Category: First Line Friday

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #334 | The Mapmaker’s Secret by Jennifer Mistmorgan

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from The Mapmaker’s Secret, the new release from Australian author Jennifer Mistmorgan. Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

“You want me to do what!” Lieutenant Jack Marsden wasn’t using the polite, respectful tone he usually took with his superiors.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About The Mapmaker’s Secret

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Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

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First Line Friday

First Line Friday #333 | Emma’s Hero by Carrie Walker

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from Emma’s Hero by debut author Carrie Walker.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

One day sure made a difference. May fifteenth would go down in the books as the day her life changed.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Emma’s Hero

“God won’t give me more than I can handle? I’m pretty sure He just did.”

After a year of loss and bad choices distance Emma Reynolds from her lifelong beliefs, she finds herself pregnant and alone at a twenty-week ultrasound, hearing the words “incompatible with life.” When her son, Theo, survives birth, she fights to give him the best care possible. As each day passes, Emma’s love for Theo grows—along with her fear of losing him. She can’t understand why God allows her son to suffer.

Seventeen-year-old blogger, Mason Hughes, feels lonely and worthless after his father left their family years ago. When he ignores his mother’s push to “contribute to society,” she volunteers him to help Emma each week. Wishing he’d applied for any other job, Mason has no choice but to grocery shop and practice his rusty social skills with a mother and son he doesn’t know.

Paramedic Ben Sullivan has earned himself the title of “most eligible” bachelor among his friends as they continually set him up on blind dates. While he’d love to avoid the uncomfortable events, his heart can’t help but seek the one thing missing in his life—a marriage like his parents have. If only he could find the woman himself.

As Theo’s tiny life connects them to each other, their loneliness breaks under the love of community, and they will never be the same.

Find Emma’s Hero online at:

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Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #332 | The British Booksellers by Kirsty Cambron

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m quoting the first line from Kirsty Cambron’s upcoming release, The British Booksellers. Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

How many times in a life could a boy say he was risking his neck, doing the very last thing he'd expected ... for a girl?

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About The British Booksellers

A tenant farmer’s son had no business daring to dream of a future with an earl’s daughter, but that couldn’t keep Amos Darby from his secret friendship with Charlotte Terrington . . . until the reality of the Great War sobered youthful dreams. Now decades later, he bears the brutal scars of battles fought in the trenches and their futures that were stolen away. His return home doesn’t come with tender reunions, but with the hollow fulfillment of opening a bookshop on his own and retreating as a recluse within its walls.

When the future Earl of Harcourt chose Charlotte to be his wife, she knew she was destined for a loveless match. Though her heart had chosen another long ago, she pledges her future even as her husband goes to war. Twenty-five years later, Charlotte remains a war widow who divides her days between her late husband’s declining estate and operating a quaint Coventry bookshop—Eden Books, lovingly named after her grown daughter. And Amos is nothing more than the rival bookseller across the lane.

As war with Hitler looms, Eden is determined to preserve her father’s legacy. So when an American solicitor arrives threatening a lawsuit that could destroy everything they’ve worked so hard to preserve, mother and daughter prepare to fight back. But with devastation wrought by the Luftwaffe’s local blitz terrorizing the skies, battling bookshops—and lost loves, Amos and Charlotte—must put aside their differences and fight together to help Coventry survive.

Find The British Booksellers online at:

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Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #331 | Walking in Circles by Amy Matayo

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from Walking in Circles by Amy Matayo, which is a Young Adult romance that will appeal to fans of John Green.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

It’s the morning of my first day at a new school, and I nearly set my hair on fire.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Walking in Circles

“When you’ve been hurt the worst by the one who should love you most, trusting anyone is a dangerous game.”

Emma Lee was four the first time her dad hit her, eight when he left without a word, and nine by the time she’d developed a serious case of Male Trust Issues. So, when her mom moves her from their beloved California city to a small South Carolina town, the last person she wants to get to know is her elderly male neighbor. But the man won’t stop talking to her. And it isn’t like she can avoid him. She passes his house twice a day on her walk to and from school.

Old Will knows a fractured soul when he sees one, and his young new neighbor is certainly that. Emma wears a cautious demeanor like an old sweater, and it tugs at his heartstrings. His late wife would have his hide if he didn’t welcome the girl onto their front porch and treat her like one of their own. And if his grandson Shane happened to come by and meet her…well, that wouldn’t be his fault, would it?

