It’s Mother’s Day weekend and May has also been proclaimed Romance Month, so there’s no shortage of fabulous stories about dating, love and romance on the web and on Twitter.

Let’s start with overwhelming amount of gratitude for all the media mentions this week. Monday started out with a terrific TV promo shoot for the upcoming Ricki Lake Show. I was honored to participate along with others in the Friends of Ricki community. Here’s a sneak peek of a hug from Ricki on location posted on Twitter.

On Tuesday, Dr. Drew Pinsky featured a segment on MissTravel.com and asked me to chime in with my thoughts on the subject. It was an honor to be featured as one of 30 influential women in the Speakerpalooza series on Wednesday.  Enjoy the article, Dating Online? 5 Secrets to Finding Love Again. We’ve got free books to give away, so make sure to comment on the post. On Wednesday we also announced the first-ever Mobile Dating Bootcamp.

On Thursday, I was honored to be featured as one of America’s Ultimate Experts in Woman’s World magazine. The issue is now available at most grocery store check out stands. Check out page 26, I want more romance in my life! Lastly, I’d like to thank our friends at iVillage for the contribution to The Rules: Dos and Don’ts for Online Dating. Whew! There’s enough dating advice to last you through the summer romance season. None of this excitement could be possible if it wasn’t for the continuing support from you, our loyal readers and students.

What stories were hot this week? The Time magazine Mother’s Day cover story has gone viral. Yahoo! posted the story Jamie Lynne Grumet Defends Her Time Magazine Breastfeeding Cover from an interview on  “Today Show.” On YourTango, We Love Dates posted the 4 Things You Should Never Say on a First Date and we couldn’t agree more. Be authentic, but stay positive and leave the drama at home. Clutch posted 3 Things We Wish Men Would Leave Off Their Online Dating Profiles and our friends at Match featured a timely article in Happen magazine, Dating a Mom on Mother’s Day with a reminder not to overwhelm her if you’re in a new relationship. It’s not Valentine’s Day.

Wishing you much love and joy in cyberspace, or wherever you may roam.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Julie Spira and the Cyber-Dating Expert Team.

Follow @JulieSpira

Many thanks to Marie Pijanowski, for featuring me as her guest this week on The Power Connection Show to talk about dating in a web 2.0 world.

We talked about the latest trends in online dating and I shared two of my favorite heartwarming stories from the Cyber Love Story of the Week. The first couple, Betty and Bob met on eHarmony and were married at the age of 70. There’s hope for everyone of all ages. The other couple, Evita and Billy who started their cyber romance on SKYPE. After he disclosed his physical disabilities, she still decided he was the one for her. They’ve been happily married for four years.

For those who have taken a break, it’s raining men. Yes, now that the holidays are over and spring fever is here, men are reappearing and are ready to find love online. Listen to hear more about the dos and don’ts for your online dating profile, so you can make your Internet dating experience an enjoyable one.

Wishing you much love in cyberspace, or wherever you may roam.

“After being burned big time by my last relationship in 2007, I had officially given up dating,” said Valerie. She added, “My friends had been imploring me for years to try online dating, but I just couldn’t get past the stigma of it and was extremely concerned about the safety factor.”

Valerie thought the idea of a ton of strangers perusing her pictures and personal details would freak her out.  Finally she joined OkCupid, and as an attractive female was immediately inundated by e-mails.  She wasn’t interested in any of them until she received her first e-mail from Adam.

Adam had been home on a Saturday evening looking at some of the newest profiles on OkCupid, a weekly ritual for him. He believed in emailing a woman right away before she became swamped with emails and possibly gave up on online dating.

“Then I spotted this beautiful brunette with the handle ‘fleursetbonbons’. Ah, flowers and candy… so traditional for a woman, isn’t it?” thought Adam. Then when he read Valerie’s profile, he knew she was the type of person he was looking for. “Her profile said a lot about her personality and style and wasn’t just another, I love sushi and long walks on the beach type of diatribe,” Adam added. He didn’t expect Valerie to write back.

Valerie loved the fact that Adam was the first guy she’d seen on the site with the long haired, rock & roll, chiseled features look that she really went for. When she clicked on his pictures, she saw he also had an incredible smile, and was 6’4” tall, which she loved.

“I honestly wasn’t too impressed by his profile…he seemed a little too interested in beer and sports for my taste…but I decided to take a chance anyway based on the cuteness of his pics,” said Valerie. Valerie liked Adam because he was all about being real and there were no games involved.

Adam recalled, “I decided to email her and tell her as much, figuring all along I’ll never hear back.”  To his surprise she did respond and they started communicating a lot. On their first date, they went to brunch and he brought her a dozen roses.

