Happy Friday to you! I’m turning the reins over to Melony Teague for today! Take it away, Mel!
The question has been asked, what is in a kiss? Cue the music,”a kiss is still a kiss….” and since I am on Carrie’s blog, and we all know she likes her Kissing Books – I could not resist.
But an equally compelling questions is, what is in a first line? The first line of a beautiful book. Authors know that this line is special for many different reasons. A first line is certainly NOT just a line in a book. It cracks open the door to the world of fiction, in shines a new setting, new characters and a whole new world between the pages of said book.
Today we are mixing things up a bit. After you have grabbed the book nearest (and perhaps dearest) to you, and you have quoted that first line (yes, I know sometimes you have to quote two lines, that’s ok)… this week we want to know what that first line evokes in you? Does it grab your attention? Does it stir up your curiosity? And if you like, you can share with us your favourite first line of all time.
I am going to share a first line (or two) with you to get us started, you can tell straight away things are going to get interesting in these books:
“Devin Bressard scarcely blinked when Grace tossed her sweet tea in his face.”
– Told you So by Kristen Heitzmann
“BRIDEZILLA! INCOMING!”
– Jilted by Carla Laureano
Your turn, and go!
Let us know your first line and why you love it and then head over to share your First Line with these friends:
Bookworm Mama || Singing Librarian Books || Faithfully Bookish || Radiant Light
Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen || All the Book Blog Names are Taken || Robin’s Nest
Fiction Aficionado || Bibliophile Reviews || Kathleen Denly || Lauraine’s Notes
…and welcome With A Joyful Noise to the group!
Melony Teague is a freelance writer who believes everyone has a story to tell and each story is unique and sometimes wilder than fiction. She loves to uncover the good news in society and writes human interest and community pieces. As co-author of As the Ink Flows, she loves to inspire and motivate others through her written words. In her spare time she reviews books and interviews authors. These reviews can be found on her website. Melony Teague was born in South Africa and immigrated to Canada. She now lives in Toronto with her husband and their two children.
Happy Friday!
My line is from “Women of the Twelfth Century” by Georges Duby. I cheated a little this week and included my first paragraph this time around.
“Beneath the dome of the church at Fontevraud – in the twelfth century, one of the largest and most prestigious abbeys for women in France – one sees today four recumbent statues, the remains of old funerary monuments, Three of them are carved from soft limestone: that of Henry Plantagenet, count of Anjou and Maine through his father, duke of Normandy and king of England through his mother; that of his son and successor, Richard Coeur de Lion; and that of Isabella of Angouleme, second wife of John Lackland, Richard’s brother, who became king in his turn in 1199. The fourth effigy, of painted wood, represents Eleanor, heiress to the duchy of Aquitaine, wife of Henry and mother of Richard and John; she died at Fontevraud, where she had finally taken the veil, on 31 March 1204.”
That first sentence is basically its own paragraph anyway 😉
I knew you’d understand 😉 I mean, really, how an I pick just ONE line about her?!?!
hahaha!
Happy Friday!! I have Told You So in my TBR list, but Jilted is new to me. My first line is: “The cheerful yellow house didn’t look all that imposing as Silas Jones stood in front of its fence for the fourth time that day.”
From For the Sake of the Children by Danica Favorite
oh that’s a great first line! It makes me want to find out who lives in the cheerful yellow house and why poor Silas is in front of the fence for the fourth time in one day 😀
I agree with Carrie, really gets the curiosity going !
Also, Becky, you can get Jilted for free by following the link.
Oh, those are great first-liners. I agree, first lines are super important. Yet, some of my favorite books don’t have amazing first lines (think some of Janette Oke…). My all-time favorite is what I shared on the blog today: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man, in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” (Pride and Prejudice, of course) It is one of those snarky first-lines that tells you this is going to be a book that takes you on a whirl with good humor. And Austen aces that (in my opinion 😉 ).
Austen is brilliant at that!!! Yes!!! Welcome to the gang, Amanda 🙂
Amanda, I love that first line too! ( They even use it in the Pride and Prejudice with Zombies movie! SOOOO GOOD! )
Thanks to Meez Carrie I have Told You So on my TBR list can’t wait to get to it 🙂
My First Line is: Local Woman Arrested for Stalking Favourite Author from Finding Mr Write by Carol Moncado
LOL love that first line!
