VOTING CLOSED
WOOO HOOO The third line. Everything is going to get mixed and shaken and stirred some more.
BEFORE YOU VOTE: Just a note, I’m seeing a lot of conversations here and on social media that go along lines of “I thought XXX was a great open but I didn’t vote for it bc I don’t read that genre.”
Please don’t vote by what you read. What happens if only paranormal readers vote or only historical… etc. VOTE BY WHAT YOU THINK IS THE STRONGEST, MOST INTRIGUING, WELL DONE OPENING LINES.
This is your last round of getting three votes, so enjoy that 😉
ALSO, another comment winner round: I’ll draw from the comments about the entries for a winner.
Yesterday’s winner is: HOLLY! Finding Your Writer’s Voice, one of my YA or Rom Com ebooks, or a $5 GC for Amazon. LET ME KNOW briaquinlan AT aol.
ROUND THREE:
A COMPLEX SOLUTION,
Gripping the penknife in my pocket, I shuffled down the hall, my pulse racing. The heavy wooden doors thudded shut as the buzz of voices died away. I needed to do this.
RECIPE OF LOVE, Contemp Romance
Micah Rivard would have much rather been in the kitchen than the interview chair he was currently sitting. He had a restaurant opening in less than two months, and instead of getting smaller his to-do list was getting longer.
Micah forced a smile and tried to focus on the asinine questions from the interviewer.
HELL’S PARADISE, Romance – other
Ghost had grown accustomed to the shadows.
Living in darkness had become a haven and a prison sentence. His job was to stop bad things before they happened to good people.
RED, YA Paranormal Romance
I closed my eyes and raised my nose to the wind hoping for a scent of the girl. It was there, the cloying ballroom scent of lavender…and him.
Only instinct blocked my brothers’ familiar scents and the lightened tread of their boots on the hunt.
LIFE RIGHT NOW, YA Rom Com/Chick Lit
“Do you think you could squeeze an entire life into one day?”
It wasn’t the question that froze my brain–it was the girl. She was gorgeous, but it was her water drenched eyes that stopped the flip answer I’d had ready.
MIDNIGHT’S BALANCE, Paranormal Romance
“If you take another Instagram snap, I’m going to feed you to the alligator.”
She didn’t acknowledge the threat, but waved glitter tipped fingers in my direction, and continued tapping her phone in a blaze of glory.
For the first time in 300 years, I was struck speechless by a familiar…on her first day no less.
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. The artic wind rattling the branches above her carried the clean scent of fresh snow mixed with the stench of the humans waiting to die.
Some of her clan, including a few she hunted with tonight, felt sympathy for these weak creatures—not Nyah.
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. Confusion and suspicion swirled in her belly, working its way up her esophagus, nearly choking her with fright. No, not him.
ONE LAST OBJECTION, Contemp Romance
Get your ass in here and make love to me.” Maggie fisted his polo and yanked him into her condo.
Her towel dropped to the floor and she squeaked as he cupped her ass, bare and silky against his palms.
THE WESTERMAN AFFAIR, Non-Regency Historical Romance
Charles Westerman sipped his champagne and leaned against a yellow-veined marble column in the noisy and crowded foyer of Rutford House. He surveyed the guests in search of a familiar face—or, at least, an inviting one. Really, there should be halos of light above the people with whom he wanted to socialize so he could know them instantly in such a throng.
KISMET, Rom Suspense
“911, what is the address of your emergency?” He had been a dispatcher so long that the words just fell out of his mouth when answering the phone.
A female voice responded, hushed and sounding frightened, “I just… I think I just saw a man go into my neighbor’s window.”
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. I jerked out the magazine, pulled the bolt to check the chamber and popped out the round.
“Mom, Nicholas left his AK loaded again,” I said and set the weapon on the stainless steel counter.
BLINDFOLDED, Contemp Romance
“Another day, another date, another dollar, who shall I be today?” I smooth my dress and give the doorman a wink as I walk through the main door of the luxurious Titan Hotel. I feel the stares of strangers, but I’m only focused on finding the man whose photo was messaged to me only moments ago.
