First Line Friday is coming to you all the way from sunny/foggy/rainy Melbourne today. 🙂 For those of you not up on your Australian geography, that means I’m 1,000km (600 miles) from my home north of Sydney in the Hunter Valley.
Yesterday morning I had a wonderful time chatting with the lovely Rel from Relz Reviewz. And what better place for us to meet than at a Christian bookstore! It just so happens that I spied a copy of the novel I will be featuring today on the shelf! (A bit of a surprise since it’s only just released, and it usually takes a couple of months following release for the book to make it to Australian shelves.) Doesn’t it look good?
~ About the Book ~
But before she was Lydia, the seller of purple, she was simply a merchant’s daughter who loved three things: her father, her ancestral home, and making dye. Then unbearable betrayal robs her of nearly everything.
With only her father’s secret formulas left, Lydia flees to Philippi and struggles to establish her business on her own. Determination and serendipitous acquaintances—along with her father’s precious dye—help her become one of the city’s preeminent merchants. But fear lingers in every shadow, until Lydia meets the apostle Paul and hears his message of hope, becoming his first European convert. Still, Lydia can’t outrun her secrets forever, and when past and present collide, she must either stand firm and trust in her fledgling faith or succumb to the fear that has ruled her life.
~ First Line ~
I have never served as a soldier, yet I have the strange sense that most of my life I have stared down the blade of a sword, the face of my adversary haunting me.
I love a first line that hooks you straight in!
Don’t forget to share your first line in the comments, and then hop on over and find out what the other First Liners have for you today:
Jessica ~ A Baker’s Perspective // Sarah ~ All The Book Blog Names Are Taken
Bree ~ Bibliophile Reviews // Rachel ~ Bookworm Mama // JaneReads ~ C Jane Read
Heather ~ Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen // Beth ~ Faithfully Bookish
Trisha ~ Joy of Reading // Kathleen ~ Kathleen Denly // Lauraine ~ Lauraine’s Notes
Molly ~ Cafinated Reads // CJ ~ Moments Dipped in Ink // Andi ~ Radiant Light
Carrie ~ Reading is my Superpower // Robin ~ Robin’s Nest // Sydney ~ Singing Librarian
Amanda ~ With a Joyful Noise
If you would like to join us for First Line Friday, contact Carrie at Reading is my Superpower.
Good morning! 🙂 My first line comes from “Thunder on the Right,” by Mary Stewart!
“The Hotel du Pimene, Gavarnie, takes its name from the great peak of the High Pyrenees in whose shadow, at early morning, it lies.”
Happy Reading!
Oh yay! Love Mary Stewart! Such a good read. 🙂
Turtle Springs, Kansas
April 1866
Pa had some kind of nerve, up and dying like that-just when I’d gotten used to Frank being gone. Adjusting her somber bonnet, Caroline Kane exited what was now her inn, onto the boardwalk and then stepped down to the hard-packed dirt street.
First line from Dime Novel Suitor by Carrie Fancett Pagels. This is my “debut” as a character in the story.
Congratulations on the debut!
Just bought this book. I can’t wait to read it. The first line is brilliant! 😊
It’s a great read. Enjoy!
Happy Friday! My first line is from Widow by Denise Weimer: “Oglethorpe County, Georgia, June 1857, An angel of light stood before me, blonde, beautiful, one hand behind his back.”
Ooh! Intriguing!
Super jealous of your time spent with Rel. La-la-la that woman! I just finished “Grounded Hearts” by Jeanne M. Dickson the first line is “Dutch Whitney hit the bog hard, tumbling forward to smack facedown in the muck.”
Rel’s pretty special! And Grounded Hearts is next on my TBR. Love that first line!
My first line is:
The promised view of the mountain peak waited, cloaked in mist like a tissue-wrapped gift not ready to be unveiled.
“The Road to Paradise” by Karen Barnett
Happy Weekend! So cool that 2 book bloggers got to hang out in a bookstore!
It was very cool! And Road to Paradise is coming up on my TBR very shortly!
Purple. Well, this may be the first time I’ve put a book on my TBR because it’s about my favorite color! LOL! My first line is from Lisa Wingate’s BEFORE WE WERE YOURS: “My story begins on a sweltering August night, in a place I will never set eyes upon.”
Haha! It’s a great read with some great historical details. Lisa’s book is on my wishlist, and that first line has me even more intrigued!
Hello!
My first line is :
“The first inkling that something was wrong was the waking in the darkness to find the cat pawing at my face.” ~ The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware.
I’ve heard great things about this book. I am really looking to reading this mystery/thriller.
Dinh @ Arlene’s Book Club
Well, that certainly pulls you in! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Wow. That really does pull you in! Here’s mine from my favorite author Becky Wade. Then Came You: “Sylvie left me today.”
Love Becky’s new series!
Definitely pulling in!!
“Maude Welling’s twelve-year-old brother, Jack, raced across the waxed wood floor of the soda shop, straight toward her, then skidded to a halt.”
This first line comes from the book I am currently reading – My Heart Belongs on Mackinac Island by Carrie Fancett Pagels
Great action opening!
What a pretty cover! Happy Friday!
Happy Friday! 🙂
Loved this book, and I’m jealous you got to spend time with Rel! 🙂 I hope to meet her some day!
We had a lovely time! And it was nice to be the person meeting up with someone for a change. Although we were lamenting how far away many of our friends were! 🙂
Happy Sunday!!
I did, thank you! Hope you’re having a good week. 🙂
It breaks my reader heart that I have not read any Tessa Afshar yet!!!
Oh no! You need to fix that!
Yes, I do!