
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:
“My mom raised me to be super independent, which is why I dutifully fill her in on the details of my Saturday like a field reporter.”
Do you recognize the lines?

Here’s a hint:
It’s a new contemporary romance.

Still not sure? Here’s another hint:
It’s written by Violet Lumani.

The First Lines Friday book is:
Not Good Neighbors


Penny Huff and Jack Craig are neighbors by floor plan…and enemies by choice.
Thanks to a tragically thin wall in their NYC apartment building, Penny knows far too much about Jack—like his taste in too-loud music, the noxious fumes from his kitchen, and his habit of suspiciously aggressive vacuuming. And she knows all about the tearful brunette fleeing his apartment the day he moved in—the one crying about her cheating ex. Not even Jack’s piratical charm can undo what Penny the man is bad news.
When her attempt to get the wall soundproofed literally blows a hole in it, the two are forced into a DIY disaster that traps them in each other’s lives…and spaces. With eviction looming, prank wars escalating, and unexpected sparks flying, Penny starts to suspect her insufferable neighbor might just be the plot twist her love life needs.
Packed with witty banter, laugh-out-loud moments, and sizzling tension, this fast-paced romantic comedy proves that love can bloom where drywall—and patience—have crumbled.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
