"A delighful romance"

In Eire, Ardal is a member of the king's elite patrol the Fianna. However, more important to the ambitious Ardal is winning at everything at all costs. He especially enjoys defeating his cousin Bryan who he considers a loser because the latter has compassion for people and animals like his horse. Ardal's ultimate victory will occur when he becomes the King when the current monarch Nessan dies.

At the Lughnassa Fair, Bryan is attracted to Niamh and her to him. However, he only offers a fourteen day mating as his Lughnassa sister, but she wants all or nothing. Meanwhile, Ardal sees Niamh as a trophy to be won when he out mans his cousin. Still Niamh informs her suitors that they must answer her riddle of what three things do women want if they desire her.

This entertaining tale is at its best when the plot focuses on a fabulous historical romance starring two likeable protagonists and an arrogant antagonist who feels everything is a contest won by the swagger of the bring them on courage willing to risk anything to win. When the tale adds on fantasy elements especially involving a wild pony, the story line loses some momentum as these magical components seem forced and fail to blend smoothly into the historical theme. Still readers will enjoy the DAUGHTER OF GOLD as the triangle romance is unique and fun to follow as Ardal makes Niamh the latest competition with his cousin.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted October 24, 2004

Summary

Niamh (neev) is a beautiful young woman traveling with her simple farm family to the Lughnasa Fair, the great summer gathering of five kingdoms. Everyone goes to the Fair to trade horses, compete in sports and games, and find partners for love and for marriage. Niamh, too, hopes to find a man to love and marry, but is determined to find the right one. She will ask him what three things a woman wants most from the man in her life, and will accept no man unless he can answer her riddle.

Bryan, a noble-born man of the Fianna, is at the Fair to prove his worth to become the next king -- but he has a rival for the kingship and their competition could prove deadly, for no bloodshed is allowed at the Fair on pain of death. Bryan and Niamh are soon drawn together, but Bryan is a man who does not want a permanent marriage -- except, perhaps, to get a queen when he becomes king -- and Niamh is sure she could never leave her forest home for the high solid walls of a king's fortress.

But when the wild, dangerous, and supernatural creature called the puca begins plaguing the Fair, Bryan and Niamh must work together to solve the mystery of this terrifying beast. And when Bryan's rivalry for the kingship ends in a death, his life will depend on his own courage, his love for Niamh, and her ability to charm the monster known as the puca.