Stormin' Mormon [Paperback]

Phil Villarreal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 14, 2008

Full-time talk radio host and part-time con-artist Saul Cruz and free-wheeling college student Jerusha Goodman have fallen hard for one another. Problem is, both are tied down in uninspiring relationships to kind but dull people. Since neither is the cheating type, and the thought of dumping their lovestruck sig-o’s cold seems too cruel to fathom, Saul and Jerusha formulate a scam that will allow them to be together. They’ll pretend to be Mormon, suddenly foregoing sex, wine, coffee and R-rated movies, with the goal to irritate their partners away. The switch is easy for Saul, an agnostic, as well as Jerusha, a Jack Mormon who has drifted from the flock, to the chagrin of her nagging mother. Will the ruse be enough to drive away Shannon, Saul’s doting, baby-talking ex-cheerleader girlfriend and Jared, Jerusha’s live-in blue-collar beau? The answer lies in Stormin’ Mormon, a romantic comedy that’s a religious experience.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Phil Villarreal's "Stormin' Mormon" doesn't just storm, it rocks and rolls to a quirky beat all its own. With a keen eye for character and an ear for laugh-out-loud dialogue, Villarreal has written an entertaining, off-the-wall romantic comedy. -- John Fusco, February 11, 2008

The novel remains fun and humorous rather than sinking into a pit of mean-spirited Mormon bashing, as the plan might suggest. -- Astrid Duffy, Arizona Daily Wildcat, Feb. 21, 2008

About the Author

Phil Villarreal is a movie and video games critic at the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson.

Product Details

• Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: PublishAmerica (January 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1604744871
• ISBN-13: 978-1604744873
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,370,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Phil Villarreal is the author of "Secrets of a Stingy Scounderl: 100
Dirty, Little Money-Saving Secrets" and "Stormin' Mormon." He has been
a movie critic since 2001, writing for the Arizona Daily Star and OK!
Magazine. He also is an associate editor at the consumer advocacy blog
Consumerist.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars drags on at times, June 26, 2008

By 

B. Smith "Reader of classics" (Emeryville, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stormin' Mormon (Paperback)

I am glad a friend passed this on to me to read. I would have hated to have to buy it. It is a story not unlike many other stories. Drags on at times to the point that I finally closed the book and threw it into the discount book pile at my local bookstore.

2.0 out of 5 stars I really hate Saul., January 16, 2012

By 

Rev Beatman "One L" (Woodbridge, VA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stormin' Mormon (Paperback)

I actually read this book. I might be the only reviewer (save the author) to do so.

My take: Saul is a shock jock with a tough on-air persona. Jerusha, a femme fatale who charms her way into anything she wants (save the music industry), selects Saul as interviewee for a school project after hearing him spout some sports douchebaggery on the radio. The two meet and instantly connect. Jerusha refuses to break up with her nice boyfriend, Jared (a nod to the Mormon husband-wife team behind Napoleon Dynamite?), even though she doesn't seem to like him. Saul is too much of a wimp to dump his hot girlfriend. They make a pact to pretend to be Mormons so their insignificant others will end their relationships, and they can be happy together. (*Spoilers ahead) Their weird plan (immediately) succeeds and Saul and Jerusha begin spending copious amounts of time together. Then Jerusha cheats on a test and gets kicked out of school, Saul gets her a job at his radio station, Saul goes nuts on air and is put on suspension, and... Jerusha takes over his radio show! OMG! Ultimately, the two realize that witty banter is all they really share, so they become co-hosts on Saul's show and set about winning back their old lovers. Saul's lady has, sadly, moved on. Jerusha, after rediscovering her own faith, finds out Jared has been secretly becoming a Mormon for her.

The premise appealed to me, but a fatal flaw in the plot that prevented me from enjoying this book. Saul is a wuss. He's not in love with his girlfriend, but he refuses to break up with her because she'll cry. WTF. Like a badass, he tries to return some stolen CDs to Best Buy and, when he thinks the manager's caught him, nearly wets himself at the sight of a security guard. Jerusha, on the other hand, is hot stuff, and she knows it. I can imagine a girl like her staying with a boyfriend she's not that into because he's so nice to her. I don't believe for a minute, though, that she would leave one passive boyfriend for another passive boyfriend, especially one that had a really hard time breaking up with his girlfriend for her. If Saul grew a pair and broke up with Shannon, and then told Jerusha he'd done it so he could be with her, we wouldn't have had to go through this whole ridiculousness of pretending to be religious.

I was annoyed with the numerous grammar/typing errors. I'm not sure if these are exclusive to the Kindle edition or if the print version is the same. Author Phil uses some archaic word choices where colloquial ones would have sufficed. I like learning new words, but this came off as overuse of a thesaurus. Phil also uses weird passive voice sometimes, saying things like "So happy was Saul" instead of "Saul was so happy."

Arguably, this book really isn't about hilarity ensuing when two people pretend to be Mormon. That part of the story is relatively short, though I wish it had been fleshed out more. At its core, this is one of those predictable, happily ending romantic comedies that would star Katherine Heigl and Dane Cook. I hate those movies, so maybe I'm not the target audience for this particular novel.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Shockingly Bad, September 21, 2009

By 

Anthony Quarm "eXofreeze" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stormin' Mormon (Paperback)

Using Mormonism as a way to irritate ones partner away might sound funny in idea, but as executed in this novel it is amazingly derivative. If the author was looking to shock for comedy, than why not have his characters suddenly become Muslim and try to run their partners off by making vague threats about the government.... ah, thats because Mormons are an easy target but Muslim comedy starts riots.