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Connect: Book Two

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The story of Bev and Max continues…

In the second novel of her acclaimed series, author Nan McCarthy continues the wild ride that began in Chat. It’s now 1996, and Bev and Max, two strangers who met online, find their lives unexpectedly intertwined. As their words and actions propel them into unexplored territory, Bev and Max’s relationship grows more intense—and more complex—than they ever imagined.

Praised as “a lively, free-flowing, spontaneous outburst of curiosity, anxiety and hope,” the story of Bev and Max unfolds entirely through their online messages. Readers once again find themselves unable to resist the temptation to “eavesdrop” on the pair’s sexually charged, humorous, and thought-provoking exchanges. In a time before Facebook, Skype, and Twitter, when there were no status updates, no photos, no tweets, no video chats, all Bev and Max have to share with one another are their words—or so it may seem.

In this newest edition of her Chat, Connect, and Crash series, McCarthy offers up a snapshot of the mid-1990s Internet culture and its changing dynamic of human interaction. As Bev and Max gradually reveal themselves by what they choose to say—and leave unsaid—their seductive, addicting, and all-too-human adventures will draw you from first page to last.

132 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 6, 1998

3 people are currently reading
26 people want to read

About the author

Nan McCarthy

11 books25 followers
Nan McCarthy is the author of the Since You Went Away series, Chat, Connect, & Crash series, Live ’Til I Die, and Quark Design. A former magazine editor & technology writer, Nan founded Rainwater Press in 1992 and began selling her books online in 1995. Nan and her husband, a veteran who served 33 years in the Marine Corps, are the proud parents of two adult sons.

To find out more, visit Nan's website at www.nan-mccarthy.com, like her on Facebook www.facebook.com/nanmccarthywriter, or follow her on Instagram www.instagram.com/nanmccarthy, Twitter www.twitter.com/nanmccarthy, and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/nanmccarthy.

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5 stars
52 (31%)
4 stars
39 (23%)
3 stars
50 (30%)
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20 (12%)
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5 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Profile Image for Sophia.
26 reviews1 follower
Read
May 22, 2025
now come on… starting an affair with a man via EMAIL and then being like noooo I LOVE my husband !!!! Girl… u fell in love with emails be so fr
1,165 reviews5 followers
January 14, 2018
This is the second book in the series and it continues where Chat left off, Bev doesn't want to speak to Max until Max calls her workplace one day whilst being drunk, she gets angry at him and finally starts responding to his e-mails again and says that she is okay with them chatting again, they just shouldn't mention the "incident" ever again, eventually she gets scared and leaves again and Max gets angry and they start speaking about the "incident" and they end up meeting up and hooking up again by the end of the book, the build up was decent and the ending was okay, could be better though.
Profile Image for Sahel's.
117 reviews14 followers
November 10, 2021
I have always believed in the reality of online relationships ever since I realized what internet is! I have no idea why "virtual relationship" or "long distance online dating" has been so stigmatized.

I cannot understand it since I met some of the most interesting and unforgettable people of my life online. Some we still are in touch!

So, Remember Yahoo Msngr? Remember Yahoo 360 degrees? Remember MeBoo and the Iranian Cloob dot com? I had some of The Most interesting and exciting conversations of my life through these platforms! The memory of years of online chat and friendship with people I might have never come across in my life is still alive on my mind!

Generally, people might have a dubious attitude toward online relationships because most we have heard and most stories coming out in the open have been about face-to-face love and happy ending relationships which have all happened in-person. There has not been much written about online friendships, or they have not been much discussed. And by written I don't mean the typical "17 ways to online dating"! Maybe Covid-19 has changed that to some degree?

Ok so, before this exciting trilogy, I never knew I was looking for a book like this that takes online relationships as serious as face-to-face ones!

Here's a tiny summary: This book recounts the story of how an online relationship used to form and how this specific one in the trilogy developed.

The whole trilogy is steamy hot and funny. It's a quick read as the story grabs you tight with all the suspense and energy oozing from every chapter. For instance, I read the whole trilogy in one sitting!

Taking me back through time to a period when internet, chatting and being online was actually cool, a bit sneaky, hot at times, and super exciting not knowing your person would go online tonight or not! It talks of a time when finding creative ways to being closer to each other like watching a game at the same time was a rather hard way to date, but a really exciting one!

I enjoyed every word and cherished the creative way Nan McCarthy has formed the story. I believe this trilogy, as a forerunner in this genre could also be a way to not take the internet we have today for granted! To think about it in real ways, not to stigmatize the online relationships of people for whom this way actually works, and maybe be inspired to share our true stories of that era!!
Profile Image for G.
230 reviews
October 8, 2011
Warning: This review may contain spoilers.

