Welcome to entry #10 for First Lines Fridays! Every week (or whenever the mood strikes), Iโll be sharing the opening line of a bookโno title, no authorโjust the first sentence that sets the whole story in motion.
First Lines Fridays is a weekly post hosted by Wandering Words. In this post instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines.
To do this simply:
- 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 donโt give anything else about the book away just yet โ you need to hook the reader first
- Finallyโฆ reveal the book!
First line:
Kiela never thought the flames would reach the library.
Do you recognise what line this book is from?
Okay, here’s a hint for you… it’s a popular cosy fantasy book.
Still unsure? Here’s your last hint… it’s written by Sarah Beth Durst.
Keep scrolling down for the BIG REVEAL!
Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Cazโa magically sentient spider plantโhave spent the last decade sequestered among the empireโs most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the cityโs elite.
When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought sheโd see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosyโand very handsomeโneighbor who canโt take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure sheโs fed and to help fix up her new home.
In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesnโt have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.
But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the islandโs first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.
[Did you guess right?]
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