For the Love of a Child, by Lee Carver (Independently Published, 2026)

Celeste’s only chance to provide for her young daughter’s cutting-edge cancer treatment is to accept a marriage proposal from a grieving widower with a top-tier health coverage. He’s ten years older, and they barely know one another, but she’ll do what it takes in this last-chance procedure to save her five-year-old daughter.

Celeste and Hunter are choir members in their church, but where they’ve talked most is in the hospital’s cancer ward. She’s been there for her daughter, Abby, and he’s been there for his dying wife, Tracy.

This is more than a marriage of convenience story. Celeste and Hunter are committed Christians who intend to make it work. They’ll take the time to fall in love after the wedding so Abby can get the care she needs before it’s too late. And they know there’s no guarantee the treatment will work.

Abby’s treatment, CAR T-cell therapy, is a real thing that I hadn’t heard about. The story doesn’t bog down in details but gives us the basics as the nonmedical characters would understand them.

For the Love of a Child is a sweet romance where love comes after marriage, and it’s a touching picture of a birth mom and new stepdad’s love for a brave little girl. Be prepared for suspense, since Celeste’s drug-dealing ex-husband won’t stay out of their lives.

Lee Carver writes fiction and nonfiction, both traditionally and independently published. Her fiction spans contemporary and historical with North American and Brazilian rainforest settings. Her website’s About page hints at past adventure and present activities. And you can read about all her books at leecarverwriter.com.

[Review copy provided by the author.]