AustLit

'A story of love, family, adventure and intrigue, set against backdrops of the gold rushes in Australia and New Zealand and the Opium Wars in China.

'When Kitty and Rian Farrell sail their schooner Katipo III in Dunedin Harbour in 1863, they are on a mission. The goldfields have attracted all-comers, including their friend Wong Fu from Ballarat. 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. Rian and Kitty agree to try to find the Cloud Leopard's daughter, but as they sail closer to their quarry, the stakes jump dramatically. Kitty's adopted daughter Amber is kidnapped when they are forced to stop at Manilla, and it looks like the same party is behind this crime. Kitty, Rian and their crew must not only search for two young women, they must navigate dangerous shoals of pirates, corrupt officials, greedy rulers, wronged lovers and petty grievances.

'Cloud Leopard's daughter continues the story of Kitty, Rian and Amber - now wiser and stronger - as they straddle both sides of the law against the backdrop of gold rushes in Australia and New Zealand and the Opium Wars in China.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.