Hi Everyone! It’s First Line Friday, so grab a book near you and share your first line in the comments below!
Today I’m sharing some very exciting news from one of my favorite authors, Sondra Kraak!
Two Ways Home, the second book in her Love That Counts series will be FREE July 4th-6th!!!!
CLICK HERE to grab your copy! 🙂
In celebration of this special offer, I am featuring not one first line, but three first lines – one from each book in the Love That Counts series.
Here’s the first line:
Pine Creek, Washington 1891
Killing Edward Stevens was beyond her proper ways.
The one-room schoolhouse isn’t big enough to hold thirty-four students, let alone the egos of two teachers. He can’t afford to lose the position, and she refuses to lose her heart.
Washington, 1891
Humiliated after her broken engagement, Claire Montgomery flees her comfortable life in San Francisco for a teaching position in Pine Creek, Washington, a dot of a town nestled in the rugged Cascade Mountains. She’s determined to succeed—for once in her life—only to discover, upon her arrival, that success will have to be won. Thanks to a school board error, two teachers have been hired.
When scandal forces professor Barrett Clarke from his position, he returns to Pine Creek where his uncle, chairman of the school board, sets forth an irresistible offer: teach one year in return for ranchland. For this would-be rancher, nothing is more tempting than resurrecting his childhood dream, and nothing can deter him from earning that land.
Except perhaps Claire Montgomery. Losing the battle for the classroom means losing the ranchland, but winning may mean losing Claire’s heart.
With large doses of humor and romantic tension, this Christian historical love story offers a picture of grace, forgiveness, and finding true worth.
Read the reviews HERE. Grab your copy HERE.
Here’s the first line:
Pine Creek, Washington 1884
“He loves me. He loves me not.”
She’s about to lose her home. He never wanted to see his again. And a stalker is staking a claim . . .
Washington, 1892
Mary Smith was never one to back down from a challenge. Her father’s health may be failing, but their dairy farm was her mother’s dream, and Mary will do whatever it takes to keep her father from selling it—even if it means sneaking off to the next town to earn money by playing the piano in a questionable establishment. No one seems to understand why home is so important to her, least of all her childhood nemesis who’s just wandered back into town.
When injured Texas Ranger Luke Thomas is forced to return to Pine Creek, Washington, he’s hailed as a hero and thrust into the town’s first race for sheriff. But no one knows the secret he carried to Texas, nor the secret he’s brought home. Setting his perfect aim on returning south, he refuses to get tied down by the town’s admiration, his brother’s disapproval, or the spirited, hardworking dairy girl who’s less annoying than he remembers.
But strange things are happening at the Smith dairy and in Pine Creek, and Luke’s instincts tell him Mary is in far more trouble than she realizes. One thing is certain: “home” is about to get more complicated for them both.
Full of wit and romantic tension, this Christian historical love story sets forth the true meaning of coming home.
Read the reviews HERE. Grab your copy HERE.
Here is the first line:
Seattle, Washington July, 1892
The first stars pricked through the skies fading canvas as Samantha Klein approached the intersection of Washington and First Avenue, looked both ways, and crossed a line.
When a big-hearted debutante collides with a small-town blacksmith set in his ways, it can mean only one thing—a war of hearts has come to Pine Creek.
Washington, 1892
Cameron Wallace thrives as both the blacksmith and the minister in his community of Pine Creek. Out of the fires of a chaotic childhood, he’s forged a peaceful life filled with safe relationships and predictable routines. But when the smithy he’s been renting is sold out from under him, the impulsive woman who buys it stokes the embers of emotions he’d rather keep unlit—and even has the audacity to lend a helping hand to his smithy work.
Samantha Klein has never been afraid to push boundaries when it comes to helping those whom society—and God—have overlooked, be they orphans, immigrants, or injured animals. When her latest attempt to aid a group of Chinese women lands her in a newspaper scandal, her high-society family sends her packing from Seattle. Setting out on her own, she purchases the Pine Creek smithy and hatches another plan for helping her immigrant friends. But only weeks after arriving in Pine Creek, her plan turns to ashes, and she’s overwhelmed by needs she can never hope to meet, including her own need to be seen and cared for. And the one who seems to understand her is the man who won’t let her anywhere near his heart, no matter the attraction that burns between them.
As Cameron struggles to find a new normal, and Samantha yearns for someone to share her burdens, old hurts and dangerous secrets make them both terrified to admit that what they need—and what God has planned for them—just might be each other.
Read my review HERE. Grab your copy HERE!
Easily three of my favorite reads, you cannot go wrong with this marvelous series!
Do not miss out on this opportunity to grab one of my favorite books for FREE!!!
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Now it’s your turn to grab the book nearest you and leave a comment with the first (or your favorite) line!
Then head over to Hoarding Books to see who else is participating:
The email from Jay’s wife clearly demonstrated that miracle happens. – Truth Stained Lies by Terri Blackstock
Happy Friday and happy reading.
