Home Free by Cali Black Review

 

Home Free by Cali Black is the third and final installment in the Home for Christmas series, a series that began in the novella collection, Christmas in the Cascades. That anthology came out in October of 2024 and had five stories written by five different authors. Stories that were all set in the town of Dane's Creek and revolved around the bell tower. Earlier this year author Cali Black continued the story with the full length book, The Long Way Home. As I mentioned in my review of that book, you really want to read the books in order so you get to know the characters and the town. 

I was greatly anticipating the release of Home Free because I wanted to get another peek back into the lives of these characters whom I had fallen in love with. And this story's plot intrigued me. Church girl (Mandy) meets convict (Shawn) at a mountain lumber camp while there with an outreach ministry providing Chrsitmas dinnner. They steal a forbidden kiss, but then go their own ways, unable to get the other out of their mind. Fast forward nine months and Mandy is suddenly agreeing to help house and provide a job to a parolee who was injured at said camp. No surprise that it's Shawn. Unfortunately, things don't go quite as planned, for either of them. 

It didn't seem that a relationship between the two of them would ever go anywhere. There was just so much they both needed to work through. Faith played an important role in this story, with the gospel message being shared, the characters going to church, the characters praying and asking for prayer, and seeking God's will. I love how we got to see past characters coming together to help support and care for Mandy and Shawn. There was also a bit of suspense included which really amped things up for a while. And led to quite a devastating situation. Let me tell you, it was definitely an emotional story. Very powerful. And we could see God working in their lives. 

Home Free is an awesome conclusion to this series. I loved this story and am so sad to see it end. I really fell in love with these characters. And I love the nods to the past stories. 

I received an e-copy of this book as a member of the launch team and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own honest thoughts.