Amethyst by Lauraine Snelling

Amethyst's decision to travel to Medora is born of her desire to find her nephew, Joel, and her desperation to temporarily get away from her alcoholic father. After finding Joel, discovering a shocking secret, and making new friendships, Amethyst's plans are altered. No longer does she desire to return home. In Medora she has found a new life for herself and is enjoying the changes within herself. Meanwhile, Joel's father, Jacob Chandler has plans of his own. He has loved Opal Torvald for months and is simply waiting for her to reach the appropriate age.

Amethyst picks up literally right where the third book left off. I definitely would not read this book without first reading Opal. And if possible, I would recommend reading all three books in the series prior to reading Amethyst. I was happy to finally get a small note about Belle's reaction to the burning of the Dove House. Not much was said, but at least, it was not so open-ended as it was after the second and third books in the series. In Amethyst, both Amethyst and Opal both undergo a lot of character development. The romantic relationships in the book added an element that was not really explored in the previous book due to Opal's age. However, in this book, that element really came forward and the story gave a fitting end to the Dakota Treasures series.