The Counterfeit Convert

by Linda Chadwick

Marry the girl, take the money, and run it seems like a simple plan, until Tristan Taylor finds out the girl is Mormon, and the only way to get the money is to convince her he belongs to the Church too. But when he realizes Rachel means more to him than just money, he wonders if his fledgling testimony of the gospel can give him enough strength to come clean to the woman he loves, even if it means losing her forever. From the author of Second Chances comes a tale that is anything but a typical boy-meets-girl love story. The Counterfeit Convert will keep you laughing and remind you that with the gospel, everyone has the power to change for the better.

Genres: Lds, Romance, Lds Fiction, Religion, Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 8, 2010

About the author

I am the proud mother of five great kids, ages 20, 18, 14, and twins girls, age 10. I love to watch movies, read books and write. Second Chances is my first novel.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story about the power of love in fighting its way to the truth. Tristin Taylor wasn't dealt an easy life. His mother left at age 7 and shortly after his older sister leaving his brokenhearted father to rear him. Although, he tried his best, Tristin found out at the end, he never felt loved or accepted by his father he only felt he held the blame for his mother's choices and his father's failure to rise above it. He rises above and graduates highschool and college. He moves to New york thinking he can have a fresh start bringing his loyal friends, Austin and Cole with him, but the job and lifestyle doesn't fit right as he imagined. When Tristin hears from a waiter about his three women customers problem of finding husbands before the age of 25 to collect their father's inheritance he devices a plan. They will all take one of the sister make them fall in love with them and then take the money. The problem is they are "mormon." They act the part giving up drinking, coffee, and smoking to conform to their conquests. But the process doesn't go as planned. Tristin really falls in love with Rachel and in researching his role as a mormon he finds answers to his life's questions and in the process finds himself. Now the problem is to tell her the truth and risk loosing her or trust that a jealous ex-boyfriend won't expose his lie and it remain hidden.
When he is gone at his father's funeral the worst happens. Steward has revealed this lie. He isn't a member although he has been taking the discussions and wants to be baptised, and he does love her, but in the beginning it was all about the money. In the end money didn't bring him happiness. The love of his life, Rachel and the gospel brought him the life he wanted.

[Danyelle Ferguson · Rating 1 out of 5]

In the beginning, the three guys who are the main "trio" are totally selfish and want to use three LDS women who are rich for their money. So they devise a plan to fool them into thinking the guys are Mormon. While the main guy character begins to understand the LDS culture and want to explore the faith, find answers to his questions, etc - I felt like his conversion from a jerk to being Mr. Nice Guy was contrived. It just didn't work for me. I also didn't like that three very intelligent women would fall for such a poorly thought out and attempted trick. Overall, this book just didn't work for me.

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally got my hands on a copy of this book. I don't even remember how I had heard of it in the first place, but I live in an area where this would not be readily available. It's a little cheesy (sorry, Ms. Chadwick), but if that's what you're going for then it's right up your alley. A young man and his two best friends find themselves down on their luck, largely through poor decision making. They come across a young woman and her sisters who are set to inherit large sums of money, based on the stipulation that they wed by their 25th birthday. Oh, and they're LDS. (Thanks Mormon Dad, for that spinster clause.) It also happens that the oldest (only 6 months from that birthday) is immune to the young man's smolder. (Think Eugene in "Tangled.") He sees it as a challenge and an opportunity. They set out to fake that they're Mormon long enough to wed the girls and set off with fat bank accounts. But wait! There's competition for the schmooze-immune sister's heart. And perhaps Tristan has bitten off more than he could chew, feigning faithfulness to a religion that he barely knew anything about and trying to remain aloof to its charms. This is definitely a quick read. It ends well. If you like LDS culture and can handle the occasional eye-roll-inducing moments, you'll love it.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
- has an interesting storyline, but it became less interesting as it went on
- I didn't like it when Tristan's Dad died
- too many kissing scenes. Some were cheesy
- the bits where Tristan amd his friends messed up on LDS culture were amusing
- I would've liked to see how Rachel ended things with Stewart once and for all

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this romcom about a group of guys looking for a fast buck by pretending to be Latter Day Saints. The romance that developed was sweet and I loved the conversation story.

[Debbie Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I laughed out loud when the characters pretended to be Mormons. The plot is predictable but entertaining.

[Bethany Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bland characters, bad writing,... but still sort of a fun, fluffy read.

