First Line Fridays

First Line Fridays: How To Live on the Edge

~ Colline ~ 14 Comments

How To Live on the Edge by Sarah Lynn Scheerger is a powerful novel that explores breast cancer, the preventative surgery that can be taken for this type of cancer, as well as the response members of the family have to the outcome of this disease.

The first lines of this novel drew me in immediately and made me want to read more:

“There’s a curse on the women in my family. We die young. In the last two generations, not a single woman in my mom’s family has lived past the age of thirty-seven. Aunt Tee is still alive and kicking, and the doctors say she is a perfectly healthy thirty-two year old, but I doubt the Silk family curse will pass her by.

Just like I doubt it will pass me by.

Which means almost half my life is over.

I intend to enjoy it.” (p1, 2020)

I enjoyed reading the rest of the novel – the full review can be read here.

Would you continue reading?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2020

(This post is linked to It’s Not Hoarding If It’s Books and her One Line Friday challenge.)

First Line Fridays: Nine Elms by Robert Bryndza

~ Colline ~ 18 Comments

I have enjoyed Robert Bryndza’s thrillers in the past and was eager to read the first book in his new series, Nine Elms. The novel centres on the Nine Elms serial killer that Kate Marshall had captured when she was a young police officer. Capturing the killer led to a scandal and the dissolution of her career. Fifteen years later, Kate is working as a lecturer at a small coastal English university when a copycat killer takes up the mantle and continues the work of his idol. With her assistant Tristan Harper, Kate draws on her long-neglected investigative skills to catch a new monster.

The extract I am sharing are the first lines of one of the beginning chapters in the novel. It is at the start of the investigation and Kate is battling her past demons and her alcoholism:

“Kate didn’t remember leaving the morgue or saying goodbye to Alan. She found herself emerging from the long dank tunnel and out into the car park. Her legs moved, and the blood pumped so hard and fast in her veins that it felt painful. Everything was muffled; the sound of the busy road as she crossed. A thin mist, which was starting to manifest around the dull yellow of the streetlights. The fear she felt was irrational. It wasn’t one image, or one thought, but it consumed her. Is this fear going to finish me this one, once and for all? she thought. Her neck and back were running with sweat, but the cold air made her shiver.” (p 56, 2019, Thomas & Mercer).

I enjoyed the rest of this nail-biting story and look forward to reading more in this new series. If you enjoy mysteries and thrillers, join me in my enjoyment of this author’s work.

Would you read Kate Marshall’s story in Nine Elms?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2020

(This post is linked to It’s Not Hoarding If It’s Books and her One Line Friday challenge.)

First Line Fridays: The Little Bakery on Rosemary Lane by Ellen Berry

~ Colline ~ 8 Comments

The Little Bakery on Rosemary Lane by Ellen Berry is a fun, lighthearted read that explores a woman’s need to change the direction of her life. This romance is the perfect read for the cooler days of Fall.

“Something peculiar had happened to Marsha Kennedy. She had found herself editor of Britain’s most popular fashion magazine. While she had already edited several publications, they had been in the diet and fitness markets, promising taut bodies and rapidly shed pounds; she knew virtually nothing about fashion and had even less interest in it.”

Ellen Berry The Little Bakery on Rosemary Lane (2017, Harper Collins)

I enjoyed this story so much that I went on the hunt for other books written by this author.

Would you read The Little Bakery on Rosemary Lane?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2019

(This post is linked to It’s Not Hoarding If It’s Books and her One Line Friday challenge.)

First Line Fridays: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

~ Colline ~ 26 Comments

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne was one of those books that I loved when I first read it. This romantic comedy was such a lot of fun to read: there were moments when I could not help but laugh out loud.

“I have a theory. Hating someone feels disturbingly similar to being in love with them. I’ve had a lot of time to compare love and hate, and these are my observations.”

Sally Thorne The Hating Game (2016, Harper Collins)

I haven’t re-read this story yet – but this novel is one of those stories that I will enjoy, I am sure, with the second reading.