This is a new author for me. 🙂
An Uncertain Choice
by Jody Hedlund
And the first line is…
Montfort Castle, Ashby
In the year of our Lord 1390
“My slippered feet slapped the dirt road, and my heart hammered aginst my chest like a battering ram.”
Happy reading and Happy Friday!
yay! Love her books!
I found the box in the attic of an old farmhouse in Norway.
~East by Edith Pattou
oooo now i want to know what was in the box!
“The wood-paneled walls of the boardroom were closing in.”
“The Memory of You” by Catherine West. What a great story and I am only half way through! . . love reading during my lunch hour on Fridays!
yay! I can’t wait until that one gets to the top of my TBR pile 😀
Oh my goodness Rebecca, make sure you have some Kleenex handy! I loved it!
It was the second time in fifteen minutes that the power had gone out at the church, and it was noticeably darker this time. The Reason by William Sirls
Happy Friday and happy reading!
oo that sounds mysterious!
Hi Carrie and Happy Friday!
My first line comes from Redeeming Grace by Jill Eileen Smith.
1297 BC
Naomi lifted the hem of her robe as her feet fairly flew down Bethlehem’s streets toward the outskirts of town.
hi Andi! I liked this book!
A high-pitched shriek echoed down the hall of the wedding chapel.
The Vegas Proposal by Julie Jarnagin
This is my current read and boy, that first line grabs my attention!
boy, does it!
“She felt his gaze upon her from the instant she stepped into the clubhouse ballroom.”
The Honorable Heir by Laurie Alice Eakes
All I have to say is: hook, line, sinker.
ooooo I still need to read this one!!! It’s on my “need to read SOON SOON SOON” list haha
” … for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord.” Ok if I was reading the Bible I may have a different reaction. But I am reading Moving Target by Lynette Eason, so my first thought was uh oh!
LOL yes – for sure!
‘And I sank down where I stood, and hid my face against the ground. I lay still a while; the night swept over the hill and over me and died moaning in the distance; the rain fell fast, wetting me afresh to the skin.’
From Murder on the Moor by Julianna Deering. The hero’s wife is reading Jane Eyre to him as he lay on the sofa, his head in her lap!
Le sigh.
i’m with Cara – le sigh. I just got this book in the mail today and i can’t wait to read it!!
Drew’s just dying to know what you think of him, Meez Carrie. 😉
the anticipation is mutual 😀
Thanks for the mention, Anne. I hope you’re enjoying the story. 🙂
DeAnna Dodson/Julianna Deering
I’ve shared my most memorable first line in other places, so forgive me if you’ve already seen this one. It’s the first line from Mike Nappa’s ‘Annabel Lee’:
“Uncle Truck keeps a German shepherd on his farm that’ll eat human fingers if you feed ’em to it just right.”
Gotta love a first line that grabs your attention like that!
Meanwhile, my other first line contribution this week comes from The Message in a Bottle Romance Collection:
1170 AD, Ciar’s Kingdom, Ireland
The skies were as unsettled as her own future.
1715, Argyllshire, Scotland
“Are ye ready, miss?”
Meg’s stomach twisted at Mother Aila’s question.
June 1798, New York City
Abigail Van de Klerk opened the door to the house she shared with her father on Pearl Street.
July 6, 1864, Roswell, Georgia
Water roared over the dam behind her, an echo of the blood rushing in her ears.
Late June 1890, Coronado Island, California
Cold water slid across his body, the dip and rise of the swell bringing challenge to his course.
lol those are a lot of lines 😀 I can’t wait to read that collection too!!
Walking down the main street in Deadwood is like stepping onto hell’s front porch.
~A Claim of Her Own by Stephanie Grace Whitson
It made me want to read on to learn *why* it deserved such a comparison and how the character was going to handle entering such a place. You can tell right away there is going to be trouble.
such a great first line!
Yay Mel!!!! “Scarlet was descending toward the alley behind the Rieux Tavern when her portscreen chimed from the passenger seat, followed by an automated voice: “Comm received for Mademoiselle Scarlet Benoit from the Toulouse Law Enforcement Department of Missing Persons.” – From Scarlet by Marissa Meyer – Book 2 in The Lunar Chronicles! Happy Friday!!!!
ooooo yay!!!! I just bought that and Cinder at Half Price Books today 😀
Hugs Rachel! So glad to have a YA fan here with me!