The third book of Paw Prints in the Sand, Hearts of Gold is not only a book about a dog, but describes the amazing bond between children and dogs. A child should feel the safety of their parent's touch, the warmth of their compassion and the benevolence of their soul. For Peyton Bishop, it was quite the opposite. A victim of domestic abuse, Peyton, along with her mother, Morgan lived under constant fear of her father. When Morgan sustains an injury from one of the beatings, Peyton needs to spend the night at her grandparents. As a method of enforcing her silence, her father gets rid of her golden retriever, Teddy and makes her believe it is her fault, showing her once again who is boss. Once Morgan recovers, she promises that she will bring Peyton to safety in hopes of living a normal life, but Peyton continues to suffer from the sting of her father's words, an overwhelming guilt about losing Teddy. Hearts of Gold is a fictional story, centered around hope, love and loyalty between a child and her dog, that depicts emotional scars left from child abuse.