Would you read The Hating Game?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2019

(This post is linked to It’s Not Hoarding If It’s Books and her One Line Friday challenge.)

First Line Fridays: Break In Case of Emergency by Brian Francis

~ Colline ~ 4 Comments

Today I begin reading In Case of Emergency by Brian Francis. I am excited to read this novel especially because I met the author on Tuesday. The novel discusses mental health issues and describes a young girl’s coming-of-age story.

“The day I lost my mom, I turned left instead of right. If I had listened to her instructions, if I had turned right, she would still be here.”

Break In Case of Emergency by Brian Francis (2019, Harper Collins Canada)

Already I want to know more – though I will have to wait until I get home this evening before I continue reading!

Would you keep reading?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2019

(This post is linked to It’s Not Hoarding If It’s Books and her One Line Friday challenge.)

First Line Fridays: The Last Widow by Karin Slaughter

~ Colline ~ 18 Comments

My pre-ordered copy of Karin Slaughter’s latest novel has arrived!

“Michelle Spivey jogged through the back of the store, frantically scanning each aisle for her daughter, panicked thoughts circling her brain: How did I lose sight of her I am a horrible mother my baby was kidnapped by a pedophile or a human trafficker should I flag store security or call the police or -”

The Last Widow by Karin Slaughter (2019, Harper Collins Canada)

Slaughter pulls the reader right in with the first line into a story featuring a kidnapping, a devastating explosion, and the Centre for Disease Control.

I look forward to delving into this thriller

Would you keep reading?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2019

(This post is linked to It’s Not Hoarding If It’s Books and her One Line Friday challenge.)

First Line Fridays: The Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa

~ Colline ~ 16 Comments

“It was raining the day Suki came to the Palace of the Sun, and it was raining the night that she died.”

The Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa (2018, Harper Collins Canada)

The Shadow of the Fox is a magical Japanese Fantasy novel that features Yumeko (half kitsune and half human) and Kage Tatsumi ( a samurai of the Shadow Clan). One is sworn to protect part of an ancient scroll, the other to find it.

I loved this story and look forward to reading the next one in the series.

Would you keep reading?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2019

(This post is linked to It’s Not Hoarding If It’s Books and her One Line Friday challenge.)

First Line Fridays: The Last Resort by Marissa Stapley

~ Colline ~ 18 Comments

“ He struggles to breathe. There’s blood trickling into one of his eyes. His glasses are gone. He can hear the ocean rising to meet him. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. ”

The Last Resort by Marissa Stapley (2019, Simon & Schuster Canada)

I have just started this novel and it promises to be a good one!

Would you keep reading?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2019

(This post is linked to It’s Not Hoarding If It’s Books and her One Line Friday challenge.)

First Line Fridays: The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy

~ Colline ~ 20 Comments

“ I wake feverish. The skylight above me pulses with rain, and I spider my fingers across the sheets, remembering I’m alone. I close my eyes and find my way back to sleep, until I’m woken again, engulfed by a deep, sudden pain. I’ve been waking with a sick feeling every morning since he left, bu I know that away this is different.
Something’s wrong.”

The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy (2018, Harper Collins Publishers)

This book centres on a story that is every young mother’s nightmare – the kidnapping of her child. This was an intense read with some unexpected twists.

Would you keep reading?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2019

(This post is linked to It’s Not Hoarding If It’s Books and her One Line Friday challenge.)

First Line Fridays: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

~ Colline ~ 21 Comments

“Chistmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1987, Marshall Cavendish)

I decided to share the first line of one of the classics today. I remember the first time I read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I was a 12 year old girl who used to spend time reading library books on my bed or in the shadows of the garden. I remember loving the story and thereafter reading the sequel Little Men. I have re-read the novel once since then and have enjoyed a film rendition.

Have you read the story about Jo and her sisters?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2019

(This post is linked to It’s Not Hoarding If It’s Books and her One Line Friday challenge.)