First Lines ~ Who's Got A Good One?

First lines kill me. And first lines give me that tickley feeling up and down my spine. First lines make me cry. And roll my eyes. And always - always - they pull me into a book. Or they don't.

I'm one of those readers who cracks open an interesting book in the bookstore and reads the first bit. A good first line will have me immediately closing that book, putting it under my arm and reaching for another. A so-so will have me read a few pages. If a line doesn't grab me, I'm on to the next one.

First lines, I think, set the tone for the book. Create interest in a character or situation, and make the reader ask 'why'. That's a lot to ask for a ten to twenty word span, but it can be done.

This summer has been a crazy one in Kristina Land - my first HarlequinE release (Light My Fire) launched in June, I'm just wrapping up edits on my very first SuperRomance from Harlequin and I've turned in copyedits for my second HQ-E title (and the second in my Rockers series). That book is called Start Me Up and it will release in September. Because I've been writing and polishing and revising and writing some more all summer long (and there is no end in sight - and that is a GOOD THING), I thought it would be fun to have a first line frenzy - in which I show you mine and you show me yours. Because a little tit for tat is good, don't you think?

So, the first line from Start Me Up:

Nina Wright stared across the stately cherry wood desk, dumbfounded.

Okay, there's mine...now show me yours. Give me your first line (Okay, if you must it can be the first paragraph, but remember shorter is better) and tell me - what is it about first lines that grabs you?