Welcome to another edition of First Line Friday, hosted by Hoarding Books. I know all my American friends are gearing up for Thanksgiving, but here in Australia, Christmas is in the air. The jacaranda and flame trees have been flowering for a few weeks, so there’s a profusion of purple and red foliage amongst the green as we drive around town. The shops are bedecked in tinsel and other decorations.
There’s no denying it. Christmas is just around the corner.
Also just around the corner—and much closer, even, than Christmas—is the release of the third novella in Melissa Tagg’s Enchanted Christmas Collection: One Enchanted Noël. If you pre-order now (it’s just $1.99 on Kindle!), you’ll wake up to this little treat on 21 November. If you haven’t read the previous two novellas in the collection, you might want to treat yourself to the whole collection, which will be releasing in one volume on the same day. It’s just $4.99 if you pre-order now!
~ About the Book ~
Seb Pierce isn’t exactly a cowboy, but after fifteen years on a ranch in Texas, he might as well be. And he’d do just about anything to keep the rancher who took him in so many years ago from losing his land…including returning to the wealthy roots he’s long since abandoned. Seb agrees to work for his stern grandfather for one year in return for an early draw on his inheritance. But he never expected the agreement to land him in a quirky small town in Iowa at Christmas-time, renovating a dilapidated theater…and running into a woman he never thought he’d see again. She might not remember him, but he remembers her.
After too many years away from her hometown—and too many failures to count—Leigh Renwycke is finally back in Maple Valley and living the stable life she used to wish for. If only she could shake the old restlessness that used to get her into trouble. When Seb Pierce waltzes into her world and begs for her help planning the theater’s holiday reopening, it could be the solution to her discontent. If she pulls it off, it might be enough to jumpstart a new career…and to prove once and for all that the new-and-improved Leigh is here to stay.
But between old secrets and new sparks, restoring a town treasure in time for Christmas may not be as easy as it seems…especially once Leigh learns the truth about Seb.
~ First Line ~
Usually on nights like this—with snowfall glimmering under the hazy glow of lamplight, a peaceful hush hovering over the town square—Leigh Renwycke could almost forget.
I can’t wait to read more!
I’d love it if you’d share the first line of whatever you’re currently reading in the comments. And don’t forget, you can find out what other bloggers are sharing for First Line Friday by going over to Hoarding Books blog and finding all the links. If you’ve got your own blog, why not join in and add your link over there. 🙂
I am looking forward to reading this collection of novellas!
I’m sharing the first line from The Engagement Plot by Krista Phillips on my blog today, but I’ll share the first line from the book I’m currently reading here. “If you’re willing to admit it, you probably know me as Raine de Bourgh.” The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck by Bethany Turner. Happy Friday!
Love Sarah Hollenbeck! Hope you enjoy it. 🙂
Love Melissa Tagg’s books! Happy Friday, Katie!
MONTANA, LATE AUGUST 1895
“Mama?” Emily Carver whispered the word as she opened the door to her parents’ bedroom. – A Treasure Concealed by Tracie Peterson
I love the cover of this novella ~ so sweetly Christmasy! 🙂
Over on my blog, I’m sharing the first line from Joyce Rogers’ Lean Hard on Jesus, but I’ll share the first line from Where We Belong by Lynn Austin (really enjoying it!) here:
“Rebecca Hawes lay awake in her tent, convinced that the howling wind was about to lift her entire camp into the air and hurl it to the far side of the desert.”
By the way, I really admire your decision to post that note to Australian readers on your sidebar ~ “Those who honor Me, I will honor.” 1 Samuel 2:30
Have a blessed weekend! 🙂
I loved Where We Belong!
Thank you for your encouragement. Sadly, we learned on Wednesday that 61% of Australians voted to redefine marriage, and so far, the rainbow header is still visible to all Australian visitors. I’m grieved for my beautiful country, but holding on to the promise that God works for His good in and through all things.
You have a blessed weekend too. 🙂
Happy Friday!
Today, my first line Friday is from Christmas at Grey Goose Lodge by Phyllis Clark Nichols…..
When Maude opened the door to the Christmas closet in early December that year, she had no reason to think there would only be nine more Christmases celebrated at Grey Sage.
Intriguing opening! Have a great weekend 🙂
I’m very much looking forward to reading this book!
Happy Friday!
Today, I am showcasing Vanishing Point by Lisa Harris on my blog for FLF, so here I will post from the book I am currently reading, A Season to Dance by Patricia Beal. Currently, I am on chapter 9, so I’ll post the first line from that:
“Fumbling with a keychain that grew lighter every day, I closed my apartment door for the very last time on the day before our Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt. A cold, ordinary Thursday to everyone else — extraordinary to me.”
I loved A Season to Dance!
Happy Friday! Melissa’s books are fun to read. My first line (a little longer) is from Anne Greene’s Avoiding the Mistletoe:
Olivia Rose Baker glanced up from the headlines in the Massachusetts Matrimonial Gazette. With an explosive smack, she slapped the newspaper on the top of the breakfast table. “No! I refuse.”
Oh, I love it! Glad you included the second line. 🙂
Love this series! I’m hoping to purchase the paperback for my shelf! Love Held Captive by Shelley Shepard Gray is featured on my blog today with a giveaway but I’m currently reading The Vexing by Tamara Leigh. Here’s the first line:
Normandy, France
Early December 1161
Women were more trouble than they were worth. Or so Sir Durand Marshal told himself each time one dragged him into a mess like this one promised to do.
Oh, enjoy The Vexing! Love that series!
*sigh* me too! I’m enjoying it VERY MUCH 😍
Oh my goodness, I have the first two novellas, but I still haven’t read them yet. 🙁 I just pre-ordered this one though. 🙂 Happy early Christmas! And yes, Thanksgiving thoughts are in the air…as I bake pumpkin muffins. 🙂 Happy Friday!
You have plenty of great reading ahead of you then. Sit down with a pumpkin muffin in one hand and the book in another. 🙂
You can’t go wrong with a book by Melissa Tagg!
This week I did an author interview with Joyce DiPastana, Medieval fiction writer. The first line from her short story The Girl by the River:
Robert almost tripped over the scythe.
Oh, Medieval fiction always gets my attention. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I seriously need to catch up on Melissa Tagg books!
This week, I’m getting into the Christmas Spirit with my FLF blog post, but here are the first lines from the book I’m currently reading:
“Being a teacher was turning out to be a little like having the flu. Simon O’Keefe. Her heart broke for him at the same time her stomach twisted with dread for herself.” From The Calico and Cowboy Romance Collection by Mary Connealy.
Well, that has me intrigued!
I love Melissa Tag, and I don’t know how I’ve missed these! Thanks for the heads-up.
I’m sharing from Imperfect Justice by Cara Putman over on my blog today. But I’m currently reading Piercehaven by Robin Merrill, which is kind of a girls basketball version of Friday Night Lights, except set on an island off the coast of Maine. Here’s the first line:
She had expected it to be a poetic voyage. She had expected sunshine and whitecaps, a sea song to serenade her as she sailed toward her new home.
Why do I get the feeling she’s about to be disappointed?!
Hope you get a chance to read Melissa’s novellas. 🙂
This sounds like the perfect story to read while settled in next to a cozy fire! 🙂
It does! Except that it’s not exactly fireside weather here! 😄
You are enjoying summer aren’t you? While we are nearing winter.
Yes, although it’s been very mild so far aside from the odd day here and there.