Shane Michaels is the school jock, prom king, all-around popular kid, and miserable. He’s already lost so much in his eighteen years, more than his classmates could ever understand. And he is lonely. So, when Emma moves into the house next to Old Will, Shane makes it his mission to meet her. He invites her on a walk. He joins her on Old Will’s front porch. He asks her to dinner and to prom and eventually spills the secret he’s been keeping for years, the secret only his parents and Old Will know about.

That is, until a tragic accident brings everything into the open and throws their newly formed bond into chaos. A bond Emma hadn’t seen coming until she’d already learned to depend on it. But isn’t that how life works?

Sometimes learning to trust people is only a matter of meeting the right ones.

Find Walking in Circles online at:

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Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #330 | For a Lifetime (Timeless #3) by Gabrielle Meyer

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m reading an advance copy of For a Lifetime, the next book in Gabrielle Meyer’s fabulous Timeless series, which doesn’t release until May. I have no self-control when it comes to these books! Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

It was a strange reality to be on the precipice of tragedy and not be able to stop it.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

About For a Lifetime

Cover image - For a LifetimeGrace and Hope are identical twin sisters born with the ability to time-cross together between 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, and 1912 New York City. As their twenty-fifth birthday approaches, they will have to choose one life to keep and one to leave behind forever–no matter the cost.

In 1692, they live and work in their father’s tavern, where they must watch helplessly as the witch trials unfold in their village, threatening everyone. With the help of a handsome childhood friend, they search for the truth behind their mother’s mysterious death, risking everything to expose a secret that could save their lives–or be their undoing.

In 1912, Hope dreams of becoming one of the first female pilots in America, and Grace works as an investigative journalist, uncovering corruption and injustice. After their parents’ orphanage is threatened by an adversary, they enter a contest to complete a perilous cross-country flight under the guidance of a daring French aviator.

The sisters have already decided which timeline they will choose, but an unthinkable tragedy complicates the future they planned for themselves. As their birthday looms, how will they determine the lives–and loves–that are best for both of them?

Find For a Lifetime online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #329 | Love in Tandem by Becca Kinzer

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from Love In Tandem by Becca Kinzer, which is partly inspired by her own tandem bicycle ride with her then-boyfriend (now husband) in 2010.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

It’s a terrible thing when a teacher survives an entire school year only to die the first minute of summer vacation.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Love in Tandem

Cover image - Love in Tandem by Becca KinzerShe’s perfectly content leading a quiet life in her small hometown. He’s an adventurer with unquenchable wanderlust. The two couldn’t be any more opposite if they tried. But a tandem bicycle and a 500-mile road trip just might change all that.

After a failed engagement and her mother’s battle with cancer, Charlotte Carter’s life is finally turning around now that she’s landed a dream job teaching music. What she didn’t see coming was the imminent closure of the school’s music program. She’s determined to save it, even if it means getting creative. There’s no way she’s chalking this up as just another failure in her book of recent embarrassments.

Zach Bryant is back in town just long enough to see his brother Ben get married and then he’s off traveling the world again. He never imagined he’d run into Charlotte Carter, his brother’s ex-fiancé, or that everyone would believe he and Charlotte are an item. He certainly didn’t dream he’d end up riding a tandem bicycle hundreds of miles with her in an attempt to raise funds for a defunct music program, but how can he say no when the prize money would help him out of his financial predicament too?

Charlotte is sure she can set aside her differences with Zach long enough to cross the finish line and win the giant cash prize . . . can’t she? A few hundred miles in, she’s questioning her deeply held assumptions about Zach and wondering if maybe tandem biking is only the start of their biggest adventure yet.

Find Love in Tandem online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #328 | Rescuing the Rock Star by Liwen Y Ho

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from the latest release from Liwen Y Ho, which ticks all my favourite trope boxes … secret baby, rock star, and mistaken identity.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

There were few things that Leah Parker was sure of but one thing was clear - she was not cut out for romance.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Rescuing the Rock Star

It’s time for this rock star to settle down …

Fame, fortune, and fans—Jace Kendall has it all. Yet, he still feels like something is missing from his life. After the thrill of success starts to wane, he runs into his first love who left him without a word a decade ago. To his surprise, she mistakes him for his twin brother, an assumption he doesn’t correct for fear that she might disappear again.