What an interesting title. Thanks for sharing!
I love this series!
I’m featuring the first line from ‘The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond’ by Jaime Jo Wright over on my blog, but right now I’m going to share the first line from the book I just started, A Love Restored by Kelly Goshorn:
‘Land sakes it was hot.’
Thanks for sharing! Have a great weekend. 🙂
My first line is from No Place to Hide by Lisa Harris:
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Ellie Webb made her way down the steep incline of the favela, where hundreds of homes sat packed together in a sprawling maze of steep streets and unpaved narrow alleys.
This one is a page turner!
Intriguing. Thanks for sharing! Happy weekend.
Happy Friday, Kathleen! 🙂 I haven’t read anything yet by Sondra, but her books look entertaining! I’ll have to put them on my to-be-read list.
On my blog, I’m featuring Only the River Runs Free, but I’ll share the first line of another book on my TBR list here, Elizabeth Musser’s Searching for Eternity: “I am watching the evening news, alone in my house, hungry and tired from the day’s work, eating a piece of leftover pizza and wishing it were blanquette de veau. The story comes near the end of the NBC program.”
Have a blessed weekend!
Okay, I’m curious. I need to read the back cover copy of that book. Thanks for sharing!
I love this series!!
Over on my blog, I’m sharing the first line from Rachel Fordham’s debut book “The Hope of Azure Springs.” I hope you get the chance to check it out! Here I’ll share the first line from Chapter Five.
“Em stood on the front porch, quietly looking heavenward. The sun had yet to rise.”
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Oh, I stumbled across Rachel’s blog a few months back and I’ve been so excited to read The Hope of Azure Springs ever since! I’ve already pre-ordered my copy. I’ll definitely stop by. Thanks for sharing!
Happy Friday!😊 I think I need to read this series!😊
My FLF comes from a book I will be reading shortly, The Hope Jar by Wanda Brunstetter….
Tears streamed down Sara Murray’s face as she sat on the living-room floor, going through another box of her mother’s things. Mama had passed away two weeks ago after a short three-month battle with colon cancer.
Have a great weekend, happy reading, and stay cool!😊💖
Yes, you do! 🙂
Oh, how sad. The title is encouraging, though. Thanks for sharing!
These look like fabulous reads! I’ll have to check them out. 😀
I’m sharing about “The Hawaiian Discovery” by Wanda E. Brunstetter and Jean Brunstetter over on my blog today. Since I’m currently reading a YA Christian fantasy novel called “Choice of the Mighty” by Kenyon T. Henry, I’ll share my first line from there.
“He walked alone down the sidewalk.”
Happy reading and have a wonderful weekend!
Hmm that seems to be popular author today.
Oh, I’m always excited when I hear of a Christian fantasy novel. I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for sharing!
All 3 of these are on my list to read!
Happy Friday! My first line is from Hidden Currents by Christy Barritt:
“At the sound of a footfall behind her, Cady Matthews’s back muscles tightened faster than a mousetrap snapping its prey.”
Wow. That makes my back tense just reading it. I bet that one is a page turner.
Thanks for sharing!
I think I’m going to have to add all 3 to my wishlist! I hope you can stop by:
http://collettaskitchensink.blogspot.com/2018/06/first-lines-friday-62918.html
Colletta
Thanks for stopping by!
I’m looking forward to reading this entire series, book 1 was great!
I just finished reading Lone Witness by Rachel Dylan…
Guilty. That’s the only possible verdict.
Book 1 was great and Book 2 was really good, as well, but I think Book 3 is my favorite so far. I hope you get to read the rest of the series soon!
Hmmm. Between the title and that first line, I’m going to guess the person on trial is not convicted – at least not initially. 😉
Thanks for sharing! Happy weekend.
Happy Friday!
I’m sharing the first line of Courtney Walsh’s “Just Let Go” on my blog: “He shouldn’t be here.”
LOL I misread the title and now I have “Let is go! Let it go!” stuck in my head. LOL
Thanks for sharing? 😉
It sounds like Sondra Kraak is another author I’ll have to check out.
I’m sharing from Five Days in Skye by Carla Laureano on my blog today. But I’m reading Bookishly Ever After by Sarah Monzon, the final novella in the Timeless Love collection I featured a couple of weeks ago. It’s ticking all the boxes for me—contemporary romance, first person point of view, a bookish heroine, and a good friend who might become more … Anyway, here’s the first line:
The hunter had become the hunted. Poetic? Not really.
Happy Friday!
The book I’m sharing on my blog is Dead Drift by Dani Pettrey but here I’ll share the book I’m currently reading The Hope of Azure Springs by Rachel Fordham: “‘She dead?’ Em heard a man’s voice from somewhere above her.” Hope you have a great weekend!
Wonderful first line! Happy reading!