Category: First Line Friday

18 October 2024

First Line Friday #361 | A Love Worth Waiting For by Lara Van Hulzen

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 from the next book on my to-read-and-review list, which is A Love Worth Waiting For, the first book in Lara Van Hulzen’s new Nearlake series.

I love the cover! Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About A Love Worth Waiting For

Sadie Woods leads a structured life, and she likes it that way. As owner of her family’s antique store in the town where she grew up, she is surrounded by history. The past is full of intrigue and rich memories, while the present has bills piling up, her aunt battling breast cancer, and a future full of unknowns that have her grasping for hope.

Former professional football star James Larsen just wants a quiet life for himself and his teenage daughter, Maddie. Being Deputy Sheriff in the town he calls home is just right. In the wake of his wife’s death, he’s able to heal without too much attention, and life has become a comfortable routine he appreciates.

When Sadie’s shop is supposedly broken into, and James is the police officer called to the scene, the faded memories of attending high school together stir a connection neither of them is prepared for. While Sadie is knee-deep in trying to save her store, James is hesitant to let another woman into his and his daughter’s lives.

Both hesitant to trust, Sadie and James must brave a path that includes believing there is a love worth waiting for.

Find A Love Worth Waiting For 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!

11 October 2024

First Line Friday #360 | The Relationtrip by Elana Johnson

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 from The Relationtrip (no, that’s not a typo. Yes, that’s a clever title!) by Elana Johnson. It’s a friends-to-more romance, and that is one of my favourite tropes (which you may have guessed if you’re read my debut novel, Always By My Side.

Anyway, back to The Relationtrip: here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About The Relationtrip

Question: What do a reclusive author and an outgoing real estate agent have in common?

Answer: Nothing.

But fate brought them together on a vacation five years ago, and as Logan and Sloane prepare for their annual get-together, there are sparks flying between them.

Sloane:

When Logan Murphy, my accidental best friend, calls to say our annual mid-winter trip has to be “redone,” he’s already got the solution.

Belize. An adults-only resort, and we leave in two days.

I’m giddy with excitement, because I need this trip more than I can express. When I see Murph standing in the airport, my heart twitches to a beat it hasn’t since my fiancé left me to tell our friends and family that he couldn’t make it to the wedding.

So it’s a short-lived twitch, because I’m never going to get into the dating boxing ring again—and least of all with my best friend.

Logan:

I’ve never told Sloane what I do for a living, and she doesn’t know how I feel about her either. But I want her to know all of my secrets.

I want my best friend in my life more than once a year, and I’ve already started penning a happily-ever-after for the two of us.

This year, I tell myself, as my crush on the vibrant woman is at least two years old now.

If only I knew how to tell her…

This is a standalone, slow-burn travel romance that will make you smile, gasp, and cheer for Logan and Sloane as they figure out who they are…and who they want—at home or on vacation.

Find The Relationtrip 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!

5 October 2024

First Line Friday #359 | Wrapped Up In You by Jennifer Carr

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 from Wrapped Up In You by new-to-me author Jennifer Carr.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Wrapped Up In You

Nash Montgomery is always up for a good time. But when a senior prank goes too far, his baseball scholarship is put at risk, threatening the future everyone expects him to follow. The consequences earn him community service at a local youth center where he discovers a passion that defies the path he thought had been laid out for him.

Cassidy is a talented musician trapped under the weight of her mother’s ambitious dreams for her. Desperate to carve out her own identity, she struggles to find her voice amidst the noise of others’ expectations.

Their worlds collide in Nashville when both earn a spot on Real American Country, a new reality TV competition for aspiring country stars. As they navigate the pressures of the spotlight, they’ll have to decide if they’re chasing their own dreams—or someone else’s. And along the way, they’ll discover that getting wrapped up in the right person can bring out the best in themselves.

Wrapped Up in You is a heartwarming tale about breaking free from the expectations of others, finding love, and discovering that the best path is the one you create for yourself.

Find Wrapped Up In You 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!

27 September 2024

First Line Friday #358 | Starry Nights Anthology

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 Out of Play by Angela Ruth Strong, which is the first story in the Starry Nights anthology collection, part of the A Summer to Remember collection.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Starry Nights

Out of Play – Angela Ruth Strong

When single mom Bex Lemaire is asked to step down as her eight-year-old daughter’s soccer coach for getting too competitive, she’s hoping the new coach will let her assist. Former child star Skylar Hayes agrees to take over the team as research for his comeback role. At first, he mistakes Bex for a raving fan but eventually realizes she’s only crazy about soccer, which gives her the skills needed to train him. She’s all work, while he likes to play, but together, they just might win.

