Yayaya, HAPPY FRIYAY, book lovers and friends šWe’re back with another First Lines Friday! This is a weekly featurefor 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?Here areTHE RULES:
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 donāt give anything else about the book away just yet ā you need to hook the reader first
Finallyā¦ reveal the book!
First lines:
Candlelight reflected off the silver anchor etched onto my sisterās necklace. It was an ugly piece of jewelry and something Eulalie would never have picked out for herself. She loved simple strands of gold, extravagant collars of diamonds. Notā¦that.
Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?
Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the lastāthe plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plungeāand there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.
Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because whoāor whatāare they really dancing with?
When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her familyābefore it claims her next.
Have you read House of Salt and Sorrows or is it on your TBR? Leave me a comment and let’s chat š
The very lovely Jen @ Nen & Jen tagged me ages ago for the Summer Bucket List book tag (ages back)! I know for the majority of you summer is already over, some may even be highly anticipating the coming summer (in the southern hemisphere), and since I’m in the tropics, I live in perpetual summer. Trust me, it’s not as great as it sounds when it’s 1000% hot every damn day š„µ But I digress… Thanks for the tag, Jen! Be sure to check out her answers over on their blog because she is awesome! I only hope my choices will be half as fun as hers! Without further ado… Let’s get back to summer š
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart This book is set on an island and the beaches, cliffs and ocean play a big role in the character’s upbringing. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style (fragmented sentences), I was able to look past that and ended up really enjoying the story. It took me by surprise and I ended up bawling lol
Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J Maas Caleana is such a fierce and bad ass character and although she had two fiery romances in this series, the one I’m thinking about is definitely between her and Rowan. The build up and the explosion of feelings between them was š„!
Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse This is one of those underrated SFF books in my opinion. The characters do go on somewhat of a journey to solve a mystery that’s plaguing this incredible Native American folklore inspired dystopian world. Maggie, while hard to like at first, really grew on me. She’s such a bad ass! And I loved Kai š
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid Ugh, this story y’all! I still don’t have the words for how much I loved Evelyn Hugo’s story. I was swept away by the story of this ruthless and brilliant woman in Hollywood from the 50s – 80s; and of course, the story of her seven husbands and how she fought her way to the top. I fell in love with her!
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett You’ve heard me say it once and I’ll say it again: this book was nothing like I expected in the best way possible. I picked this up on a whim after finishing SJTR and I was so glad I started it on a weekend because the next thing I knew, it was Sunday and my face was blotchy after the unexpected tears I shed reading this incredible story. So damn good, peoples. So damn good!
The Simple Wild (Wild #1) by K A Tucker Sign me up for a sky cowboy because I’m pretty sure I fell just as much in love with Jonah’s character as Calla did herself. This covered some of my favorite tropes in romance: enemies to sort-of friends to lovers and it did not disappoint! And all of it was set against the Alaskan wild, a place that I’ve developed a very weird fascination with over the years. Theirs was a sweet romance between city girl and ‘country’ boy and I was here for it!
Nevernight (Nevernight Chronicle #1) by Jay Kristoff What’s more refreshing than a story set against a Hogwarts for assassins? š Okay no, but honestly, I know this is probably a weird pick for this category, but this book is usually filled with things that I don’t enjoy (an incredible amount of blood, guts and gore) but wow, did it blow me away! It’s safe to say that this series has become one of my new favorites and I was completely wowed by it.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon It’s not just one character in priory that overcomes obstacles, it’s basically all of them. I don’t think I’ve read a book where shit so consistently hits the fan for such a long duration šI mean, if you think of something that could possibly go wrong, chances are it will for these characters. I really felt for them but in the end, they grew in very satisfying ways to conquer (all) the obstacles in their way.
Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks This book made me SO HUNGRY. Although their main mission was to get Josie talking to his long-time crush, Deja’s personal mission was to eat her way through the Disney of pumpkin patches and it’s safe to say I was constantly drooling while they ate all the delicious festive fall foods. DELICIOUS!
Sorry I’m Late I Didn’t Want to Come… by Jessica Pan Jessica Pan is a (sh)introvert (a shy introvert) who is in the throes of something that looks like a quarter-life crisis, when she decides to take the leap into saying “YES” to all the things she’d normally be terrified to do. I identified so much with Pan and seeing her face these challenges before her despite being utterly terrified was so inspiring! I read this book at a time when I faced a big career challenge and I had just finished a chapter where she basically head the same experience as me but on a much larger scale, and I charged ahead with her in mind. This was a hilarious and inspiring book that is definitely going on my forever shelf!
And there you have it, folks! I’m feeling completely lazy right now (it’s been a long night with sangria!) so I’m going to TAG EVERYONE! If this sounds like something you want to do, don’t forget to link back to me so I can check out your answers!
