I love a good book cover. I’ll often stop to read the back cover if the front cover catches my eye. Sometimes those books pan out, and sometimes they don’t. A cover doesn’t tell you a lot about an author’s writing, after all.
So, what do I like even more than a captivating cover? A fabulous first line. If the very first line of a book pulls me in, there’s a pretty good chance it’s a book I’ll willingly lose sleep to read. (Which, honestly, isn’t always a good thing…but I still love it when it happens!)
Just in case you have a few Christmas gift cards burning a hole in your pocket (wholly allocated to book-buying, of course), I thought you might enjoy some first lines from some of our Inspy Romance Authors. If a first line – or three or five – grab you and you want to know more, click on the cover image, and it’ll take you to the Amazon page for that book.
Enjoy!
“Mistletoe Make-Believe” by Amy Anguish (in the Candy Cane Wishes and Saltwater Dreams collection)
Together in Thyme by Valerie Comer
Love, like art, took on different forms with each creator.
The Art of Rivers by Janet W. Ferguson
“No, no, don’t flush the toilet!“
An Informal Arrangement by Heather Gray
There’s nothing more humbling than being told you need reading glasses.
Head Over Stilettos by Liwen Y. Ho
“You should probably know I don’t want to be here.”
The Marine’s Mission by Deb Kastner
“I truly think you’ve lost your mind,” my sister, Cait, says.
One She Never Expected by K. Leah
“Because it is a truth, that should be universally acknowledged, that the sister of a hockey player will forever have hockey in her future.”
The Breakup Project by Carolyn Miller
Really? Who gets dumped by two guys in one night?
Uptown Flirt by Lindi Peterson
If Thomas’s muscles could speak, they’d likely groan as loud as the door of his ’83 Bronco.
Glory Falls by Janine Rosche
There comes a point in every woman’s life where she must decide what to believe: the truth of the past or the circumstances of the present.
Enduring Love by Toni Shiloh
Harsh memories flashed through Juliane Keller’s mind as she stopped in the middle of the church aisle.
Hometown Promise by Merrillee Whren
Wishing you all a beautiful and blessed New Year!
A great first line can hook me in.
I find a great first line makes me want to keep reading!!
Happy New Year Heather! As you stated an eye catching book cover makes me want to read the blurb. An attention grabbing first line makes me want to read more. Unfortunately there have been occasions were 1/4 of the way into the story, the story stalled with too much description and not enough dialog. Thanks for sharing. Best wishes.
Oh these are fabulous! Thanks for listing Enduring Love!
These are great, and some are on my wishlist, with others in my TBR stack!
Love a good first line! Thanks for including The Breakup Project!
Love them! I have some of them on my TBR list. Happy New Year!
A great first line will pull me into the story every time too!
You can catch so much of the writer’s personality in that first line, especially if it’s a humorous book. ^_^
Yes! I want to be hooked by the end of the first chapter. It’s even better if I’m hooked by the end of the first page. If I’m hooked by the end of that first line, though, I know I’m in for a fabulous read! :-)
So true! A great first line isn’t a promise of a fabulous book – but it is a pretty good indicator.
Happy New Year to you, too, Renate! Thanks for stopping by the blog today!
Anytime! :-)
Hopefully you got some book-worthy gift cards for Christmas that will help out with that wishlist. (I got coffee gift cards…which are of just about as much importance as book ones. ^_^ )
Happy to share! :-)
Yay! I hope you love every single one of them! :-)
My heart does a little happy dance every time I read a first line that I love. ^_^
Great first lines are always great to read! They can get me hooked. May you and your family have a Very Happy and Blessed New Year.
Thank you so much for sharing. They are great first lines. God bless you. Happy New Year.
Happy New Year. Thank you so much for sharing. They are great first lines. God bless you.