‘Ruby’ a hidden gem: Snelling’s book shines

Imagine your father ditching you and your infant sister with your ailing grandmother, who dies a few years later, to go dig gold in the Black Hills. You find a job as a governess in the home of a wealthy family in 1882 Chicago, where you live comfortably for the next several years. Then one spring you get a letter from your father begging you to come to the middle of nowhere to claim your inheritance. What do you do? Leave your comfortable life in Chicago and go to the Dakota Territory, or stay in Chicago and never allow your eleven-year-old sister to meet her father?

That is the problem that Ruby Torvald faces. She makes a quick decision to take the train to the middle of the Dakota Territory and claim her inheritance, a place called Dove House.

Opal, Ruby’s younger sister, is always getting into trouble one way or another and has many mishaps on the long train ride from Chicago to a small “town” in the Dakota Territory. One of these mishaps introduce a handsome young cowboy to the story, who we meet again later on.

After several days on the rails, Ruby and Opal find themselves in the middle of nowhere, trying to find their father. In a pin-dot of a town, it should be an easy task, but the name “Dove House” and her father’s name make problems for Ruby. Eventually she is pointed in the direction of a saloon, not the proper place for a young woman of her upbringing and her young sister.

Unfortunately, the saloon is where she finds her father. With the help of the rude saloon girl, Belle, she finds her father alive, but dying. She is given his will and makes a promise to “take care of the girls.” Opal gets a chance to finally meet her father and gets a chance to talk to him for the first time.

After he passes away in the night, Opal and Ruby arrive in “Little Misery,” Ruby tries to learn the ropes of the shady Dove House. She learns “the girls” her father referred to are the three saloon girls and a young girl who was hired to clean, cook, and sew. Ruby’s views on alcohol, the dancing, card dealing, and the “hospitality” services are not hidden. She rapidly decides to change her father’s bar and brothel into a respectable hotel. She allows the saloon girls to stay on, but as waitresses and maids instead of call girls. Belle causes more troubles for Ruby as she works on the overhaul. The handsome cowboy from the train also causes several problems for Ruby. Finally, the transformation is complete and she is open for business.

Lauraine Snelling’s book “Ruby” (Dakotah Treasures Series #1) is a book not to be set down. I adore this book because of Snelling’s imagery, humor, and her storytelling skills. You are immediately drawn into the lives of Opal and Ruby, and the end of the book leaves you craving more.