I still can’t believe that September is already over! This year is going by way too quickly and I’m wondering if the rest of 2019 is going to speed by in the exact same way? September was a pretty mediocre reading month for me. I think I started off pretty strong but once I tucked into Priory of the Orange Tree, my reads slowed down considerably. I still managed to read 15 books though, so it wasn’t all bad! I am now sitting at 156/90 reads (this number still shocks me; being part of the book community has really increased my reading this year)!
ā Pumpkinheads (review) ā Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) (review) ā Godsgrave (The Nevernight Chronicle #2) (review) ā The Hating Game (review coming)
My favorites out of all of these were Nevernight and Godsgrave. After finishing Nevernight (my mind was totally blown) at the start of the month, I just couldn’t resist reading the sequel as soon as possible. Kristoff is a man who does not hold back on screwing with your feelings. After the ending of Godsgrave, I’m so excited but equally terrified of finishing this series. But I know I won’t be able to resist Darkdawn so it’s gonna be happening this October!
I was planning to read a lot more sequels for Sequel September but also a few more standalone’s for Standalone September (focusing on hyped standalone’s) but both of these endeavors ended up failing pretty badly. I think I can only count one book towards the former and two books towards the latter. I think I’m going to give challenges a break for now? I’m obviously not very good at them š
Last time I listed a full recap of all the posts that I did for the month, but since I now have a more organized menu bar, you can find all my weekly memes, challenges, tags and thoughts in the drop down menus! I still have to fix some things up, but I think I’ve done the sorting right and hopefully all my posts will continue to be updated each time I make them! For now, I’ve still listed the other reviews that I did this month (the reviews for this months’ reads are above in the recap), just so it’s easier for you to read them, in case you missed out! I’m still trying to tweak how I do my wrap up posts–I’m sure you’ll notice that from the start they’re all quite different–but I think I’m happy with this? I don’t want to make it too long and boring for people to read! Any tips or comments? Please let me know!
I hope you all had a great reading month in September and I hope that October continues to be awesome for all of us! What was your favorite read this month? Come let me know in the comments & let’s chat!
It’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
What did you read last?
šI FINALLY FINISHED PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE LAST WEEK! š
Excuse the all caps because I was SO excited that I managed to finish that hunk of a tome before the end of September. I was so certain that I’d be reading it straight through to October. I still haven’t written my review for it because I’m still not really sure how I feel about it. I enjoyed reading it and when I had it in my hands I would be speeding(ish) through the pages; but when I put it down I didn’t feel compelled to pick it back up again. I knew that I couldn’t have set it down to just read any other book too as I’d probably never come back to it šBut I still enjoyed it. I think? Anyway, my review will hopefully be coming soon! I binged The Perfect Moment(review coming soon) and Two Weeks Notice (my review for Two Weeks Notice). on Friday night/Saturday morning (yes, both in one night lol) because my soul was craving something super light and fluffy after Priory, and I had no regrets staying up all night reading!
What are you currently reading?
I was feeling restless not knowing what I wanted to read after binging on two contemporary romances after finishing Priory last week, but I ended up choosing The Bookish Life of Nina Hill on a whim the other day and I’ve been speeding through it! The style is not at all what I expected and I wasn’t sure how I felt about Nina at the start, but the style and characters have grown on me. There’s a lot of quirkiness going on in this book and I’m actually really here for it! I’ve laughed aloud countless times since I started and it’s giving me some lightness that I need right now.
What will you read next?
