As the war drags into its sixth month, peace seems like a distant memory, and things like love and laughter seem like glimpses of a forgotten childhood. But when Irvad Isan, an imperial special forces commando, meets the young Serena Hodge, a Coalition widow, sparks fly. Faced with war and grief and the constant threat of terrorist attack, their love blossoms slowly. But blossom it does. When the Coalition rebels see Serena's feelings for Irvad, they are taken as treachery, and Irvad's loyalties are tested as he tries to balance his lover's safety with his duties as an Imperial soldier. But love has a funny way of enduring anything, even war.