from a violent storm, he assists a woman as embarrassed in circumstance as he is himself. Weeks later, on visiting his godmother, he is astonished to find the damsel in distress in residence.
For her part, Theda is dismayed by the rise of passion between them which threatens to jeopardise her precarious position as companion to a dying woman. But when a shocking inheritance blasts their friendship apart, Theda is forced to confront the ghosts of her past.
Will the blistering scandals of yesteryear keep Theda and Benedict forever divided? Or will the flame of love triumph?
Below is the book trailer for Hidden Flame. The novel is available on Amazon, Amazon UK, and Smashwords.
And here is an excerpt from the novel...
*
With a liberal hand, he poured himself another glass. But as he raised it to his lips the windows flashed bright again, and the heavens gave forth another stream of rumbling abuse.
"God, what an accursed night," mumbled Mr Beckenham, and, sipping his liquor, he looked over the makeshift meal with revulsion. "Hell and damnation, to what am I reduced?"
As if in response to his cursing, the wild night struck back at him, flaring a double blow of brilliant whiteness that seemed to tear at him through the windows.
His head turned, eyes narrowing against the glare. As the room lit, an image crossed his vision--of a thin black figure seated in a corner, crouching witchlike in the gloom.
His heart lurched sickeningly. The devil! He was seeing things. Too much brandy.
But as the dark closed in again and his eyes began to adjust, the glimmering outline of a pale face encroached upon his senses.
The thunder rolled away as Mr Beckenham stared, leaving the place eerily silent, and his heart still. Was it a ghost? Or merely his imagination playing tricks? Cursing briefly, he closed his eyes, looking away.
As he opened them again, they flicked, almost out of his own control, to check. It was still there.
Mr Beckenham froze. His fingers about the stem of his glass tightened. There was a sharp crack, and the broken glass fell from his hand, tinkling on to the table and spilling its golden liquid on to the pristine white cloth.
"Hell and the devil!" he swore, starting forward.
There was a frightened gasp and the ghost rose, too, staring at him out of the two hollows that were its eyes.
"I--I beg your pardon," faltered the ghost. "I think I startled you."
"Dear God in heaven," ejaculated Mr Beckenham on a tide of relief. "You're real!"
A flicker at the window and a faint cackling echo of thunder laughed at him. The gods were enjoying their own cruel joke, Mr Beckenham decided savagely. Well, he would have his revenge.
He seized the candelabrum, and, lifting it high, moved towards the pale face. It shrank back against the wall, edging towards the door. As he neared, he could see that it belonged to a slight female form encased in dark garments, its hair entirely concealed by a white cap. Small wonder she looked like a ghost. No, a witch; a black witch, casting spells from her hiding-place in the corner.
Abruptly the woman speeded up, making a dash for the door. He strode forward to intercept her, grabbing one wrist as he reached her.
"Come here, witch! You don"t escape me so easily."
"Let me go," came in a harsh whisper from the pale face.
"By no means."
Tugging her away from the door, Mr Beckenham pulled her close, holding the candelabrum high. In its light was revealed a thin face, with skin so pale it was almost translucent, whose high cheekbones emphasised the hollows below and under her brows. From within these, a pair of deep-grey eyes looked up at him. There was fear in them, but more than fear—defiance, a little, and challenge.
"Why were you hiding there?" he demanded compellingly. "Spying on me?"
She shrank a little, the eyes dilating. Her voice was pitched low, the fear overlaid with edgy defiance.
"I didn't mean to spy. I couldn't help it. I came down for the fire, for it was cold in my room. Then I heard the door, and you came in, and--and I did not dare to reveal myself because--"
"Because I am a man, and because I am drunk?"
"Yes," she agreed, and a little of the fear seemed to leave her.
"My good girl, I am not in the least drunk," he told her on a haughty note. He saw her glance across at the table and followed her gaze to the brandy bottle. "Perhaps a trifle foxed, but that is all."
