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Emerson and Parker Leigh, wonder girl twins, are battling with reigning prep school queen, Portia Flowers, over the right to be themselves and Parker’s “thing” for Randall Hamner—by day, a tennis star, by night, a car thief.
Enter Tim Raines, a handsome young writer with a Harley who interviews the twins for his first novel. Sparks fly between Tim and Emerson, but Portia hooks up with Randall, momentarily wrecking Parker’s life, but Portia’s video gets her tossed out of school.
In Tim’s book, the twins time-travel to Edwardian England and befriend H.G. Wells, but Tim does them no favors by bringing Portia and Randall along as adversaries. Alas, the time machine stops working, and at a young Fabians weekend in the country, Emerson is murdered.
Back in present-day Calabasas, Portia seeks revenge. She frames the twins and Tim for kidnapping. With high-powered attorneys as parents, Emerson and Parker stay out of jail, but not Tim.
So, the book remains unfinished. As Emerson tries to solve the kidnapping, Parker tries to finish writing the book, solve her sister’s murder in the past—with a little help from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—and bring them both back home.
Two of Karl Alexander’s novels have been made into movies, including the bestselling "Time After Time," a Warner Bros. film starring Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen.
About the
Karl Alexander, a fifth-generation Angeleno, is the author of seven novels, including Papa and Fidel, a novel of Hemingway, Castro and Cuba. His bestselling novel "Time After Time" was made into a hit film starring Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen, for which he was dubbed a Knight of Mark Twain for his contribution to American Literature. His second novel, “Missing Pieces,” was made into a CBS World Premiere movie starring Elizabeth Montgomery. He also produced and co-wrote the horror film, "Rattlers."
He has an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and served as a Marine Corps officer in the Vietnam War. He has been a college professor, has also worked as a screenwriter and lighting director in Hollywood.
His fifth novel, "Jaclyn the Ripper," is the sequel to "Time After Time," and his sixth was the time-travel thriller romance, "Time-Crossed Lovers," an Award Winning Finalist in the ' Science Fiction' category of the 2013 International Book Awards.
Enter Tim Raines, a handsome young writer with a Harley who interviews the twins for his first novel. Sparks fly between Tim and Emerson, but Portia hooks up with Randall, momentarily wrecking Parker’s life, but Portia’s video gets her tossed out of school.
In Tim’s book, the twins time-travel to Edwardian England and befriend H.G. Wells, but Tim does them no favors by bringing Portia and Randall along as adversaries. Alas, the time machine stops working, and at a young Fabians weekend in the country, Emerson is murdered.
Back in present-day Calabasas, Portia seeks revenge. She frames the twins and Tim for kidnapping. With high-powered attorneys as parents, Emerson and Parker stay out of jail, but not Tim.
So, the book remains unfinished. As Emerson tries to solve the kidnapping, Parker tries to finish writing the book, solve her sister’s murder in the past—with a little help from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—and bring them both back home.
Two of Karl Alexander’s novels have been made into movies, including the bestselling "Time After Time," a Warner Bros. film starring Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen.
About the
Karl Alexander, a fifth-generation Angeleno, is the author of seven novels, including Papa and Fidel, a novel of Hemingway, Castro and Cuba. His bestselling novel "Time After Time" was made into a hit film starring Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen, for which he was dubbed a Knight of Mark Twain for his contribution to American Literature. His second novel, “Missing Pieces,” was made into a CBS World Premiere movie starring Elizabeth Montgomery. He also produced and co-wrote the horror film, "Rattlers."
He has an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and served as a Marine Corps officer in the Vietnam War. He has been a college professor, has also worked as a screenwriter and lighting director in Hollywood.
His fifth novel, "Jaclyn the Ripper," is the sequel to "Time After Time," and his sixth was the time-travel thriller romance, "Time-Crossed Lovers," an Award Winning Finalist in the ' Science Fiction' category of the 2013 International Book Awards.
