In 1942, James 'Jamie' Ross's life seems perfect-he has a promising career, an approved engagement to a beautiful woman, and his parents' blessings. However, after a fight leaves him injured, he finds himself under the care of Olivia Townsend, a nurse at the only colored hospital in their small Alabama town. Despite societal norms, Jamie and Olivia form a deep connection that transcends racial boundaries. As their friendship blossoms into a forbidden romance, both must confront the prejudices of their time and decide whether their love is worth risking everything they've ever known for.

Through the scorched hills of Sicily, 1943, a soldier in Company M of the 1st Division, US Seventh Army, contracts malaria in Troina just as the Allies' strategies change and the war's tempo shifts. The Perfumed Letter traces the emotional and physical moments-where battle rages, illness halts movement, letters go unanswered, and a year of silence begins. This becomes the fundamental year of training for Operation Dragoon: a stretch of time suspended between fire and fog, void of letters home, where recovery becomes its own battlefield. Through archival fidelity and sovereign storytelling, Olan L. Smith maps the unseen war behind the war-the one fought in the body, the post, and the heart.

The Romanov family went to visit Romania in 1910. Alexei and Ileana met, and soon fell in love. Alexei promised to return and marry her. But four years later horror struck Europe, World War I. Throughout the war Alexei and Ileana's love burned strong and pure, but soon they would be torn apart forever. Alexei's father was over thrown and the family was exiled to Siberia, then murdered in Ekaterinburg. Rumors circulated that Alexei and Anastasia had somehow managed to escape. Ileana had faith that her love would return and waited for twenty years until she was finally forced to marry Archduke Anton of Austria. This ended in divorce as did the two following marriages. Princess Ileana eventually realized that she would never be happy without her true love and devoted the rest of her life to the only solace she had, God. She became a nun and founded the first Romanian Orthodox nunnery in America. She died after a long life of suffering. Now she is known as Blessed Mother Alexandra and he is a canonized saint, passion-bearer, and martyr. But what if things had been just the slightest bit different?