First Chapter: When Falcons Fall by C.S. Harris

Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter, First Paragraph every Tuesday. Share the first paragraph(s) of your current read or book interest, with information for readers.

When Falcons Fall: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery by C.S. Harris, published March 1, 2016 by NAL

Setting: 

Ayleswick-on-Teme, 1813. Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, has come to this seemingly peaceful Shropshire village to honor a slain friend and on a quest to learn more about his own ancestry. (publisher)

First paragraph,  first chapter: 

It was the fly that got to him. 

In the misty light of early morning, the dead woman looked as if she might be sleeping, her dusky lashes resting against cheeks of pale egg shell, her lips faintly parted. She lay at the edge of a clover-strewn meadow near the river, the back of her head nestled against a mossy log, her slim hands folded at the right waist of her fashionable dove gray mourning gown. 

Then the fly came crawling out of her mouth. 

Well, that opening chapter does come as a shock. Would this prevent you from reading on? Or does it provoke your interest in this mystery?

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter:

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn.

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter, printed September 29, 2015 by William Morrow
Genre: thriller, mystery
With a missing girl in the news, Claire Scott can’t help but be reminded of her sister, who disappeared twenty years ago in a mystery that was never solved. 
But when Claire begins to learn the truth about her sister, nothing will ever be the same.

First paragraph, first chapter:

When you first disappeared, your mother warned me that finding out exactly what had happened to you would be worse than never knowing. We argued about this constantly because arguing was the only thing that held us together at the time. 

Teaser, page 69:

"No," she'd told him, because by then, the desire had been stifled by a tall stack of waffles. "I feel like I want to dig up Paul's body and kill him all over again."

My comments: I enjoyed the book, though I wished it had been less violent. 

First Chapter: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, published 2005 by Grove Press. 
Literary Awards:
Man Booker Prize (2006), Orange Prize Nominee for Fiction Shortlist (2007), Vodafone Crossword Book Award for Popular (2006), National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction (2006)

First paragraphs, first chapter:

All day, the colors had been those of dusk, mist moving like a water creature across the great flanks of mountains possessed of ocean shadows and depths. Briefly visible above the vapor, Kanchenjunga was a far peak whittled out of ice, gathering the last of the light, a plume of snow blown high by the winds at its summit. 

Sai, sitting on the veranda, was reading an article about giant squid in an old National Geographic, Every now and then she looked up at Kanchenjunga, observed its wizard phosphorescence with a shiver. The judge sat at the far corner with his chessboard, playing against himself....  

Book description: In a crumbling, isolated house at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas lives an embittered judge who wants only to retire in peace, when his orphaned granddaughter, Sai, arrives on his doorstep. The judge’s cook watches over her distractedly, for his thoughts are often on his son, Biju, who is hopscotching from one gritty New York restaurant to another. 

Kiran Desai’s novel, published to huge acclaim, is a story of joy and despair. Her characters face numerous choices that illuminate the consequences of colonialism as it collides with the modern world. (publisher)

Based on the first paragraphs and the book description, would you keep reading?

First Chapter: DIAMOND HEAD by Cecily Wong

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn.

Diamond Head by Cecily Wong
Published April 14, 2015 by Harper
Genre: historical novel
First chapter, first paragraph:

Inside the care, it smells like hibiscus. It was his mother's idea; something subtle, she told him, but fresh. Something alive. As the man pulls from his driveway he is grateful, just this once, for his mother's meddling. He breathes in. Already, the sweet smell is working on his nerves. 

Teaser: 

There are few things in life as beautiful as a fresh start," Frank whispered, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into his chest, sheltering me from the wind off the ocean, pressing me into his eager heartbeat. "This will be ours."

Book description: At the turn of the nineteenth-century, Frank Leong, a wealthy shipping industrialist, moves his family from China to the island of Oahu. But something ancient follows the Leongs to Hawaii, haunting them. 

The parable of the red string of fate, the cord which binds one intended beloved to her perfect match, also punishes for mistakes in love, passing a destructive knot down the family line. 
Now the Leong’s survival rests with young Theresa, Frank Leong’s only grandchild, eighteen and pregnant, the heir apparent to her ancestors’ punishing knots. Told through the eyes of the Leong’s secret-keeping daughters and wives and spanning The Boxer Rebellion to Pearl Harbor to 1960s Hawaii, Diamond Head is a tale of tragic love, shocking lies, poignant compromise, aching loss, heroic acts of sacrifice and, miraculous hope. (publisher)

Based on the first paragraph, the teaser, and the book description, would you read on?

