Textual Encounters 2

Textual Encounters #2

by Morgan Parker

Having found a white iPhone in the back of a New York City cab, Katie orchestrates a "chance" meeting with Jake, the man of her dreams. Knowing more than she lets on, Katie develops a relationship with Jake that ultimately gets captured in text form. And those texts are passed along to the woman that just lost Jake's baby.

As the follow up to Textual Encounters, Textual Encounters: 2 follows Jake's second attempt at finding love... this time with a more manipulative younger woman who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary

176 pages

First published May 1, 2013

About the author

Morgan Parker is the pen name for a shy and introverted former banker. Given the nature of his former career and his unique childhood upbringing in a trendy, white-collar town West of Toronto, Mr. Parker made up plenty of stories to stay employed and to avoid the responsibilities of adulthood. His novels are a product of those stories.

Mr. Parker believes that all great novels involve realistic characters, motives and love stories. He tries (really hard) to emulate his favorite authors while writing his own novels. He stresses that all of his tales and characters are fictional in nature and welcomes all kinds of feedback, even the worst kind, so that he might continue to develop and grow as an author.

When Mr. Parker isn't writing, he likes to read and watch movies. As a serial napper, he has been known to convert corporate prayer rooms and quiet areas into common siesta zones. He believes in hibernation.

Reviews

[Desiree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered what you can learn about someone and their love life by reading their text messages? Now is your chance!

I admire an author and this willing to take a risk and publish something completely different. I love books that give me a “punch of different ” and this is certainly one of those books.

I read Textual Encounters at the beginning of January this year. I think it was free on Amazon, the format had me hooked instantly. Most of the story is cleverly told through text messages between Jake and Christine who happen to meet after Christine sends a text to the wrong number.
It felt so forbidden reading some’s texts that it was an instant shot of adrenaline and I could not put it down.

Because we are only reading text messages, we do not get Jake and Christine’s inside thoughts on the relationship and what is happening, so Textual Encounters left so many questions I had unanswered. There is a pretty big cliff hanger at the end of TE1 and I was waiting for second book to see what happened to Jake and Christine. Well, when I was I started reading Textual Encounters 2 I was initially disappointed, it took on an entirely new direction that I was not prepared for. Although, my questions are left unanswered from the first book I really enjoyed TE2, but come on Mr. Parker I need to see what happened with Christine! I heard through the grape vine we will get the 3rd novella in Late June. I generally hate cliffhangers, but these little novella’s are worth it. These are a quick read that keep you on your toes and wanting more.

Both of these books are like a fresh breath of sunshine. I can not say enough about how much I loved the format. One of my favorite parts in Fiffty Shades of Grey was the text messages and email communication, there is something about reading these that is so personal and really gives us an insider view to the relationship, Textual Encounters takes it to the extreme, but it works.

[Brandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, lets see if I can put this into words, phrases or other form of word reading people can understand...
Jake is a serial "I love you" guy. He started his sexcapades with Racheal (who he called off their wedding), moved onto Christine, back to Racheal, then back to Christine, then Racheal, then back to Christine [enter book 2], now he's with Katie, but still with Christine in his mind, then back to Racheal, then Katie, again with Racheal, then Katie, now back to Racheal [enter a excerpt from book 3], now with Katie and finally Christine! (whew, I think I covered the jist of the "Jake Affairs")!!
So the rundown....
Jake sleeps with Racheal, Christine & Katie.
Racheal sleeps with Jake and Will.
Christine sleeps with Jake and Peter.
Katie sleeps with Jake.
Will sleeps with Racheal (his wife)
And the best part about this is you find this all out through text messeges!!! I really enjoyed this series, although I was alittle annoyed that I was left, yet again, with a cliffhanger. The book itself ended the way I thought it would, which still left even more questions, but then the "sneak peek" at TE3.... I was left with a big fat WTF?!?!?!?????
But overall I really liked it, confusing at some parts not knowing who was messaging, I like in this second book you put Jakes name prior to the time of the message and my recommendation on TE3 would to put all the characters name prior to all the text. It just makes it alitlle easier.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here we go again...let the text message mind-bend begin!!

As in book one, this second installment involving Jake and Katie, holds on tightly, is deliciously fun and seriously jerks the reader's emotions straight to the surface for yet another fast, wildly entertaining read. Just when you think you "get" what's going on, Parker tosses in a twist and even a turn, (hello Alfred Hitchcock), leaving the reader scratching their head, hoping to find the answers within the next turn of the page. Oh, you get answers...but they're not always what you think or even want to hear. And that's what makes this little novella delightfully scrumptious.