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 4, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 23, 2014
More of my reviews can be read on my blog Reviews For The Living And The Undead . Feel free to follow me. I love when people follow my blog.
Two by Karl Alexander
Parker and Emerson are identical twin sisters whose lives change when an author interviews them he is going to have twins in his new YA book. Tim soon decides that he will put the twins in the book and of course they are very happy and excited about that because it will make them more well known. However, they also have to deal with their high school drama and when Portia Flowers wants to get revenge on them for getting her expelled things start to go downhill for the twins and Tim.
First I am going to say that I did like the twins' bond with each other. I am not a twin,l but I do have a little sister and the bond that Parker and Emerson had with each other did seem to be realistic. Perhaps it was a bit exaggerated since the twins were always finishing each others sentences and what not but I still liked it. The twins also had plenty of conversations that were not about men.
However, overall I didn't like this book. I found Parker and Emerson to be complete brats and I had little sympathy for them especially as the book went on. I actually felt bad for Portia a lot of the time even though she is the antagonist. It seemed like Alexander didn't want to give Portia any good traits and he just wanted the twins to be right all the time.
I also found Tim to be very creepy. He is probably in his mid twenties, but he had a thing for one of the twins and he even tries to act on it. This is disturbing, but Alexander didn't act like it was a big deal and Tim was portrayed as a good guy not the creeper that he was. He was also married during this, but the fact that he wanted to cheat on his wife with a sixteen-year-old girl wasn't made to be a big deal in the book. The wife was actually made to look like the bad guy.
This book also didn't have much plot and the twins just kind of ran around and did things and pretty much only with themselves. The twins didn't really seem to care about anyone except themselves, their parents, and the men in their lives. They supposedly had other friends, but there aren't any in the book.
Overall I give this book two out of five.
Two by Karl Alexander
Parker and Emerson are identical twin sisters whose lives change when an author interviews them he is going to have twins in his new YA book. Tim soon decides that he will put the twins in the book and of course they are very happy and excited about that because it will make them more well known. However, they also have to deal with their high school drama and when Portia Flowers wants to get revenge on them for getting her expelled things start to go downhill for the twins and Tim.
First I am going to say that I did like the twins' bond with each other. I am not a twin,l but I do have a little sister and the bond that Parker and Emerson had with each other did seem to be realistic. Perhaps it was a bit exaggerated since the twins were always finishing each others sentences and what not but I still liked it. The twins also had plenty of conversations that were not about men.
However, overall I didn't like this book. I found Parker and Emerson to be complete brats and I had little sympathy for them especially as the book went on. I actually felt bad for Portia a lot of the time even though she is the antagonist. It seemed like Alexander didn't want to give Portia any good traits and he just wanted the twins to be right all the time.
I also found Tim to be very creepy. He is probably in his mid twenties, but he had a thing for one of the twins and he even tries to act on it. This is disturbing, but Alexander didn't act like it was a big deal and Tim was portrayed as a good guy not the creeper that he was. He was also married during this, but the fact that he wanted to cheat on his wife with a sixteen-year-old girl wasn't made to be a big deal in the book. The wife was actually made to look like the bad guy.
This book also didn't have much plot and the twins just kind of ran around and did things and pretty much only with themselves. The twins didn't really seem to care about anyone except themselves, their parents, and the men in their lives. They supposedly had other friends, but there aren't any in the book.
Overall I give this book two out of five.
dnf
April 9, 2015First DNF
I decided not to rate the book because I haven't finished this book. I stopped reading the book due to a lot of reasons, and that made my decision to stop reading it entirely.
First reason, I don't understand the writing style. I am confused about the transition between the twins and the writer. I had to go back a few pages to "understand" what just happened.
My second reason is connected to the first one. Since I don't understand what's happening. I don't feel the connection with the characters, especially to the twins. They were inconsistent in terms of their personality. It just confused me a lot more.