Adam and Valerie shared that they have a magnetic attraction to each other that grows every single day. “He’s caring, attentive, and kind to me. I miss him when we’re apart no matter how long we’ve spent together, and I love being in love with him, said Valerie”

“I would never have expected to meet someone that I could fall in love with online, so I encourage anyone who’s hesitant to take the chance…you really just can’t know unless you try,” Valerie added.

Even though the two currently live approximately 30 miles apart, they regularly see each other about 3-4 days per week and are already considering moving in together.

Congratulations to Valerie and Adam, our Cyber Love Story of the Week who wouldn’t let distance get in the way of love.

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Read More Cyber Love Stories>>>

After looking at the MySpace pages of friends of friends of friends, Nathan somehow stumbled upon Sarah’s page. He found her profile banter funny and witty and sent her a message inviting her out for dinner. After viewing Nathan’s (ahem) “colorful” page, Sarah decided that it would be entertaining to spend an evening with an odd character.

They went to a perfectly normal dinner and chatted about perfectly boring things. Sarah was surprised that Nathan’s online demeanor did not translate into a host of quirky personality traits.

At the end of the meal, Sarah said that she’d like a piece of gum. She didn’t have any, though, and there wasn’t a convenience store around. Nathan, thinking quickly on his feet, popped into a retro toy store and proceeded to buy every pack of gum they had. The duo spent the remainder of the evening sitting outside, chewing piece after piece of odd-tasting gums of a different era. Sarah was won over.

Four years later—and still very much in love—the couple consider themselves not only domestic partners, but life partners, as well. It seems that the relationship has had even more sticking power than the gum. Congratulations to Sarah and Nathan, who prove that sometimes love will find you, even when you aren’t looking for it.

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Read More Cyber Love Stories>>>

Jessica was so busy with work and overwhelmed by all of the emails on Match.com® that she almost never met Michael. She had corresponded with a few men, and finally made the time to meet Michael at a restaurant in Oakland, CA.

When Jessica arrived at the restaurant, the hostess informed her that they were about to close. Going with the flow, she decided to wait for him outside on the sidewalk, when suddenly came up to her. She wondered, “Is this Michael?” She started talking to the gentleman and suddenly realized it was another man who had written to her on Match,  who she had taken a pass on. She didn’t want to be rude as the man was rambling on and on about James Joyce, when finally Michael, her blind date, arrived.

She managed to introduce “Dave” the other Match suitor to Michael, and as awkward as that might have seemed,  Michael and Jessica had the first date of many for the rest of their lives. The two were married in September, five years after their first date.  Hopefully Dave found love online as well.

Congratulations to Jessica and Michael, our Cyber Love Story of the Week.

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Read More Cyber Love Stories>>>

Vanessa moved from the east coast to the suburbs of Houston a few years ago.  She wanted to meet new and interesting people, but was too busy with her job at NASA and didn’t have time to enter the dating scene.

Based upon recommendations from friends, she joined the online dating site BlackPeopleMeet.com as a free member. When she saw Ray’s profile, she decided to upgrade her membership immediately to meet him.

She sent Ray, a foster parent, an email introduction. Ray responded and the communication began.

During their first lunch date, they quickly realized that they both had a lot in common. Both Vanessa and Ray had children from their previous marriages. They also both enjoyed crossword puzzles and exercising.

The two easily blended their families together and two years after their first online date, they were married.

Congratulations to Vanessa and Ray who found love online on BlackPeopleMeet.

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Read More Cyber Love Stories>>>

It was Love at First Sight for Joan and Richard who met on SeniorPeopleMeet.com.

The first time Joan got married was at the age of 17, shortly after she graduated high school. Widowed after 43 years of marriage, Joan decided to try looking for love online.

She was looking for a companion who treated her with respect and didn’t take life too seriously and joined a few Internet dating sites. At first, Joan was less than impressed with the online dating process.  She thought the people seemed more interested in hiding behind their profiles and e-mailing than actually meeting one another

One day, she joined SeniorPeopleMeet where she was only browsing profiles — that is, until she received an email from Richard.

Like Joan, Richard was widowed as well.  He was a retired naval captain and liked the way Joan presented herself on the website, with current pictures and “no sunglasses.”  At age 75, Richard was clearly older than 67-year-old Joan, who wasn’t sure about the age difference at first. Joan lived in northern California at the time.  After some successful phone calls, the couple met up in San Diego when Joan visited for a business convention.  Ultimately, it was Joan’s daughter who encouraged her mother to meet Richard in person by simply saying, “What have you got to lose?”

