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:
“It was quitting time on a Friday, but Cole Hutcheson didn’t care. Nobody cared toomuch right then, in fact. Because we were all about to get laid off.”
Do you recognize the lines?
Here’s a hint:
It’s a new release.
Still not sure? Here’s another hint:
It’s written by Katherine Center.
The First Lines Friday book is:
The Love Haters
Title: The Love Haters
Author: Katherine Center
Page Length: 320
Pub. Date: May 20, 2025
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Synopsis: It’s a thin line between love and love-hating.
Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past—now she may be lighting her career on fire. She has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job as a video producer or, at her coworker Cole’s request, take a career-making gig profiling Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West.
The catch? Katie’s not exactly qualified. She can’t swim—but fakes it that she can.
Plus: Cole is Hutch’s brother. And they don’t get along. Next stop paradise!
But paradise is messier than it seems. As Katie gets entangled with Hutch (the most scientifically good looking man she has ever seen . . . but also a bit of a love hater), along with his colorful Aunt Rue and his rescue Great Dane, she gets trapped in a lie. Or two.
Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes, and stolen kisses ensue—along with chances to tell the truth, to face old fears, and to be truly brave at last.
LINKS: GOODREADS | AMAZON | REVIEW
Have you read The Love Haters? What do you think of the first lines? Comment below!
