After being on hiatus for a few months Karen and I are going to resume reading The Bestseller Code list, starting with number 53, Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire, for Book Beginnings on Fridays.
Book Beginnings is a fun meme hosted by Rose City Reader blog. To participate, share the first sentence or so of a novel you are reading and your thoughts about it. When you are finished, add your URL to the Book Beginnings page linked above. Hope to see you there.
Beautiful Disaster* by Jamie McGuire
(*Amazon Affiliate link)
Summary: When good girl Abby Abernathy meets bad boy Travis Maddox, she resists his charm because he has the reputation for one night stands. Her keeping him at arm’s-length makes Travis want Abby even more. To get closer to her, he proposes a bet. If she wins he must refrain from sex for a month or if she loses, Abby must move in with Travis for a month.
This novel is a defined as a “new adult” romance. It is followed by a loosely linked series featuring the Maddox brothers, including Beautiful Oblivion, .
First Sentence:
Everything in the room screamed that I didn’t belong. The stairs were crumbling, the rowdy patrons were shoulder to shoulder, and the air was a medley of sweat, blood, and mold.
The first paragraph drew me right in. I wanted to know who was narrating and where they were. What is going to happen?
The second paragraph made me cringe.
“Keep your cash in your wallet, Abby!” America called to me. Her broad smile gleamed even in the dim light.
“Stay close! It’ll get worse once it starts!”
Notice anything about the second paragraph?
Exclamation points! Five on the first page! Ten by the end of the second page! Fifteen by the end to the third page!
If you have ever taken a writing course, you know that overuse of exclamation points is a common writing mistake. Helping Writers Become Authors website has a clear discussion why you should avoid using so many.
By the way, I tend to call them exclamation marks. Maybe I read too many British mysteries when I was younger? Do you call them marks or points?
I haven’t read a good romance in some time, so I’m going to stick with it. I suspect I will not notice them so much once I get into the story.
What do you think? Do exclamation points stop you when you are reading?
Have you read anything by Jamie McGuire?
The library didn’t have this book available as an ebook, so I submitted a request that they purchase it. A day later I received an email from the library notifying me that they purchased the book I requested. Wasn’t that nice? Only thing is, I’m already second in line to read it. How did that happen??
Oh, and it’s an exclamation point … see the point at the bottom? !!!
Obviously, what happened was when the book arrived the librarian who added it to the system thought it looked good and usurped you. Maybe he or she doesn’t mind exclamation marks. 🙂
I can’t remember the last book I read which contains any exclamation points. Weird. My Friday Quotes
Good opening line. One really wants to know what she is doing in this surrounding.
Oh, my, exclamation points do make me step back…and I notice that they happen a lot more in YA novels. The intensity of the young?
I have been seeing this book around a lot. I like the first paragraph more than the second…and I do wonder who is narrating.
Thanks for sharing…and for visiting my blog.
I have a book from her on my shelf. I think it was an unsolicited review book as I don’t read much romance. Susan is ending the month nonfiction book at Girl Who Reads