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Cooper Moon #1
The Calling
This is the story of Cooper Moon, a handsome womanizer who has found God under some unusual circumstances. Cooper is the last person one might expect to experience such a conversion, and no one is more skeptical of this sudden turn of events than Cooper’s wife, Sally.
Cooper has not only found God, he has also decided to build a church. He faces a few obstacles. He has never read the Bible, he has no money, and he has a well-deserved reputation as a slacker. Throw in a couple of scheming women who aren’t ready to give up sleeping with Cooper, a jealous husband with a grudge, and things begin to get complicated.
Filled with a cast of characters you are sure to love (and hate!), Cooper Moon: The Calling is a story of love, faith, determination, dreams, sin, lust, hope, revenge, and despair – just like real life.
The novel is the first of the four-book Cooper Moon series.
Read the book that Kirkus Review describes as "At its core, this is a story about class, karma and ordinary people trying to accomplish difficult goals that require extraordinary strength of body, mind and spirit...a strong, engaging voice ...A satisfying, feel-good novel about human shortcomings, perseverance and serendipity."
Cooper has not only found God, he has also decided to build a church. He faces a few obstacles. He has never read the Bible, he has no money, and he has a well-deserved reputation as a slacker. Throw in a couple of scheming women who aren’t ready to give up sleeping with Cooper, a jealous husband with a grudge, and things begin to get complicated.
Filled with a cast of characters you are sure to love (and hate!), Cooper Moon: The Calling is a story of love, faith, determination, dreams, sin, lust, hope, revenge, and despair – just like real life.
The novel is the first of the four-book Cooper Moon series.
Read the book that Kirkus Review describes as "At its core, this is a story about class, karma and ordinary people trying to accomplish difficult goals that require extraordinary strength of body, mind and spirit...a strong, engaging voice ...A satisfying, feel-good novel about human shortcomings, perseverance and serendipity."
- GenresContemporary Romance
356 pages, Paperback
First published July 17, 2012
49 people are currently reading
974 people want to read
About the author
Cheryl Shireman
35 books437 followersCheryl Shireman is the author of several novels including Life Is But a Dream and Broken Resolutions. She is also the author of the popular Cooper Moon series (the first book in the series - Cooper Moon: The Calling - is now available for free as an ebook at all of your favorite online book retailers.
Cheryl has also written several books for children and created the 2 Old 2 Color series of adult coloring books.
Cheryl is available for Book Club chats via Skype for book clubs who would like to discuss her novels. She may be reached via the contact form on her website - www.cherylshireman.com
Cheryl has also written several books for children and created the 2 Old 2 Color series of adult coloring books.
Cheryl is available for Book Club chats via Skype for book clubs who would like to discuss her novels. She may be reached via the contact form on her website - www.cherylshireman.com
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 2, 2012
Overall Feedback: From the first stage you want to punch Cooper in the nose but something tells you to just keep your fist to the side for now. You end up taking this "Faith" journey with him and somewhere along the way he becomes your friend and you are trying to defend him and make others forgive. Throughout the story I found myself wrapped up tight with the humor, wit and sicerity of Cheryl's writing. This is truly a story for the masses.
Point of View: You experience several characters point of view throughout the book as this is told from the author-looking-in point of view but for the most part you see things through Cooper. Again Cheryl is masterful in her writing and she was able to trolly me from character to character. The only issue I found was that sometimes I wanted to skip ahead because I did not like the character and therefore did not care what they had to say. That tells me that Cheryl has outstanding talent seeing that she was able to cause a reader to not care what a fictional character thought.
Voice: If I was a gambling man I would say that either the author or someone close to the author has mad a "Faith" journey as well and this is the written version.
Character Development: As stated in point of view, Cheryl has outstanding capabilties in character development. She was able to get me from unwanting and even closed off toward Cooper to defending him. She had me wanting to skip parts of the book only because I did not like the character and therefore did not care what they had to say.
Plot: Everyday someone falls into a journey of faith and is reborn.