[Aliyah · Rating 3 out of 5]

it ate but at the same time was a drag yk? it just barely made the qualifications for ⭐⭐⭐

[Kristine · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, so this was cheesy and predictable, but on a certain level what chick lit/chick flick isn't? I still watch chick flicks right?

This is from a first-time author out of Utah ... and I decided instead of just saying it didn't work for me I'd give one or two constructive criticisms. I mean I haven't been able to crank out a novel so she probably did better than I could, but as a critical reader, this is my feedback:

1) Show, don't tell. There were multiple parts of the book (unfortunately I didn't mark them, sorry!, but I remember thinking this often) where based on the scene, we could pick up on the situation or the feelings of those involved. Unfortunately the author then goes on to explain the whole situation and feelings of those involved in the previous scene. Before starting narrative explanation, pause and ask yourself, "does the reader already know this from what I've written?"

2) The voice was interesting and expressive, although it sounded like it came from the mind of a girl. Maybe stick to narrators who are female. It's very hard to jump the gender-narrator gap and not be cheesy or offend anyone.

3) The three best friends and roomies - they truly sounded like BFFs and roomies, if they were girls. Sounded like college female roommates . . . Has the author been around very many college age single LDS bachelors? I have two older and two younger bros (and was also managers of a male housing complex of male students at BYUI) and I think all of them would have rather been caught dead than act like these three. I guess it's just like how you can tell an author/screenwriter is female (my brothers laugh hysterically on High School Musical that Zack and his BFF fight like girls, like they say, NEVER would real teenage-bachelor age boys fight like chicks or express so much emotions).

[Kelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few things I didn't like about this book; I didn't like that at the very beginning Rachel came across as this super snotty rich girl and then ended up being really amazing and generous and throwing fundraisers for sick kids, etc. I didn't like that the main guy's friends went along with anything he suggested even though they were all ridiculous ideas or huge life-changing decisions. I also didn't really like how quickly she forgave him, it seemed like it wasn't that big of a deal that he had been lying to her all along. I did like that he slowly became converted to the Church by looking into it enough to fool everyone but it ended up changing his life. I liked Stewart's role as the ex-boyfriend who was trying to win Rachel back, but I didn't like some of the things he said that were way over the top. Overall, the idea of this book is pretty funny and some parts of it are good but mostly just over the top and unbelievable.

[N.L. Riviezzo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't care for the tone of this book. The male MC sounded more female in his speech and actions. He also read as a perpetual sleazeball. Even when he had chances at change and redemption, he was still unbelievably sleazy. The characters lacked depth and the beginning of the book was more irritating than interesting. Part of me just wanted to stop reading it 25 pages in because the male MC was just so obnoxious in his personality. I wasn't sure if I could get through this book with him and I barely did. While I applaud the author taking a chance and getting out there into the writing world, I think the story could be cleaned up & the characters given more depth. With these things, I believe the story would be strong. Also it would be better if the author stuck to female narrators. She obviously struggles to grasp a proper male voice.

[Katie (hiding in the pages) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tristan is down on his luck and trying to find a job in NYC. He runs into an heiress in a restaurant and comes up with a "brilliant" plan to marry her, get her money, and live happily ever after. Part of the plan requires him to pretend to belong to the LDS church. But something ends up happening that he didn't count on.

I thought the characters were a lot of fun and the story was pretty original. Tristan was an especially fun character. Things happened to him that would get a lot of people down and cause a lot of embarrassment, but he managed to turn things around for the good and have the last laugh.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as a "Goodreads Giveaway". (I must say, I love getting free books!) It's the story of Tristan and his two friends who move to New York City to make thier fortune. None of them are having any luck with that when they meet Rachel and her two sisters. Rachel's father just passed away and left them all of his fortunes as long as they all marry before the age of 25. Tristan and his friends decide to 'help' them in this endeavor when they find out the girls are Mormon. No problem, the guys can fake 'being Mormon'.

Although the book is quite predictable, it was a fun read. I enjoyed it.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny story about 3 single non-member guys pretending to be who they are not, to attract 3 rich member girls. The book was part uncomfortable, part hysterical. No middle ground here. I laughed my head off when the sacrament came around and one of the boys opened his mouth to receive the bread... how funny a deacon's reaction would be. I really don't enjoy stories with so much lying (it gives me stress) but I enjoyed the character development and many of the zany situations. I'd love to see the author write from a woman's head rather than a man's. I think it's often difficult to be in a man's head. (okay, impossible perhaps) ;)

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this in a giveaway and really looked forward to receiving it. It was a cute story and a very quick read. The plot was simple and although predictable lets face it-I wouldn't haven't liked it to end any other way. I think if a non-Mormon were to read it they wouldn't realize how funny the author really is. I thought that the author was creative and it was funny to see Tristan's perspective of some things that make Mormons unique. It was also refreshing to read a book where I didn't have to worry about offensive language. Thank you Linda!

[Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was FULL of cliche phrases and descriptions. Other times the author seemed to be stretching for originality like describing the girl's eyes as 'majestic'. The writing was awkward and the plot predictable.
That being said.... I don't feel as though I wasted my time, but this book falls in the larger category of poorly-written, but well-intended LDS fiction rather than the few well-written LDS novels that are out there.
I wouldn't seek this book out, but if you want to read it I wouldn't say don't. Just beware. It's cute but not great.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rachel's father has stated in his will that she must marry by age twenty-five or lose her inheritance. Rachel misses her father terribly and is not only angry about the terms, but also handed the responsibility of running his company. Tristan is a greedy womanizer who sets himself and his two best friends up with a challenge to meet, marry, and take the money. However, Tristen is no match for Rachel's religion or her love.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised. Tristan can't find work in NYC and refusing to return home accidently meets Rachel. He discovers that she is from a wealthy family who's father has died and Rachel must marry before she turns twenty-five or loose her inheritance. An opportunity. He plans on marrying her, get the money and live richly ever after. However, she is a Mormon but that doesn't stop him. He pretends. Funny and serious at the same time. Interesting.

[Pauline Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recommend this book with the warning to just enjoy it for what it is; a lighthearted romance. The beginning was pretty cheesy, but I had been warned that it was just a fun, quick read, so I'm glad I continued reading because it did get better. There were a few things I felt were pretty irreverent, but maybe others will think are funny, like grabbing a handful of sacrament bread, and wearing a toga outfit to a fireside. The conversion story is pretty cool, though, and the love story is cute.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute, clean lighthearted romance. It's cheesy and predictable, but I really liked it. I laughed a lot while reading it and cried at the end.

It's about three bachelors in their 20's who decide to get three rich sisters to marry them. The problem is that the sisters are LDS. So the boys decide to pose as Mormons. And that's kind of hard to do when you know nothing about the church.

[Susan Flinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It reminded me of the reason I love to read. i laughed and cried, it gave me hope for love again(being recently divorced).Linda don't stop writing these kind of books,"Counterfeit Convert" was the escape I needed from my own problems. Thank you, I will enjoy recomending this book to many.

[Bobbi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked it up at the library today and basically read it while waiting for children who had practices today. It wasn't bad, I am just not much for romances, there are some funny things that happen along the way and the guy has a nice change of heart but I think Jessica would have enjoyed it more that I did.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

i vary much so loved this book. its a love story that any one can get into. it may have been cheesy and prdictable like kristine said but if it would have ended diffrent i would have been vary mad. cant wait to read what book she comes up with next congrats linda on the book wrighting dont give up your dream.

[Andrea Fife · Rating 3 out of 5]

In order to read this type of book (which I obviously chose to do) you have to be willing to put aside any desire to be enlightened, enriched, or educated and read it simply for entertainment's sake. This book did well what it set out to do, and I enjoyed a light read between more substantial books.

[Allyson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I admit, I judge books by 1)their cover and 2)their title. This title got me. I'm not LDS and I tend to stay away from LDS or any religion books because I find them to be way too preachy for my liking. However, this one wasn't. It also wasn't the best book I've ever read, but it didn't want to make me gouge my eyeballs out either. Quick read, I finished in about 4 hours.

[Tom Ricks · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Counterfeit Convert is an incredible book written in what I fondly refer to as "Magical Manhattan". It is full of funny scenes, characters you love and relate to and of course the drama that only an LDS singles life can create!

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found on LDS Fiction blog: http://ldsfiction.blogspot.com/2010/0...

Disappointing. Parts of the book needed a better editor. I felt the book tried to balance between being written for Mormons and those not of the faith and did a disservice to both parties.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice diversion for a while. It is clean, although somewhat unrealistic.

[Haley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not Mormon, but I found this book to be pretty cute.

I won this book from the giveaway on Goodreads.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a little silly and contrived. It kept me entertained for a few hours.