Okay y’all, I have TONS of books outside of my ‘possibility pile’ that I need to get to this October before even turning to look at the ones I want to read! These definitely fall in the ‘must read’ category because they’re eARCs. I’m gonna give priority to several eARCs that are well overdue (I’m sorry pls don’t judge me) and ones whose pub dates are very quickly approaching! I’m actually pretty annoyed at myself for thinking the Shadow Frost pub date was later this month when it was actually yesterday! š¤¦š»āāļøEpic fail, Dini! I’ve had this e-ARC for a while so I’m annoyed at my ability to push things off until they’re overdue. Someone tell me, why isn’t this a skill we actually need in life?! Lol
What are you currently reading? How’s your week going? Leave me a comment and let’s chat š
Goodreads:Two Weeks Notice Genre: Contemporary Romance Panda Rating:
To Whom It May Concern: I am writing this letter to formally announce my resignation from Parker International (& the arrogant, condescending CEO) effective two weeks from today. This was a VERY EASY decision to make, as the past two years have been utterly miserable. I wish his next executive assistant all the luck in the world (she’ll need it) and if my boss should need me to do anything over the next two weeks, kindly tell him that he can do it [his] goddamn self… Sincerely (Not Really), Tara Lauren
Thatās the version of my two weeksā notice I shouldāve sent to my boss, because the more professional version – the one where I said I was “grateful for all the opportunities,” and “honored by all the rewarding experiences” over the years? That letter was rejected with his sexy, trademark smirk and an āI highly suggest you read the fine print of your contract…ā So, I did. And now I’ve realized that unless I fake my death, poison him, or find a way to renegotiate my impossible contract, Iām stuck working under one of the cockiest and most ruthless bosses in New York. Then again, I thought that was the case until he called me late last night with an emergency proposition…
Oh hello steamy, slow-burn office romance! I came acrossĀ Two Weeks NoticeĀ onĀ Katie @ inbetweenspines’Ā book blog and her review had me wanting to pick this up right away because I was definitely in the mood for it.And before you think you know what the emergency proposition is, well, you’re probably only partially right because it’s really only half-ish of the story! š
Even though the old CEO gets with the intern/EA/staff trope is pretty well used in romances, I still enjoy it when it’s done well, and I thought this was one of them! The story is told in alternating perspectives between Tara and Preston, although Tara’s POV gets more time than Preston’s. Usually I find it annoying when the chapters don’t alternate evenly, but I enjoyed Tara’s chapters a lot more since Preston’s was pretty typical of the CEO in these types of romances. I will say that I was curious to know more about him though. While I wasn’t impressed by either of their characters at the start of the book, both really grew on me. Tara was a boss ass bitch who took shit from no one and I honestly loved how she whipped the whole office into shape, and although it takes her a while to find a way, I’m glad that continued to fight for what she wanted in her career without letting a man stop her!
Preston continued to be that asshole CEO throughout the story, but I loved how we slowly found out about all the things he’d done for Tara. It was very sweet and had me swooning (just a little bit). Although sometimes I found the things Preston would say to Tara a lottle OTT, I’m glad that it wasn’t with every single interaction. There was a twist to this office romance that I didn’t expect and I thought it was a nice detail that allowed for Preston’s softer side to shine through even more. What did disappoint me however was that Preston’s history was hinted at so often and yet, there was never any satisfactory explanation as to why all of this happened. It was a little underwhelming and I wish that more attention was given to it, especially if it could’ve explained his character more.
Now let’s talk about the heat. This was pretty steamy and explicit. The chemistry between these two characters was F-I-R-E! š„I mean, wow. I’m used to these types of romances leading to the two characters falling into bed with each other as quickly as possible, so it was surprising that nothing more than a little something happened between them for a good majority of the story! The slow burn of the romance was done so well. The author definitely knows how to keep her readers on the edge of their seats with anticipation and all that damn angst! And the wait was so worth it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this read. I devoured it in less than a night (lol) because I just couldn’t put it down (but I’m also the worst kind of insomniac) and I’m glad that I read it. I’ve read a few of Whitney G.‘s books now and I like the balance she strikes in her stories between character and plot development and steaminess, so I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of her books!
Have you read Two Weeks Notice? What do you think of this trope? Let me know in the comments and let’s chat!
It’s that time of the week again, friends! We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: books with numbers in the title and the minute I read the prompt, my mind drew a straight blank. Had I actually read any books with numbers in the title? Thankfully I have my awesome buddy that’s known as Goodreads to help me figure this out! I found a few titles but I’m not sure if there are enough to amount to ten, so let’s see how it goes!
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Read earlier this year, it is probably one of my 2019 favorites! I had a completely different idea of the book at the start, but wow, was I pleasantly surprised by what was served. TJR has a way of making you feel everything.
One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. I devoured this story in one sitting (literally from 6pm – 4am) because I didn’t want to put this down! This was my first YA thriller and I was so pleasantly surprised with the Breakfast Club + Gossip Girl + HTGAWM vibes of the story. So good!
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. There were some minor slow spots but I was so surprised by how quickly and how much I loved this book. RPO took me on a helluva 80s trip through music and gaming and it was incredible!
Marriage for One by Ella Maise. I still haven’t written a review for this one, but rest assured I loved it. The build up was agonizingly good and the chemistry between our two MCs was so š„ !
Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo. I think I read this two years ago and while I remember genuinely loving it, I also can’t remember much of it now? š Writing reviews has done wonders for my memory, so I’m looking forward to reading this again, and reviewing it this time!
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. This was probably my fifth or sixth Jodi Picoult book after I discovered her in high school. You can do a lot of things in nineteen minutes and one thing is to get revenge. This is a story about a school shooting, and it was heartbreaking and extremely hard hitting.
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. My third TJR read of the year and it certainly solidified her as one of my auto-buy and new favorite authors! I was worried the hype would let me down, but I needn’t have worried because WOWZER. I loved it (and the full-cast audiobook)!
Have you read many titles with numbers in them? If you’ve done a TTT for today, please leave your links in the comments so I can mosey over to your blog and check it out! š
dinipandareads 