Then he recognised that her eyes had strayed to the food, glistening a little. The pink tip of a tongue touched her pale lips.
Mr Beckenham had hold of her wrist still, and all at once he felt how slim it was. His hand was closed loosely over it. Like a bracelet, he thought. The girl was a stick! Sudden pity softened him towards her, and he forgot his urge for revenge.
"Are you hungry?" he asked abruptly.
Her eyes flew back to his and she swallowed painfully. "Oh, no, I--I was just--I did not mean..."
Mr Beckenham let go her wrist and stepped back with a little bow, gesturing to the table.
"Pray share my supper, ma'am."
She shook her head. "Oh, no, I could not. I should leave you now."
"'Should,' not 'shall,'" he noted. She was hungry. He smiled, charmingly, and saw the grey eyes widen. But she did not smile in return.
"It would be a kindness on your part, ma'am. These good people have been to an enormous amount of trouble on my behalf, and I am sure I shall be quite unable to do justice to their generous provision."
Forgetting his earlier disgust at the food that had been set for him, he thought only that this girl would appreciate it, whatever its quality.
She hesitated, glancing again at the food, longing in her eyes, and back to him, uncertain. "I don't think it would be seemly."
"Who is to know?" he countered, and, setting a firm hand to her back, he began gently to propel her towards the table. "You need not fear me, ma'am. As you have so sapiently observed, I have consumed far too much brandy to be capable of any amatory advances."
"Yes, that is what I feared," she said, glancing up at him as they reached the table. "Not that you might attempt anything, perhaps, but in my situation, one is vulnerable to--to certain propositions."
He held the chair for her to sit. "You mean, I dare say, that, having given you supper, I might expect payment in kind."
There was no trace of a blush on her pallid cheek. Her attention was on the food. Her voice was vague as she responded. "Yes, that is usually the way of it."
She drew a breath as he offered her the platter of bread, and her fingers shook as she lifted a slice from among the pile. He sat down and watched her, fascinated, as she put the bread to her mouth, her eyes closing in a kind of ecstasy when she bit into it. It must be many hours since she had eaten.
Rhythm of Love is a novel by Maria De Angeles, a romance writer whose short stories were published on the website Oysters and Chocolate. She has also self-published a collection of short stories, titled Decadent Tales. Keep up with this busy author on Facebook and Twitter.
Her most recent work, Rhythm of Love narrates a romance that takes place in the music industry. It is available for Amazon Kindle, and an excerpt from the novel appears below.
***
Niko had known what he was doing when he hired Amber. Two weeks into working, Amber realized that her work history had trained her for this particular job. Her role was not so different from the one she had played at the liquor distributor. With the difference that her expense account was bigger and she had access to more VIP treatment, she was still getting paid to socialize with clients. The main difference was that now the clients were DJs, publicists and the like who should be kept content to boost the fame of Nostra Records' artists.
Of course it wasn't all fun and games. The downside of working for a small label was that she really had three jobs. She did marketing, some talent scouting and as Niko had promised she had to put in office hours. At times she began to feel like his personal assistant as well because as he'd begun to say, “No one gets the job done like you.” It was a compliment to her overachiever nature but it also meant she would need to haggle for a higher salary once the time was right. Which would hopefully be after she landed Santos and Cortes a contract. For the time being, she was busy promoting the existing talent pool at Nostra. Within a few weeks a challenge arose when she tried to get a DJ at one of the two most popular Latin stations to give one of their artists airtime.
"Sorry babe, our airtime is limited this week," DJ Rey announced to her flatly, turning down the Yankees baseball tickets Niko had suggested she send over.
"You've got to have something," Amber pressed, knowing that "no" was not an option in Niko's book. Especially not when he had lucked out on scoring Luna, a young Latina Italian American songstress. Her catchy song had been watched by throngs of teenagers on YouTube and had been the most downloaded song of the week. She had chosen Nostra records over the top labels for the "family" charm of their small staff. Her only competition was a young country singer who had decided to release a song in Spanish to cash in on the Latin market. Niko and Luna's manager wouldn't be thrilled if the country singer got more airtime than her.
