• RLF Gems

    RLF Gem Award: Top Bloggers Jan 2014 Romance Lives Forever #RLFblog

    Last month, Romance Lives Forever had 30 posts in a 31 day month.
    This was the first month
    using new interviews for 2014.

    Top Five Bloggers for the Month

    RLF Gem Award 
    (judged by page views) There were four ties with each author
    gaining the same number of views. This many ties has not occurred before on
    RLF. Congratulations to each author!
    1. JD Faver
    2. Mary Marvella, Tina Donahue
    3. Charlie Cochrane, Danita Minnis
    4. Babette James, Starla Kaye
    5. Sydney Jane
    Baily, Saloni Quinby
    Honorable mention: Lucy Felthouse
    Romance Lives Forever features authors and new books. It has a
    blogger’s FAQ page with a downloadable guide and optional interviews. Readers
    can follow via Google Friend Connect, Networked Blogs, Bloglovin’, Linky
    Followers, email, an RSS feed, and there’s a blog button readers and authors
    can grab.. RLF takes up to three images per article, so authors can share
    previous books. The blog uses author or publisher names as SEO tags on posts,
    and author Twitter handles in the titles. The site is broadcast over Triberr
    with a potential reach of over a million readers via its Twitter-linked
    network. Twitter mentions are also gathered in several Paper.li ezines, giving
    the author an additional opportunity for promotion.
    The Romance Lives Forever
    Paper.li ezine
    features guest authors on its front page every day. The Yahoo Group Romance Lives Forever has
    nearly 1200 members, and is Kayelle’s private group. It is open once a month to
    authors who have been guests on the blog. Guests get one day to post info,
    share news, book releases, offer contests, and so on. For that day, the group
    is open and members are allowed to reply and take active part. It’s like an
    old-fashioned chat, where you can share and answer questions. Only authors who
    have reserved the day are allowed to post, so it’s exclusive. There is no
    charge. You can read more about it here: http://is.gd/rlfauthorday

    Share your book cover on Romance Lives Forever

    Limited spots to share book covers are available. Cost is $3
    per month, with discounts for covers posted for one quarter and up to one year.
    Covers can be changed monthly.

    Sign Up for a Future Post

    Guest calendar http://is.gd/rlfdates
    My thanks to all who took part this month. You made Romance Lives
    Forever a great place to discover new books and authors.
    Other participants this month in alphabetical order by first
    name are:

    Angela Smith, Aria
    Kane, Ashley York, Audra North, Brenda Sparks, Cassandra Carr, Chris Redding, D
    Renee Bagby, Diana Green, DP Denman, Heidi Lynn Anderson, Jana Richards, Kayelle
    Allen, Kent
    duFault, Kristina Knight, Nicole Morgan, Pippa Jay, Sherry Gloag, Wendi Zwaduk
  • Suspense

    Character Sketch: Sam Samuels – Protective Instincts @mmarvelab #RLFblog #suspense

    Protective Instincts 
    Protective Instincts
    Author: Mary Marvella
    Genre: Romantic Suspense/Erotic Romance
    Book heat level (based on movie ratings) PG13
    They met because he had premonitions and she was in peril. But
    you will never believe why they fell in love. Paranormal romance at its best.
    After mourning the loss of her husband, Brit Roberts manages
    to pick up her life as a teacher for a rural Georgia High school.
    Things are fine until anonymous phone calls turn creepy and her life is endangered.
    It’s not until Sam Samuels, shows up to check on her that she finds a little peace,
    if not a slight attraction to the handsome yet meddling security specialist.
    Sam Samuels isn’t just the father of one of Ms. Robert’s students,
    he’s a man with premonitions so strong, they make him ill. So when he meets his
    son’s teacher and pain kicks in, he knows something’s awry but can’t put his finger
    on it until he interrupts an attempt to kill the teacher. Sam makes it his personal
    goal to protect her, only he didn’t count on falling for her.
    Someone wants Brit, and now Sam, dead too. Could the death of
    her ex husband be part of the reason? Can Brit and Sam navigate a relationship despite
    both of their headstrong natures?
    About the Book
    They met because he had
    premonitions and she was in peril. But you will never believe why they fell in love.
    Paranormal romance at its best.
    After mourning the loss
    of her husband, Brit Roberts manages to pick up her life as a teacher for a rural
    Georgia High school. Things are fine until anonymous
    phone calls turn creepy and her life is endangered. It’s not until Sam Samuels,
    shows up to check on her that she finds a little peace, if not a slight attraction
    to the handsome yet meddling security specialist.
    Sam Samuels isn’t just
    the father of one of Ms. Robert’s students, he’s a man with premonitions so strong,
    they make him ill. So when he meets his son’s teacher and pain kicks in, he knows
    something’s awry but can’t put his finger on it until he interrupts an attempt to
    kill the teacher. Sam makes it his personal goal to protect her, only he didn’t
    count on falling for her.
    Someone wants Brit, and
    now Sam, dead too. Could the death of her ex husband be part of the reason? Can
    Brit and Sam navigate a relationship despite both of their headstrong natures?
    Buy This Book

