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Fourteen-year-old, Opal Torvald is bored with school. She spends more of her time teaching the younger students than learning anything anyway—and time in the classroom is time spent away from her beloved ranch where she is a renowned horse trainer. Deciding to skip out of school early, Opal stops off at the river for a swim—but never expects to find herself at a drifter’s mercy.
Jacob Chandler is a minister, shepherding a flock he loves. But when his past catches up with him leaving him saddled with a seven-year-old boy he’s told is his son, Jacob feels he has no choice but to run. Out of money, Jacob and his son get off the train in the badlands of the Dakotas—where he finds a job as a ranch hand.
Opal’s run-in with the drifter is causing bad things to happen to her neighbors. Opal’s best friend is beaten to within an inch of his life. Will he even survive this horrific attack? Her nearest neighbor is killed by a ricochet gunshot while he’s hunting down the drifter. And Opal is sent out to New York to live with friends to keep her out of further harm’s way. Will she ever be able to return home?
OPAL is book three in the Dakotah Treasures series. Readers will want to read books one and two (Ruby and Pearl) first so they are current with what has happened in the characters’ lives.
I couldn’t really relate to Opal—she seems a very strong, super woman who is a far cry from reality. It is hard to imagine any fourteen-year-old girl, even a pioneer one, being able to outshoot, out race, and out work the average man in a community. Opal is constantly on call to train men how to do cattle round-ups and break horses in the community. Understandably, she has a hard time adjusting to city life when she is forced to go to New York.
Jacob is a minister who is human—but afraid to face up to his humanity. He made a mistake in his youth, but that is no reason to flee from his ministry in the dark of night, and give up his higher calling. His struggle to adjust to ranch life is realistic—I had many chuckles reading about his mishaps on the ranch.
Even though Opal is only fourteen she has two men interested in winning her hand, but she isn’t entertaining thoughts of marriage yet. Thus, this book ends rather unfinished, giving hints of a fourth book in the series.
If you read and enjoyed Ruby and Pearl, you will want to keep up with the
ongoing saga with Opal. On its own, it does have some funny moments and
can give an idea of what life was like on ranches in the Dakota
territories in the late 1800’s.
Reviewed by Laura V. Hilton
for The Road to Romance
February 2, 2005
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The year is 1886. Opal Torvald, almost fifteen, lives on a ranch in Dakota Territory with her sister Ruby and Ruby's husband, Rand Harrison. Opal loves ranch life and working with horses and cattle. She even loves doing chores. She can rope and ride as well as any of the men on the ranch, and is annoyed by her older sister's insistence that she act like a lady. Although Opal is definitely a tomboy, her close relationship to her friend Atticus gives a hint of a more mature relationship to come.
A parallel plot begins in western Pennsylvania where Jacob Chandler, a young minister with a guilty secret, preaches the truth of God's Word and is convicted by his own sermons. His secret comes to light in the form of a small boy. When Jacob moves west, he becomes part of Opal's community, where he struggles to learn about frontier life, and where he finally finds acceptance and healing.
I was amused by the cover; I don't believe they had shirts with button-down collars in the 1880s. And I would have preferred an older protagonist. Parts of the book seemed like a young adult novel to me.
Lauraine Snelling always brings her settings to life with rich descriptions, and her characters are interesting and believable. I read and enjoyed Ruby, a previous book in the Dakota Treasures Series, and look forward to reading Pearl, another earlier book. Each of these novels stands on its own, but reading them all increases reading pleasure. As always, Snelling's books make satisfying reading.
Reviewed by Marie DisBrow
for The Road to Romance
March 12, 2005
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