VOTING CLOSED
WOW – there are some really amazing opening lines here. I’m so excited to see how this goes.
So, here’s the deal. At the bottom is the poll for voting. Everyone gets 3 votes this round.
WHO CAN VOTE: Anyone. Anyone can vote ONCE. Readers, writers, people in the list (and yes, if you want to vote for you this round, go ahead) bloggers, people who stumble upon this out of blatant curiosity.
Vote for the lines you’d keep reading – the ones you think are the best.
AND IF YOU COMMENT you’re entered to win a $5 Amazon GC.
AND THEN – in the comments, feel free to tell us what you liked about lines. Did you find yourself drawn to dialogue or description, setting or senses, clever or curious? Did something ALMOST make your list but didn’t? What types of things were you hoping to see?
CONTESTANTS: Remember, we need to pimp this for votes – but you can only pimp generally. You can’t out your lines as yours. That = a disqualification. All three times I’ve done this contest before, someone has tried it. And trust me, people screenshoot the snot out of that and send it on. Please don’t make me DQ you.
Watch for the 25 remain entries will be posted FRIDAY AFTERNOON – with directions for Round 2.
UPDATE: I can see the IP addresses and know that several addresses are voting more than once. I am randomly deleting all votes but one from these addresses. I am going to assume this is a mistake, that you have come back and couldn’t remember if you voted.
BUT don’t forget, I can also see entries IP addresses. If this begins to look like a cheat, I will DQ. I’m not afraid to do it…. don’t tempt me it’s noon and I still haven’t had caffeine yet.
ALSO – three votes per person at one time. I’m only taking the first three, which if you vote for five means you only voted for the three AT THE TOP OF THE LIST.
THE ENTRIES
BLINDFOLDED, Contemp Romance
Another day, another date, another dollar, who shall I be today?
HELL’S PARADISE, Rom, Other
Ghost had grown accustomed to the shadows.
LOVE’S NO JOKE, Rom, Other
The brunette inching up to the Blackjack table had the perfect mix of resting bitch face, an obscenely short skirt, and red patent leather “f&@k me” heels.
A COMPLEX SOLUTION, YA Rom Suspense
Gripping the knife in my pocket, I shuffled down the hall, my pulse racing.
ONE LAST OBJECTION, Contemp Romance
“Get your ass in here and make love to me.”
SUGAR CITY BRIDES, Rom, Other
At one time Jacob Ryan took comfort in the combined scent of his parents as it lingered in the master bedroom and the love he could feel there.
UNTITLED (#1), Paranormal Romance
One can hear the Earth in the absence of human noise.
THE WESTERMAN AFFAIR, Non-Regency Historical Rom
Charles Westerman sipped his champagne and leaned against a yellow-veined marble column in the noisy and crowded foyer of Rutford House.
BLESSED, Romance, Other
A meeting package bound in black spiral coils landed on the keyboard of Darryl’s laptop.
NINJA, Sci-Fi
If you have a name, you are not a ninja.
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, Contemp Romance
Taking a deep breath, Annie Becker readjusted her grip and gently squeezed the trigger.
RED, YA Paranormal Romance
I closed my eyes and raised my nose to the wind hoping for a scent of the girl.
A TIME FOR US, Contemp Romance
Aboard the Piedmont jet, Matthew Woods scowled at the flight attendant then waited for a certain brunette–twenty minutes and two shots of bourbon later, he still waited.
RECIPE OF LOVE, Contemp Romance
Micah Rivard would have much rather been in the kitchen than the interview chair he was currently sitting.
CASANOVA EXPOSED, Contemp Romance
Goodbye dignity.
STEALING JAYA, YA Rom Com/Chick Lit
“I hate you.”
HER HUSBAND’S MISTRESS, Non-Regency Historical Romance
The newlywed Mrs. John Prevoost Schuyler had quietly borne many humiliations in her life, but none so degrading as being informed over her honeymoon supper that her marriage was a lie.
LIFE RIGHT NOW, YA Rom Com/Chick Lit
“Do you think you could squeeze an entire life into one day?”
UNTITLED (#2), Contemp Romance
Genevieve could see the smoke rising from the engine of the rental sedan only because it twirled in front of the headlights.
MIDNIGHT’S BALANCE, Paranormal Romance
“If you take another Instagram snap, I’m going to feed you to the alligator.”
AT FIRST BLUSH, Contemp Romance
The door to the Happy Clam Family Restaurant blew open, bringing in a gust of cold air and the haunting ghost from Hope Windward’s past.
UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT, Contemp Romance
“Dammit Benjy, you’re drunk.”
BLACK WATER MAGIC, Rom Suspense
The half-moon breaking through the clouds washed the woman before Jameson Kennedy in muted shades of blue.
