Kismet's Salvation — Katherine Brandon

Lydia Winchester's plain features and bookish personality have doomed her to spinsterhood in Victorian London. Her true interests lie in a far-off, exotic land she's determined to reach in order to right a terrible wrong. Armand St. Clair's only loyalty belongs to the sea. When a little mouse of an Englishwoman saves him from the gallows, he feels honor-bound to accede to her brother's request and escort her to Hong Kong. But treachery and danger sail with them on the high seas. In a mystic empire, Lydia will face the evils of greed, opium, and betrayal to find her true self: a woman of incredible honor, courage, and determination. A woman destined to love the one man who gave her his protection and his name when she needed them most.