Freedom to Love

by: Rhonda Kulczyk

Published by: Tate Publishing

Reviewed by Maria Elmvang

Teased all through her childhood because she was darker than her peers, and first abused and then abandoned by her father, Alana never really learned to trust other people. She had her mother, and that was enough for her. She was secure in her mother’s love, and opening up to anybody else just meant getting hurt.

Unfortunately, when Alana was sixteen her mother died after a short illness, and suddenly there was no choice but to rely on others. First she relied on the kind Mr. and Mrs. Raymond who took her in and took care of her in the first difficult days after the death. Then she relied on Shay O’Connor, her old classmate who used to torture her as much as anybody else, but who now turned out to be her only hope–if she wanted to join the wagon train and go west, where hopefully her uncle would be ready and willing to take her in.

Alana swallowed her fear, and posing as brother and sister, she and Shay made the long trek from Missouri to California, meeting new friends along the way, and finally learning to trust God above all others.

Freedom to Love is a feel-good Western novel in the style of Janette Oke and Francine Rivers. Rhonda Kulczyk vividly describes both the characters and the atmosphere, so that the reader feels like she’s right there along with the wagon train. I especially enjoyed seeing how Rhonda Kulczyk managed to share Alana’s conversion and faith without seeming preachy.

I couldn’t help falling in love with the characters, and the author managed to stay away from the pitfall of making them too perfect, but ensured that they all had human flaws to make them “real.” My one concern with the novel was that the same could unfortunately not be said about the villain of the story, who appeared pure evil with no redeeming characters at all. It lacked some development to his character, in what was otherwise a very enjoyable and well-written novel.

Freedom to Love is the first in a series, and I can’t wait to get to read the rest.

Armchair Interviews agrees.

Author’s Web site: http://www.RhondaKulczyk.com