And the pacing. There were a lot of fillers in it that just... bored me out. I wanted to like it more but, I just couldn't. But I guess it will depend on the reader. This wasn't really horrible. Its just not for me.
I decided not to rate the book because I haven't finished this book. I stopped reading the book due to a lot of reasons, and that made my decision to stop reading it entirely.
First reason, I don't understand the writing style. I am confused about the transition between the twins and the writer. I had to go back a few pages to "understand" what just happened.
My second reason is connected to the first one. Since I don't understand what's happening. I don't feel the connection with the characters, especially to the twins. They were inconsistent in terms of their personality. It just confused me a lot more.
And the pacing. There were a lot of fillers in it that just... bored me out. I wanted to like it more but, I just couldn't. But I guess it will depend on the reader. This wasn't really horrible. Its just not for me.
May 3, 2014
¡3.5 en realidad!
Un libro contemporáneo super divertido sobre dos gemelas y un escritor.
Decidí publicar está reseña un poquito antes a ver así que se las dejo por acá:
Reseña completa de Two en Gracias a los Libros
Un libro contemporáneo super divertido sobre dos gemelas y un escritor.
Decidí publicar está reseña un poquito antes a ver así que se las dejo por acá:
Reseña completa de Two en Gracias a los Libros
June 14, 2014
More reviews on my blog, Exploring Pages.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not proud to present to you: my first ever DNF. I'm really not proud because the book is only 241 pages, but when I got halfway, I already eye-rolled way too much and sighed loudly more than I wanted to. The premise wasn't really something I was interested in reading in the first place. Maybe it's a personal matter, but I'm still very disappointed with what I've read.
When it came to the characters, there were absolutely none that could hold my interest. The twins were both the most egocentric and stereotypical blondes. It felt like the author had a bit too much fun with the twins and decided to take it always a little too far. Common examples in here are the finishing of each other's sentences, to know exactly what one another is thinking and their bond of let's be best friends forever. Tim came over as creepy, nothing else. All the characters had something in common: undeveloped and therefore incredibly flat. Their actions were predictable and so another reason why I couldn't bear to finish it. Because this book is basically two stories put together, there was an abundance of characters which was all too confusing in the end.
To say the least, this book contained no plot. Save yourself from reading the entire thing when the summary offers you literally, everything there is to know. Throughout the thing, all I kept thinking was how the author managed to write it. Because to me, it felt like he had watched way too much high school drama and girly tv-shows. Just like the characters, the plot is filled with clichés and boring events happening without a single high-light. In combination with the pace, still nothing interesting. Again, the fact that this book was a combination of two could have been way better if it was actually woven together with a decent flow. It made everything way more confusing for me than it already was.
In the end, Two was just the kind of book I regret trying to read. Do not let the pretty cover fool you, because all pleasure I had from it was when I closed it and decided to stop continuing.
"Not that the twins were unpopular. Au contraire, they were special-they knew it-everybody know it-they'd been special since their first day on the Point of View School campus way back in the 7th grade.
- Karl Alexander, Two
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not proud to present to you: my first ever DNF. I'm really not proud because the book is only 241 pages, but when I got halfway, I already eye-rolled way too much and sighed loudly more than I wanted to. The premise wasn't really something I was interested in reading in the first place. Maybe it's a personal matter, but I'm still very disappointed with what I've read.
When it came to the characters, there were absolutely none that could hold my interest. The twins were both the most egocentric and stereotypical blondes. It felt like the author had a bit too much fun with the twins and decided to take it always a little too far. Common examples in here are the finishing of each other's sentences, to know exactly what one another is thinking and their bond of let's be best friends forever. Tim came over as creepy, nothing else. All the characters had something in common: undeveloped and therefore incredibly flat. Their actions were predictable and so another reason why I couldn't bear to finish it. Because this book is basically two stories put together, there was an abundance of characters which was all too confusing in the end.