The good news is: this isn't the end, folks!! "Jake's Wedding" will be the third and final story in this brain-torment trio and I for one cannot wait to see what Parker has up his mind-manipulating sleeves. If I could stop this little merry-go-round of angst, I would...wait a minute...no I wouldn't -I'd rather keep it turning circles in my head.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was confused by the first book, but intrigued enough to read the second. But now...I'm kinda over it. I mean...What. The. Hell. Who has whose phone and when? I felt like I needed a flow chart to keep track of the characters. Maybe it's because I am a visual person and we have no description of the characters. Tall, short, blonde, dark, freckles, buck toothed. Give me something to anchor these voices to. What was an unusual writing style for one book turned, for me, into a confusing who said what in the second. Perhaps because the texters change. Characters drop off the face of the earth. And I am none the wiser. The other problem for my feeble brain is that the character who is reading the text is not the character who wrote it AND they are reading what happened in the past but reacting in the present. See? My review doesn't even make sense. Color me done.

I don't want to discourage you from reading it, but it did not do it for me.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you haven’t read the first book in this series, you are missing out. Book two does not mess around and goes straight in to making nonsense of my brain right where book one left off. Morgan Parker- what did I just read? I knew you messed me up the first time but you didn’t hold back at all this time and I am left here trying to clear my head around this mindf***. Damn you and your Jedi mind tricks.
Here’s the thing, for the majority of the book Morgan Parker navigates this story of love, deception and games people play through a series of texts between Jake and Katie. And yes I said a series of texts. Do you know what this means? – no inner dialogue from the characters!!! Enter the minf****ery. You cannot surmise whether or not the characters are sincere, truthful or speaking form the heart. I freakin love this aspect of the story!!! It really gets you reeling. It also creates an interesting dimension to the story as I’m pretty sure no two people will interpret the story the same.
The absence of inner thoughts has you unsure of whether you should love or hate Jake. Sympathize or dismiss Jake. And whether or not you commend Katie for dealing with Jake or do you want to walk up to her and punch her because she has messed with two people’s lives.
And Christine or is it Rachel- oh my heck my head is spinning like Rosemary’s Baby. This character is a whole other complicated layer that I am dying to know where Parker is going to take this in the next book.
Morgan Parker you infuriate me in all the best ways. I said it with the first book and I will say it with Textual Encounters 2—you write incredibly SMART stories. My mind is going Mach 8 trying to line up the facts and find the missing piece to the puzzle. Just when the reader thinks they have it all figured out another blind corner is thrown in your path.
There are very few books out there that take your mind on a roller coaster ride where it isn’t so much the angst that gets you but the intentions of the characters that make your mind foggy. This isn’t a very long book but when you are done, you need to get up, tell the voices in your head to be quiet and let you think for a moment, reach for the bottle of vodka and call your therapist.
I will tell you, this one has a cliffhanger and I can’t lie—Morgan Parker better be in his damn cave writing the next installment now!
Textual Encounters 2 is a 4 star read for me because of its ability to second guess my thoughts, for its ability to make me want to throw my reader and its incredible ability to make me turn the pages faster to find the missing link. D 4/5

[Jessica Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

***If you have not read Textual Encounters(book one) please do not read this review.

The second book in the Textual Encounter series is just as addicting as the first one! Morgan has done it again in this uniquely written story that continues to keep you on the edge of your seats.

Jake is lost, but in his despair he meets Katie. A young college student who seems not to mind their age difference. She knows Jake is broken and still clings to some hope that him and Christine might reconnect. That Christine may be in danger and just simply can't get to him.

Katie knows what Jake and Christine shared. She had Christine's phone after all and read all their conversations. But Jake deserved more and Christine was crazy; there was just something wrong with her. Jake was a nice guy who gave his all into his and Christine's relationship. That's what Katie thought at least.

Jake had a time before Katie...before Christine. Once engaged to Rachel and getting second thoughts Jake walked out the night before their wedding, but never forgot about her either. Rachel had moved on and got remarried, but never forgot the one that ran away; Jake.

Rachel laid in the hospital bed after just losing her baby. Her husband and her had tried so hard to get pregnant and she lost it. Although she didn't love her husband as much as she loved Jake, he gave her a life she could only dream of. The nurse brought in a package disrupting her thoughts. Rachel opened it to find a Samsung. She turned it on and was shocked to see messages. Messages between HER Jake and this Katie.

The twists and turns continue in book two of the Textual Encounters that will make you question not only who was Christine, but who was Jake really? IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!!!!