First Chapter: AN UNCOMPLICATED LIFE by Paul Daugherty

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn.

An Uncomplicated Life: A Father's Memoir of His Exceptional Daughter by Paul Daugherty
Published March 17, 2015; William Morrow

First paragraph:

INTRODUCTION 

"I wide bike."

This is a story about a dream and a child and the progress of each. It starts on our driveway in early spring. Jillian Daugherty straddles a comically tiny two-wheeler that, against considerable odds and long-held perceptions, she intends to ride. She is 12 years old and prone to doing what all kids do. She's going to try to ride it. 

Book description:
A father's exhilarating and funny love letter to his daughter with Down syndrome whose vibrant and infectious approach to life has something to teach all of us about how we can better live our own.

Would you continue reading based on the opening paragraph and the book description?

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn.

The life-changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo, published October 14, 2014; Ten Speed Press
Genre: self-help

Chapter 1:

Why can't I keep my house in order? You can't tidy if you've never learned how

When I tell people that my profession is telling other people how to tidy, I am usually met with looks of astonishment. "Can you actually make money doing that?" is their first question. This is almost always followed by, "Do people need lessons in tidying?"

...The general assumption, in Japan at least, is that tidying doesn't need to be taught but rather is picked up naturally....one never hears of anyone passing on the family secrets of tidying, even within the same household.

Book teaser:

By paring down to the volume that you can properly handle, you revitalize your relationship with your belongings. (p. 126)

Book description:
This best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing.

I bought this book before I even knew it was a best seller. I started it, it sounded reasonable and very do-able, but I now have to finish the book to get back on track and remember all the advice. Tops in one drawer, bottoms in another; how to fold and store socks, underwear, bags; clothes that one must hang in the closet, etc. 

But first, I must throw everything away or dispose of those things I don't want, use, or find useful! Phew!

Would you keep reading after the first paragraph, etc.?

Other reviews of the book: 1330V

Death at Chinatown: An Emily Cabot Mystery by Frances McNamara

First Chapter, First Paragraphis a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea. Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B; choose two teaser sentences from a random page of your current read.

Title: Death at Chinatown: An Emily Cabot Mystery

Author: Frances McNamara
Published April 16, Allium Press

Teaser: 

"I son of Chou." "I son of Yang." The others proffered their papers and Lewis spread them on the table, where he began perusing them.

First chapter: 

"Mr. Cormick here suffered injuries from a shotgun blast a month ago." The surgeon gestured and looked down, but I kept my eyes on the balding patch just visible on the top of his head. "We were unable to locate all of the pellets at the time of original treatment and he has been in continual pain ever since. Today, gentlemen...and ladies," Dr. Erickson said with a bow in our direction, "we will, for the first time, use a new technique which the German physician Dr. Roentgen discovered while experimenting with a Crookes tube." He paused to point at a round glass bulb mounted on a wooden stand. 

Publisher description:

Summer of 1896: amateur sleuth Emily Cabot meets two young Chinese women who have recently received medical degrees. When one of the women is accused of poisoning a Chinese herbalist, Emily finds herself in the midst of a murder investigation. But she must first settle a quarrel with her husband, help quell a political uprising, and overcome threats against her family. Issues such as restrictions on immigration, conflict between Western and Eastern medicine, and women's struggle to balance family and work, are woven throughout this historical mystery. Rich with details of life in Chicago's original Chinatown, this fifth book in the series will delight history buffs and mystery lovers alike.

I am eager to read this one as I am interested in the history of the Chinese in early America as well as historical mystery novels.

Based on the excerpts, would you continue reading?

I received a complimentary copy of this book for possible review.

First Chapter: Embrace the Whirlwind by Laurel-Rain Snow

First Chapter, First Paragraph is a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.
Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B; choose two teaser sentences from a random page of your current read.

