Wanted and Wired: The "Good Parts" Version

My all-time favorite movie is The Princess Bride, and one of the many things I love about it (and the book by William Goldman) is the idea of calling it the “good parts version” of a less exciting story. Because, erm, who hasn’t skimmed once or twice? More than twice? All books? It’s okay to confess; we’re all friends here.

As a writer of science fiction romance, I totally understand that readers are coming at my stories with very different needs at the fore. Some folks are looking for action or emotion, some for sciencey bits. Some readers would like to skip the intimate scenes (though I’ll caution the story might not make complete sense if you do), and some…well, some of you cuties page through a book looking for the sexytimes. (I might love you guys most. Though you sciencers are pretty cute, too.)

So anyway, to help all y’all out, here’s the cheat-sheet “good parts” version of how to read Wanted and Wired:

<<<Spoiler Alert! This book is a romance.
It contains character smooching and a happily ever after.>>>

Page in paperback	% in ebook	Beginning with the line…	What you’ll find there…
72	19% Loc 964of 4995	He knew he ought to put some more space between them.	Kissing. Quietly. In the dark, in a cramped space. Generally clothed, in a bathrobe kind of way.
121	32% Loc 1619 of 4995	Okay, there were other things she wanted to do to this man, no use lying to herself.	More kissing. Still mostly clothed.
194	52% Loc 2566 of 4995	A hitch on just one side of her mouth warned him she was thinking something salacious.	A whole lotta naked.
218	58% Loc 2884 of 4995	“Or, you know, if you’re all set on being my plaything, you could offer a product demonstration.”	The morning after the big naked. Sort of…naked redux.
343	92% Loc 4546 of 4995	He took a shallow breath. “You have one hook left.”	Victory, reunion, ever-after, I-love-you nookie.

Click for the complete,
unabridged all-parts version. 

Now, if you, like the snuffly kiddo in Princess Bride, used that cheat sheet to skip past the kissing scenes, you probably also missed some important character revelations and plot points. (This is an SFR, after all, so the intimate scenes are part of the story, not superfluous.) Give me a holler if you have questions, and I’ll do my best to clear up any confusion.

And if you feel like sharing, leave a comment: do you tend to skip over or skip to the “good parts” in a book?