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[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am just going to jump in on this one with both feet. I told you in my first review that Katie is slightly lacking in a moral compass. She uses the fact that she has this iPhone on which Jake is still trying to contact Christine to set up a meeting. She pretends to be Christine, sends a text saying she will meet Jake, and then when Christine mysteriously doesn’t show up, she swoops in to save Jake.

I loved this book as much as I loved the first, but man, this one was like watching a train wreck. At this point none of our characters are people I could respect, including Jake man. Why? I loved Jake. Jake has been going back and forth between Rachel and Christine this whole time and now he loves Katie.

Yet Katie has Christine’s iPhone still so she can see that he is also texting Christine still. She likes to bring this up on random, trying to force him to admit that he is still trying to contact Christine and then Katie punishes him by not speaking to him forever, because what she is doing is so much better.

Katie gives Rachel (Jake’s ex-fiance) a phone with all of Jake and Katie’s text messages going back and forth while Rachel is laying in the hospital, having just miscarried Jake’s baby. (Remember Rachel left Jake to marry another man and she is pregnant and miscarrying his baby.)

Seriously, you cannot turn away.

I can’t decide if Jake is a “keep my options open” player or if he honestly thinks that he has these feelings for all of the women?

I don’t know.

The ending.

Oh the ending.

I cannot wait to get my hands on Textual Encounters 3 because this one was left with a huge cliffhanger that was a bit crazy.

Set in the same format of mostly text messages, I thought Textual Encounters 2 was a great book. A wee bit crazy. Still loved it.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both this book and the first book, Textual Encounters, are very quick reads; they can be read back to back within the span of a lazy afternoon, which is exactly what I did.

I was hoping that I would get answers to a lot of the questions I was left with at the end of the first book, but unfortunately, I think this book raises even more questions, while not necessarily answering the ones from the first book.

Once again the book is told through the text conversations of two people, only this time it is between Kristine and Jake, and it is Rachel (Jake’s ex that we meet in the first book) that is the narrator and the one reading the messages. I seriously was left with so many questions at the end that I’m questioning nearly every characters mental health. I can’t figure out if there are multiple personalities present, I KNOW there is some extreme co-dependence in play here, and the way that each character manipulates another in some way is all over the place.

While this makes for a lot of great drama, it also makes for a lot of confusion. Again, the lack of a reliable narrator of any sort makes this hard to process, and this time around, we have to wait on the release of the next volume.

Again, I think this is a four star read as it certainly will suck you in and keep your attention, but the lack of any type of closure is unsettling. Here’s hoping we see the next installment quickly!

[Lariza · Rating 3 out of 5]

What just happened? Oh the tangled mess that is Jake's life!! First Christine or was it Rachel I don't know!!!! All I know is that Katie is now involved in a friends with benefits arrangement with Jake unbelievable I know!! Jake it seems is a serial cheater, liar the whole works and all these women can't get enough of him. I was confused at the beginning with Rachel I thought it was Christine (whose real name is Rachel I think!!) and I then I thought wasn't she missing? Oh I don't know which way is up or down with this story! I do have to say it was easier to keep up with the texts in this installment because Jake's were distinguished with his name at the top. Jake is obviously polyamorous!! He's really good at laying on the charm thick I'll give him that even I believed some of his bs at some point. Katie turned out to be quite the schemer and I did like how she turned the tables on Jake, but I do believe she bite off more than she can chew! Besides the confusion, I did like the story and I can't wait to see what happens to dear old Jake and all the women that love him. If I had to choose who Jake ends up with it would be Katie.

[Shelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Insanely abrupt ending that was very confusing. I still have no idea what the hell is going on but I'm pretty sure Jake is insincere and either a player or nuckin' futs. I would read book 3 if there is one just because I want to know what happens.

The thing about this book is that I respect the novelty and creativity of telling the story this way. I think it suffers inequality because of this to some degree as it can't be equally compared to other books. I probably would have rated it higher if not for these things:

1. Major POV change from the 2nd book without any real clarity. It took me quite a while to understand whose mind I was in.

2. There is mystery and then there is not managing your writing well enough to avoid confusing your readers.

3. All the over the top talk over seeing into her soul, feeling things in his soul, and blah, blah, talking like a teenager got really damn old.

4. The insanely abrupt ending was a bad idea. Rather than feeling like a cliff hanger it felt like a big ol' middle finger.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!!!
You must read Textual Encounters first. If you don't you will never figured TE2 out.

Three women (Katie, Christine & Rachel) all have been or are involved with Jake. I really don't think I like Jake & I did in the first book, but then after this one - no way. What a piss ant! I am beginning think he may be a player & is playing each of these women. Now, as far as the women go I don't care for them either. I think all of the characters may be off a bit.