UNCONTROLLED HOPE, Paranormal Romance
Beneath the inky black of a moonless night, Nyah Kendrick hiked through the dense Maine forest, her heart racing with anticipation of the hunt.
KISMET, Rom Suspense
“911, what is the address of your emergency?”
CHIME, YA Sci Fi
I opened the pantry to get a box of cereal, and my brother’s AK-47 fell over with a clang at my feet.
THE STORY OF US, YA Romance
Billy sprang from the chair in front of the desk.
TRUTH IN TIME, Contemp Romance
My heart had been pounding through my chest from the moment I walked into my house.
HIS DARK TEMPTATION, Paranormal Romance
Dorran took a step into the hotel room situated above one of the taverns in the Temple Bar District and cursed every undying god he knew of.
Bria, are we supposed to be voting? When I click the button, nothing happens.
Same thing here, I voted and then click the vote button and nothing happens
Same here. I voted clicked the button and nothing happened.
So, it’s not only me. Whew!
THANKS GUYS – IT’S ALL FIXED WITH A FORM. No idea why WordPress polls are broken. 🙁
What a fun contest!
Good job, everyone! These lines are great!
Ok, the votes are starting to trickle in! Wondering what attracted you to a line!
There were so many good ones, but I loved the comment about taking another Instagram and feeding them to the alligator – because isn’t that the case these days! People don’t always experience life because they are trying to document it!!
I really liked the pondering of cramming a whole life in a day. I’d keep reading to see where that is going!
I picked three lines that would make me want to keep reading. “Ninja” especially, although honestly I’m taking that in a kinda dry, sardonic way, so if the rest of the book was really violent sci-fi, it wouldn’t be my thing. I *almost* chose the line from “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” but I couldn’t get past the spelling of Benjy.
I’ve had books that I struggled with because the author tried to be cute with the name and I stumbled over it every time I read it. One author, I don’t remember who, had a character whose mom had taken the first two and last two letters of the name and swapped them. So Elizabeth would be Thizabeel. I don’t remember the actual name but it was so hard to read because I got hung up on the character’s name so much.
This was awesome! I especially love the lines with humor and suspense. I think the AK-47 line was brilliant.
I couldn’t resist the line with the brunette at the blackjack table. “resting bitch face” … LOL!
It’s working now with the verification added. thanks!
My favorite line is “Goodbye dignity.” It made me laugh out loud and I was ready for what this character was about to do. 🙂
I like the curiosity of these:
“Gripping the knife in my pocket, I shuffled down the hall, my pulse racing.”
“Taking a deep breath, Annie Becker readjusted her grip and gently squeezed the trigger.”
“The door to the Happy Clam Family Restaurant blew open, bringing in a gust of cold air and the haunting ghost from Hope Windward’s past.”
I’m a sucker for a shifter book, so this one caught my attention:
“I closed my eyes and raised my nose to the wind hoping for a scent of the girl.”
“Dorran took a step into the hotel room situated above one of the taverns in the Temple Bar District and cursed every undying god he knew of.”
this one made me smile. being somewhere we don’t want to be is so relatable. and I love being in the kitchen:
“Micah Rivard would have much rather been in the kitchen than the interview chair he was currently sitting.”
Most of the longer ones lost my attention because it was so much information to digest but I think you have more freedom with that in historicals. The language is sweeping. so this one held my attention:
“The newlywed Mrs. John Prevoost Schuyler had quietly borne many humiliations in her life, but none so degrading as being informed over her honeymoon supper that her marriage was a lie.”
this one has a subtle feel about it that drew me in. It complimented well with what we know of Ninjas:
“If you have a name, you are not a ninja.”
This one made me laugh.
“If you take another Instagram snap, I’m going to feed you to the alligator.”
My thoughts every time I go to the beach. I felt like this person and I could be besties from this one line
“I have sand in my butt crack.”
the ““Dorran took a step into the hotel room situated above one of the taverns in the Temple Bar District and cursed every undying god he knew of.” was supposed to be pasted under my “I like the curiosity of these” list!
Loving these comments!
I want to know who (or what) Annie is shooting. I kind of hope it’s a who :). Instant tension! My favorite line of the bunch.
A close second was the brunette with the b*tchy face. I can just see her in action.
So many great lines, but I’m partial to YA and suspense. They really catch my interest and keep it.
Narrowing this down to only 3 choices was so TOUGH! Still…
“One can hear the Earth in the absence of human noise.” <– This was immaculate setup, in my opinion. Simple but it gave me an immediate sense of the non-human-ness of the speaker and of the deep connection to the earth. Just, wow.
"I opened the pantry to get a box of cereal, and my brother’s AK-47 fell over with a clang at my feet." <– Comedic, tongue-in-cheek, and something unusual presented as run-of-the-mill. Oh, please, let there be Russian mafia.
