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First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers: What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? It was originally hosted by Wandering Words.
Rules:
> Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
> Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
> Finally… reveal the book!
The siren rose from the night, a warning and a herald.
She was coming. Lore was nearly home.
Orpheus took to the halls alongside the rest of the court. Night had descended hours ago, but the Gilded Palace never really slept. Too many people filled its walls for Orpheus to not fondly recall when it had been his and Lore’s footsteps echoing through empty corridors. Now, hundreds of courtiers bustled towards the receiving hall, donned in costumes of colorful silks and embroidered brocades like the regal courts of old. Orpheus didn’t think it possible for these nobles to appear any more absurd, but someone must have circulated a message that they were to wear their most ostentatious finery because that was definitely an aide dressed as a swan and the man in the corner looked one breath away from hyperventilating, due in no small part to the mine’s worth of gold armor he must have have commissioned for just this occasion.
The Crack at the Heart of Everything by Fiona Fenn
I picked up this book on NetGalley a few days ago, and so far, I’m really liking it. Hopefully, I’m back in my romantasy era—who doesn’t love a good villain redemption arc?
Synopsis:
He accidentally cursed himself…
When the consequences get him exiled to the land he helped terrorize, can this evil wizard find redemption… and love?
Orpheus can’t believe it’s come to this. After helping his childhood friend conquer the realm by raising an army of hell-beasts, the befuddled dark sorcerer finds himself banished when the price of his magic endangers the palace. Isolated and betrayed, the feared spellcaster isn’t exactly thrilled when his irritating and handsome rival keeps stepping between him and certain doom.
Ill at ease in the barren wasteland his powers created, Orpheus slowly warms to the charismatic ex-general’s relentless overtures. But as his feelings grow more intense, the former villain struggles with an inconvenient calling towards heroism.
Will dabbling in good deeds get him killed or open the doors to happily ever after?
The Crack at the Heart of Everything is the charmingly swoon-worthy first book in an epic LGBTQ+ fantasy series. If you like character-driven stories, snarky humor, and well-earned redemption arcs, then you’ll adore Fiona Fenn’s unexpected hero’s journey.
Release Date: Nov. 12th, 2024:
Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads
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