The opening line of a book is vitally important and so much fun to write. For me it is one of the first things that comes to my head when dreaming up a new story.
So I've decided to gather first lines from a whole load of wonderful books, all given to me by the lovely authors themselves - thank you!
These opening lines go through the whole range of ways in which to start a story - which are...
Dialogue - Throwing the reader straight into a conversation between characters.
Louisa May Alcott's Little Woman "Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.
Statement - A fact or authoritarian comment.
Tolstoy's Anna Karenina "All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Setting - Description of the environment.
Arundhati Roy's God of Small Things "May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month."
In media res (latin for 'in the middle of things') - puts the reader immediately into the situation.
James Frey A Million Little Pieces "I wake to the drone of an airplane engine and the feeling of something warm dripping down my chin."
Here you go, a lovely selection of opening lines from the erotic romance genre and sent to me from all over the globe! If you're hooked and want to read more then just click on the covers.
Em Petrova - One Fiery Night
Nancy Adams - The Soul Within
The right honourable Brad Rhodes jumped at the knock on his office door.
K D Grace - The Pet Shop
‘You can’t be serious,’ O’Kelly said, nearly dropping the phone.
Gem Sivad - Pinch of Naughty
Cyrus Burke’s long strides carried him toward the house and the woman who sat waiting in the porch swing.
Elizabeth Lapthorne - Flirting with Danger
Skye Adams knew first-hand that life was never easy when your dad was the equivalent of James Bond.
Lucy Felthouse - Ditched
Karen Stivali - Marry Me
"Marry me, Julia."
Lavinia Lewis - Mobsters and Miracles
I pulled and twisted and wriggled in the seat, but it didn’t matter how hard I tried—I couldn’t get my hands free from the damn ropes.
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Christie Butler - Not Just a Fling
Charlotte Brody picked the wrong men.
Patricia Macias - Hot and Spicy
“What am I going to do?” Jose Enrique shouts at the four walls in the twentieth-floor executive office of the De La Cruz Inc. home office.
The throb of the Marshall stacks made her blood run hot and dampened her panties.
Natalie Dae
Don’t just slap me once, it’s not enough.
Anne VanLandingham had committed the most unfashionable offense - she had fallen in love.
Victoria Blisse - Fulfil Me
"I lick my lips as I run my cursor over his body."
Tory Richards - Talk Dirty to Me
Damn, it was hot!
Kay Jaybee - Quick Kink Two
If I had been a newspaper journalist reporting on the wedding I would have used the headline, "The Bride Wore Rubber."
Lexie Bay - Taking Care of Business (from Smut in the City Anthology)
The whole “family” were celebrating with us tonight.
Savannah Chase - Taste of Passion (coming Dec 3rd 2012)
Suffocating smoke overpowered the small bakery kitchen.
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Finally the first line of each of my Hot Ice novels.
Hired
My best friend Giselle is a call girl.
Cross-Checked
I'd admired him from afar for over two years now.
Slap Shot
"Is there an airport around here or is that my heart taking off?"
Teamwork (coming soon)
“Great, you must be the stand-in physio?” A young nurse stood before me, clutching a bag of saline, a drug chart and a handful of clear tubing.
High-Sticked (coming soon)
The wind hurtled down the Hudson, chilling my bones and stinging my cheeks.
I hoped you enjoyed all of these first lines. Leave a comment and let me know which is your favourite opener in any book, ever, not just the ones featured here, and I will pick a name at random at the end of the week to win a copy of Mattress Music - first line of which is...
Elton was killing me.
Lily x
What a wonderful blog! An excellent idea- thanks so much for including QK2! Kay xx
ReplyDeleteLove all these openers, girls! Great job! This is an awesome thing you did, Lily.
ReplyDeleteNext should be page 69. ;) heh.
Kay - I love the idea of a bride in rubber!
ReplyDeleteTaryn - Mmm, now you've got me thinking of a post for next week, thanks :-)
You should see the bridesmaids!! Thanks again for this Lily xx
DeleteFirst line fun! I found out all of mine are incredibly short! Great blog, Lily!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Lily! Wow, there are some fab first lines here. Thanks so much for including mine!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. So many of these books have such a hook!
ReplyDeleteThere's one particular first line that sticks in my mind because it is so utterly perfect. When you read the book, you realize how descriptive it is of the relationship dynamic. It's from Anne Rivers Siddons's FAULT LINES:
"On the day of my husband's annual fund-raising gala, I was down by the river liberating rats."
I think all the first lines are great for each book. I really like EM Petrova's first line in One Fiery Night:I love a story with a fireman.
ReplyDeleteNova, can you leave a comment with your email address so I can send you a copy of Mattress Music :-)
DeleteVery cool idea! And some very sexy book covers! I wish I'd thought of it:)
ReplyDeleteTory
Lily, this blog was such a great idea...I've now got some more books to read thanks to your blog. Thank you also for letting me a part of the post also. You are so wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much to everyone who sent me their first lines and to all the readers who have stopped by :-)
ReplyDeleteLily x