When tragedy strikes, Eliza must carry on her father's legacy while settling in New Zealand during the Thames gold rush, and she is forced to deal with Angus McTavish, who brings every type of trouble a young woman doesn't need. A HEART OF GOLD New Zealand 1872 - the gold rush brings men of all sorts seeking their fortune. Some are desperate and dangerous, some are shaking off their pasts, and some are looking to make a better life in a new land. Fresh from Scotland, Angus McTavish arrives at the Attwater family's doorstep bringing hope and a dark past that might ruin the future of the woman who has captured his heart, Eliza Attwater. Recently arrived from Australia, twenty-one year old Eliza Attwater, must find the will to continue building up their homestead after her father dies. While her mother and brother struggle to share her dream, they are floundering. On the cusp of making an impossible decision - stay or return to Australia - two men twist Eliza's heart. Her neighbor, Charles Simpson, an affluent and powerful man, proposes more than just marriage, while the Highlander, Angus McTavish, holds out the promise of a future filled with hope and a love richer than any vein of gold.