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?

The Rules:

• 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!

First Lines:

“It is not an easy thing to slip a knife between a man’s ribs. So the hand that wields the blade has been practicing.

They have practiced, too, infiltrating the bookshop, quieting its magic with an ink-black tongue – because it really is ink that stains their mouth – and creeping up the staircase that could so easily betray them with its protest of groans. By comparison, the murder itself is tragically straightforward.”

Oooooh, this is written so beautifully, and I have to know more after just these few lines.

Do you recognize the lines?

Here’s a hint:

This is an upcoming fantasy novel.

Still not sure? Here’s another hint:

It is written by Georgia Summers.

The First Lines Friday book is:

The Bookshop Below.

About the Book:

• Title: The Bookshop Below
• Author: Georgia Summers
• Page Length: 375 pages
• Publication Date: November 18, 2025
• Publisher: Redhook

Synopsis:

In this extraordinary standalone from the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The City of Stardust, a disgraced bookseller is offered the chance to restore a magical bookshop to its former glory, and enters a dark underworld of unscrupulous collectors, deadly ink magic and shady societies.

If you want a story that will change your life, Chiron’s bookshop is where you go. For those lucky enough to grace its doors, it’s a glimpse into a world of deadly bargains and powerful, magical books.

For Cassandra Fairfax, it’s a reminder of everything she lost, when Chiron kicked her out and all but shuttered the shop. Since then, she’s used her skills in less . . . ethical ways, trading stolen books and magical readings to wealthy playboys looking for power money can’t buy.

Then Chiron dies. And if Cassandra knows anything, it’s the bookshop must always have an owner.

To restore the shop, she’ll need the help of Lowell Sharpe, a rival bookseller who is everything Cassandra is not – and knows it, too.

But as she is plunged into a world of unscrupulous collectors, deadly ink magic and shady societies, a dark force threatens to unravel the bookshops entirely . . .

Links: Goodreads     

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