Lauren’s Second Chance – Carrie Padgett

Lauren’s Second Chance is a contemporary romance for readers who love sun, sand, and satisfying endings. Lauren and Mason were each other’s first loves, until life broke them apart. A decade later, when the opportunity arises to appear with Mason on a reality show, Lauren is conflicted. She needs this show for what it means to a project near to her heart. But can she keep that heart safe from the man who broke it once?

Grab your shades and SPF 30 sunscreen to dive into a reality television dating show story where first love is also forever love.

Her Cowboy Champion – Tabitha Bouldin

It’s true that money can’t buy happiness. No one knows that better than Sage Rhett after her boyfriend steals her photography business and leaves her penniless. Heartbroken, faith shattered, she returns to Apple Creek–the last place she called home.

Maverick Pierce is used to people seeing him for the money attached to his family name. As a Pierce, he’s afforded anything that money can buy, but the one thing he wants can never be bought.

When Sage accepts a job working at the Pierce ranch, Maverick discovers he never stopped loving the fiery cowgirl who broke his heart when she left twelve years ago. If he wants to win her over, he’ll have to do more than flash a little money. This second chance, rags to riches, cowboy romance pits love against responsibility as Sage and Maverick struggle to overcome their history and trust God for a happily ever after.

Love in the Lyrics – Bell Renshaw

Liberty “Libby” Taylor has maxed out on space for her equine therapy business. The best way to gain the capital she needs in order to expand requires a bit of subterfuge, but that will also mean pulling one over on her new boss.

Singer and songwriter Harland Grey left LA for Winter, Montana in the hopes of finding peace from the demons of his not-so-distant past, but purchasing Melody Ranch may not hold the answers he’s looking for.

Thrown together, sparks fly between the two, but will the secrets kept between them finally be what tears them apart?

Find Starry Nights 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!

20 September 2024

First Line Friday #357 | Snow Globe Secrets by Laura Thomas

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 Snow Globe Secrets by Laura Thomas, a new-to-me author.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Snow Globe Secrets

Shootings. Snow globes. Secrets.

When successful realtor, Alexis James, witnesses a shooting outside the bookstore in her hometown of Hollybrook, she soon realizes the perpetrator has unfinished business, and now she is caught in the crossfire.

Tom Harrington is a British, best-selling author who needs to honor a promise and find some answers in this Canadian winter wonderland—but trouble follows him across the ocean.

He read her like a book from the beginning…

As Alexis is swept up in a festive whirlwind of danger and love, Tom attempts to break through her ice queen persona. But when chilling walls close in, they both have to decide: can they share their truth, rekindle their faith, and risk their lives if they have any hope for a Happily Ever After?

Find Snow Globe Secrets 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!

13 September 2024

First Line Friday #356 | The Color of Home by Kit Tosello

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 from The Color of Home by debut author Kit Tosello. I have no idea what to expect, but after reading the first line of the book description, I knew this was a book I wanted to read.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

And that just confirms my first impression. I

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

About The Color of Home

Audrey Needham, Bay Area interior designer to the rich and pretentious, is down to her last nerve. Her boss is impossible to please, her future is in jeopardy, and her great-aunt Daisy needs support as her husband descends into Alzheimer’s.

When Daisy enlists Audrey’s help preparing for a move to assisted living, Audrey risks her career to return to the idyllic small town of Charity Falls, Oregon, the summer stomping grounds of her childhood. But Charity Falls was also the place that broke her heart when her father was killed in a tragic fire at the Sugar Pine Inn thirteen years ago.

Despite Audrey’s intent to avoid emotional entanglement, the pull of home is hard to resist. Something should be done about the deteriorating inn. A local girl with an incarcerated father needs a friend. And handsome local do-gooder Cade Carter is coloring Audrey all shades of uncertain.

Join award-winning writer and debut novelist Kit Tosello in this lyrical and often humorous exploration of how God redeems brokenness and draws us to the life we’re meant to find.

Find The Color of Home 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!

6 September 2024

First Line Friday #355 | Lumen (Nightingale #2) by JJ Fischer

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 Lumen, the second book in JJ Fischer’s Nightingale trilogy.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Lumen

What if erasing the past cost more than you were willing to pay?

Having narrowly escaped their enemies, Sephone, Dorian, and Cass continue their search for the elusive Silvertongue, the only one with knowledge of the Reliquary’s whereabouts. But time is running out for Sephone, and with Dorian accused of high treason, the quest takes on a new urgency.