Embrace the Whirlwind

Embrace the Whirlwind by Laurel-Rain Snow
Published March 19, 2007; BookSurge
Genre: fiction

First chapter, first paragraph: 

She hadn't trusted in the myth of "happily ever after" for a very long time, but, despite herself, she had trusted that he was going to be the love of her life. After all, the two of them had been hanging out pretty regularly now for a couple of months. He came to the roadhouse where she worked, usually right after she finished up with his construction crew, and they had fallen into the habit of leaving together after her shift ended. But tonight had been different, right from the start.

Book description: 

Coming from a deeply troubled family, Amber finds herself making more and more misguided choices. Pregnant and subsequently abandoned, she becomes obsessed with a man who can't seem to commit to her. Hopelessly addicted to his love, Amber whirls more and more out of control until she meets a retired social worker whose kindness and caring guide Amber toward understanding and self-fulfillment.

Based on the opening paragraph and the book description, would you keep on reading?

The House on Mermaid Point by Wendy Wax

First Chapter, First Paragraph is a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.
Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B; choose two teaser sentences from your current read.

The House on Mermaid Point

The House on Mermaid Point by Wendy Wax
Published July 1, 2014; Berkley Trade
Genre: contemporary fiction

First chapter, first paragraph:

Although she hadn't exactly planned it, Madeline Singer had recently achieved two things that surprised her: a senior citizen discount; and the legal right to date.

Teaser sentences:

Yelling at Madeline Singer was even worse than kicking a puppy, and Will regretted it almost as soon as possibly even before, he'd started doing it. (ch. 25)

"Is so bea-u-ti-ful out here."  Avery's head had dropped back and she was peering up into the sky.
"It is," Maddie nodded her agreement. (ch. 29)

My comments:  Wendy Wax has written a love story/stories set in the Florida Keys and on a fictional private island, Mermaid Point. The novel seems to be a paean to the sea, the land, the skies, the place. I've been to the Keys and loved it. Wax revels in it! I haven't read her two earlier Florida books but am curious about the previous adventures of the trio in these beach novels - Madeline, Avery, and Nicole.

Book description from goodreads:
"In this new novel from the author of Ten Beach Road and Ocean Beach, three unlikely friends who were thrown together by disaster get a do-over on life, love, and happiness . . . Maddie, Avery, and Nikki first got to know one another while  restoring a beachfront mansion to its former grandeur. But their latest project has presented some challenges they couldn’t have dreamed up in their wildest fantasies—although the house does belong to a man who actually was Maddie’s wildest fantasy once . . ."

A good beach read, in all ways, especially if you can't make it down to the Keys!  
Thanks to the publisher for a review copy 

Other reviews of the book:
Pudgy Penguin Perusals
Always with a Book

China Dolls by Lisa See

First Chapter, First Paragraph is a weekly meme hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B; choose two teaser sentences from a random page of your current read.

China Dolls

First paragraph:

I traveled west - alone - on the cheapest bus routes I could find. Every mile took me farther from Plain City, Ohio, where I'd been a flyspeck on the wallpaper of small town life. Each new state I passed through loosened another rope around my heart, my legs, my arms, yet my whole body ached and I couldn't shake my vertigo. I lived on aspirin, crackers, and soda pop. I cried and cried and cried. On the eighth day, California. Many hours after crossing the boundary, I got off the bus and pulled my sweater a little more tightly around me. I expected sun and warmth, but on that October afternoon, fog hung over San Francisco, damp, and shockingly cold. 

Picking up my suitcase, I left the bus station and started to walk. The receptionists at the cheap hotels I visited told me they were full. "Go to Chinatown," they suggested. "You can get a room there." I had no idea where Chinatown was, so that didn't help me. 

Teaser: 

The War Relocation Authority has your brother in an internment camp in Utah," Agent Parker went on. "If it were up to me, we'd keep you here until you told the truth -"

"I've told the truth," I said. (from an ARE; final copy may differ)

Book description:
Set in the "Chop Suey Circuit" of San Francisco right before World War II.
In 1938, Ruby, Helen and Grace, three girls from very different backgrounds, find themselves competing at the same audition for showgirl roles at San Francisco's exclusive "Oriental" nightclub, the Forbidden City. Grace, an American-born Chinese girl has fled the Midwest and an abusive father. Helen is from a Chinese family who have deep roots in San Francisco's Chinatown. And, as both her friends know, Ruby is Japanese passing as Chinese. At times their differences are pronounced, but the girls grow to depend on one another in order to fulfill their individual dreams. 