"Dorran took a step into the hotel room situated above one of the taverns in the Temple Bar District and cursed every undying god he knew of." <– Something Irish, something immortal, and something that pissed him off. This is my absolute CATNIP.
SO HARD TO CHOOSE!!!! I have to honestly say that I was most drawn to the SF/F lines. I don’t know why, but those just intrigue me more. What kind of world is this? What fun surprise character traits will I be introduced to? There’s instant intrigue in the category even before I read the line, but then the line is super interesting too?? I’m hooked. 🙂 Good job everyone,
It was so hard to choose!
So hard to choose and wish I could have voted for more than three. I’d keep reading many of them, but I especially want to know what happened to Jacob Ryan’s parents and why he couldn’t feel the love anymore, where was Genevieve going or who was she trying to get away from when her car overheated in the dark, and who is the ghost from Hope Windward’s past that blew into the Happy Clam Family restaurant.
Reading these lines made me realize I like first lines that contain a name so I can immediately connect with or be curious about the character.
Of course, I’m curious about why Mrs. John Prevoost Schuyler’s marriage is a lie, who Nyah Kendrick was hunting, and who Jameson Kennedy saw when the moonlight washed over the woman before him.
Good job everyone. We’ve got some excellent first lines here. Good luck to all.
Looking at lines and then the genre is an exercise in how to deliver a particular promise from the first sentence. Without the blurb or cover, it’s difficult to gauge the genre from some of the lines. Pondering if this is important?
These are such amazing lines! I’m looking forward to seeing which lines make it to the next round!
As others have said, it was so hard to pick just three. I narrowed it down to lines that were more inclined to my reading taste. I loved the lines from “Love’s No Joke”, “Casanova Exposed”, and “His Dark Temptation”.
Great job, everyone!
Thanks, Bria, for organizing this.
So much fun! It is really interesting to see with no other reference points that I gravitated to the humorous lines vs something serious or vague. I am betting if the opener was 3 lines my votes would change completely- this is almost like a caption contest with no photo!
The title did hold some sway in the voting since that was the only other reference point and some lines are so short it is hard to say where the story will go. That being said some of the more descriptive lines made my interest fade partway through. Liking the short and snappy!
I ignored the genre and just read each line, and without exception, I was drawn to lines that surprised me in some way, made me laugh, or both. Those that felt predictable or stagnant got a pass. I especially like unusual juxtapositions between ordinary and unusual elements. (The cereal and the AK-47 line comes to mind.) Can’t wait to see how this progresses.
I like the ones that are brief but have a lot of meaning. I also like suspense, so if its enough to make me wonder what’s going to happen next, I will keep reading.
This was really hard.
I had a couple I liked but moved away from. The Kismet one threw me bc that’s not how they answer the phone in either place I”ve worked. I found that the long ones felt like they were cramming stuff in and lost my attention. But the super short ones (the I hate you) didn’t give me enough.
The Casanova one was the short one that kept me. It made me giggle.
Too much detail lost my attention, but not enough or the wrong kind also made me shrug and move on.
Also, a couple felt like they were being cleverly punctuated to squeeze in more and it just felt wrong. I kept wanting to put periods in those. So, I skipped those.
I agree with the person about the Bengy spelling, but also – I didn’t like if we were in the main characters shows yelling or if we were the main character being yelled at.
I don’t read sci-fi but the NINJA line…. I couldn’t pass that up. i really do want to know the next line. So, it got a vote against genre for me – that’s awesome!
Some people just killed there lines for me with the wrong word choice LOVE’S NO JOKE ‘inching” just made me think of a green worm and killed the image.
HER HUSBAND’S MISTRESS started out great and killed it for me by going for a generalization. ‘lie’ This could be anything. He told her he was catholic and he’s jewish. HER HUSBAND’S MISTRESS as a title or whatever should not be included in the line. Better to say something like when she laid the smart down with that video playing…
It seems like there are a few Keri’s in here, I love it!
I prefer the ones that are more brief as well. Life Right Now, the title and line make me think something really epic could happen in this book.
I also really liked Midnight Balance, it seems like it might be a little funny but also have some adventure in it?
Any book with swearing and sex-references in the opening line gets automatically closed.
So many good ones!
I was drawn to quite a few and knew I’d have trouble picking. But “Goodbye dignity” had me with just two words. It was my first pick. My second was the one about the Earth without humans…It was such an intriguing thought. And my last choice was the AK 47, because it felt like it could have my kind of humour.
I really enjoyed the first 3 (who shall I be, ghost, and resting bitch face) for completely different reasons. I was intrigued by the life in one day. And I wanted to know why Benjy was drunk. I guess I like the odd, something with a hint of humour, or something thought-provoking.