First Line Friday

First Line Friday | Week 42 | The Theory of Happily Ever After

It’s First Line Friday, which means it’s time to open the book nearest you and share the first line. Today I’m sharing from The Theory of Happily Ever After by Kristen Billerbeck. I’m actually sharing the first two lines, because the first line only makes sense if you also read the second.

Here’s the first line:

First line: Life is filled with irony. I mean, I wrote the book on bliss, and currently I am the most miserable person I know.

About The Theory of Happily Ever After

According to Dr. Maggie Maguire, happiness is serious science, as serious as Maggie takes herself. But science can’t always account for life’s anomalies–for instance, why her fiancé dumped her for a silk-scarf acrobat and how the breakup sent Maggie spiraling into an extended ice cream-fueled chick flick binge.

Concerned that she might never pull herself out of this nosedive, Maggie’s friends book her as a speaker on a “New Year, New You” cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. Maggie wonders if she’s qualified to teach others about happiness when she can’t muster up any for herself. But when a handsome stranger on board insists that smart women can’t ever be happy, Maggie sets out to prove him wrong. Along the way she may discover that happiness has far less to do with the head than with the heart.

Filled with memorable characters, snappy dialogue, and touching romance, Kristin Billerbeck’s The Theory of Happily Ever After shows that the search for happiness may be futile–because sometimes happiness is already out there searching for you.

You can find The Theory of Happily Ever After online at:

Amazon | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

Click the button to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today:

You can then click the link which will take you to the master page of all this week’s #FirstLineFriday posts.

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

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

20 comments

  1. Suzie says:

    I finished this one last night. 🙂 Now I’m on to the next read…

    “‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.’” No, I’m not reading Pride and Prejudice (again), but am reading a retelling by Debra White Smith: First Impressions.

    Have a wonderful weekend!

  2. Susan Dyer says:

    Happy Friday!😎

    My First Line comes from a book I’m reading now, The Ones We Choose by Julie Clark…..

    If loneliness were a color, it would be the deep purple of my eight year old’s shirt as he walks solitary laps around the school track.

    Have a great weekend and happy reading!😊📚📚

    • Iola says:

      I love that line. It’s sad, but the way it evokes emotion is what makes it so good. Thanks for sharing, and have a great weekend!

  3. Trisha says:

    I’ve seen this one several times on other’s blogs. I may need to find a copy to read 🙂 Thank you for sharing the first line! Have a nice weekend!

  4. Becky Smith says:

    Oh, my, what a meme! You had me laughing but feeling sorry for the person!
    Happy Friday! My first line is from Robin Mason’s The Silent Song of Winter.

    ” The sounds of the swamp in winter would scare another person but not me.”

    • Iola says:

      I always enjoy a little irony myself 🙂

      I love your first line. I’m not sure what a swamp sounds like in winter, but the author has definitely set up a great atmosphere.

  5. Great first line. I can’t wait to read this book!

    Happy Friday!

    Today, I am showcasing Karen Barnett’s novel Where the Fire Falls (#2 in her Shadows of the Wilderness series) over on my blog. Here I will share the first lines from chapter 2.

    “Clark grunted as he jostled the bags under his arm and clambered up the stairs. At her disposal? First change he got, he’d be setting this little minx straight.”

    Have a great weekend!

    • Iola Goulton says:

      I haven’t read this, but is sounds like fun (although I suspect Clark might not get his chance to set that little minx straight …)

      Have a great weekend, and happy reading!

  6. BECCA WEIDEL says:

    Happy Friday!
    The book I’m sharing this week on my blog is Grace in Strange Disguise but here I’ll share from The Calling of Emily Evans by Janette Oke, which is the book I featured for my Memorable Monday post this week: “Emily Evans lifted a slender hand and pushed back a wisp of wayward brown hair.” Have a great weekend! 🙂

    • Iola says:

      The Calling of Emily Evans was one of my favourite standalone Janette Oke novels. Emily was a character I could really admire.

      I enjoyed Grace in Strange Disguise. I’m lucky enough to have betaread an early draft of the sequel, and it’s even better 🙂

      Have a great weekend!

  7. Beth Erin says:

    Ugh, I want to read this book but can’t squeeze it in! I’m currently reading Where the Fire Falls by Karen Barnett. Here are the first couple of lines from chapter 10…
    “Clark strode into the Glacier Point Hotel. A burning sensation simmered in his gut, like his best campfire stew straight from the pot.”

  8. Yvette says:

    I’m sharing from a favorite re-read on my blog, but I’ll share from my current read here – a novel set in the 1920’s, Ramble and Roar by Catie Cordero:

    “I wasn’t looking for death. It found me. That’s what I tell myself.”

    Happy Friday!

  9. Janine says:

    That is a fabulous first line!

    My first lines come from Three Day Fiancee by Marissa Clarke.

    The perfect day for Caitlin Ramos started with a steaming shower at exactly five fifty-five, a double shot espresso from Zeke’s Deli at six forty-five, and a twelve-minute walk up Sixth Avenue where she’d begin her first appointment clean, caffeinated, and on time.

    Today was not a perfect day.

    I’m featuring lines from Cora Brent’s new release In This Life on my blog. It’s a gorgeous story! Stop by and check it out!

    • Iola Goulton says:

      I love that first line! (Although I’m not enough of a morning person to be up at 5:55am unless it’s to catch a plane …) Thanks for visiting, and have a great weekend!

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