Then, everything changes in a heartbeat with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Suddenly the government is sending innocent Japanese to internment camps under suspicion, and Ruby is one of them. But which of her friends betrayed her? (publisher)
Published June 3, 2014; ARE  from Random House

Based on the teaser and first chapter of the book, would you keep reading? 

A Well-Tempered Heart by Jan-Philipp Sendker; and Night of the Living Thread by Janet Bolin - Book Teaser/First Chapter

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B; choose two teaser sentences from a random page of your current read.

A Well-Tempered Heart

"Where are the bees?""Alas, they have flown on and taken up residence elsewhere," my brother explained as he set my pack down. I sighed with relief." In their place, two snakes moved in." (ch. 9)

A Well-Tempered Heart by Jan-Philipp Sendker, published January 21, 2014; Other Press
Book description: Almost ten years have passed since Julia Win came back from Burma, her father’s native country. Though she is a successful Manhattan lawyer, her private life is at a crossroads. Julia is lost and exhausted. A voice in her head one day starts to ask questions Julia has been trying to avoid. Why do you live alone? To whom do you feel close? What do you want in life? (from goodreads)

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First Chapter, First Paragraph is a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

Night of the Living Thread

"Gord? A woman's heartfelt plea fluted through the misty night. Who was calling Threadville's favorite doctor in that flirtatious tone? In less than a week, Gord was marrying Edna.That voice was not Edna's. 

 Night of the Living Thread by Janet Bolin, to be published June 3, 2014; Berkley.

Book description: For Edna’s wedding, Willow and the rest of the Threadville gang have fashioned an overly extravagant hoopskirt, complete with lights and music. But in a bizarre turn of events, the garish gown is implicated in a mysterious lakeside murder. (from goodreads)

Would you continue reading based on the opening paragraphs?

Teaser/First Chapter: Cold Storage, Alaska by John Straley; and A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B; choose two teaser sentences from a random page of your current read.

Cold Storage Alaska

Teaser:

Miles wasn't eager to show that police officer around. No matter where they were from, visitors always wanted to ask questions. They started with history: Why is this place here? To this Miles would usually answer, "Fish...mostly." He longed to tell the whole story but the truth is people really didn't want to know. (ch. 2) 

from Cold Storage, Alaska by John Straley; Soho Crime
An offbeat, often hilarious crime novel set in the sleepy Alaskan town of Cold Storage from the Shamus Award winning author. Clive “The Milkman” McCahon returns to his tiny hometown of Cold Storage, Alaska after a seven-year jail stint for dealing coke. He has a lot to make up to his younger brother, Miles, who has dutifully been taking care of their ailing mother. But Clive doesn’t realize the trouble he’s bringing home. (goodreads)

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First Chapter, First Paragraph is a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

A Single Breath

 First chapter:

As she leaves the shelter of the headland, the full force of the wind hits Eva. Her hair whips back from her face and she hugs the flask of coffee tight to her chest. Clouds of sand gust along the shoreline, sending a tangled knot of fishing line pinwheeling along the beach.  

A woman passes in the other direction, her purple coat flattened to her back by the wind. The fur-trimmed coat is pulled tight to her face, making Eva wish she had thought to wear a hat. She had forgotten how raw the weather is on the coast; in London it is muted by buildings and watched from behind windows.

from A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke; Touchstone
A young widow discovers her husband was not who he claimed to be and finds herself falling in love with the wrong man. Threading together beautiful, wild settings in Tasmania and suspenseful twists, A Single Breath is a tale of secrets, betrayals, and new beginnings. (goodreads)

Do the teasers and the first chapter entice you to want to read these books? 

Murder on Bamboo Lane by Naomi Hirahara

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B; choose two teaser sentences from a random page of your current read. Give the title and author for readers.

