First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday

 Bibliophile by the Sea

Every Tuesday, Diane of Bibliophile by the Sea  posts the opening paragraph (sometimes two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening paragraph  Feel free to grab the banner and play along!   I've decided to start playing along

I'm reading two books - one relaxing book and another on my nook while doing the treadmill.

The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie

"St. George's Day, April 1600 at a inn on the road to London:  A snow-bearded, elderly man is seated at the head of a refectory table, close to a fire, with his head bowed.  He grasps a dark, shiny object in the slender fingers of his right hand.  Blooms of Rosa Mundi--white petals streaked pink-red--carpet the table in front of him.  Thus, all those who are seated at the trestle know that what will unfold her is secret, a marriage of the spirit and the soul of everyone present, and the birth of something unique, which they await: the Philosopher's Child.  Against the bubbling din of other inn patrons behind closed doors in adjacent rooms, they are hushed, waiting for his words.  A door softly opens and closes, then a sudden shuffle of feet around him intrudes into the silence.  A note from a servant, who has entered largely unobserved, is put into his fine hands. This he reads slowly; his high forehead--surprisingly smooth for a man of his years--creases into a dark frown.  After a long moment, he looks at every face in turn, gathered around the long table.  Finally he speaks, his voice hardly more than a vesper."

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

"Every smiley moon, without fail, Claire dreamed of her childhood. She always tried to stay awake those nights when the stars winked and the moon was just a cresting sliver smiling provocatively down at the world, the way pretty women on vintage billboards used to smile as they sold cigarettes and limeade. On those nights in the summer, Claire would garden by the light of the solar-powered footpath lamps, weeding and trimming the night bloomers - the moon vine and the angel's trumpet, the night jasmine and the flowering tobacco. These weren't a part of the Waverley legacy of edible flowers, but sleepless as she often was, Claire had added flowers to the garden to give her something to do at night when she was so wound up that frustration singed the edge of her nightgown and she set tiny fires with her fingertips."

Enticing, Intriguing.... What do you think?