Comments

  1. 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! 🙂

  2. 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!

  3. 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. 🙂

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

    • Bria Quinlan says

      Hi Kel – all of these are unpublished works.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 🙂

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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!

    • Bria Quinlan says

      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!

  9. 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.

  10. Most have drawn me in and I want to read more. Again, hard to pick only three. Well done, ladies. Good luck to all.

  11. I definitely changed my vote on one entry. This is getting more difficult!

  12. 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.

  13. J. Morgan says

    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!

  14. 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!

  15. Theresa Cole says

    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!

  16. 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.

  17. 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!

  18. Hattie Loggins says

    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.

  19. 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.

  20. 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?

      • Bria Quinlan says

        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!

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