Murder on Bamboo Lane

Title: Murder on Bamboo Lane: An Office Ellie Rush Mystery by Naomi Hirahara

Published April 1, 2013 Berkley

Genre: mystery

Most locals consider Olvera Street just a tourist trap where you can be swallowed up in a pit of tchotchkes that look Mexican but are probably made in China. Dig a little deeper, I tell my friends. It's more than taquitos. There's an adobe house there that may not look like much, but it's the oldest standing house in Los Angeles. And then there is the Siqueiros mural, painted in the 1930s and restored recently for ten million dollars. (ch. 7)

My comments: This new mystery series by Hirahara may sound as if it's about the Mexican population in Los Angeles, but in reality it has a new bike cop, Ellie Rush, ranging around in areas populated by Asian groups - Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Apart from the mystery plot, the novel takes you through Los Angeles ethnic neighborhoods and enclaves. I liked that about the book, in addition to the unique murder story.

Publisher description:
Trouble awaits rookie LAPD Officer Ellie Rush as she patrols the mean streets of Los Angeles on her bicycle… Bike cop Ellie Rush dreams of becoming a homicide detective, but it’s still a shock when the first dead body she encounters on the job is that of a former college classmate.

At the behest of her Aunt Cheryl, the highest-ranking Asian-American officer in the LAPD (a source of pride for Ellie’s grandmother, but annoyance to her mom), Ellie becomes tangled in the investigation of the coed’s murder—with equal parts help and hindrance from her nosy best friend, her over-involved ex-boyfriend, a smoldering detective, and seemingly everyone else in her extended family…only to uncover secrets that a killer may go to any lengths to ensure stay hidden.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review/feature.. 

First Chapter: The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop and Cafe by Mary Simses

First Chapter, First Paragraph is a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.
Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B; choose two teaser sentences from a random page of your current read.

Title: The Ireistible Blueberry Bakeshop and Cafe by Mary Simses
Published July 9, 2013; Little, Brown and Company
Genre: fiction

The cover got to me. I love blueberries and the sight of a jar of homemade blueberry jam made me want to open this book again...

First chapter, first paragraph:

"Don't move, it's not safe!"
I heard someone yell, but it was too late. The wooden planks of the dock saged beneath me and then gave way.Boards splintered, rotted lumber snapped, and I plunged ten feet into the frigid Maine ocean. 

Teaser:

And then a vision of Gran and her blueberry muffins slipped into my head.
"Like...well, open a bakery," I said.
Jim looked surprised. (ch. 19)

Book description: A high-powered Manhattan attorney finds love, purpose, and the promise of a simpler life in her grandmother's hometown. Ellen Branford is going to fulfill her grandmother's dying wish--to find the hometown boy she once loved, and give him her last letter. Ellen leaves Manhattan and her Kennedy-esque fiance for Beacon, Maine. What should be a one-day trip is quickly complicated when she almost drowns in the chilly bay and is saved by a local carpenter. The rescue turns Ellen into something of a local celebrity, which may or may not help her unravel the past her grandmother labored to keep hidden. As she learns about her grandmother and herself, it becomes clear that a 24-hour visit to Beacon may never be enough. THE IRRESISTIBLE BLUEBERRY BAKESHOP & CAFE is  about the power of a simpler life.

Would you keep reading this book?

A BURNABLE BOOK by Bruce Holsinger

First Chapter, First Paragraph is a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.
Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B; choose two teaser sentences from a random page of your current read.

 Title: A Burnable Book by Bruce Holsinger
To be published February 18, 2014; William Morrow
Genre: historical thriller

Teaser: She spoke of the book. His face remained impassive as she described the volume and its poetry, the dark histories inscribed in its strange verses; the cloth and its heraldry, the incriminating livery woven in its strands. She recited the four bits of prophecy she had gotten by rote, including the one that mattered most, on the death of King Richard. (chapter xix)

First chapter:Prologue: Under a clouded moon Agnes huddles in a sliver of utter darkness and watches him, this dark-cloaked man, as he questions the girl by the dying fire. At first he is kind seeming, almost gentle with her. They speak something like French: not the flavor of Stratford-at-Bowe nor of Paris, but a deep and throated tongue, tinged with the south. Olives and figs in his voice, the embrace of a warmer sea. 

Book description: In Chaucer’s London, betrayal, murder and intrigue swirl around the existence of a prophetic book that foretells the deaths of England’s kings. A Burnable Book is a thriller, reminiscent of classics like An Instance of the Fingerpost, The Name of the Rose and The Crimson Petal and the White.

