First Lines Friday: July 24, 2026

First Lines Friday
First Lines Friday


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:

“Sister. It’s the only word Ravin said that I can hear with perfect clarity.”


Do you recognize the lines?

Here’s a hint:

 It’s the second book in a romantasy series.

Still not sure? Here’s another hint: 

It’s written by Elise Kova.


The First Lines Friday book is:

Prince of Swords


About the Book
Book cover for Prince of Swords by Elise Kova

Title: Prince of Swords

Author: Elise Kova

Series: Arcana Academy #2

Page Length: 560

Pub. Date: July 21, 2026

Publisher: Del Rey

Synopsis: I am terrified. Yet my heart skips a beat. This man might be a monster, but he is my monster.Clara Graysword is Oricalis’s most wanted. Hunted and cornered, not even her mastery of tarot can save her this time . . . until the mysterious Worldkeepers appear. This secretive order may hold the key to changing Clara’s fate. If she dares to trust them.

But the most dangerous alliance of all is one she’s already deeply ensnared Prince Kaelis.

Kaelis, second-born prince of Oricalis and headmaster of Arcana Academy, is the one man she can’t escape—maybe she doesn’t want to escape. Ruthless, dangerous, and bound to Clara by destiny and desire, Kaelis tests her heart as much as her loyalty. Together, they grow closer to the most powerful secrets of the tarot . . . and to the truths they both hide that could destroy the passion that they no longer deny.

Hidden in plain sight within Arcana Academy, Clara walks the dagger’s edge. Revelations about Oricalis threaten everything she thought she knew, and every choice she makes is the difference between salvation and ruin.

To change the world, Clara must risk everything—her power, her beliefs, and her heart.

LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon  | BookBub | Bookshop.org


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