To say the least, this book contained no plot. Save yourself from reading the entire thing when the summary offers you literally, everything there is to know. Throughout the thing, all I kept thinking was how the author managed to write it. Because to me, it felt like he had watched way too much high school drama and girly tv-shows. Just like the characters, the plot is filled with clichés and boring events happening without a single high-light. In combination with the pace, still nothing interesting. Again, the fact that this book was a combination of two could have been way better if it was actually woven together with a decent flow. It made everything way more confusing for me than it already was.
In the end, Two was just the kind of book I regret trying to read. Do not let the pretty cover fool you, because all pleasure I had from it was when I closed it and decided to stop continuing.
April 30, 2014
If my review peeked your interest, you can check out my other reviews at Urban Girl Book Review.
Two by Karl Alexander
At first I wasn't sure if I particularly liked the book, but as the plot progressed I grew to like it. I liked the uniqueness of the dual story, with the present day twins and Tim writing about H.G. Wells and themselves in the past and how the book would switch between the two stories. The present day tale was more of a drama and the past tale was more of a science fiction novel. So, you get a drama with a dash of science fiction. Although the book the twins and Tim were writing was a distorted mirror image of their life, it didn't feel repeated. The story started out with the twins being bratty, but as the book continued, the twin's characters grew and developed into more mature individuals. Also, the book had a melancholy, moody undertone to it. Since I've not read many books with this flavor, it was a unique experience just to read it.
What my major issue is with the book is the theme of "free love." Also bothersome was the plot line of H.G. Well's many mistresses even though he had a wonderful wife who had come back from the future and appeared to be aware of his infidelity . Continuing in this theme was Tim, married and in his late twenties, coming on to Emerson (who was sixteen) with no repercussions. Lastly, the reckless drinking that led Tim to crash was not necessary in the book; it didn't add to the novel. For these reasons, I would rate the age group as older teen to adult.
Overall, I would have enjoyed the book better without all the "free love." I found the melancholy undertone unique which made the book interesting to read. I also liked the double story.
Note: I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Two by Karl Alexander
At first I wasn't sure if I particularly liked the book, but as the plot progressed I grew to like it. I liked the uniqueness of the dual story, with the present day twins and Tim writing about H.G. Wells and themselves in the past and how the book would switch between the two stories. The present day tale was more of a drama and the past tale was more of a science fiction novel. So, you get a drama with a dash of science fiction. Although the book the twins and Tim were writing was a distorted mirror image of their life, it didn't feel repeated. The story started out with the twins being bratty, but as the book continued, the twin's characters grew and developed into more mature individuals. Also, the book had a melancholy, moody undertone to it. Since I've not read many books with this flavor, it was a unique experience just to read it.
What my major issue is with the book is the theme of "free love." Also bothersome was the plot line of H.G. Well's many mistresses even though he had a wonderful wife who had come back from the future and appeared to be aware of his infidelity . Continuing in this theme was Tim, married and in his late twenties, coming on to Emerson (who was sixteen) with no repercussions. Lastly, the reckless drinking that led Tim to crash was not necessary in the book; it didn't add to the novel. For these reasons, I would rate the age group as older teen to adult.
Overall, I would have enjoyed the book better without all the "free love." I found the melancholy undertone unique which made the book interesting to read. I also liked the double story.
Note: I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
July 26, 2014
I think what surprises me most about Karl Alexander's writing in TWO is how, through his deft writing, without knowing he pulls you into a story that on the surface might seem like something I'd never be interested in reading. But once he has you hooked into the whacky lives of LA-LA California twins Emerson and Parker Leigh, you'll stand aside and not get in his way of letting the story unfold. I'm not at all bashful to say that I think Alexander is a brilliant writer in his ability to take off-beat (but very recognizable) characters and make you root for them in a very odd sort of way as they are thrust into a plot that, frankly, seems unimportant whether it's believable or not. But the plausibility of the story, for me at least, was not the point. What I enjoyed most was marveling at watching a master story-teller bring his characters to life, particularly through the contagious "inner-thoughts" of the two main characters and Tim Raines, the screenwriter/would be novelist who I couldn't help but feel was a autobiographical snippet of Alexander himself. I thoroughly enjoyed, "TWO," so much so that I am now reading his other most recent effort, "TIME-CROSSED LOVERS." Can't wait to see what adventure Alexander takes me on there.