London, 1385. Surrounded by ruthless courtiers—including his powerful uncle, John of Gaunt, and Gaunt’s flamboyant mistress, Katherine Swynford—England’s young, still untested king, Richard II, is in mortal peril, and the danger is only beginning. Songs are heard across London—catchy verses said to originate from an ancient book that prophesies the end of England’s kings—and among the book’s predictions is Richard’s assassination. Only a few powerful men know that the cryptic lines derive from a “burnable book,” a seditious work that threatens the stability of the realm. To find the manuscript, wily bureaucrat Geoffrey Chaucer turns to fellow poet John Gower, a professional trader in information with connections high and low. 

Gower discovers that the book and incriminating evidence about its author have fallen into the unwitting hands of innocents, who will be drawn into a labyrinthine conspiracy that reaches from the king’s court to London’s slums and stews--and potentially implicates his own son. As the intrigue deepens, it becomes clear that Gower, a man with secrets of his own, may be the last hope to save a king from a terrible fate. (publisher)

Based on the teaser, the opening paragraph, and the book description, is this a novel you would continue reading? 

A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint

 First Chapter, First Paragraph is a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

First chapter, first paragraph:

The accused, Chelsea Liew, was in court. She sat on a wooden bench in a wooden box, handcuffed to a police woman. 

The prosecutor, a large, shiny Malay man, marking time until his own elevation to the Bench, watched the court official read out the charge in a slow, ponderous voice, “That you, Chelsea Liew, on or about the eighteenth day of July, committed murder by causing the death of Alan Lee.”  

The judge said, “How does the accused plead? Guilty or not guilty?” (Shamini Flint,  A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder ).

Title:  A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint
Published January 1, 2009
Genre: murder mystery

Book description: Inspector Singh is in a bad mood. He's been sent from his home in Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to solve a murder that has him stumped. Chelsea Liew - the famous Singaporean model - is on death row for the murder of her ex-husband. She swears she didn't do it, he thinks she didn't do it, but no matter how hard he tries to get to the bottom of things, he still arrives back at the same place - that Chelsea's husband was shot at point blank range, and that Chelsea had the best motivation to pull the trigger: he was taking her kids away from her.

Now Inspector Singh must pull out all the stops to crack a crime that could potentially free a beautiful and innocent woman and reunite a mother with her children. There's just one problem - the Malaysian police refuse to play ball. (publisher)

Based on the opening and the book description, would you keep reading?

TUSCAN ROSE by Belinda Alexandra

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB; choose sentences from your current read and identify author and title for readers.  First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

Title: Tuscan Rose: A Novel by Belinda Alexandra
Published November 19, 2013; Gallery Books
Genre: historical fiction
Source: publisher review copy

First chapter/Prologue:

Florence 1914
The man pauses in a doorway, swaying on his feet, before lunging again along the crooked street in the direction of the river. The distance he has covered across the city leaves him panting. But the fate of the infant he has hidden among the folds of his coat depends on him, and he is terrified that if he does not deliver her to safety, and return before his absence raises suspicion, they will both be lost. 

Teaser:

Signor Lagorio shook his head."This is the end of all Europe. Germany has marched into Poland."
Rosa was in too much pain to take in anything more. (ch. 17)

Publisher book description:

"FLORENCE, 1914. A mysterious stranger known as The Wolf leaves an infant with the sisters of Santo Spirito. A tiny silver key hidden in her wrappings is the one clue to the child’s identity.
FIFTEEN YEARS LATER, young Rosa must leave the nuns, her only family, and become governess to the daughter of an aristocrat and his strange, frightening wife. Their house is elegant but cursed, and Rosa—blessed with gifts beyond her considerable musical talents—is torn between her desire to know the truth and her fear of its repercussions. All the while, the hand of Fascism curls around beautiful Italy, and no citizen is safe. Rosa faces unimaginable hardship: her only weapons her intelligence, intuition, and determination . . . and her extraordinary capacity for love."

Based on the opening paragraph and the teaser, would you read on?

A Beautiful Wedding by Jamie McGuire

Teaser Tuesdays  is hosted by MizB; choose sentences from your current read and identify author and title for readers.  First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

Title: A Beautiful Wedding: A Beautiful Disaster Novella by Jamie McGuire
Published December 10, 2013; Atria Books
Genre: romance novella

First paragraph:

Abby: I could feel it coming: a growing, persistent unease that crept just below my skin. The more I tried to ignore it, the more unbearable it became: an itch that needed to be scratched, a scream bubbling to the surface. My father said the urgent need to run when things were about to go wrong was like a tic, a defense mechanism inherent in the Abernathys. I'd felt it moments before the fire, and I was feeling it now. 

