First Line Friday (week 90): The Thorn Healer by Pepper Basham

Posted January 26, 2018 by meezcarrie in Christian, First Line Fridays, historical, Pepper Basham, romance / 44 Comments


Happy Friday!

And welcome to First Line Fridays, hosted by Hoarding Books!!!

Since it’s Friday, it’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.


Since award season is beginning in bookdom, I thought it might be fun to feature some of the award nominees/finalists that I haven’t used for a FLF post before.

The book I’m featuring today is The Thorn Healer by Pepper Basham,
a nominee for the 2017 RT Reviewer’s Choice Awards!

And the first (two) lines are….

“Wounded soldiers returned from war as heroes. Wounded nurses returned as old maids.

I always love her first lines! Congrats, Pepper, on the much-deserved nomination!!


Let me know the first line of the book closest to you & then head over to Hoarding Books to see who else is participating!

First Line Fridays hosted by Hoarding Books

If you’re a blogger or just a social media-er, we’d love for you to join us too!

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44 responses to “First Line Friday (week 90): The Thorn Healer by Pepper Basham

  1. Gloria

    I just finished If I Live by Terri Blackstock and started Lethal Licorice by Amanda Flower. Here is the first line from Lethal Licorice:

    When the pig went missing, I know there would be trouble.

    Happy Friday!

  2. Caryl Kane

    I love Pepper and her swoon-worthy books!

    Salazar Sanso raised his binoculars and looked out over the edge of the steep drop into the rosy New Mexican desert. – Burn by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy

    Happy Friday and Happy Reading!

  3. Kay Garrett

    Berlin, Ohio 1900
    Grace Blauch pushed the door open to Grace and Sarah’s Dry Goods Shop on Wednesday morning and shut it against the August heat behind her.
    GRACE’S FORGIVENESS
    By Molly Jebber

  4. Happy Friday!

    My FLF comes from the book I’m reading now, Liza’s Second Chance by Molly Jebber!

    Lisa Schrock, clenched her teeth and dug her fingers in the fresh dough in her Amish bakery. The forced smiles, nods to her friends’ compliments, and suppressing the truth about her husband had been difficult, but she’d managed to keep her miserable marriage a secret.

    Have an awesome weekend and happy reading!

  5. Pepper

    Oh what a great thing to see today! Thank you so much, Carrie!! This story is such a fun one-and in my neck of the woods 🙂

  6. Winnie Thomas

    I loved this book! I need to find time to reread it!

    “Three hours into Saturday night dinner service and she was already running on fumes.” The Saturday Nigh Supper Club by Carla Laureano

  7. Fantastic lines and happy Friday! Mine are from Holly Blcak : “On a drowsy Sunday afternoon, a man in a long dark coat hesitated in front or a house on a tree-lined street. He hadn’t parked a car, nor had he come by taxi. No neighbor had seen him strolling along the sidewalk. He simply appeared, as if stepping between one shadow and the next.”

  8. Paula S.

    My first line is from a book but Andrea Boeshaar: My Heat Belongs in the Shenandoah Valley. Part of the first page fourth paragraph down.

    A light breeze cooled the sudden perspiration on Mac’s brow. The war was over. Besides, Father was counting on him to make something of himself— prove the gossips wrong— in this new land in the Shenandoah Valley.

    I need to re read these historical books by Pepper. So different from her contemporary ones!

  9. Melissa

    “An Ambassador’s Secret

    Miss Elaina” – this is a fairy tale rendition of Cinderella unlike others I have read.

    Cinders, Stars, and Glass Slippers by Brittany Fichter

  10. Great first lines. The first line on my blog is from a novel by Michelle Griep, The Captive Heart. Here, I will share the first line of Chapter 5 from the book I’m currently reading, The Captivating Lady Charlotte by Carolyn Miller “It was entirely possible that the excitement of last month’s come-out ball was about to be surpassed.”

    Have a wonderful weekend!

  11. Becky Smith

    LOVED this book!! Happy Friday! (What’s left!) My first lines (sorry, but I included the 2nd) is from These Healing Hills by Ann H. Gabhart:

    “Francine Howard stepped off the bus into another world. She should have been prepared.”

  12. Great first line!
    I’m sharing the first line from Susie Finkbeiner’s A Trail of Crumbs on my blog, but here is the first line from the novel that follows, A Song of Home:

    “It was no surprise to me that I’d lost track of time.”

  13. Ahh, August. <3 What a hero. What a tennis player. 😉

    I have the first line from Tamara Leigh's latest release, The Awakening, on my blog, but here I'm going to share the first line from my current read, 'Weaver's Needle' by Robin Caroll:

    "Unless you get one of those miracles they're always talking about in church, I don't see how you'll be able to keep the business open into spring."

    Have a great weekend. 🙂

  14. Oh, sounds fascinating!

    I’m sharing the first line from Aint Misbehaving by Marji Laine on my blog. I’m currently reading My Sister’s Prayer by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould. It’s the middle book in a trilogy and I really shouldn’t have read the third book first, because it did ruin some of the big-picture suspense. Here’s the first line:

    The cry for help came as I was coasting toward the bicycle rack at the far end of the story.

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