1852 ~ After the death of her parents, Miss Lillian Whitmore travels to London to live with her aunt and uncle, the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk. Sick with grief, guilt and loneliness, and shunned by her aunt and cousins, Lillian is constantly reminded of her ignorance of society customs. Forced to find a husband, she encounters two men who vie for her affections—handsome, poised Lord Dominick Wade and the sensuous rake, Sir Trenton—but the skeletons in Lillian's closet keep her from making a choice. Expectations are high for Lord Dominick Wade to marry a woman of social stature, but the American beauty has literally wreaked havoc with his senses. Lillian is everything Dominick wants in a companion, lover and wife. Even more rankling is his competition, Sir Trenton, and the influence he holds over her. Which man will Lillian choose? Fate lies in his kiss... A GENTLEMAN'S KISS, is the new, improved, expanded Victorian romance, previously titled LOVE WILL BLOOM... Read an excerpt from CHAPTER ONE: Off the coast of England, 1852 The ship swayed in the water as the sails moved back and forth with the wind. Lillian Whitmore, lay flat on her stomach on the small bed in the cabin assigned to her for her travels. Her face planted on the rough wool coverlet, its mildewy, musty scent assaulting her nose. Wave after wave of nausea passed through her, in sync with the sways of the ship. She lurched to her feet when she felt her empty stomach was to give way, only to hunch back onto the bed with a groan, knees tucked up to her belly. Nearly two weeks had gone by since she boarded The Elizabeth in New York. She didn’t think she would make it all the way to London. She’d barely eaten a morsel since boarding and what she was able to consume came pouring forth sooner or later. The few gowns she brought with her now billowed around her slender frame. Please Lord, have mercy on me. Already a passenger died from infection. She hoped to God the only illness she would have was the incessant seasickness. Why me? Why did this have to happen to me? I was so happy… Tears glistened in her eyes, as they had a thousand times before in the previous weeks. She was not strong enough to hold them back. They spilled over, stinging her already swollen lids and wetting her cheeks. Racking sobs shook her weak body. Slowly she drifted away, to another time and place, worse than this one…