Teaser (ch.9):

My phone buzzed in my purse. I checked it quickly.

Cops just left. Dad's @ Tim's but I told them you guys were in Vegas getting married. I think they f---ing bought it.

Publisher description:
Everything about Abby and Travis’s elopement was top-secret . . . until now. Fans of Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster will get all of their questions answered in this whirlwind tale of the wedding day (and night!).

Would you keep reading?

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book for review/feature.

Chasing Utopia by Nikki Giovanni

Teaser Tuesdays  is hosted by MizB; choose sentences from your current read and identify author and title for readers.  First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

Title: Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid by Nikki Giovanni
Published October 29, 2013; William Morrow
Genre: a combination of prose and poetry

First paragraph:

So here is the actual story. I was bored. Well, not bored because I had the privilege of interviewing Mae Jemison, the first Black woman in space, who said she pursued a degree in physics and also became a medical doctor to keep her mind occupied. Mae's IQ must be nine hundred and fifty-five or thereabouts. I asked, "How do you keep from being bored?" And she replied, "A friend of my father's once told me "'If you're bored you're not paying attention.'" 

Poetry teaser:

Poets shouldn't commit
Suicide
That would leave the world
To those without imagination
Or hearts
(from the poem, "Poets")

Publisher description:
"Nikki Giovanni's poetry has spurred movements and inspired songs, turned hearts and informed generations. She's been hailed as a healer and as a national treasure. But Giovanni's heart resides in the everyday, where family and lovers gather, friends commune, and those no longer with us are remembered. And at every gathering there is food--food as sustenance, food as aphrodisiac, food as memory. A pot of beans is flavored with her mother's sighs--this sigh part cardamom, that one the essence of clove; a lover requests a banquet as an affirmation of ongoing passion; homage is paid to the most time-honored appetizer: soup.

With Chasing Utopia, Giovanni demands that the prosaic--flowers, birdsong, win-ter--be seen as poetic, and reaffirms once again why she is as energetic, "remarkable" (Gwendolyn Brooks), "wonderful" (Marian Wright Edelman),"outspoken, prolific, energetic" (New York Times), and relevant as ever."

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book for review/feature.

Book Teaser: The Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle

Teaser Tuesdays  is hosted by MizB; choose sentences from your current read and identify author and title for readers. First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

Title: Queen's Gambit: A Novel by Elizabeth Fremantle
Published August 6, 2013; Simon and Schuster
Genre: historical fiction
Source: publisher

page 56/teaser:

"Kit," he says, eventually, "you can trust me." His voice has a supplicant's tone.
"How can I?"
"I didn't know you then...I know you now."

First chapter:

The notary smells of dust and ink. How is it, Larymer wonders, that when one sense blunt another sharpens. He can pick up the scent of everything, the reek of ale on the man's breath, the yeasty whiff of bread baking in the kitchens below, the wet-dog stink of the spaniel curled up in the hearth. But he can see little, the room swims and the man is a vague dark shape leaning over the bed with a grimace of a smile.

Publisher description:
"Widowed for the second time at age thirty-one Katherine Parr falls deeply for the dashing courtier Thomas Seymour and hopes at last to marry for love. However, obliged to return to court, she attracts the attentions of the ailing, egotistical, and dangerously powerful Henry VIII, who dispatches his love rival, Seymour, to the Continent. No one is in a position to refuse a royal proposal so, haunted by the fates of his previous wives, two executions, two annulments, one death in childbirth, Katherine must wed Henry and become his sixth queen. 

Katherine has to employ all her instincts to navigate the treachery of the court, drawing a tight circle of women around her, including her stepdaughter, Meg, traumatized by events from their past that are shrouded in secrecy, and their loyal servant Dot, who knows and sees more than she understands. With the Catholic faction on the rise once more, reformers being burned for heresy, and those close to the king vying for position, Katherine's survival seems unlikely. Yet as she treads the razor's edge of court intrigue, she never quite gives up on love."

Katherine Parr was Henry VIII's last queen, one who survived his reign and married again. I am eager to read this one.