London and Venice -- 1829 Lady Victoria Jane Emerson's girlish notions were left behind when she is deserted by her first love, Lord Remington, without a backward glance. Five years later, she is being forced to choose a husband by her father who is dying from an unspeakable disease that has obliterated the last of his mind. Though Victoria must marry out of duty, she has vowed to marry a man who will never break her heart. Jonathan Pierce Thatcher, Viscount Remington, has returned home to London from Venice, free of all his family's debts but is unable to forget the incredible Victoria he was forced to abandon as a means of protecting her from a scandal that had destroyed his life. To his astonishment, Victoria's dying father has chosen Jonathan and two others to vie for Victoria's hand. Before Jonathan can convince Victoria he'd be a worthy husband, he has to convince himself he is no longer the man he left behind in Venice. Victoria finds herself falling for the only man she will ever love...for a second time. But when she unearths the truth about the life Jonathan has been living in Venice, her heart is about to be tested. Again.
