Books: First Lines Fridays 30th October 2026
Ready for another First Lines Friday? It's that time of the week when we judge a book not by it's cover or even by its blurb. Instead we will be judging it's ability to hook us from the opening lines. Let's see if this week's pick will have you adding it to your TBR list or not.
Disclosure: The FTC Disclosure Provision is a law that requires influencers to disclose when they are being paid to promote a product or service. So please know that if I'm not making money through affiliate links/sponsored content on the post you're currently reading, it's an oversight on my part and will be corrected soon. Read the full
disclosure about all the legal stuff here.
I'm participating in First Lines Fridays as I think it's a great way to highlight more of the books that are on my bookshelves.
What is First Lines Fridays?
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
- Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
- Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
- Finally… reveal the book!
My Pick For This Week
The first lines of the book:
I watch them through my window. They are almost obscured by the big white van parked in the drive. But I can just about see the woman, directing the men as they lug furniture into the house. She’s smiling. Her husband walks over and slips an arm around her. They hug for a second. There’s a big grin on his face too. Well, I guess they would be happy, wouldn’t they? Moving into a lovely new home in a leafy neighbourhood, a stone’s throw from the river. Their little girl runs over and clutches the woman’s leg with one arm. The other arm is pulling along a rainbow-coloured mini suitcase. They stand for a moment, picture-postcard perfect, before the woman pulls away and starts waving her arms at their movers. Seeing that little family unit, I feel more alone than ever, my nose pressed against a glass door that won’t open. They thought they were going to have an idyllic life in their new house, watching their daughter grow up happy and contented. I take one last look, before forcing myself to turn away. Should have been me.
Do you know which book this is from? Scroll down to find out!
And the book is...
Book synopsis The Woman at No.3 by Rebecca Collomosse
The moment we moved in, I knew something was wrong.
We’ve finally found our dream home. It’s perfect for our little family: my hardworking husband Mike, my two-year-old daughter Poppy, and me. Three nice bedrooms. An Aga. A river view. And, best of all, a garden for Poppy to play in.
But something is off.
A cracked stove. Scribbles on the wall. The lights flicking off every evening — always at the same time. Our daughter crying in the night, pointing at the corner of her room. “She has no face.”
Then I met Josie, the woman at No.3.
Pale. Polite. Smiling. Obsessed. She knows things she shouldn’t. Offers to babysit my daughter again and again. And when I told her no — she didn’t like that.
Now the gifts are arriving. Notes through the door. A bottle left in the kitchen with no explanation. And my daughter won’t stop screaming in her sleep.
Everyone thinks I’m imagining it. But I know what I saw. What I heard.
We finally found our dream home. But what if our worst nightmare lives next door . . . ?
Where to find The Woman at No.3 by Rebecca Collomosse online:
Have you read this book? On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do these opening lines make you want to read the book?
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Book Spotlight: He Loves Me (Not) by Máire Zepf
Today I'm part of a virtual book tour organised by The Write Reads for He Loves Me (Not) by Máire Zepf. The tour for ‘He Loves Me (Not)' will run from 28th October - 3rd November 2026.
Disclosure: The FTC Disclosure Provision is a law that requires influencers to disclose when they are being paid to promote a product or service. So please know that if I'm not making money through affiliate links/sponsored content on the post you're currently reading, it's an oversight on my part and will be corrected soon. Read the full
disclosure about all the legal stuff here.
Genre: Thriller
Age Category: Young Adult
Publisher: Little Island
Number of Pages: 224 Pages
Publication Date: October 8, 2026
Book synopsis for He Loves Me (Not) by Máire Zepf
A chilling YA thriller told in verse about online romance, obsession and the dangers hiding behind a screen.He made her feel seen. Then she vanished without a trace.
Daisy has always been quiet – the kind of girl who fades into the background. So when she meets a boy online who really sees her, she falls fast. He listens. He understands. He makes her feel special in a way no one at school ever has. Soon, Daisy’s world shrinks to a glowing screen. Her mum worries. Her best friend Erin is pushed aside. But Daisy doesn’t notice – she’s in love.
Then Daisy goes to meet him in real life. And she never comes back.
Left behind with guilt and unanswered questions, Erin is forced to confront the truth Daisy never saw. In a world where screens can lie and love can be faked, how can anyone know who to trust?
Where to find He Loves Me (Not) by Máire Zepf online:
About the author
Máire Zepf has written over 16 books for children, from picture books to a YA verse novel. Winner of the Children's Books Ireland children’s Book of the Year, 5 Literature Association of Ireland Children’s Book Awards and 2 international White Ravens among many others, her books appear in 10 languages worldwide. Her Rita series of picture books with illustrator Mr. Ando has recently been adapted for television. She is screen-writer and co-creator of the celtic anime series ‘Là Ban.’ The Co. Down author was the first Children’s Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland, based at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at Queen's University Belfast. Máire loves sea-swimming and crisps.
For more inspiration, take a look at 101 Blog Post Ideas For Book Bloggers to keep your content fresh and engaging.
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Why I’m a "Read Once & Done" Reader: Mystery, Thrillers, and an Ever-Growing TBR
If you scroll through bookish social media, you’ll often see readers talking about comfort reads, returning to beloved stories and re-reading favourite books like visiting old friends. It sounds lovely and nostalgic, but if I’m honest? That’s just not how I read.
When it comes to the classic reading debate Read Once & Done vs. Re-reading Favourites I am firmly in Team Read Once & Done.
Disclosure: The FTC Disclosure Provision is a law that requires influencers to disclose when they are being paid to promote a product or service. So please know that if I'm not making money through affiliate links/sponsored content on the post you're currently reading, it's an oversight on my part and will be corrected soon. Read the full
disclosure about all the legal stuff here.