If Leah Parker wasn’t so desperate, she wouldn’t have befriended the brother of the man she once had a summer fling with. She’d never wanted to hinder Jace’s future, which is why she stopped contacting him when his career took off. But her daughter’s life-threatening illness forces her to ask the Kendall family for help and reveals the secret she’s been keeping for years.

When the media catches wind of their past, Jace and Leah not only have to deal with the fallout but also with their undeniable chemistry. Can they learn to trust each other enough to plan a future together?

Find Rescuing the Rock Star online at:

Amazon | BookBub| Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #327 | Drive You Crazy by Jessica Kate

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from Drive You Crazy, the new release from Australian Christian rom-com author Jessica Kate, and the first book in her new Amity Creek series.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

Small town romances have it all wrong. And I’m betting my inheritance on it.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Drive You Crazy

Cover image - Driver You Crazy by Jessica Kate

Bubbly newspaper editor Ashley Anderson is ecstatic to finally call this small town in Washington State ‘home’—until she accidentally angers her newspaper’s biggest advertisers, and they boycott. Her neighbor Justin has the family connections to get the town back on her side—but asking for help from the man she’s nicknamed ‘Dracula’ is a last resort.

Living next door, rebel-with-a-cause teacher Justin Hastings can’t escape Amity Creek fast enough. But when a good deed goes awry, it’s his fault that Ashley’s car is out of action, and they’re forced to carpool until he can make things right.

Thrust into one another’s daily lives, Ashley and Justin learn that little is black-and-white—not small town life, not family, and not each other. But there’s a fork in the road, and it seems God has these two destined for separate paths. Can the road less travelled ever lead them back to love?

Don’t miss the chance to immerse yourself in this must-read inspirational romance about the complexities—and the beauty—of true love in all its forms.

Find Driver You Crazy online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #326 | The Roads We Follow by Nicole Deese

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m reading an advance copy of the next book in Nicole Deese’s Fog Harbor series, The Roads We Follow. Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

I breathe in the fresh dopamine hit of a dark roast brewing somewhere behind the coffee shop's counter and remind myself that turning off my GSP location from the family tracking app is not one of the seven deadly sins.

If that appeals to you, then you might also be interested in the first book in the series. The Words We Lost is currently on sale on Amazon for $1.99 for the Kindle version.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About The Roads We Follow

Cover image: The Roads We Follow by Nicole DeeseAs the youngest daughter of a country music legend, Raegan Farrow longs to establish an identity away from the spotlight and publish her small-town romances under a pen name. But after her dream is dashed when she won’t exploit her mother’s fame to further her own career, she hears a rumor from a reliable source regarding a tell-all being written about the Farrow family. Making matters worse, the unknown author has gone to great lengths to remain anonymous until publication.

Raegan chooses to keep the tell-all a secret from her scandal-leery sisters as they embark on a two-week, cross-country road trip at their mother’s request and makes it her mission to expose the identity of the author behind the unsanctioned biography. But all is complicated when she discovers their hired bus driver, Micah Davenport, has a hidden agenda of his own–one involving both of their mothers and an old box of journals. As they rely on each other to find the answers they seek, the surprising revelations they unearth will steer them toward their undeniable connection and may even lead them down the most unexpected of paths.

Find The Roads We Follow online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #325 | Over the Rainbow (Trinity Lakes #8) by Meredith Resce

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from the next book in the Trinity Lakes contemporary Christian romance series, Over the Rainbow by Meredith Resce.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

Arianne Rayne inhaled a deep breath of determination. This was going to be hard.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Over the Rainbow

Cover image - Over the Rainbow by Meredith ResceWhat a difference a year makes.

Last year, Arianne Rayne was playing college basketball and looking forward to a permanent future with her boyfriend.

This year, she is learning to live with disability.

After walking away from an accident he’d caused by reckless driving, her boyfriend walked away from her. The uncertainty of how life would look now that she had lost mobility was enough for him to break the relationship, and her heart.

Coming to Trinity Lakes to live with her stable, unflappable grandparents is hope for a new beginning and a chance to heal her heart. Away from her parents’ cloistered, cotton-wool approach, she hopes to learn how to live independently with the help of physiotherapist and trainers at the local gym.

Until she meets Matthew Kennedy. He might be buff and good looking, but he has no idea about how to relate to someone living with disability. He’s eligible, and he is certainly accessible, given he is one of her personal trainers, but will he ever see beyond her wheelchair? Arianne’s heart tells her it’s unlikely.

Until she is stranded, and Matthew is her only hope of getting home.

Find Over the Rainbow online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!