Dialogue: I felt right at home with the characters dialogue. I am from a small town in the midwest and these characters could have been neighbors.
Pacing: Cheryl is able to get the point across, stamped your emotions but still compel the reader throughout the story.
Setting: You will want to visit this town, whether for good deeds or bad would be up to you. I really want to go to a bar named Bass Turds.
Continuity: I did not find one iota of a issue and Cheryl lets the reader go with just enough to make them want to continue the series. I know I do. Preach on Cooper.
Point of View: You experience several characters point of view throughout the book as this is told from the author-looking-in point of view but for the most part you see things through Cooper. Again Cheryl is masterful in her writing and she was able to trolly me from character to character. The only issue I found was that sometimes I wanted to skip ahead because I did not like the character and therefore did not care what they had to say. That tells me that Cheryl has outstanding talent seeing that she was able to cause a reader to not care what a fictional character thought.
Voice: If I was a gambling man I would say that either the author or someone close to the author has mad a "Faith" journey as well and this is the written version.
Character Development: As stated in point of view, Cheryl has outstanding capabilties in character development. She was able to get me from unwanting and even closed off toward Cooper to defending him. She had me wanting to skip parts of the book only because I did not like the character and therefore did not care what they had to say.
Plot: Everyday someone falls into a journey of faith and is reborn.
Dialogue: I felt right at home with the characters dialogue. I am from a small town in the midwest and these characters could have been neighbors.
Pacing: Cheryl is able to get the point across, stamped your emotions but still compel the reader throughout the story.
Setting: You will want to visit this town, whether for good deeds or bad would be up to you. I really want to go to a bar named Bass Turds.
Continuity: I did not find one iota of a issue and Cheryl lets the reader go with just enough to make them want to continue the series. I know I do. Preach on Cooper.
June 19, 2014
You will fall in love with this cast of characters and you will care what happens to them.This book is about an unlikely fellow that decides to go the straight and narrow.He finds out that road has many curves and pot holes along the way.The cast of characters are a hoot and you really get wrapped up in their lives.I say read it.
May 6, 2022
I kept waiting for this book to get even a little less depressing, but it never did.
April 4, 2013
This story attracted me, because it parallels with a short story I adore, Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “Parker’s Back”. Parker, like Cooper, undergoes unusual spiritual changes. Both are womanizers, and unlikely candidates who transform into God-like men. It turns out that, although, Shireman was more direct than O’Connor in her story telling approach path to God - she did not disappoint me with Cooper.
Cooper is introduced to the reader the first time by his wife. While the story leaps toward you, it lets Cooper stumble awkwardly behind because he’s meant to find something much larger than the life he’s been living. Cooper Moon has found God, and has to build a church rather than chase women. He starts to shuffle around figuring how to do things different. It’s the figuring that keeps a reader in stitches and makes Cooper a worthwhile character.
“Some people are gifted with musical talent or artistic skill. When one possesses such a skill, it is often easy to take it for granted. So it was with Cooper. He never reflected upon why women seemed to be drawn to him. He charmed women easily, and with almost no effort on his part…And when sex became part of the mix, that didn’t seem like that big of deal, either. But that was before he believed in God….He felt as if he had just been dropped in a foreign country…”
I deliberately didn’t include all of the text here, it gets much funnier. The rest of the cast in this book work brilliantly, not just because either I hated, or loved, them, but because Shireman found a way for each one of them to connect to Cooper in a huge saving grace way. For example, my favorite character was Beaulah Potts. There were others, but she was my favorite. Beaulah was the wife of ‘the’ pastor who was over ‘the’ biggest church in town – she also considered herself the independent sort of woman, in some ways. She worked as a full time real estate agent in town. This is Beaulah, after having a bad day.
“Beaulah dropped her head back against the headrest. She just threw away her best shoes, lost two possible sales, her back was killing her, and she had dog slobber all over her skirt, and she could still smell dog shit, which meant it was probably on her hands. Could things get much worse?”
