Books: First Lines Fridays 20th December 2024
This week's pick is a Christmas cosy mystery. Get ready to judge the book based purely on it's opening lines.
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:
“So, Courtney, is it?” I asked with what I hoped was a comforting and nonthreatening smile. I set the mug holding my newest tea blend I’d created for the Christmas season—a variety of fresh mint and a couple of other secret ingredients—down on the kitchen table. I called it “Candy Cane Concoctions”, and hoped others would find it as soothing as it was refreshing. “What can I do for you?”
Do you know which book this is from? Scroll down to find out!
And the book is...
- ASIN : B09H22K7LJ
- Publisher : Love-Based Publishing
- Publication date : November 9, 2021
- Print length : 190 pages
Book synopsis for The Murder Before Christmas by Michele Pariza Wacek
If you've got a problem, Charlie Kingsley probably has a tea that’ll help make it right.
EXCEPT when it comes to love. She does NOT do love potions.
Not even for Courtney, her pregnant new client who showed up three weeks before Christmas seeking a love potion because her husband was cheating on her.
So, Courtney asked about poison, instead.
She said she was joking. That's what happens between wives and husbands. They get angry and talk about killing each other. They don't really mean it.
It seems to make sense ... until Courtney’s husband turns up dead on Christmas Eve.
He was poisoned, of course.
And who is the number one suspect? Courtney. Of course.
But did she actually do it? Or is she being set up?
It's up to Charlie to sort through all the twists and turns in a case that gets more complicated the deeper she digs.
Meet Charlie. Better known as “Aunt Charlie” from the award-winning Secrets of Redemption series. She's back, making teas and solving cases in this funny, twisty, cozy mystery series set in the 1990s in Redemption, Wisconsin.
While each book is a standalone, you may find it more enjoyable to read the books in order, which is:
The Murder Before Christmas
Ice Cold Murder
Murder Next Door
Murder Among Friends
The Murder of Sleepy Hollow
Red Hot Murder
A Cornucopia of Murder
Other books in the Charlie Kingsley Mystery series include:
A Grave Error (prequel)
Loch Ness Murder
A Wedding to Murder For
Where to find The Murder Before Christmas by Michele Pariza Wacek online:
Have you read this book?
Books: First Lines Fridays 13th December 2024
This week's pick is a Victorian Christmas novella. Would you read this book based purely on it's opening lines?
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:
An icy late November breeze rustled the bare branches of the trees along the Serpentine. Hyde Park was practically deserted at this time of morning. And no wonder. It was freezing cold, the gray skies heavy with the scent of impending rain. Sophie Appersett thrust her hands more firmly into the confines of the oversized mink muff she wore suspended from a silken cord round her neck. “So you see, Mr. Sharpe. There’s no reason to continue as we are.”
Do you know which book this is from? Scroll down to find out!
And the book is...
- ASIN : B07GTCFPWS
- Publisher : Perfectly Proper Press
- Publication date : November 13, 2018
- Print length : 174 pages
Book synopsis for A Holiday By Gaslight by Mimi Matthews
A Courtship of Convenience
Sophie Appersett is quite willing to marry outside of her class to ensure the survival of her family. But the darkly handsome Mr. Edward Sharpe is no run-of-the-mill London merchant. He's grim and silent. A man of little emotion--or perhaps no emotion at all. After two months of courtship, she's ready to put an end to things.
A Last Chance for Love
But severing ties with her taciturn suitor isn't as straightforward as Sophie envisioned. Her parents are outraged. And then there's Charles Darwin, Prince Albert, and that dratted gaslight. What's a girl to do except invite Mr. Sharpe to Appersett House for Christmas and give him one last chance to win her? Only this time there'll be no false formality. This time they'll get to know each other for who they really are.
Where to find A Holiday By Gaslight by Mimi Matthews online:
Have you read this book?
.jpg "The Nice List Checklist by Brittany Plumeri book cover")
.jpg "Book Review The Nice List Checklist by Brittany Plumeri")
.jpg "Book Review Twelve Drummers Drumming by Emily E.K. Murdoch")
.jpg "First Lines Fridays")
.jpg "First Lines Fridays")
.jpg)
