Category: First Line Friday

9 August 2024

First Line Friday #350 | Home Town Melody by Milla Holt

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 Home Town Melody, the new release from Milla Holt, which has some of my favourite tropes: rock star romance, reunion romance, and secret baby.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Home Town Melody

Everything is at stake when a Christian recording artist learns he fathered a child during a one-night stand.

It was just one lapse in self-control, one poor decision, one night when he was in a dark place.

Since then, Levi Falconer has done his best to move past that almost-forgotten illicit encounter. No one knows what he did, and he and his brothers are bringing their contemporary Christian music band back together for a long-awaited reunion album. But he’s about to learn that his night of forbidden passion resulted in a little boy.

Highschool dropout Adria Baines got her real education from the school of hard knocks. After aging out of foster care, she’s no stranger to struggles. She planned on making her own way, even after a surprise pregnancy. But when she runs out of options, she realizes she’ll have to do the one thing she swore she’d never do: get help from the father of her child.

Levi and Adria never should have met. But their lives are on a collision course once again as they learn how God can transpose the broken chords of their mistakes into a beautiful melody.

Find Home Town Melody 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!

2 August 2024

First Line Friday #349 | Dead Ahead (Ruthless #1) by Susan J Bruce

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 Dead Ahead by Australian author Susan J Bruce, which is the first book in her new mystery-meets-rom com series, Ruthless the Killer.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Dead Ahead

A deliciously twisty Aussie cozy mystery with a side of rom-com!

Ruth is desperate for a fresh start, but a body in her shed, an inconvenient romantic attraction, and a secret childhood reputation as a ‘harbinger of death’ get in the way.

As they do…

Murder and mayhem mingle with matters of the heart as Ruth soon discovers the town holds buried secrets and scandals—some of which may even involve her own late father.

But when a close friend goes missing, and the police fear the worst, all Ruth can think about is unravelling the mystery and finding her friend.

Can Ruth solve the crime in time to save her friend? Will she succeed or will bad luck be the death of her?

Dead Ahead has slow-burn romance, heaps of heart, murder and mayhem, small town vibes, friends who care, a grumpy cat and a mysterious meta plot. The final HEA of the romantic subplot will be at the end of the series—but there will be lots of fun in-between.

Find Dead Ahead 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!

25 July 2024

First Line Friday #348 | Imminent Danger by Tara Grace Ericson

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m reading Imminent Danger, a romantic suspense novel by Tara Grace Ericson. I used to read a lot of romantic suspense, but this is the first I’ve read in a while.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Imminent Danger

He’s desperate to protect this single mom and her daughter, but what if he’s putting them at an even bigger risk?

Kaylie Richards will do anything to protect and provide for her daughter. Which is why she works herself to the bone cleaning houses during the day and writing late into the evening. She doesn’t know anything about the mysterious single man she cleans for. But it wouldn’t matter, anyway. He’s just another client and she can’t afford anyone getting too close.

Anthony (Tank) Olson knows he’s not a warm and cuddly guy. Most people steer clear when they see him. So when Kaylie and her adorable toddler crash into his orbit, Tank keeps expecting them to run. Instead, he finds himself wrapped around the little girl’s finger and longing to win the approval of her mother.

When Kaylie’s past finds her, she runs to the only place she can think of–the safety of a giant of a man she knows instinctively can protect her family.

Tank steps in without a second thought, but will the dangers of his own work bring more risk to the ladies who have quickly taken up residence in his heart?

Find Imminent Danger 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!

19 July 2024

First Line Friday #347 | Sure About You by Jaycee Weaver

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 Sure About You by Jaycee Weaver, a Christian rom-com I recently downloaded free on Kindle.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Sure About You

She’d had her future perfectly planned. Now? She’s not so sure.

Isley:

Three things I love—quality food, eighties rom coms, and my custom-made planner.

Three things I loathe—internet trolls, traveling, and Walter Paxton.

Anita runs our online news site DFW Daily, and she’s dangling my dream job like the proverbial carrot. Now my weekend getaway to finally meet my online almost-maybe-sort of-boyfriend in LA has become a work trip with the man who irritates me most. So why do I find myself relying on him with every bump in the road (literally and metaphorically)? And why does he smell like a moonlit forest waterfall? Before this trip, my life was all planned out, but now I’m not so sure.

Pax:

Three things I love—stargazing, coffee, and pushing Isley’s buttons.

There’s no point in talking about dislikes. It’s more fun to take things in stride and enjoy all that life has to offer. Do I want Isley for a babysitter on this trip? Of course not. Though needling her is almost as fun as rescuing her. There’s plenty of both when nothing on this road trip goes according to her perfect plans. I’m in the driver’s seat, but she’s the one driving me crazy. Only I’m not so sure it’s in a bad way.