Beaulah Potts was a stubborn, determined (unswerving) woman something that reminded me of Mrs. Freeman, a Flannery O’Connor character from the short story “Good Country People”. This is Mrs. Freeman.
“Besides the neutral expression that she wore when she was alone, Mrs. Freeman had two others, forward and reverse, that she used for all her human dealings. Her forward expression was steady and driving like the advance of a heavy truck. Her eyes never swerved to left or right but turned as the story turned as if they followed a yellow line down the center of it. She seldom used the other expression because it was not often necessary for her to retract a statement, but when she did, her face came to a complete stop, there was an almost imperceptible movement of her black eyes, during which they seemed to be receding, and then the observer would see that Mrs. Freeman, though she might stand there as real as several grain sacks thrown on top of each other, was no longer there in spirit. As for getting anything across to her when this was the case, Mrs. Hopewell had given it up.”
I know I’ve digressed a little, but “Cooper Moon” was filled with great characters and for me good stories begin with just that. Everything else fell in place because of the characters. The plot worked, because all of the players connected back to the main character, Cooper. In the end, everything came back to the church he so desperately wanted to build housing everyone’s hopes and dreams under the huge umbrella of God’s destiny. This was a beautifully woven story tied up with a heart warming ending, but some frayed edges leaving the reader to want to read a second book. And there is a second book, “The Temptation.” I know I’m tempted.
I’d also like to say something about the pacing of this book. It wasn’t a fast paced book, but well-paced. I found myself wanting to slow down and read it and really enjoy it. It was that good. I read it four days.
Cooper is introduced to the reader the first time by his wife. While the story leaps toward you, it lets Cooper stumble awkwardly behind because he’s meant to find something much larger than the life he’s been living. Cooper Moon has found God, and has to build a church rather than chase women. He starts to shuffle around figuring how to do things different. It’s the figuring that keeps a reader in stitches and makes Cooper a worthwhile character.
“Some people are gifted with musical talent or artistic skill. When one possesses such a skill, it is often easy to take it for granted. So it was with Cooper. He never reflected upon why women seemed to be drawn to him. He charmed women easily, and with almost no effort on his part…And when sex became part of the mix, that didn’t seem like that big of deal, either. But that was before he believed in God….He felt as if he had just been dropped in a foreign country…”
I deliberately didn’t include all of the text here, it gets much funnier. The rest of the cast in this book work brilliantly, not just because either I hated, or loved, them, but because Shireman found a way for each one of them to connect to Cooper in a huge saving grace way. For example, my favorite character was Beaulah Potts. There were others, but she was my favorite. Beaulah was the wife of ‘the’ pastor who was over ‘the’ biggest church in town – she also considered herself the independent sort of woman, in some ways. She worked as a full time real estate agent in town. This is Beaulah, after having a bad day.
“Beaulah dropped her head back against the headrest. She just threw away her best shoes, lost two possible sales, her back was killing her, and she had dog slobber all over her skirt, and she could still smell dog shit, which meant it was probably on her hands. Could things get much worse?”
Beaulah Potts was a stubborn, determined (unswerving) woman something that reminded me of Mrs. Freeman, a Flannery O’Connor character from the short story “Good Country People”. This is Mrs. Freeman.
“Besides the neutral expression that she wore when she was alone, Mrs. Freeman had two others, forward and reverse, that she used for all her human dealings. Her forward expression was steady and driving like the advance of a heavy truck. Her eyes never swerved to left or right but turned as the story turned as if they followed a yellow line down the center of it. She seldom used the other expression because it was not often necessary for her to retract a statement, but when she did, her face came to a complete stop, there was an almost imperceptible movement of her black eyes, during which they seemed to be receding, and then the observer would see that Mrs. Freeman, though she might stand there as real as several grain sacks thrown on top of each other, was no longer there in spirit. As for getting anything across to her when this was the case, Mrs. Hopewell had given it up.”
