She gave up the stage for love. Now the man she married barely looks at her. For listeners who love emotionally intense historical romance, forbidden love, and impossible choices, The Soldier and the Swan is set in World War II–era San Francisco, where duty collides with desire and one woman must choose between the life she vowed to protect and the one she can’t forget. San Francisco, 1943: Vivienne Hartley, the city’s prima ballerina, gave up the spotlight to care for her war-wounded husband, Charlie Sterling. The man she married—once full of laughter and life—has become a stranger, and no matter how hard she tries, she can’t reach him.

When Charlie’s younger brother, Danny, returns home on furlough, he brings warmth back into the Sterling home. His blunt honesty cuts deep. She used to be more than his brother’s nurse.

An audition for Swan Lake offers a way for her to reclaim a part of herself she thought she’d lost. As rehearsals consume her, Vivienne finds herself caught between duty and desire. She fights to hold her marriage together, but nothing seems to bring Charlie back. Her growing attraction to Danny blurs the line she swore she’d never cross. Charlie needs her. But Danny wants her. Honor is everything in a time of war. But keeping her vows may mean losing herself forever.