A shorter version of this book previously appeared in The 80s Rom-Com Club collection with books from Betsy St. Amant, Teresa Tysinger, Mikal Dawn, Bell Renshaw, and Jennifer Rodewald featuring contemporary twists on classic 80s movies. This newly expanded edition has been fully rewritten with significant changes and is about 30% longer than its predecessor.

As with all of Jaycee’s books, you can expect plenty of faith-friendly chemistry, banter, and kisses with no spice.

Find Sure About 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!

12 July 2024

First Line Friday #346 | The Blooming of Delphinium by Holly Varni

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m currently reading The Blooming of Delphinium by Holly Varni, the second book in her Moonberry Lake series.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About The Blooming of Delphinium

As far as hidden talents go, Delphinium Hayes is blessed with one of the more unique ones. With the slightest passing whiff, she knows someone’s most admirable or weediest characteristic. This peculiar perception never fails to give her an advantage in life–until she meets two men who turn her world upside down.

Mason McCormack has agreed to help her with a group of seniors who have taken over her flower shop as their hangout. But his assistance is not without its price, and Delphinium agrees to compensate him with beautiful bouquets that seem to possess a bit of dating magic.

Elliot Sturgis, director of The Gardens Assisted Living Facility, is determined to discover why a group of his residents keeps sneaking over to Delphinium’s shop to play poker in the walk-in refrigerator. He soon finds himself as enchanted by Delphinium as everyone else. But his devotion to following the rules and maintaining order does not endear him to the shop’s owner.

Sparks fly as opposites attract and love finds a match in Delphinium’s Flora Emporium–even for those who resist it the most.

Find The Blooming of Delphinium 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 July 2024

First Line Friday #345 | Heroes of Purple Heart Ranch by Shanae Johnson

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 On His Bended Knee by Shanae Johnson, the first story in the compilation Heroes of Purple Heart Ranch, which is currently free on Kindle.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Heroes of Purple Heart Ranch

In this collection of wholesome military romance novels, Active Duty, Retired Veterans, and Wounded Warriors all come to find out that love can truly heal all wounds in these light-hearted, sweet romances of convenient arrangements that unfold into lasting love on the Purple Heart Ranch!

In On His Bended Knee, in order to save his beloved ranch for wounded veterans, Dylan must get married. Maggie needs to find a home for her and her special needs dogs. A marriage of convenience could solve both their problems, but can two wounded souls believe in the power of true love?

In The Rancher takes his Convenient Bride, insta-love alters the plan when an Army Ranger makes a calculated deal to wed a female rancher in a modern day marriage of convenience.

In His Pledge to Honor, a general’s daughter can rehabilitate the most wounded of horses. But when an injured soldier shows up at her ranch as part of her father’s last command, will she follow his lead down a trail of love?

In His Vow to Love, Air Force Pilot Charlie Matthews has flown to the farthest reaches of the world, but he can never seem to reconnect with his first, and only love. Will their latest reunion finally land them on a path to forever?

Find Heroes of Purple Heart Ranch 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!

28 June 2024

First Line Friday #344 | Second Chance Sunset by Ellie Hall

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 Second Chance Sunset by new-to-me author Ellie Hall, which is currently free on Kindle. Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Second Chance Sunset

They say true love only happens once in a lifetime. But what about a second chance with your first love?

Navy

College. Wait tables. Hospital. Repeat…until a customer with a smoldering smirk makes an offer I have to refuse…well, until I face cold, hard reality.

If I marry him so he can get his green card, I’ll be able to pay the bills. The only problem is, I was in love with him once before.

Cooper

I’ve heard all it takes is one look. Try two. When I see the sassy sweetheart of a waitress, I do a double take. Newsflash, she’s off-limits.

They say money can’t buy happiness…or a green card. However, it can buy a quick marriage of convenience. But that will cost me, especially since we have a past that I have to keep secret.

Find Second Chance Sunset 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!

21 June 2024

First Line Friday #343 | Jesus and John Wayne by Kristen Kobes Du Mez

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line.

I’ve recently joined the local library, so this week I’m reading a book I found in the library that’s been on my to-read list since it released: the eye-opening Jesus and John Wayne by scholar Kristin Kobes Du Mez.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Jesus and John Wayne

Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism, revealing how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism―or in the words of one modern chaplain, with “a spiritual badass.”

As acclaimed scholar Kristin Du Mez explains, the key to understanding this transformation is to recognize the centrality of popular culture in contemporary American evangelicalism. Many of today’s evangelicals might not be theologically astute, but they know their VeggieTales, they’ve read John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart, and they learned about purity before they learned about sex―and they have a silver ring to prove it. Evangelical books, films, music, clothing, and merchandise shape the beliefs of millions. And evangelical culture is teeming with muscular heroes―mythical warriors and rugged soldiers, men like Oliver North, Ronald Reagan, Mel Gibson, and the Duck Dynasty clan, who assert white masculine power in defense of “Christian America.” Chief among these evangelical legends is John Wayne, an icon of a lost time when men were uncowed by political correctness, unafraid to tell it like it was, and did what needed to be done.