UNTITLED #1, Paranormal Romance
One can hear the Earth in the absence of human noise.
Here, high in the jagged mountains, the valley far below and the empty sky above, Micah could hear it whispering to him.
Today, the Earth whispered, “you are no longer alone;” someone was coming up the mountain.
BLESSED, Romance – other
A meeting package bound in black spiral coils landed on the keyboard of Darryl’s laptop. Only one person possessed this kind of audacity. He looked up.
LOVE’S NO JOKE, Romance – other
The brunette inching up to the Blackjack table had the perfect mix of resting bitch face, obscenely short skirt, and red patent leather “f@# me” heels. Basically catnip to Mara Antonini.
“Look at her.”
CASANOVA EXPOSED, Contemp Romance
Goodbye dignity.
Hovering over a toilet in a stall with her borrowed cocktail dress squeezed between her knees to keep it from falling in had to be the final nail in Kate Vernon’s dignity. Normally she didn’t eavesdrop, but when juicy gossip paid the bills…
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.
He had been searching for his female, his mate, for almost a thousand years and she had been in this very room within the last twenty-four hours.
And he had missed her.
REMEMBER: Vote one time, you get 3 votes… next round you don’t get that many, so enjoy them!
VOTING CLOSED
Oh, this is getting HARD! I easily had half a dozen on my ‘short’ list this time, and what I’m finding is that those that made the cut continued to put as much ‘punch’ in the second and third lines as the first. Also, because they are familiar to me now, it takes more to clear the bar. (Am I *still* laughing? Am I *still* intrigued?) There were definitely ones I didn’t vote for, that IRL I’d keep reading, so kudos to all the authors here! 🙂
I agree with Cheri. This is getting more difficult. I have to say though, one that had gotten my votes in previous rounds didn’t get a vote in this one because I thought the third line muddied the first two. It took me out of the moment I’d been sucked into with the first two lines. Another one, a paranormal romance, the third line knocked it out of the park for me. But really, they’re all good. I would definitely keep reading most of these. Good luck to all the authors!
This is fun. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to vote on these. I’m anxious to see if any that I’ve pick win. 🙂
I love seeing the evolution of these stories progress line-by-line. And I don’t know how I’m seeing some entries for what feels like the first time in the third round– like, where did you come from? I’m looking for voice now, for richness of story. All of the entries have a hook of some variety but the question is whether that hook is going to slip or reel me in (a little fishing metaphor, if you’ll pardon it).
It’ll be fascinating to see how much tension the authors can build in six (seven?) rounds of sentences.
I really want to know who/what book is the last one. I actually want to read this now just based off the opening lines for HIS DARK TEMPTATION. So if you could point me there that would be great, I tried looking it up on Amazon and couldn’t find a book.
Hi Kel – all of these are unpublished works. Some authors are published some aren’t yet — BUT once the winner is announced, everyone is allowed to out their entry, so stick around 🙂
Gahh thank you! 🙂
I’m sad I missed the first two rounds, but this was so much fun. Loved many, had a hard time choosing, but the three I did really wowed me.
There are a lot of great lines here. I really loved the descriptions presented in Uncontrolled Hope it was gripping and I’m quite intrigued by Midnight’s Balance.
Wow! There are some awesome lines here!! This is getting tough. I still have my four favorites, so hard to pick only three of them. I can’t wait to see a lot of these books published. My one-click will get a workout!
So, how did you pick who didn’t get a vote LOL
Next round is only 2 votes, so start practicing those hard decisions now!
It was really, really hard. I just had to really study the line and went from there.
Gah! Only two votes next round? You’re so mean. LOL!
So interesting to watch this unfold! The addition of a third line had me voting for something new – and not even my usual genre! But I’m still hanging on every word of my favorite pick.
Most have drawn me in and I want to read more. Again, hard to pick only three. Well done, ladies. Good luck to all.