I know I’ve digressed a little, but “Cooper Moon” was filled with great characters and for me good stories begin with just that. Everything else fell in place because of the characters. The plot worked, because all of the players connected back to the main character, Cooper. In the end, everything came back to the church he so desperately wanted to build housing everyone’s hopes and dreams under the huge umbrella of God’s destiny. This was a beautifully woven story tied up with a heart warming ending, but some frayed edges leaving the reader to want to read a second book. And there is a second book, “The Temptation.” I know I’m tempted.
I’d also like to say something about the pacing of this book. It wasn’t a fast paced book, but well-paced. I found myself wanting to slow down and read it and really enjoy it. It was that good. I read it four days.
February 15, 2013
Author: Cheryl Shireman—publish next
Title: Cooper Moon: The Calling
Description: Cooper Moon is a philandering drunk who gets into a barroom argument with a friend who claims that a person can just say some words and God will enter that person. In order to prove him wrong, Cooper says the words and finds himself not only converted, but obsessed with having his own church.
Review source: I was sent the book in exchange for a review.
Plot: The book follows Cooper and his wife and their friends and acquaintances in their small Michigan town. Cooper’s quest to build the church is central, but there is also TJ’s quest to win a television reality show, Frank & Violet’s disintegrating marriage, and every woman in town’s burning desire to take Cooper away from Sally.
Characters: On the positive side, the characters are a little quirky and pretty memorable. Cooper is a problem, though. I think that the author was trying to show how radically faith can change someone, so she imagined the most disgusting character possible (when we meet him, he is dead drunk and has wet himself). She has to put temptation in his way, though, so she makes him irresistible to women. That was hard for me to wrap my head around; I found him disgusting. He does put his whole heart into changing his life, though, and it’s engaging to watch him blunder around as he learns what it means to be a believer. One more note: the villain is way over the top and the book would have been better without him.
Writing style: I’d call it character-driven and quirky. I enjoyed reading the book.
Audience: This is Christian fiction, but I think even non-Christians who wonder about the life-changing consequences of a decision that wasn’t even really intended would enjoy this book.
Wrap-up: The author promises that this is the first book of a four-book series, and to drive the point home, this book ends with a cliffhanger. I would have preferred the ending without the cliffhanger. If someone gave me the next book in the series, I would probably read it, but I don’t know that I’ll go looking for it. It was a cute, enjoyable read, though. 3.5/5*
Title: Cooper Moon: The Calling
Description: Cooper Moon is a philandering drunk who gets into a barroom argument with a friend who claims that a person can just say some words and God will enter that person. In order to prove him wrong, Cooper says the words and finds himself not only converted, but obsessed with having his own church.
Review source: I was sent the book in exchange for a review.
Plot: The book follows Cooper and his wife and their friends and acquaintances in their small Michigan town. Cooper’s quest to build the church is central, but there is also TJ’s quest to win a television reality show, Frank & Violet’s disintegrating marriage, and every woman in town’s burning desire to take Cooper away from Sally.
Characters: On the positive side, the characters are a little quirky and pretty memorable. Cooper is a problem, though. I think that the author was trying to show how radically faith can change someone, so she imagined the most disgusting character possible (when we meet him, he is dead drunk and has wet himself). She has to put temptation in his way, though, so she makes him irresistible to women. That was hard for me to wrap my head around; I found him disgusting. He does put his whole heart into changing his life, though, and it’s engaging to watch him blunder around as he learns what it means to be a believer. One more note: the villain is way over the top and the book would have been better without him.
Writing style: I’d call it character-driven and quirky. I enjoyed reading the book.
Audience: This is Christian fiction, but I think even non-Christians who wonder about the life-changing consequences of a decision that wasn’t even really intended would enjoy this book.
