Which camp are you in? The decorate/celebrate/listen to Christmas music early camp or the wait until after Thanksgiving is over camp? I’m in the first one (but my tree isn’t up yet. Maybe this weekend, though). My reasoning is that one month just isn’t enough to enjoy the season.
So this week I’m introducing my first Christmas book of the season into First Line Friday (and this impatient person **points finger and myself** read this book over a month ago, so I’ve done well to hold off this long).
This one is double special for me because Carnton Plantation is one of my favorite places to visit. The guides who take you through the home are wonderful story tellers and you can imagine the members of the household as a battle raged outside. But you don’t have to make a trip to Franklin, Tennessee to experience the beauty and wonder of Carnton. Tamera Alexander places it right in your hands in Christmas at Carnton.
Check out the first line below then drop by the Hoarding Books Blog to read the other first lines and perhaps find your next read.
First Line(s):
Nov 13, 1863
Franklin, TN
21 miles south of Nashville
“Very nice stitching, Mrs. Prescott.”
Aletta looked up, not having heard her employer’s approach.
More About the Book
Recently widowed, Aletta Prescott struggles to hold life together for herself and her six-year old son. With the bank threatening to evict them, she discovers an advertisement for the Women’s Relief Society auction and applies for a position—only to discover it’s been filled. Then a chance meeting with a wounded soldier offers another opportunity– and friendship. But can Aletta trust this man?
Captain Jake Winston, a revered Confederate sharpshooter, suffered a head wound at the Battle of Chickamauga. When doctors deliver their diagnosis, Jake fears losing not only his greatest skill but his very identity. As he heals, Jake is ordered to assist with a local Women’s Relief Society auction. He respectfully objects. Kowtowing to a bunch of “crinolines” isn’t his idea of soldiering. But orders are orders, and he soon discovers this group of ladies—one, in particular—is far more than he bargained for.
Set against the backdrop of the real history of Carnton Plantation in Franklin, Tennessee, Christmas at Carnton is a story of hope renewed and faith restored at Christmas.
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MONTANA, LATE AUGUST 1895
“Mama?” Emily Carver whispered the word as she opened the door to her parents’ bedroom. – A Treasure Concealed by Tracie Peterson
I listen to Christmas music guiltily before Thanksgiving, but I like to hold off as much as possible because sometimes the anticipation is a joy in itself! 🙂
Over on my blog, I’m sharing the first line from Joyce Rogers’ Lean Hard on Jesus, but I’ll share the first line from Where We Belong by Lynn Austin (really enjoying it!) here:
“Rebecca Hawes lay awake in her tent, convinced that the howling wind was about to lift her entire camp into the air and hurl it to the far side of the desert.”
Have a blessed weekend, Suzie! 🙂
Louis drew his hand back from his mama’s cheek. – Twilight Christmas by Normandie Fischer
Happy Friday!
Today, my first line Friday is from Christmas at Grey Goose Lodge by Phyllis Clark Nichols…..
When Maude opened the door to the Christmas closet in early December that year, she had no reason to think there would only be nine more Christmases celebrated at Grey Sage.
I loved this novella! It’s so good, and I can’t wait for the first book in the series. I know it will be excellent.
Happy Friday!
Today, I am showcasing Vanishing Point by Lisa Harris on my blog for FLF, so here I will post from the book I am currently reading, A Season to Dance by Patricia Beal. Currently, I am on chapter 9, so I’ll post the first line from that:
“Fumbling with a keychain that grew lighter every day, I closed my apartment door for the very last time on the day before our Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt. A cold, ordinary Thursday to everyone else — extraordinary to me.”
Happy Friday! Anything by Tamera is good! My first line (a little longer) is from Anne Greene’s Avoiding the Mistletoe:
Olivia Rose Baker glanced up from the headlines in the Massachusetts Matrimonial Gazette. With an explosive smack, she slapped the newspaper on the top of the breakfast table. “No! I refuse.”
That is such a beautiful cover. And the books sounds very intriguing.
This week I did an author interview with Joyce DiPastana, Medieval fiction writer. The first line from her short story The Girl by the River:
Robert almost tripped over the scythe.
How lovely! I just received Tamera’s book in the mail this week! Love Held Captive by Shelley Shepard Gray is featured on my blog today with a giveaway but I’m currently reading The Vexing by Tamara Leigh. Here’s the first line:
Normandy, France
Early December 1161
Women were more trouble than they were worth. Or so Sir Durand Marshal told himself each time one dragged him into a mess like this one promised to do.
I’m sharing the first line from The Engagement Plot by Krista Phillips on my blog today, but I’ll share the first line from the book I’m currently reading here. “If you’re willing to admit it, you probably know me as Raine de Bourgh.” The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck by Bethany Turner.
I love this cover! And I love reading Christmas books…I’m already watching Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music. 🙂 Happy Saturday and Happy Thanksgiving!
Such a pretty cover!
I am currently reading Capturing Christmas by Shanna Hatfield, ” ‘Celia McGraw, I know you’re out there,’ the announcer’s voice boomed through the speakers at the June rodeo in southern Idaho. ‘Can you please come out here to the arena, darlin’?’ “
I enjoyed reading this Christmas Novella!