On their first lunch date, the two heard more than one comment from strangers about what a nice married couple they looked like.  One day after meeting, Joan turned to him and said,  “Is this what they mean by love at first sight?” to which Richard responded, “Yes, I think it is.”  They spent the rest of her trip together, and maintained a long-distance relationship from October 2008 onward.  In January of 2009, Richard asked Joan to marry him. She moved from Sacramento to Coronado and the two were married in February, 2010.

Congratulations to Joan and Richard who both got a new start at love on Senior People Meet.

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Read More Cyber Love Stories>>>

Tara joined the online dating site Yahoo! Personals in early 2001.  She was doing a year of graduate study in North Dakota when she met Ryan who was in law school in Houston.

Tara knew she was moving back to her home town of Houston to finish her graduate studies. She wanted to make some new friends and meet someone, so she posted an online dating ad in anticipation of her move back home.

Ryan saw her profile and answered her ad on February 8, 2001.  The two started emailing back and forth and had the occasional all night chat session getting to know one another, where they learned that they attended the same undergraduate university.

The two finally met in person two months later, when Tara flew home for the Easter holidays.  A month later she moved back to Houston and they started dating exclusively from that point on.

Two years later, on March 15, 2003, they became engaged and were married 8 months later. Two years later, their daughter was born. Tara believes that meeting online and communicating in writing for 2 months prepared them both for their marriage.    As Ryan is an Officer in the Army, he was deployed to Iraq for 14 months. Shortly after that he left to attend several Army schools. Basically he was gone from his family for almost 2 years.  Being able to communicate together through writing helped them keep their relationship alive and healthy.

After their online dating success story, Tara’s mother and brother both ventured into the cyberdating waters, where they met their spouses online as well.

Congratulations to Tara and Ryan, as well as to their family members,  who show us that Internet dating can be successful, in both love and war, regardless of the distance.

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Lori and Drew met on Match.com in 2003. Although Drew called her after their first date, Lori never returned his call. “He’s an old-fashioned guy looking for a woman to stay home and raise a family vs. someone focused on her career like me,” Lori reasoned.

Lori grew up in a rural town outside of Syracuse, New York, determined not to follow the same path as her mother who had given up her business career when she married Lori’s father. Instead, Lori fled to Long Island for college and spent her young adult life escaping into star-studded big city events as a public relations executive in NYC.

In 2006, at the age of 38, Lori was happy with her career but single and lonely at home. After a rejuvenating trip to Argentina that November, she decided to update her online profile with a fresh faced vacation photo. Three days later, a message from Drew appeared in her inbox.

“Lori, do you remember me?” his email said. She responded in a joking manner, “Yes, your birthday is February 5th and you give body adjustments.” They had not spoken in three years, yet she recalled the day he was born (it was also her sister’s birthday) and that he was a chiropractor, both of which were not listed in his profile.

Drew immediately asked Lori out again and this time she accepted. Lori had made some transformational decisions that past year, one of which was to “throw away her list” and be open to date people who she didn’t initially think were her type.

Nine weeks later, Drew whisked Lori away to Los Cabos, Mexico with the intention of proposing to her on Valentine’s Day. They had no idea they would be stuck on the runway for 11 hours due to weather conditions. After 36 hours of traveling and four days of no luggage, the trip ended with a beautiful, serenaded beach proposal. Being in a disastrous situation like this and still being able to laugh was enough proof that Drew was her type after all.

Lori left her career and moved out of the city. The couple had a destination wedding and renewed their vows a month later in a religious ceremony, taking place on the same day as her parent’s 40th anniversary.

The couple now lives in Brooklyn, with their two-year-old daughter, St. Bernard, Thor and a baby girl who will be joining them in July. Lori ended up following a similar path to her mother’s and she couldn’t be happier.

Congratulations to Lori and Drew our Cyber Love Story of the Week who are evidence that you can’t escape your roots or ‘type’ when it comes to love.

Do you have an online dating story to share? Please send us your submissions.

SpeedDate was just another application on Esther’s Facebook account. She didn’t have high hopes for meeting someone online. She just wanted a place to meet people and make new friends.

Tan was also a member of SpeedDate, but he knew what he wanted.  He was looking for a more serious relationship. He sent Esther a message and the two began chatting on the site. After a month, they exchanged numbers and casual SMS messages. One night, during their chat, they both realized that fate had brought them together. They met after a few months, and their hearts melted together.

Esther has not been able to stop smiling since they met. The two will be getting married in February, 2011.

Congratulations to Esther and Tan from your friends at CyberDatingExpert.com.

Do you have an online dating story to share? Please send us your submissions.