"Connect" continues where " Chat ", the first book of the series, left off. Bev hasn't been responding to Max's e-mails after she found out the truth about the incident. But after endless prodding by Max, the two of them begin talking once again. Their relationship only gets better.

I guess this book a slightly lower score than the first book, because I felt like nothing really happened in this book. There was no build-up and action. Then again, it is a cyberspace book. But, really. Nothing. It just resolved the issues that Max and Bev had, in the last book. But no progress.

I'm looking forward to re-reading the last book of the series.
Profile Image for Viktoria.
22 reviews5 followers
June 5, 2015
I can almost not believe I liked this (this sounds mean, sorry). But still, I had found this books when thrifting and I had no expectations. It was reeeally charming at moments and I loved the way they communicated with each other. I kind of want to write a review about it, so this may happen.
Profile Image for St Fu.
365 reviews15 followers
August 31, 2018
I found this book on my shelf. I don't know how it got there--It's likely been there for several years and I wondered what it was. It was from 1996 so I expected it to be at least of some historical interest. The only reason I actually finished it was because it was so short. The characters and events are so generic/cliché it must have been intentional. Maybe the Internet (with upper case 'I' like they did in 1996) was supposed to be the original idea in the story. I've already wasted too many words on this review.
Profile Image for Gren.
141 reviews2 followers
May 6, 2019
This book is a lot like the first: a lot of padding in between big plot points, but unlike the first book it doesn't feel like a lot of build up with no pay off. Quite frankly, this could be one big book instead of a trilogy. I still need to read the last one to be sure of that though.

My friend loaned me these because of my experience with online romance and friendships so I feel obligated to read them and tell her how I feel. How I feel is this:

It's really, really hard to read these and not feel a bit embarrassed by how outdated it is. I've tried, but it's hard to separate it when it's ingrained so much in the story and dialogue. I also just do not like the characters. However, if you've made it this far you might as well finish the series since each book take so little time to read.
Profile Image for Britta ★ Nachteule ★.
626 reviews100 followers
September 21, 2016
3.5 stars

Connect fängt an, wo Chat aufgehört hat. Bev reagiert zunächst nicht mehr auf Max' Emails nach dem sie erfahren hat wer er ist. Doch Max schreibt ihr trotzdem weiter.

In diesem Band passiert nicht wirklich viel. Wir sehen bloß wie beide versuchen mit dem "Vorfall" umzugehen und wieder zu ihrer Freundschaft zurück zufinden. Was nicht ganz so einfach ist...

Wieder spürt man, obwohl wir nur die Emails der beiden zu lesen bekommen, welche Gefühle in den beiden herrschen. Und wieder ist man gespannt wie es mit den beiden weitergeht.
Profile Image for Robin.
518 reviews6 followers
November 9, 2013
I think the strength of these books is the pace at which the conversations move, as well as the fact that they come off as being honest. The characters feel like real people, and the situation is mostly genuine. I think the biggest fault, as I've said before, is the way the books are broken up. They really should be three parts of a single book, and not three separate books. They're just so incomplete on their own.
Profile Image for Lindsay.
1,260 reviews5 followers
September 8, 2014
Again....The story is pretty good, but I don't see how this is a "novel". Nothing seemed to happen in this one. I think the books should all have been combined... this one didn't have as awful of an ending as the last one but it wasn't much better....
Profile Image for Sebastian.
95 reviews3 followers
July 22, 2018
Ok, so this mini series got better with the second book! I mean by the title it was easy to guess the two would "connect" but the way things were going it was a total surprise moment! That's all I will say!
Profile Image for Lisa.
1,174 reviews141 followers
March 5, 2024
I remember ordering them all at once and reading them one after the other. I was hooked and was happy to have them all because I gobbled them up. Not sure if they would stand the test of time but I really enjoyed this series.
Profile Image for Leslie aka StoreyBook Reviews.
2,920 reviews218 followers
March 7, 2008
This is book 2 of the trilogy and a continuation of the storyline between Bev and Max. It goes a bit deeper than the first one but I don't want to give anything away so I'll leave it at that
Profile Image for flajol.
475 reviews13 followers
March 12, 2008
Second in a short trilogy which tells the tale of an Internet friendship through the emails that are exchanged.
Profile Image for Brian.
1,930 reviews61 followers
February 9, 2012
This is my least favorite of the trilogy. Max
And Bev slowly grow closer. This is a quick read and a very short book.
Profile Image for Megan.
3,629 reviews46 followers
December 27, 2015
I find these books so funny.

I don't agree with what they're doing. Its pretty wrong even if its cyperspace. Cheating is cheating at the end of the day. But they're adorable.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews

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