"I'm going to be upfront with you," DJ Rey revealed. "I already have tickets to this game. You're not offering me anything that the other representation won't give so I don't really have a good reason to give you priority."
"Other than the fact that the song's in demand by every high school kid and tween out there?" He was a DJ, wasn't it his job to play music people wanted to hear? Couldn't he just sell the tickets or give them to his friends?
Rey laughed, "That's not how it works mami. You give me something and I find slots for your artist."
Suddenly a grimy feeling crept into Amber. Was he asking her to bribe him to play the music? "I'll have to get back to you." She tried to hide her nervousness and hung up the phone. After some thought, she brought up the dilemma to Niko.
"Work something out with him. You speak the same language."
"Just because we both speak Spanish doesn't mean I can convince him to do something," Amber huffed. "It doesn't work that way."
Niko laughed, "Whoa that's not what I meant at all. You're the same age range. Same generation, same lingo, you'd understand him better than me. I'm sure you can figure out what he'd want."
"Oh. Well in that case, that's ageist," she joked, realizing she’d been too quick to get defensive. There was a pause as his words sank in. "Umm isn't that basically bribery? Figuring out what he wants and then giving it to him?"
"If you want to look at it that way. It's how this business works. If we don't do it, someone else will. Take care of it." He turned his attention back to his desk, which was his way of saying there was nothing left to discuss.
As Amber walked back to her office it suddenly sank in that this was a little different from her old job. Or was it? Her old clients bought the products because they were good and in demand and she was simply giving them incentives to keep buying. Now she had a product that was very much in demand but it was being refused airtime because she had to give a higher incentive. Was it different or was it the same thing done in a different order?
"Is this really how it works?" she asked Bianca in the cafeteria over her third cup of coffee. It was one of the days Bianca had come in to help her father with work.
"As far as I know, yes. I guess it sucks because artists get heard for having someone with connections backing them up not for their talent but there's not a lot we can do about it. Most people are more discreet about it though. I'm surprised Rey had the guts to put it like that. You must seem trustworthy to him."
"Suddenly I get why so much terrible music is popular," Amber thought aloud.
"Look at it this way. Daddy wants to work with talented people as much as you do." Bianca noticed that Amber was giving her a cynical look. "Okay I know what you're thinking. Luna's music isn't exactly a masterpiece but teens like that sort of thing. My point is there are more talented artists out there and they deserve to be heard. If we don't play the game and try to top our competitors then we'll never make it far enough to stay in the business and give those artists an opportunity."
Like Cortes and Santos, Amber thought. Her heart always held onto the feeling that the world needed to hear Cortes' music. "I get you."
"We can't change the way things are, we can only change the way we react to them."
"And my reaction should be to buy Rey," Amber scoffed.
"Where's that competitive overachiever I know?" Bianca prodded. "You'll find a way." She winked at her.
Amber downed her coffee and used the caffeine rush to dive back into negotiations. Rey answered his phone so smugly she almost hung up on him. "Tell me amorcito."
"I'm not psychic," she retorted.
"You got fuego girl," he teased. Yes, her attitude was organically laced with fire.
"I'll tell you what I want. You work with Mi Gente, maybe you know some of those models to get me a date with."
"Rey," she whispered into the phone spilling fine honey, "You know with your charms you'll be able to get yourself a date with one of the models. What I can do is get them to host a party with VIP treatment and open bar for you." She wasn't bluffing. With her liquor contacts she could set up the party and the bar would be happy to pay a model for the guest appearance if she had a liquor sponsor.
"Tato, but I want compromising pictures of her and me in Mi Gente."
Amber laughed, "Deal." It would be cake to get her editor to okay it. They lived for that type of garbage.
