First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros now hosted by Yvonne at
Socrates' Book Reviews, where bloggers share excerpts from a book they have read, are currently reading, or are planning to read.
Teaser Tuesday hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, where bloggers post two teaser sentences (no spoilers allowed) from a random page of their current read.
Today I'm featuring The Burning by Jane Casey, a novel I borrowed from the library. It's the first book in the Maeve Kerrigan series.
Book Beginning: She should have gone home with the others.
Kelly Staples stared at her reflection in the cracked and spotted mirror, trying to make sense of what she saw. Surely that wasn't her face squinting back. Mascara had smeared under her eyes, leaving shadowy smudges speckled with tiny flecks of black that wouldn't come off no matter how she rubbed at them. The remnants of her foundation were caked around her nose and across her forehead, where her skin looked dry. Her face was red and she had a spot on her chin that she was sure hadn't been there when she was getting ready to go out. Her mouth was slack and wet, and there was something on her top . . . With a huge effort Kelly bent her head to inspect the damage. Wine, she thought hazily. She had tipped red wine down her front. She vaguely remembered laughing hysterically, holding the wet material away from her, offering someone--a man she'd never met before--the chance to suck it, so as not to waste it, before Faye dragged her away from him, muttering crossly in her ear about behaving herself. But as Kelly had pointed out, or tried to, tonight was all about not behaving herself. Out with the girls for an evening of freedom, a pub crawl in Richmond. Dolled up, tanked up, ready for a laugh. It was getting near the end of term; they'd needed a break, all of them. Especially her, since she'd broken up with PJ three weeks before. Or, to be precise, he'd broken up with her. Two years they'd been together, and he'd thrown it all away to chase after Vanessa Cobbet, the fat slapper. A tear slid down Kelly's face, gliding through what was left of her make-up.
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Teaser: "That looks nasty," I said mildly, pointing at it. "You might want to cover it up before the Haworths see it."
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What do you think? Would you continue reading?
The opening paragraphs present a situation that arouses my curiosity. There's been lots of positive feedback about this book and I'm eager to immerse myself in the story.
This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.
