Friday Fun - March 6, 2026

Welcome to my Friday Fun post. This is where I share with three different book parties that post on Fridays: Book Beginnings on Fridays, the Friday 56, and First Line Friday.

This week I have three books to share with you.

I read an eARC of Special Target by Jerusha Agen. This stand alone Christian suspense thriller releases on March 26th.

I also read The Puzzle Within by Gina Holder. This is the first book in The Game Masters series. I decided to read it because book two is releasing later this spring. 

I'm currently rereading The Heart of the King by J.J. Fischer. This is the first book of her Painted Wind series. Book two, Reign Breaker releases March 16th.

        Book Beginnings on Friday    

 

(Please join Gilion Dumas for Book Beginnings every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.)

and

First Line Friday

(Please join Carrie for First Line Friday.)

Here are my Book Beginnings/First Line Friday selections:

 Special Target by Jerusha Agen:

"For a child, home should mean chocolate chip cookies in the oven, the sound of her mother's laughter, lullabies to dream by."

Seeing as it says "should mean," it was sort of obvious that we were going to be learning about someone who did not have that. I wasn't sure if it was the main character's life (either currently or in the past) or someone else.

The Puzzle Within by Gina Holder:

"Ari planted her palms flat against the desktop and locked gazes with Senior Special Agent Matt Updike."

Seemed like someone was getting ready to make her point clear about something.

The Heart of the King by J.J. Fischer:

Last time I shared about this book, I shared the first line from the prologue. This time I'm sharing from chapter one.

"Rigan leaned on her shovel, panting as she stared at the deepening hole at her feet."

This could have been concerning, except the blurb shares what Rigan's job was.

Now for:

The Friday 56 

The Friday 56 is normally hosted over at Freda's Voice. But Anne from My Head is Full of Books is taking over for a while. 

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

Here are my Friday 56 selections:

Special Target by Jerusha Agen:

"She was succumbing to fear again. She would not let it paralyze her anymore. Tightening her grip on the suitcase, she marched up the driveway and passed Matthew to reach the side door. With Grayson and that awful name she didn't even want to think, Ashley had much bigger fish to deal with than LeBron right now."

The Puzzle Within by Gina Holder:

"'It's blocked. We can't get out that way. But I'm certain our killer came in through there. Did you call the police?'

Powers shook her head. 'I can't get a signal.'

There had been no way in or out except the front entrance and the fire escape. He checked his watch-the room had been dark for only two, maybe three minutes."

The Heart of the King by J.J. Fischer:

"'Remember to stay awake.' Apparently tiring of his interrogation, he eased to his feet and began to walk away.

Staying awake, fortunately wouldn't be an issue, no matter how tired she became. And kind nature or not, he was going to pay for what he'd done.

'Good night, Aureus,' she said sweetly, well-rewarded when his back stiffened in response."

Reviews:

Last week I shared two books in my Friday fun post. Here are the links to my reviews:

When Justice Comes by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker

Last to Fall by Lynn H. Blackburn

And here are the links to my reviews of the books I finished above:

The Puzzle Within by Gina Holder

Special Target  by Jerusha Agen