Wrap-up: The author promises that this is the first book of a four-book series, and to drive the point home, this book ends with a cliffhanger. I would have preferred the ending without the cliffhanger. If someone gave me the next book in the series, I would probably read it, but I don’t know that I’ll go looking for it. It was a cute, enjoyable read, though. 3.5/5*
April 29, 2013
Rating = 4.5 stars
Character-driven fiction is always a favorite of mine, and Cheryl Shireman does an amazing job creating an entire town of memorable characters--ones that are etched in my brain.
Cooper Moon, known womanizer and often found in the local bar, has an epiphany--not only does he find God, he feels compelled to build a church. No one in town believes him at first, including his own wife and many paramours.
Many in town are struggling. Everything from faith, commitment, love, sadness, and health issues. In addition to Cooper and his wife, a local cop faces an ethical dilemma and a mother with declining health. His brother, TJ, is pursuing his dream but decides to also help Cooper with his. Several marriages are teetering on the edge, and not all of them because of Cooper.
Every character is affected by the other in an intriguing tale of small town life. The amount of mistrust and despair is heartbreaking, but it's real life. Many of the characters are at a crossroads and can't move forward without causing someone pain--whether it's intentional or not.
There are so many characters to love, but Cooper and his wife are at the forefront. What I appreciated most... Cooper is a real man. He doesn't decide to build a church and never look back. He questions and doubts. His wife, too often healing a broken heart, can't bring herself to trust Cooper just because he spouts the words. There is no quick resolution.
I highly recommend this book to readers who want to invest in characters and don't need a fairy tale. Instead, they want to understand what makes the characters tick--even if what they find out isn't always pretty. Kudos to the author for showcasing the reality of so many lives.
But don't despair. There is a message of hope, and I suspect that continues through the series.
Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.
Character-driven fiction is always a favorite of mine, and Cheryl Shireman does an amazing job creating an entire town of memorable characters--ones that are etched in my brain.
Cooper Moon, known womanizer and often found in the local bar, has an epiphany--not only does he find God, he feels compelled to build a church. No one in town believes him at first, including his own wife and many paramours.
Many in town are struggling. Everything from faith, commitment, love, sadness, and health issues. In addition to Cooper and his wife, a local cop faces an ethical dilemma and a mother with declining health. His brother, TJ, is pursuing his dream but decides to also help Cooper with his. Several marriages are teetering on the edge, and not all of them because of Cooper.
Every character is affected by the other in an intriguing tale of small town life. The amount of mistrust and despair is heartbreaking, but it's real life. Many of the characters are at a crossroads and can't move forward without causing someone pain--whether it's intentional or not.
There are so many characters to love, but Cooper and his wife are at the forefront. What I appreciated most... Cooper is a real man. He doesn't decide to build a church and never look back. He questions and doubts. His wife, too often healing a broken heart, can't bring herself to trust Cooper just because he spouts the words. There is no quick resolution.
I highly recommend this book to readers who want to invest in characters and don't need a fairy tale. Instead, they want to understand what makes the characters tick--even if what they find out isn't always pretty. Kudos to the author for showcasing the reality of so many lives.
But don't despair. There is a message of hope, and I suspect that continues through the series.
Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.
January 29, 2013
Cooper Moon The Calling Shines a Light on Small Town Life
Life in a small town leaves no anonymity to be found. Secrets never stay secret, and once the close-knit occupants form an opinion, that stance is rarely changed. Death by association is easily gained, and there is little hope of life after such a demise. In all fairness, since some readers have an aversion to religious-based works, it must be said that the novel carries a large religious base with it. However, this element does not color the entire tale, but it does exist.
The characters emanate a life force all their own, and readers familiar with the small town atmosphere will recognize every character although perhaps by another name. The main character, Cooper Moon, is a ne’er-do-well blindly feeling his way through changes he must make. Life elements are carried by word of mouth through the community, and there is no escape. Inhabitants range from arrogant to desperate and passed those traits on to vengeful. These are characters readers will love, hate, or love to hate, but all are almost uncomfortably realistic.
The plot is well thought out and straightforward. The language is simple daily speech. Readers will find the work an easy read, but not so much so, that one flounders on the surface of the tale without delving deeper. All things said it was a good read with much potential. It will be interesting to see where Cheryl Shireman takes the inhabitants of Timberlake next.