May 2, 2014
Check out my full review at http://oneguysguidetogoodreads.blogsp...!
This is the first Karl Alexander novel I had ever read, and while I REALLY wanted to get behind the idea, I am having such a hard time wrapping my head around the whole of the story. The dual storyline was pretty fun, but I was way more interested in the past that hearing another word about these bratty twins. I did not feel like the characters were likeable at all. I spent most of the book confused about what was going on too. I saw another reviewer comment on the emphasis on looks and products, I totally feel the same way. Just because these twins are obviously living the high life in their perfect little high school, doesn't mean it needed to be thrown up in our faces! Lol. Overall, I believe the idea was really cool, but I just don't think it was the book for me. I am going to give it another shot with an open mind one day, so maybe my thinking will change!
Also, why was the wife made out to be such a villain? I really did not get that at all!
This is the first Karl Alexander novel I had ever read, and while I REALLY wanted to get behind the idea, I am having such a hard time wrapping my head around the whole of the story. The dual storyline was pretty fun, but I was way more interested in the past that hearing another word about these bratty twins. I did not feel like the characters were likeable at all. I spent most of the book confused about what was going on too. I saw another reviewer comment on the emphasis on looks and products, I totally feel the same way. Just because these twins are obviously living the high life in their perfect little high school, doesn't mean it needed to be thrown up in our faces! Lol. Overall, I believe the idea was really cool, but I just don't think it was the book for me. I am going to give it another shot with an open mind one day, so maybe my thinking will change!
Also, why was the wife made out to be such a villain? I really did not get that at all!
May 21, 2014
I received this book for free through NetGalley.
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. It was well-written and had an interesting story-line but there was something off about it. I think I liked it. I'm not certain.
Character-wise, I really grew to love the main trinity. At the beginning of the book, I quite disliked the twins. They irritated me and I found them to be immature and manipulative. That didn't change much, but somehow they grew on me. I loved their relationship and how much they genuinely cared about each other.
All of the reviews I've read have something bad to say about Tim and I can understand why, but I enjoyed his character. He had more than his share of sleazeball moments, but overall I thought he was great. I loved the portrait of this young, passionate writer who becomes so obsessed with his novel that he struggles to separate reality from fiction.
I really enjoyed the time spent in the novel within the novel. I felt completely transported to 1906, even with the twins being almost obnoxiously modern.
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. It was well-written and had an interesting story-line but there was something off about it. I think I liked it. I'm not certain.
Character-wise, I really grew to love the main trinity. At the beginning of the book, I quite disliked the twins. They irritated me and I found them to be immature and manipulative. That didn't change much, but somehow they grew on me. I loved their relationship and how much they genuinely cared about each other.
All of the reviews I've read have something bad to say about Tim and I can understand why, but I enjoyed his character. He had more than his share of sleazeball moments, but overall I thought he was great. I loved the portrait of this young, passionate writer who becomes so obsessed with his novel that he struggles to separate reality from fiction.
I really enjoyed the time spent in the novel within the novel. I felt completely transported to 1906, even with the twins being almost obnoxiously modern.
May 3, 2014
I received a copy of this book from netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
I did not enjoy this book. While the synopsis presented an interesting sounding plot, it sort of fell apart for me in practice. The characters, specifically the twins, did not feel realistic or believable. They are presented as the protagonists, yet are bratty and unlikable characters. All they care about are their parents and the men in their lives. In fact at one point Emerson lies and says her sister is trying to commit SUICIDE in an attempt to make a boy jealous.
