The Cloud Leopard-s Daughter : Smuggler-s Wife 4
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In the gold fields of the colonies, some make a fortune, some make enemies and some make mistakes.
When Kitty and Rian Farrell sail their schooner Katipo III in Dunedin Harbour in 1863, they are on tenterhooks. The new Otago gold fields have attracted all-comers, including their friend Wong Fu from Ballarat, who has sent a message for their help. To their surprise, Wong Fu reveals he is more than a mere fortune seeker; he is in fact the Cloud Leopard tong master of the Wong family, and his daughter has been kidnapped and taken to opium-ridden Hong Kong to be forced into marriage. Rian and Kitty agree to try to find Bao, but as they sail closer to their quarry, the stakes jump dramatically. Kitty's adopted daughter Amber is kidnapped during a stopover in the Philippines, and Rian suspects the same party is behind both abductions. The crew of the Katipo must not only search for two vulnerable young women, they must navigate dangerous shoals of pirates, corrupt officials, greedy rulers, wronged lovers and petty grievances in new colonies and old empires.
Featured in the 7 November 2016 New Zealand Newsletter.
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