Challenging the commonly held assumption that the “moral majority” backed Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 for purely pragmatic reasons, Du Mez reveals that Trump in fact represented the fulfillment, rather than the betrayal, of white evangelicals’ most deeply held values: patriarchy, authoritarian rule, aggressive foreign policy, fear of Islam, ambivalence toward #MeToo, and opposition to Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ community.

A much-needed reexamination of perhaps the most influential subculture in this country, Jesus and John Wayne shows that, far from adhering to biblical principles, modern white evangelicals have remade their faith, with enduring consequences for all Americans.

Find Jesus and John Wayne 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!

15 June 2024

First Line Friday #342 | Lean on Me by Beth Moran

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line.

I’m a little late getting my post up this week because I opened Lean on Me by English author Beth Moran, read the first line … and kept right on reading.

Faith is barely getting by financially, supports her drug-addict brother, and is engaged to a self-made millionaire (which wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for his mother and the hideous wedding dress she insists Faith wear).

At first, it felt like Faith was a bit of a doormat, something that is common in rom-com or women’s fiction stories told in first-person point of view, as Lean on Me is. But the further I got into the story, the more I realised I was wrong.

Faith is a survivor who is doing her absolute best with the rubbish hand she’s been dealt in life. She’s a strong character, but it takes her a while to realise how strong she is.

It’s an excellent story (although I would add trigger warnings for off-the-page implied abuse).

Anyway, here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Lean on Me

As Faith tries on her future mother-in-law’s wedding dress in preparation for her own wedding, her tears are not of joy. The hideous frock is nicknamed ‘The Ghost Web’ by Faith’s best friend Marilyn, who can’t understand why Faith would even consider wearing it. But there’s a lot Marilyn doesn’t know about Faith – not the least of which is that Faith is just the latest of the names she has called herself.

Faith and her brother Sam survived a traumatic childhood which included having to change their names to hide from the past, but surviving has left scars. Faith’s generous fiancé Perry doesn’t just promise to be a partner, he offers freedom and security, and enough kindness to keep Faith squashing down any doubts on what ‘being in love’ really means.

It’s not until she meets an extraordinary group of women at the Grace Chapel choir, that things start to become crystal clear. As choir-leader extraordinaire, the indomitable Hester, holds a mirror up to her ragtag group of singers, all with their own burdens and insecurities, and teaches them to see how magnificent they are, so Faith can dare to dream of a future where she and Sam can stop running and she might even be ready to accept the love that she deserves.

Find Lean on Me 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!

7 June 2024

First Line Friday #341 | It’s All Relative by Rachel Mcgee

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 It’s All Relative by Rachel Mcgee, a new-to-me author. I love illustrated covers, and this looks fun.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About It’s All Relative

Helena’s a “fly by the seat of her pants” kind of girl. Amelia’s got her perfect life planned down to the minute. How will they ever get through their parents’ wedding–let alone a life as stepsisters–without ripping each other apart?

Twenty-seven-year-old Helena Crosby is over her mom Nora’s wedding–and it hasn’t even happened yet. For months, Helena’s been dreading the day she and Nora would become part of The Perfects, aka the Maddox family, led by oldest perfect daughter Amelia. Her complete opposite in every way, Amelia owns a house, runs her father’s architecture firm, and is engaged to her also perfect (and dreamy) fiancé Gage, all before the age of thirty. Helena has no idea how she’s going to fit into this family with their fancy traditions and strict timetables. Thankfully, her best friend Landon is joining the festivities as her emotional support plus one–and the perfect buffer between her and her new family.

Amelia Maddox has spent months planning the perfect wedding week for her dad Steve and his bride-to-be Nora. She’d planned for every consistency . . . except for her new free spirited stepsister’s deadly shellfish allergy, her brother’s insistence on blowing up his life, and an unexpected guest on Helena’s arm. A guest she hasn’t seen in years. A guest who held her heart years before her fiancé Gage ever did . . . her ex Landon Blake. But no matter–Amelia’s kept the Maddox family together since her mother died a few years ago. She’s not going to be thrown by Landon’s deep blue eyes and sun-bronzed forearms and the way he makes her feel all warm and cozy, like she’s come home to herself. Nope. She has duties to attend to: being the best daughter, sister, fiancée, boss, and wedding coordinator. And she’s going to bring her Eldest Daughter Energy to it all and push down those inconvenient feelings, no matter what.

Through a whirlwind week of wedding activities and a few near disasters, both Amelia and Helena realize that sometimes the blueprints for the perfect family and relationship look better on paper than in real life–and that family isn’t only made of the people you’re born with. Family is also made of the people we choose over and over again.

Find It’s All Relative 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.