Lydia Collins has survived the perilous journey from New York to California and now she finds herself in Dry Diggins, one of the new mining towns that sprang up in the wake of the discovery of gold in the area. Determined to set up a new boarding-house, her plans are changed by a surprising offer from the irascible Silas Jones. Finding herself the newly appointed manageress of Silas' saloon, Lydia has to win over the trust of the staff and prove herself capable of surviving in the rough and ready Wild West, where justice is swift and brutal. Meanwhile, the arrival of one of Silas' business rivals, Samuel Brannan, makes Lydia question all the more what happened in Silas' past. As Lydia and Silas grow closer, she finds herself wondering whether the pair of them can ever really work together and if there's a future for them together in business - or out of it. "Fortune Out West" is a series of romantic novels set in the Californian Gold Rush of the mid-19th century. "Dry Diggins," the third in the set of five, follows the life of Lydia Collins, as a chain of events leads her to question what it is she really wants - and with whom.