    About the Character

    Name: John Samson Samuels (Sam, please)
    Age: 38
    Gender: male
    Birthplace: Florence, Georgia
    Profession: He owns a security systems company
    Ethnicity/Species (if not human): Caucasian.
    Sam is tall, broad shouldered. He has thick black
    hair and piercing green eyes.
    Who is the significant other in your character’s
    life (hero/heroine)?
    The heroine is Brittany Marie Simpson Roberts,
    33 and a teacher.
    If
    you could only hear this character’s voice (but not see him) what characteristic
    would identify him?
    Sam’s baritone voice suggests strength and confidence.
    All true!
    How
    educated is this character? Is he book smart, self-taught, widely-experienced?
    Sam has a college degree from University of Georgia. He played football for them.
    Are
    any of his/her skills a source of pride? Embarrassment? Which ones and why?
    Sam has premonitions when bad things are likely
    to happen. He can’t ignore them, but he won’t discuss them. He doesn’t see visions
    or hear voices, he just has physical pain and the knowledge that a certain person
    is in danger. His premonitions have never been false alarms.
    What
    is your character’s family like?
    Sam has two brothers and a sister. They are close.
    His mama gave each child a Biblical name. Sam’s are Samson and John. He goes by
    Sam!
    Is
    he close to family?
    Sam still works on his daddy’s farm and calls
    on his mama when he needs someone to watch over the heroine when — You didn’t
    think I would give away part of the plot, did you?
    Does
    he have children?
    He has a son, one of Brit’s students.
    Is
    your character involved in his/her community?
    He installs a security system in his son’s school
    at a low price, just as he did several churches. He attended all of his son’s sporting
    events.
    How
    does your character handle challenges?
    He meets challenges head-on!

    About Your Writer: Questions for your character to answer about you.

    Why
    do you think your writer chose to write about you?
    Mary had no choice. I pestered her until she
    gave in and started writing
    What
    do you wish your writer had not told others about you?
    She did blab about my premonitions, but i guess
    she had to.
    Why
    do you think your writer loves to write?
    Mary has stories to tell and voices inside her
    head. She’s been telling stories for so long I knew she had to tell mine. She listened
    to me instead of making up a story.
    What
    do you wish your writer would write next?
    Mary needs to write a book about my baby sister
    Esther. She’s a pistol and a strong southern woman.
    What
    other character from your book do you think your writer should write a book about?
    Care to tell us why?
    Mary has a book about my brother she needs to
    send out again or publish it herself. My brother is a great guy who saves lives.
    He’s an undercover cop. It’s a good story, too!
    Is
    there anything you’d like to say to your writer?
    Thanks, Mary, for
    finding us a publisher. I was leery when you sent my story to a publisher specializing
    in erotica. I never thought about my story and Brit’s as erotic fiction, though
    we have a VERY erotic relationship!

    Author Bio

    Mary has been a storyteller for as long as she can remember.
    She made up stories for the other children and created the details for their “play
    like” or “let’s pretend” games. Sometimes the details were so real
    they scared Mary.
    Mary was born in Augusta,
    Georgia to two eighteen-year
    olds. Her daddy, a young Mississippi man, was stationed
    at Camp Gordon and fell in love with a young girl
    selling flowers.
    Mary graduated from Mercer University
    where her mama worked in the library. Her mama started working there when Mary’s
    daddy went to college to become a preacher and a teacher. Mary taught language arts
    for 15 years, perfect for her BA in English. Her M.Ed in Counseling served her well
    during her years as a school counselor and as a teacher later.
    Now she tutors, teaches writers, and edits. Her inner English
    teacher loves the editing part. Mary helped her husband photograph hundreds of weddings.
    Her daughter is her cover artist now. Danielle was raised in the photography business.
    She doesn’t read Mary’s books. Something about TMI.

    Author Social Media

    Facebook http://on.fb.me/1anqdxk
    Amazon Author Page http://amzn.to/19AJ37F