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!
First Lines:
Newgate Prison was not for the faint of heart.
It was also not for the claustrophobic, the hygiene conscious, or anyone with a weak stomach.
Declan Shaw was none of these; in fact, he was a hardened mercenary (currently unemployed) and occasional spy (when the price was right). He’d seen a lot of hellholes in his life, but Newgate represented a new level of despair. After four months on the inside, he’d never been more motivated to get the bloody hell out.
Do you recognize the lines?
Hint: It’s an historical romance by Charis Michaels.
Still not sure? Here’s another hint:
It’s the first book in the Awakened by a Kiss series.
The First Lines Friday book is:
Title: A Duchess a Day
Author: Charis Michaels
Series: Awakened by a Kiss (Book 1)
Page Length: 384
Publication Date: Nov. 10, 2020
Publisher: Avon
Synopsis: An heiress with a plan…
Lady Helena Lark has spent years trying to escape her wedding to the vain and boring Duke of Lusk. She’s evaded, refused, even run away. When her family’s patience runs out, they pack her off to London to walk down the aisle. But Helena has another idea: find a more suitable bride to take her place, even if she must look for a replacement duchess every day.
A bodyguard with a job to do…
Declan Shaw, better known as “The Huntsman,” is a mercenary who can pick and choose his clientele. After his last job, escorting a young noblewoman to France, landed him in jail under false accusations, he wants nothing to do with aristocrats or women. But the law isn’t done with him, and if he agrees to babysit a duke’s errant fiancé, the payout could make his legal troubles go away.
A most unexpected alliance…
When their worlds collide, Declan realizes that containing his new client is only slightly harder than keeping his hands off her. Helena senses an ally in her handsome new bodyguard and solicits his help. Together they must escape the forces that oppose them and fight for the fairy-tale love they desire.
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Have you read A Duchess A Day? What do you think of the first lines? Comment below!
These are tough- guessing the right book
That one messed with my brain, because I could have SWORN I had read those opening lines before but I have never heard of that book in my life.
hahaha – I hate when that happens!
Ah, didn’t guess it but it has definitely piqued my interest in this book! Yay historical romances 😂
Right! I love them!