Name: Becoming Calder
ISBN: 9781502347961

Mia Sheridan

The community of Acadia consists of small families who have renounced modern technology and live a sheltered life in the middle of the Arizona desert. Every aspect of their lives finds its source in the teachings of a self-proclaimed Prophet, promising to lead his people to eternal life after a great flood erases life on Earth as we know it. Calder and Eden fall in love-- but Eden is promised in marriage to the Prophet when she turns eighteen. Can they dare to dream of a life together-- and make it real?

Becoming Calder

Samantha 

4.5 Stars!!

So excited to read what happens next!

Saayan

The premise of this story sounded unique and intrigued me!

Am I also shallow and picked this book up because the guy on the cover reminded me of young Keanu Reeves in Speed? Possibly...

Anyway, the story grew a lot darker than I ever expected as it progressed. What a cliffhanger ending... I’m so hooked! Definitely moving on to the 2nd book next.

Lacey

Originally posted at Booklovers For Life

Wow. WOW WOW WOW!!! I am just stunned by this book. I honestly had no idea what I was in for… Becoming Calder simply blew me away – it’s a truly unforgettable, unputdownable story.

I’ve read Mia Sheridan’s previous books and enjoyed them so much, but this, THIS book made me fall madly and deeply with this author. The writing, the characters, the EMOTIONS, everything in this book was absolutely phenomenal. I was hooked onto this story from start to finish. I can’t say enough good things about Becoming Calder – I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!

We begin the story with a girl for whom it seems almost all hope is lost. She’s alone, desperate, in need of some help. She’s lost in this world… but why? How did she get into this situation? The entire prologue makes you question and wonder – it basically hooks you onto this story and won’t let you go. You want to know this girl’s story, how it came to be. So we go back to the start of this girl’s story. Back to where it all began – in a place that is separate, different, from society.

The setting Mia Sheridan uses in Calder and Eden’s beautiful story is truly unique and remarkably well-written. It’s a community of people who have removed themselves from modern society in order to live out more simple lives. This is the place known as Acadia, the place where Calder is born and grows up in. He has never known anything different than this simple community and has never needed to know anything different – until a young girl named Eden arrives and his outlook on life is forever changed.

She was mesmerizing. Gracefully beautiful. Ethereal. Mine. That’s the girl I choose. Mine, my mind insisted.

Eden doesn’t know where she is when she’s taken to Acadia, but she’s been given a destiny that she doesn’t want to fulfill. She’s told she must marry Hector, the leader of Acadia, and she has no say in her future. I felt for this girl so much – her fear and confusion comes so clearly off the pages, I just wanted to reach out into the book and comfort her. Becoming Calder spans many years, and throughout these years, Eden has to live separate from everyone else because of her supposed ‘destiny’. She’s being forced into a destiny she doesn’t want, but secretly meeting Calder at their spring, becoming friends with him, falling in love with him, are the best things to have ever happened to her.

He was perfect. And I loved him. I loved him desperately.
And I was destined to marry Hector. Or so I was told. Only destiny hadn’t check with me first. If she had, I would have told her that I was pretty sure Calder Raynes was my destiny–or at least I would have begged for it to be made so.

I feel that an author is truly gifted when I can feel every emotion running through their characters. As Eden and Calder fall in love, it felt like I was falling in love for the first time. I truly experienced everything alongside these characters. My heart was racing, I was breathless, my palms were sweating – this is a book you don’t just read, but experience.

“If I were just a boy, and you were just a girl, I wouldn’t kiss you once like you asked.” He paused and my heart dropped. Oh.
“Eden, I’d kiss you long, and I’d kiss you often.”

Eden and Calder are one of my FAVORITE couples ever. I could read about them forever. They are sweet, heartwarming, intense, beautiful, mesmerizing, and unforgettable together. I wanted so badly for them to get a happily ever after they so rightly deserved. They make plans to leave Acadia, along with Calder’s best friend Xander, but it’s not easy. They really have nothing that would help them survive in modern society, but they won’t give up. They want to have a better life, and they can’t have that in Acadia.

“Do you think there’s a life out there for us?”
Calder paused for a few beats, looking down at me. “I’m going to make a life for us out there. A place for you and me. And until then, yes, I’m going to believe that there is.”

Becoming Calder is a thought-provoking, intense, gorgeous read. So many emotions were running through me while reading this book, and I never wanted it to end. And the writing!! I feel like with each book Mia Sheridan releases, the writing gets better and better, and the writing in Becoming Calder was simply stunning! I loved this book so, so much. Please, please, please read Calder and Eden’s epic story. I promise you won’t regret it. 5 perfect hearts!

Note: Becoming Calder is the first part of Calder and Eden’s story. It is a full length novel, but the story continues in Finding Eden, which releases simultaneously with Becoming Calder (so you don’t have to wait for the sequel). Psst – you’ll want to get your hands on Finding Eden as soon as you finish Becoming Calder!

Quotes are taken from the ARC and are subject to change in the final version.

Thanks to the author for generously providing me an ARC to review.

Amazon Ebook: http://amzn.to/ZaYX4n
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/YZ03jM

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Jasmine Mckinley

Shawna Gavas

🧸

Jasmine

Ashley Janssen

manu

Noelia Abreu

Heather 

Madeline Borden

Didem

There is a place in modern day America with no electricity, no plumbing, and no modern conveniences. In this place, there is no room for dreams, no space for self-expression, and no tolerance for ambition.In this place, there is a boy with the body of a God and the heart of a warrior. He is strong and faithful and serves his family honorably. But he dares to dream of more.In this place, there is a girl with the face of an angel and a heart full of courage. To her family, she is the vision of obedient perfection. But she dares to want that which she has been told can never be hers. Becoming Calder is the story of good versus evil, fear versus bravery, and the truth that the light of love has always found its way into even the darkest of places... From the beginning of time, to the end of the world.THIS IS THE FIRST PART IN A TWO-PART SIGN OF LOVE SERIES INSPIRED BY AQUARIUS. THE SECOND PART, FINDING EDEN, WILL RELEASE SIMULTANEOUSLY. New Adult Contemporary Romance: Due to strong language and graphic sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.