First Lines Friday 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:
“While I’m kneading dough, I feel an intense surge of heat bloom on my chest.”
Do you recognize the lines?
Here’s a hint:
It’s a new romantasy.
Still not sure? Here’s another hint:
It’s written by Shanora Williams
The First Lines Friday book is:
Mayhem and the Mortal
Title: Mayhem and the Mortal
Author: Shanora Williams
Pages: 512
Publication Date: March 3, 2026
Publisher:Red Tower Books
Genres:Fiction / Romance / Fantasy / Romantasy
Synopsis:
One mission. One curse. No escape.
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Zaira doesn’t want a hero. She needs a weapon.
To save her sister from a soul-devouring curse, she has to cross The Shallows—a nightmare landscape of ruined magic, shifting paths, and vicious creatures that eat people alive.
Her guide? Thane Valkor: sorcerer, assassin, walking red flag. His name clears rooms. His magic kills quietly. And whatever he’s really after, it’s not salvation.
He promises to help. He might even mean it.
But Zaira knows better than to trust a liar with a blade and ice in his veins.
She just doesn’t have a choice.
LINKS: Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon | Bookshop.org | Review
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Have you read Mayhem and the Mortal? What do you think of the first lines? Comment below!
Interesting first lines! I could imagine this being the start of a book in several different genres, and it’s certainly a fun way to start a story!