I definitely changed my vote on one entry. This is getting more difficult!
I stuck with two and changed the third. In His Dark Temptation, the third line, as short as it was, really drew me into the story. Like Kel, this is one I really want to read. This time I paid no attention to genre. I wish I had a couple more votes.
I am undecided on my third vote… still, after an hour. Too many good ones! I have ignored genre from the start in terms of letting it decide my favorites, but an interesting thing is reading an opening I like and THEN looking at the genre. The ones I seem to like the most aren’t too obvious of the genre or are even surprising considering the genre. Like MIDNIGHT’S BALANCE and CHIME for example. And the NINJA one didn’t make it to this round. But still, too many good ones to choose from!
Wow! Getting harder in some ways, but easier in others. I found that in this round I was less tolerant of grammatical/etc. issues because the competition is getting stiffer, and that actually axed a couple for me. I loved the humor that appeared in CHIME’s third line, and I think MIDNIGHT BALANCE’s third line is arguably its strongest. I love CASANOVA, but the use of the word “dignity” twice takes a little bit of the punch away. All that said, the three I voted for have strong voice, intriguing hooks, and are well-written, with no errors. So much fun!
I’m seriously intrigued by many of these! I’m dying to know more about CHIME, and it’s really getting hard to decide who gets my votes now. Can’t wait to see the next round!
I’m sort of the opposite — hard time finding three that still intrigue me. Two favorites stumbled due to word choices that jarred me out of the story.
Ooooohhhhhhh so good! Loving these. 3rd round made me change my mind and votes yet again! Thank you Ninja for being honest- do love the lines so please let us know where we can find your published work.
HELL’S PARADISE made me want to keep reading more. Can’t say the third line knocked it out of the park but it was building on the intrigue I have from the prior lines and keeping me in suspense.
MIDNIGHT’S BALANCE took the story in a different direction than I thought- and I love it. Building that intrigue (apparently that is the theme of my votes today) and making me want to know more about this world.
CHIME totally sucked me back in with that third line. Tell me more about this family!
CASANOVA EXPOSED was just barely edged out by the first two. Chime was definitely in so it came down to who I liked among the remaining three and the other two just drew me in more. Weird because I am normally not a fan of paranormal and do like rom com.
THE WESTERMAN AFFAIR was another close one but I just liked the other entries a little more. This is a story that is improving with every line.
Because I am already long winded on this post I will wrap it up by saying there were a couple of entries where the third line seemed wasted as just a repeat of the 1st/2nd line info and didn’t really progress the imagery or story.
Great job everyone, loving these entries and congrats on making it to round 3!
I loved the lines. I took them just as they are. Now I want to read so many more books. Definitely the three I chose but even more of the ones that I did not select. Great selection and great job by everyone.
Red was getting intriguing but the 3rd linr pulled me out. I thought it was his brother’s scrnt with the girl. Ooo delicious. But not. A 4th sentence might soften the change of the 3rd.
“Water drenched eyes” interesting phrase. Swimming underwater? Seen in a rainstorm? Where is this going?
Ninja line 3 and Chime line 3: perfection. Nicely done. Im not sure rhey would have the same effect with the luxury of reading all at once. But teased one by…one? Perfect.
Am I on the wrong day? Confused? Wasn’t Ninja line 3 something like. ‘ if you…well you get the picture.” Obviously my phone can’t be trusted.
Okay help. I am confused. I thought 24 lines were moving to round 3, but there are only 18? And Ninja was loaded in the Round 2 comment with a 3rd line. Was there a glitch?
Hi Holly – 20 lines were moving on to line 3.
1 was a no-show and the NINJA author caught that she’d published it previously and was repubbing it this winter and DQd herself for missing that line in the instructions when she saw it.
Sorry just saw that on facebook. Okay I’m going to vote. If I already have, just igmore me, but I dont think so because I apparently thought I voted for Ninja. And suddenly the simple became complex.
Not NINJA! See my sad face … I loved where that was going!