Top Ten Tuesday: Last Lines

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is actually about all things audio, but I have some unfinished business I have to attend to. A couple of weeks ago I posted a First Lines post, which was all about the first lines of some of my favorite books on my bookshelf. Not long after I wrote that post, I got the wonderful idea to write another, only with one little variation. I wanted to list the last lines instead of the first. So, as soon as I found a TTT topic I wasn’t completely in love with, I decided to write my Last Lines post in its place. So, here we are! I hope you enjoy!

A Thousand Shall Fall

A Thousand Shall Fall is the first book in Andrea Boeshaar’s Shenandoah Valley series. It is a wonderful tale set in the Civil War era, and it focuses on a young Southern woman who takes off on a search to find her younger sister, and ends up stumbling right into a Union camp. There Carrie Ann meets Colonel Peyton Collier, who somehow draws her despite her fear of Union soldiers. When her lifetime friend Joshua, a Confederate soldier-turned-spy, shows up in camp, her loyalties are tested to the limit. How will she decide between the friend who vows to protect her body and the man who has come to stir her heart? Don’t let the quote convince you this book isn’t full of surprises, there are so many twists and turns in this story it’s sure to keep you guessing!

The Golden Braid

The Golden Braid is one of Melanie Dickerson’s fairy tale retellings, this one re-creating the story of Rapunzel. All of her retellings, and novels in general really, are wonderful stories that are completely and utterly captivating, and this one is no exception. I just love the last line, as I think it does a fantastic job of summing up everything this novel is full of: danger, hope, Christ, and romance.

Love Lifted Me

Love Lifted Me is the third book in Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck’s Songbird series, coming after The Sweet By and By and Softly and Tenderly. The series is a wonderful trilogy all about Jade Fitzgerald and her fiancé Max Benson in their tumultuous journey to becoming a family, which is made more difficult by secrets from the past on both sides. In Love Lifted Me, everything really comes to a head as Jade and Max move from Tennessee to Texas, leaving the familiar for the unknown. I absolutely love the last line as I feel like it doesn’t just perfectly sum up this novel, it wraps up the whole series with just that one line, and once you read all three books you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.

The Loyal Heart

The Loyal Heart is the first book in Shelley Shepard Gray’s Lone Star Hero’s Love Story series, and is set just after the American Civil War. It is a wonderful love story that I think is perfectly summed up by the last line, although there is plenty of drama in-between to keep anyone captivated. Focusing on a Civil War widow who is plagued by the lies of her supposed-community, this story tells the tale of how she was rescued by a former Second Lieutenant who comes to help her, but who she also just might come to love.

Whenever You Come Around

Whenever You Come Around is the second book in Robin Lee Hatcher’s Kings Meadow Romance series, coming after Love Without End. It focuses on a writer, Charity Anderson, whose life hasn’t gone quite the way she would’ve written it, and her old classmate-turned neighbor Buck Malone. Before Charity realizes it, however, Buck becomes her perfect hero, for her novel and her heart.

Unlocked

Unlocked is my absolute all-time favorite of Karen Kingsbury’s books, and it focuses on Holden Harris, a high schooler with autism, and his childhood friend, Ella Reynolds. I absolutely LOVE this last line, because it perfectly captures the wonderfulness of this story. Although you cannot fully appreciate it unless you’ve read the book, it really is a beautiful line in and of itself, just like this book.

Sarah’s Surrender

Sarah’s Surrender is the third book in Vickie McDonough’s Land Rush Dreams series, coming after Gabriel’s Atonement and Joline’s Redemption. This story focuses on Sarah Worley, and her adventurous trip to gaining her own independence, even at the cost of losing the man who loves her. Luke McNeil loves her enough to pursue her, however, and I think this last line aptly ties together what all happens in this story.

Love Comes Softly

Love Comes Softly is the first book in Janette Oke’s Love Comes Softly series, and is a historical novel all about a woman named Marty and the choice she has to make when she finds herself alone, and with child, on the barren prairie. She accepts a marriage of convenience to save herself and her child, but what happens next takes her by surprise, and is summed up perfectly in the last line.

Through the Deep Waters

Through the Deep Waters is one of Kim Vogel Sawyer’s best historical novels, as it features a difficult issue in one of the best ways possible. The daughter of a prostitute, Dinah Hubley dares to dream of a different life for herself, leaving the big city of Chicago for Florence, Kansas. Unfortunately, her journey to get there is far from uneventful, and even though she gets a new start at the Clifton Hotel, she cannot seem to put her past behind her. In my opinion, the last quote does a fantastic job of describing the wonderful themes that fill this novel.

Stealing the Preacher

Stealing the Preacher is the first book I ever read by Karen Witemeyer, and it has been one of my favorites ever since. The title itself gives you a bit of a hint of the somewhat unconventional storyline, but that is what makes this such a hysterical novel. Desperate to fulfill her promise she made to her mother on her deathbed, Joanna Robbins makes an unusual request to her father for her birthday: she asks for a preacher for their small community. Her father, a scruffy outlaw, wouldn’t deny his daughter anything and therefore sets off to procure her a preacher, even if his ways of securing one are less than Christian. Crockett Archer is in for an adventure he never expected when he boarded the train, but it makes for plenty of laughter and a gift from the Lord he never saw coming, one that is displayed perfectly in this last line.

Those are the last lines from some of my favorite books! What are some lines you love?

Happy Tuesday and happy reading!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

To see where I’m linking up, check out my Where I Party page.

All credit for the last lines displayed on this post goes to each author named and their respective publishers.