As secrets from each of their pasts drive a wedge between them, Sephone invests all her hopes in finding her homeland, Lethe—where her family may yet be alive. But nothing about Lethe is as she expects, and disappointment, betrayal, and danger await her at every turn.

When the truth about the Reliquary’s curse comes to light, the fragile bonds between the unlikely companions are tested like never before. Meanwhile, Dorian faces a terrible choice: to save the life of one who is beginning to mean more to him than the past he’s so desperate to forget, or to save his beloved Caldera from dangers outside and within.

Find Lumen 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!

30 August 2024

First Line Friday #353 | Valerie Rose by Liz Chapman

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 from Valerie Rose, from new-to-me author Liz Chapman.

(I found this book as part of the Aussie August promotion, and it’s currently on sale for 99 cents.)

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Valerie Rose

Sometimes searching for love is like waiting for the rain.

When single mum Valerie Rose arrives in Everlynn Valley in the middle of a drought, she doesn’t expect to be dousing a perfect stranger with her iced latte. Perfect, and off limits. As chaplain at her son’s new school, Owen is definitely… maybe?… surely not an appropriate dating choice… at all…

Owen Campbell has been stuck in a rut of people-pleasing and conflict suppression all his life. He’s too nice. But when the new kid, Kai, is picked on at school, it tugs at Owen’s inner child. Years of bullies getting away with bad behaviour stops now. What Owen doesn’t expect is for Kai’s mum, Valerie, to pull at his heart in a different way entirely.

Meanwhile, Nettie Jones, a prayer warrior and spiritual godmother to many, feels led by the Lord to cover Valerie and Owen in prayer. But will it be enough when disaster and devastation hit Everlynn Valley? Or will Valerie and Owen’s hope for the future be extinguished for good?

Find Valerie Rose online at:

Amazon | 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!

23 August 2024

First Line Friday #352 | The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay

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 Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay. It’s not advertised as Christian fiction, but her first few novels were Christian romance so I’m hopeful.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About The Berlin Letters

From the time she was a young girl, Luisa Voekler has loved solving puzzles and cracking codes. Brilliant and logical, she’s expected to quickly climb the career ladder at the CIA. But while her coworkers have moved on to thrilling Cold War assignments—especially in the exhilarating era of the late 1980s—Luisa’s work remains stuck in the past decoding messages from World War II.

Journalist Haris Voekler grew up a proud East Berliner. But as his eyes open to the realities of postwar East Germany, he realizes that the Soviet promises of a better future are not coming to fruition. After the Berlin Wall goes up, Haris finds himself separated from his young daughter and all alone after his wife dies. There’s only one way to reach his family—by sending coded letters to his father-in-law who lives on the other side of the Iron Curtain.

When Luisa Voekler discovers a secret cache of letters written by the father she has long presumed dead, she learns the truth about her grandfather’s work, her father’s identity, and why she has never progressed in her career. With little more than a rudimentary plan and hope, she journeys to Berlin and risks everything to free her father and get him out of East Berlin alive.

As Luisa and Haris take turns telling their stories, events speed toward one of the twentieth century’s most dramatic moments—the fall of the Berlin Wall and that night’s promise of freedom, truth, and reconciliation for those who lived, for twenty-eight years, behind the bleak shadow of the Iron Curtain’s most iconic symbol.

Find The Berlin Letters 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!

16 August 2024

First Line Friday #351 | The Larkspur House by Carla Laureano

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 Larkspur House, the third (and hopefully not final) book in Carla Laureano’s Haven Ridge series.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About The Larkspur House

Rose Cameron holds the record for bad decisions. Not only did she drop out of grad school to get married, but her husband wasn’t who he pretended to be—and his shady business dealings threatened both her reputation and her freedom.

With no job, no friends, and her bank account nearing zero, an online job posting offers a place to escape from her shattered life: house assistant in a historic manor in the tiny town of Haven Ridge, Colorado.

But the Larkspur House isn’t the refuge she expected. For one thing, it’s not just a house, but a derelict, honest-to-goodness American castle. For another, the co-inheritor of the house—the brusque, uptight Will Parker—makes no secret of his desire to see her gone.

He’s more interested in selling the place before it crumbles into the Colorado landscape or bankrupts the trust that maintains it.Just when Rose is convinced she’s made yet another terrible decision, she stumbles upon hidden secrets within Larkspur House’s storied history—ones that could bridge the gap between her and Will, making Haven Ridge her forever home.

But try as she might, Rose can’t escape her past…and her own secrets just might destroy the new life she’s begun building.

Find The Larkspur House 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.