The End

Do you read the last few pages of books first? My sister does and it drives me nuts. What's the point of reading the book when you know how it ends?

Now, it could be argued that in a romance the reader always knows how it's going to end -- happily ever after, with the hero and heroine declaring their love and overcoming the final hurdle. However, most of the romances I read have some sort of mystery to them, and most books I read outside of the romance genre definitely have mystery/suspense in them. To me, reading the last few pages and learning the answer to the puzzle would take away my enjoyment of the story.

Although, I was very tempted to do just that this past week. I purchased Born in Death, by JD Robb the day it came out and started reading immediately. Now, normally, I figure out who the bad guys/gals are pretty early in the books, but it's still a great feeling when I get to the unveiling part and my guess turns out to be correct. However, there are some red herrings in Born, and I couldn't read fast enough to see if I was right or wrong. I fell into the trap of "I want to know, and I want to know now!" So, you guessed it, I went to the end. And what did I discover? The sex of Mavis's baby. I took that as a sign and went back to reading the way it's supposed to be done -- start to finish.

But, what if I'm tempted again? I hope I'll be strong enough to resist temptation.

Jessie