Is this a bad thing? Heck no!!! Morgan has totally pulled me into the 4 characters lives through "text messages" no less!! I felt like I was part of the story.

I am really looking forward to the next book & am hopeful that Jake & at least one of the women end up being a decent person. I really want to like Jake - I really do........

[Lisa Olsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've decided that Morgan Parker is an evil genius, weaving these lurid tales so skillfully, I find myself clamoring for more each time I get to the end of one of his books. This time he ups the ante, dealing with the aftermath of the broken affair played out in the fist book and bringing Jake's past (dare I say love? I'm not sure Jake understands the meaning of the word) into the present to screw with his current affair with the pushy and manipulative Katie. There was so much manipulation going on from all sides, I can't decide who belongs with whom, but I'm DYING to know how it pans out in the next one. Nicely played, Mr. Parker. I salute you and your diabolical plans to separate me from my time and hard won money.

[Tina Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still confuse but I like the story. Jake sounds like he's an easy fall in love guy. First Rachael his fiancé that he broke up a week before the wedding. Then Christine who disappears then Katie finds the phone and he starts texting Katie. I can't believe Katie. Katie wants the truth from jake about his ex. But she doesn't tell him the truth about the phones. She's a real bitch. I really feel bad about Rachael. She had the raw end. What happen to Christine? I do love the story. A little all over the place, confusing after a while. But I like it. I can't wait to read when Christine return. When is book 3 coming out? .

[Andrea Mcbride · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so confused ! When I began reading I thought the Rachael we were reading about was the Christine Racheal I remember how in the first book people were calling Christine Rachael ! But then as the story went on its the Racheal the one that's married and the one Jake keeps going back to! So you can see my confusion! But anyway!!! I am loving this story line confusing and all! It's just so different and there's so many twist! And Im Happy to say there are names that go with the text so you know who is texting who! It left on HUGE cliffhanger! So I can't wait for book number three:):)

[Dustyloup]

If you liked book one, you'll enjoy this book though I wasn't as desperate to read book three as I had been to read book two, and good thing since 3 is not out yet (wondering if it will be?). The characters are pretty despicable and I don't usually like stories where I can't stand the "hero" but in this cause I kind of enjoyed watching them f things up royally - it's not a comedy, but they are really such terrible people, they deserve any wrath or accident that might occur.

[Alina Man · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I enjoyed the book but not as much as I did the first one. This one was a bit confusing and the ending was not what I expected. I don't know maybe it's because I was not a fan of Rachel's so the closer I got to the end, the more I wanted to slap some sense into Jake and Katie. I can't wait to read the next one. I need some kind of closure lol

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, did not expect that at all! Bummed that there is yet another cliffie and I will have to wait to find out what happens next.

Really enjoyed this book even if it was a bit confusing at times. I loved Will! He's the only one with an ending to his story in this book.

[Desiree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good sequel to the first story, but we get to find out much more about the characters in this story. Mostly we come to realize that Jake is a pathological liar, womanizer, and a jerk !
Lots of things are uncovered and it leaves the reader eager for more to the story in the end.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Textual Encounters 2 by Morgan Parker was just as good, and just as addicting as Textual Encounters. I love the whole concept. We did have a bit more background on Katie in this book and it just added to the story. I think I need me a Will.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one confused me a bit couldn't quite get my head round it eventually the flip switched then boom a twist I did not see coming (now that was clever) now I need the next book ! Must say loving these books and there style :)

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another quick, fun read... I am left however with even more questions than I had at the end of TE. Anxiously awaiting book3!!!

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come. Time to digest. My brain hurts. Excellent book.

[Mela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book, although not as much as the first, I felt very lost at the end and am hopeful the final book in the series will unconfuse me, because right now I'm a wee bit baffled.

[Carmen J Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars! It was ok but I was confused most of the story. Have to wait until the next book to find out more though some answers were given in the end of this story.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking forward to reading the next in series. Hoping it comes out soon!!!

[Booka · Rating 3 out of 5]

preferred the first book. but still, loved the surprises/twists in this book, and looking forward to the 3rd one.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book but you need to read book 1 to understand what's going on now we have to wait for book 3 for the conclusion but i am enjoying these books

[mscb · Rating 3 out of 5]

so many twist and turns, I am confused with the way this book ended and the preview to next book I am a little lost??? only interested in reading the next to hopefully make sense of all this.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Things have changed in this book. Again sucked me in from the beginning. Another textual relationship but man the ending was not what I expected. Can't wait for the third book.

[Ingrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

What the hell did I just read? I thought I would get some clarification with this second book but all it did was confuse me more. I have no idea what is going on.