Life in a small town leaves no anonymity to be found. Secrets never stay secret, and once the close-knit occupants form an opinion, that stance is rarely changed. Death by association is easily gained, and there is little hope of life after such a demise. In all fairness, since some readers have an aversion to religious-based works, it must be said that the novel carries a large religious base with it. However, this element does not color the entire tale, but it does exist.
The characters emanate a life force all their own, and readers familiar with the small town atmosphere will recognize every character although perhaps by another name. The main character, Cooper Moon, is a ne’er-do-well blindly feeling his way through changes he must make. Life elements are carried by word of mouth through the community, and there is no escape. Inhabitants range from arrogant to desperate and passed those traits on to vengeful. These are characters readers will love, hate, or love to hate, but all are almost uncomfortably realistic.
The plot is well thought out and straightforward. The language is simple daily speech. Readers will find the work an easy read, but not so much so, that one flounders on the surface of the tale without delving deeper. All things said it was a good read with much potential. It will be interesting to see where Cheryl Shireman takes the inhabitants of Timberlake next.
October 3, 2014
This was a pleasant surprise for me since it was a free Kindle book from Amazon. Cooper is a poorly educated man who attracts women, young and old. He feels God has called him to build a church despite the fact that he has little or no money and knows nothing about religion. All the characters in the book are interesting and it's easy to care about most of them. The ending was a bit disappointing, but only until I found this was simply Book One of Four! I'm ready to read the next one. Fun.
October 26, 2014
I have to get the next book! I cannot wait to see how this story will end. It was so good. I laughed, got angry at the characters and mentally wondered how I would react if I was a character in the story. All the characters were so vivid that I could actually see them as I read about them. This is a beautifully written story that makes one think about the strength of one's own faith in God. Thank you Cheryl Shireman and Good Reads for the great read.
November 26, 2014
A small town where everyone knows everyone's business, Cooper Moon is a ladies man until one day GOD got a hold of him and from then on his life was changed. The town disbelieved but finally saw it was true.
He had no money, but felt he needed to build a church, he used barter. Read the book to see how it turns out.
He had no money, but felt he needed to build a church, he used barter. Read the book to see how it turns out.
December 24, 2012
RECEIVED FREE FROM GOODThis was the first book I had read by the author, and I will definately be looking up more by her. It was well written; held my interest the whole time, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series. READS FIRST READS.
October 1, 2014
I liked the quirky characters muddling their way through this story and would have given five stars except for the ending. I didn't realize this was part of a serial to be continued, and can't quite bring myself to wait for three more books to find out what happened, but what I read, I enjoyed.
Read
May 21, 2016Great
I truly enjoyed the First Cooper Moon book! I am looking forward to continue with the 2nd one! It's such a cool and interesting storyline. It could be any town its so real and down to earth with all of life's little UPS and downs! Thanks!
I truly enjoyed the First Cooper Moon book! I am looking forward to continue with the 2nd one! It's such a cool and interesting storyline. It could be any town its so real and down to earth with all of life's little UPS and downs! Thanks!
March 12, 2013
Not my usual read but I really enjoyed this book!!! Review to come.
March 23, 2015
Cooper Moon finds purpose in his life, realizing he doesn't have to be perfect. Sometimes we all need reminded that.
July 17, 2014
I loved this book and immediately read the second book. Each character is well developed and I cannot wait to read what happens to them in the next book when it comes out.
August 10, 2014
Slow starting with lots of characters. About 1/3 way in, I decided to keep going. Well written and not everything is tied up by the end, thus the need for three more volumes in the saga.
October 7, 2016
Okay
I really enjoyed this book. The characters and story line were great. But all good things must come to an end. And this one did. A STUPID ONE!
I really enjoyed this book. The characters and story line were great. But all good things must come to an end. And this one did. A STUPID ONE!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews