First Lines Friday #51

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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?  If you want to make your own post, feel free to use or edit the banner above, and follow the rules below:

• 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 (I cheat a little bit here *cough*)
• Finally… reveal the book!

If you’re using Twitter, don’t forget to use #FirstLinesFridays!

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Hello, reader!

We made it to the weekend and, for me, it’s a long one! I am a big fan of three day weekends, haha. We don’t have any big plans, but I’m looking forward to relaxing and reading. Preferably outside while I enjoy all the sunshine recently. The book I’m featuring today is one of the books I hope to start this weekend! It’s something that I’ve been wanting to read for a minute and I’m finally picking it up.

Let’s see if the first few lines can get me even more excited to read it!

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The Line(s):

“The two would-be jade thieves sweated in the kitchen of the Twice Lucky restaurant. The windows were open in the dining room, and the onset of evening brought a breeze off the waterfront to cool the diners, but in the kitchen, there were only the two ceiling fans that had been spinning all day to little effect.”

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The Hints:

This is an urban fantasy with a mafia-esque vibe.

It’s the first book in a trilogy.

I may have bought the entire trilogy from Illumicrate because the books were so pretty!

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The Reveal:

Jade City by Fonda Lee

Click the cover to be taken to the Goodreads page

Goodreads Synopsis

Jade City is a gripping Godfather-esque saga of intergenerational blood feuds, vicious politics, magic, and kungfu.

The Kaul family is one of two crime syndicates that control the island of Kekon. It’s the only place in the world that produces rare magical jade, which grants those with the right training and heritage superhuman abilities.

The Green Bone clans of honorable jade-wearing warriors once protected the island from foreign invasion–but nowadays, in a bustling post-war metropolis full of fast cars and foreign money, Green Bone families like the Kauls are primarily involved in commerce, construction, and the everyday upkeep of the districts under their protection.

When the simmering tension between the Kauls and their greatest rivals erupts into open violence in the streets, the outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all Green Bones and the future of Kekon itself.

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Did that first line capture your attention? Did it make you want to read the rest of the story? Let me know in the comments!

And, as always, happy reading!