Chris Paynter's "To Love Free"The painful reality of cancer transformed into a tender love story.

To Love Free is a heart-rending and heart-warming tale of how cancer can affect our lives. A sweet and endearing tale of heart ache, loss and recovery. One woman loses her battle and leaves her wife bereft, her family in tatters. Another is fighting with everything she has – a fight that has put the shallowness of her relationship into the spotlight. When the widow and the fighter meet, the attraction is strong – but can the widow face her fears of another loss?

The cast is a group of powerful women, strong, sustaining family and friends. Well drawn, deep and real – women we would all like to have in our corner. They support the struggling widow and foster the burgeoning relationship with wisdom and kindness. While there are obviously ‘main’ characters the cast is so solid they all leave an impression.

The struggles the primary characters are going through, one with loss – of her wife and her art, the other with cancer (in the obvious sense) but also with her own identity as a model, are powerful and moving. Both need to come to terms with the affect of cancer in their lives. Both need to live life now, to the full, not wallow in the past or fear for the future.

Into all of this emotion comes Free, a dolphin with a mission. A ‘free’ spirit who symbolizes and galvanizes the women’s need to heal and move beyond their fears. A symbol of joy, hope and a force of nature, Free brings lightness to the story simply by being.

This is a warm and tender love story wrapped around the painful reality of cancer. Based on the subject I expected it to be heavier and harder work. Instead it is a joyful read. Written from the heart and personal experience it is moving and uplifting. A classic, traditional Lesfic romance extremely well done.