First Line Friday #64-Eloise and the Grump Next Door

 Happy Friday, my bookish friends! Welcome back to First Line Friday hosted by Carrie at Reading is My SuperPower!! I am also linking up with Gilion on Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings. This is where you share the beginning of the book that you are reading. To join in the fun grab the book you are reading and leave a comment with the first line (or your link).  This week I am reading Eloise and the Grump Next Door by Emma St. Clair and Jenny Proctor. It is the first book in the Oakley Island RomCom series.

As far as birthdays go, this one isn't the worst.

Book Beginnings:

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As far as birthdays go, this one isn't the worst.

And by that, I mean the worst in the entire world. For me personally, this birthday takes the cake.

Except it doesn't! Because I don't even have cake. I have a glass of Merlot. My second of the night and-true confession time!-my second glass of wine ever. 

Synopsis (Goodreads):

I’m not sure which is worse--the lawyer handling my grandmother’s estate or the attack pelican living on the screened-in porch. Just kidding--I’ll take the pelican any day.

After graduation, I thought I’d be off to grad school, doing research on my favorite poet. Instead, I’m renovating my late grandmother’s home and posting about the process on Instagram. Talk about a detour …

But here I am. Turning Gran’s beach house into a bed and breakfast--a process that would be a lot easier if I didn’t have to deal with the grumpy lawyer living next door. It doesn’t help that the night Jake and I met, I got a little tipsy, and he had to carry me back to my hotel.

But the longer I stay on Oakley Island, the more I feel a connection to my childhood and to my grandmother. This isn’t the life I dreamed of, but dreams can change. Especially when new dreams include a future with Jake. On the outside, he might be pricklier than a puffer fish, but I catch glimpses of a delicious, cinnamon roll center.

Did I mention the tattoos he hides underneath those crisp button-down shirts? Yowza.

When I’m suddenly presented with the academic opportunity of my dreams (former dreams?), my picturesque life on Oakley starts to unravel.

A part of me wants to stay. If only a certain tattooed grump didn’t seem so determined to send me away …

Eloise and The Grump Next Door is a grumpy sunshine, closed door romantic comedy. The Oakley Island Romcom series follows three very different sisters as they renovate the house they inherited and find love on the island along the way. Each book will have sizzling chemistry but no spice.

Your turn! Grab the current book you are reading and post the first line (or your link) in the comments! Then, click on the icons below and join the fun there too!