Here is why re-reading rarely happens for me and why moving straight to the next book works best for my reading lifestyle.
1. Life Is Too Short and My TBR Stack Is Too Tall
Let’s state the obvious: there are simply far more incredible books in the world than any of us will ever have time to read. My To-Be-Read (TBR) stack is already towering, and new, exciting releases are added to my list faster than I can clear them.
Given a choice between diving into a brand-new world or re-visiting one I’ve already explored, the lure of the unknown always wins. Spending time re-reading a book means putting off a new story waiting on my shelf, and I just can't bring myself to lose that reading time!
2. The Thrill of the Unknown (Especially in Mysteries and Thrillers)
A large part of my bookshelf is filled with mysteries and psychological thrillers. For me, the ultimate joy of reading these genres comes from the suspense:
Not knowing what wild plot twist is coming around the corner.
Trying to piece together the clues to work out "whodunit" before the main character does.
The heart-pounding anticipation of a dramatic reveal.
Once the secret is out and the mystery is solved, that specific magic can’t quite be replicated. Knowing who the killer is or how the big twist plays out takes away the very tension that makes those books so addictive in the first place.
3. Every Book Gets Its Moment
Reading a book just once doesn't mean I didn't love it. Some of my absolute favourite books are ones I will never pick up again—simply because the original experience was so complete and satisfying on its own. I prefer to keep those wonderful initial memories intact and move on to discover my next great read.
Over to You!
Where do you stand on this? Are you a Read Once & Done reader like me, or do you love returning to your favourite books time and time again? Let me know in the comments below!
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The Essential Blog Maintenance Checklist: Tasks You Should Be Doing Regularly
When we think about running a blog, our minds usually go straight to the creative side: brainstorming fresh content, writing engaging articles, or creating eye-catching graphics. However, behind every successful, smooth-running site is a solid foundation of regular maintenance.
Ignoring routine housekeeping can quickly lead to slow loading speeds, broken links, lost traffic, and unexpected technical glitches. To keep your website running efficiently and looking its absolute best for readers and search engines alike, here is a breakdown of the essential blog maintenance tasks you should be carrying out.
Disclosure: The FTC Disclosure Provision is a law that requires influencers to disclose when they are being paid to promote a product or service. So please know that if I'm not making money through affiliate links/sponsored content on the post you're currently reading, it's an oversight on my part and will be corrected soon. Read the full
disclosure about all the legal stuff here.
Weekly Maintenance Tasks
These quick weekly check-ins take very little time but prevent small issues from spiralling into bigger problems.
Run Full Site Backups: Always keep fresh backups of your content, themes, and settings stored securely off-site (such as on cloud storage or a secondary drive) so you can restore everything instantly if anything ever goes wrong.
Scan for Broken Links: Dead links ruin the reader experience and harm your search performance. Use a link checker tool to quickly flag and fix broken internal links or outdated external source URLs.
Check Site Speed and Loading Times: Run your homepage and a couple of recent posts through Google PageSpeed Insights to make sure page load times remain snappy across both mobile and desktop.
Review Recent Comments and Spam Filters: Moderating comments regularly keeps your community engaging and prevents unwanted spam links from accumulating in your moderation queue.
Monthly Maintenance Tasks
Taking an hour or two every month to dive a little deeper ensures your content strategy and technical setup stay aligned.
Audit and Optimise Top-Performing Posts: Check your site analytics to see which posts bring in the most traffic. Update old statistics, tweak formatting for better readability, and refresh internal links pointing to newer content.
Test Forms and Navigation: Walk through your site as if you were a first-time visitor. Test your contact forms, subscription sign-ups, and main navigation menus to confirm everything functions seamlessly.
Review Broken Redirects and 404 Errors: Use Google Search Console to inspect crawl errors and ensure any deleted or renamed pages properly redirect to active posts.
Clean Up the Media Library: Unused image drafts, duplicate media files, and uncompressed images bloat your storage space. Delete unneeded media and ensure all image file sizes are compressed for quick loading.
Quarterly & Annual Maintenance Tasks
Setting aside dedicated time every few months helps safeguard your site’s long-term health and privacy compliance.
Perform an In-Depth SEO Audit: Review your target keywords, meta descriptions, image alt tags, and site architecture to ensure search engines continue indexing your pages properly.
Audit Plugins, Themes, and Scripts: Remove unused widgets, third-party scripts, or inactive site plugins. Keeping your setup lightweight improves speed and minimises technical conflicts.
Update Legal and Policy Pages: Double-check your Privacy Policy, Terms of Conditions, Affiliate Disclosures, and Cookie Banners to verify that all details are accurate and up to date.
Review Monetisation and Affiliate Links: Test affiliate banners, sponsored content disclosures, and ad placements to make sure links track properly and ad layouts remain user-friendly.
Over to You!
How often do you dedicate time to site maintenance, or do you tend to wait until something breaks before fixing it? Let me know your top blog maintenance tips in the comments below!
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.jpg "First Lines Fridays")
%20by%20M%C3%A1ire%20Zepf.jpg "Book Spotlight He Loves Me (Not) by Máire Zepf")
%20by%20Maire%20Zepf%20tour%20banner.jpeg "He Loves Me (Not) by Máire Zepf tour banner")
%20by%20M%C3%A1ire%20Zepf.jpg "He Loves Me (Not) by Máire Zepf (book cover)")
.jpg "Máire Zepf, author of He Loves Me (Not)")
%20by%20M%C3%A1ire%20Zepf%20(2).jpg "Book Spotlight He Loves Me (Not) by Máire Zepf")
.jpg "Read Once & Done vs. Re-reading Favourites")
.jpg "Read Once & Done vs. Re-reading Favourites")
.jpg "The Essential Blog Maintenance Checklist")
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