Meanwhile the evil high school queen B feels just like a cheap Mean Girls knock off. She is supposed to be horrible and evil, yet for some reason it didn't feel authentic.
The silver lining to this novel is the twins’ relationship. While they fight and argue all the time, they true love and care about each other and that was great to see.
I did not enjoy this book. While the synopsis presented an interesting sounding plot, it sort of fell apart for me in practice. The characters, specifically the twins, did not feel realistic or believable. They are presented as the protagonists, yet are bratty and unlikable characters. All they care about are their parents and the men in their lives. In fact at one point Emerson lies and says her sister is trying to commit SUICIDE in an attempt to make a boy jealous.
Meanwhile the evil high school queen B feels just like a cheap Mean Girls knock off. She is supposed to be horrible and evil, yet for some reason it didn't feel authentic.
The silver lining to this novel is the twins’ relationship. While they fight and argue all the time, they true love and care about each other and that was great to see.
April 30, 2014
This book was poorly put together. The beginning started describing the differences in the girls personality and I thought I had a hold on which was which and then right after that it seemed that they switched personalities and I was at a lost. It seemed that not one character kept the same basic personality traits through the entire book. Tim was all good guy one second then creepy Perv trying to mess around at a school dance. Hates his wife and then mopes around when he finds out she's leaving him.
This book never seemed to be going anywhere far, and the constant switching back and forth made the book impossible to want to continue to read. I can honestly say there was nothing I liked about this book.
This book never seemed to be going anywhere far, and the constant switching back and forth made the book impossible to want to continue to read. I can honestly say there was nothing I liked about this book.
May 29, 2014
I received this book through Netgalley. This review is my honest opinion.
The description looks really good on this book. I got super excited to read it but was kind of disappointed when I did. I found the first half slow and hard to stick with. I almost quit, almost. And if you don't like books with parts that are not totally figured out by the end you may not like this book. The writing style was strong and the author is talented but I found the going back and forth in time more annoying then I have in other books that split in that way. I think the authors other books are probably good and this book wasn't bad enough to cause me not to check his books in the future.
The description looks really good on this book. I got super excited to read it but was kind of disappointed when I did. I found the first half slow and hard to stick with. I almost quit, almost. And if you don't like books with parts that are not totally figured out by the end you may not like this book. The writing style was strong and the author is talented but I found the going back and forth in time more annoying then I have in other books that split in that way. I think the authors other books are probably good and this book wasn't bad enough to cause me not to check his books in the future.
May 25, 2014
Love the cover! And the synopsis sounded like this would be a book I would love.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. This one was a DNF for me.
I found the twins very bratty and shallow, I couldn't figure out if Tim was a nice guy or a creepy perv, and I got lost in the back and forth time travel thing. I really tried to finish it, but thought about all the books on my reading list and decided not to waste any more time on this one.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. This one was a DNF for me.
I found the twins very bratty and shallow, I couldn't figure out if Tim was a nice guy or a creepy perv, and I got lost in the back and forth time travel thing. I really tried to finish it, but thought about all the books on my reading list and decided not to waste any more time on this one.
June 1, 2014
Ambitious and exciting and unique in conception--sounds great: Twins, time travel, Edwardian England, historical figures, and a murder? However, flat and confusing in execution. Far too many characters and plot lines to keep together made it hard to finish. Poor writing and planning. Also I hated the twins. Disappointed.
Read
May 12, 2014I requested to review this by the publisher but I just couldnt finish it. It's a good book for those who like the whole time travel and funny twins but to me, I just got lost in what could have been a great book
dnf
May 2, 2014DNF at 11%
I could not get into it and there's too much focus on looks and branded products. The two main characters are a bit annoying as well.
I could not get into it and there's too much focus on looks and branded products. The two main characters are a bit annoying as well.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews