First Lines Friday

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

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!

Got it? Okay let’s go! Here is the quote…

“Once upon a time, a bride fled into the night on a steed spun from starlight. The clouds were her road, and her veil tangled in the constellations, tearing away until her golden bridal crown tumbled into the chasm below.”

Do you know this one?

It’s a new release from this year…

It is the second in a new fantasy series….

Have you guessed?

Yes? No?

Give up?

Here it is!

Painted Devils by Margaret Owen

Publication Date: May 16, 2023

Summary from Goodreads:

Let’s get one thing straight—Vanja Schmidt wasn’t trying to start a cult.

After taking down a corrupt margrave, breaking a deadly curse, and finding romance with the vexingly scrupulous Junior Prefect Emeric Conrad, Vanja had one great mystery left: her long-lost birth family… and if they would welcome a thief. But in her search for an honest trade, she hit trouble and invented a god, the Scarlet Maiden, to scam her way out. Now, that lie is growing out of control—especially when Emeric arrives to investigate, and the Scarlet Maiden manifests to claim him as a virgin sacrifice.

For his final test to become a prefect, Emeric must determine if Vanja is guilty of serious fraud, or if the Scarlet Maiden—and her claim to him—are genuine. Meanwhile, Vanja is chasing an alternative sacrifice that may be their way out. The hunt leads her not only into the lairs of monsters and the paths of gods, but the ties of her past. And with what should be the simplest way to save Emeric hanging over their heads, he and Vanja must face a more dangerous question: Is there a future for a thief and a prefect, and at what price?

I have been patiently waiting for my copy from the library to come, but I am beginning to lose patience. It is still showing as ‘on order’, but it has been two months. It doesn’t usually take this long, so perhaps I will just go out to my local store and purchase it. Especially after reading that first line, I’m itching to get my hands on it!