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Ruby Before The Rain
The Scandalous origin story of the last true sex symbol.
Hot on the heels of Bone Park and Snow Bird, Sandy dives deep into one of the fan favorites. The Grand Mafia's siren...RUBY!
From naughty to notorious...homeless to home wrecker, harlet to household name. Ruby Hewton (one half of the infamous Buffalo Girls from the Grand-Mafia Series) has a history even more risque than her retirement. The path to fortune and fame is a very crooked one.
Hot on the heels of Bone Park and Snow Bird, Sandy dives deep into one of the fan favorites. The Grand Mafia's siren...RUBY!
From naughty to notorious...homeless to home wrecker, harlet to household name. Ruby Hewton (one half of the infamous Buffalo Girls from the Grand-Mafia Series) has a history even more risque than her retirement. The path to fortune and fame is a very crooked one.
316 pages, Paperback
Published June 23, 2024
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10 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 1, 2025
This was definitely not what I was expecting. For whatever reason I was expecting something more lighthearted but that’s not the case. Ruby sure goes through it to break out on the other side. I don’t typically read books about the ‘underside’ of life but it was definitely eye opening.
September 5, 2025
Just about a year ago I was given an advanced reader’s copy of Sandy W. Robson’s “Bone Park,” the first in his two book series he called the Grand-Mafia Series. I got hooked on the book’s zany characters and the improbable circumstances in which they repeatedly landed. The story begins with a gruesome scene and the question of how it happened, which the rest of the book tries to explain. However, the book ends with another mystery, hence the need for book two, which I read a few days later. Both books were given to me by NetGalley.
I enjoyed reading the second book, “Snow Birds,” even more than the first. It filled in several gaps left open by “Bone Park.” Several months later I was given the opportunity to read a prequel to these books from NetGalley, which I only just finished. After a year’s separation, it was difficult for me to under how this book, “Ruby Before The Rain,” fit in with the others. It definitely shares with them the author’s penchant for colorful, inventive, remarkably descriptive language and a full roster of both loathsome and almost angelic characters, a few obtaining almost mythical proportions. Similar to a urinary tract infection in “Bone Park” being referred to as the “cranberry curse” here the protagonist, Ruby, states that women routinely put off urinating for ridiculous amounts of time which often leads to “cranberry juice issues” but in her current situation, her back teeth were not only floating, as the saying goes, but drowning and had “gone full Titanic.”
Similar to the other books, this was a twisted, dark tale, full of sex, drugs, violence, and betrayal. Paradoxically, there also were many instances of true friendship, love, and support. In his preface the author warns that though Ruby meets many real, historical characters and witnesses events surrounding them which have true historical roots, her interactions with them are completely fictional. While I’ve often encountered similar narrative devices before, this is the first time that such interactions seemed so plausibly real, and these were some of my favorite parts of the book. It wasn’t until the very last page of the book that I finally understood how this book fit into the narrative of the first two I’d read. My review is VOLUNTARY.
I enjoyed reading the second book, “Snow Birds,” even more than the first. It filled in several gaps left open by “Bone Park.” Several months later I was given the opportunity to read a prequel to these books from NetGalley, which I only just finished. After a year’s separation, it was difficult for me to under how this book, “Ruby Before The Rain,” fit in with the others. It definitely shares with them the author’s penchant for colorful, inventive, remarkably descriptive language and a full roster of both loathsome and almost angelic characters, a few obtaining almost mythical proportions. Similar to a urinary tract infection in “Bone Park” being referred to as the “cranberry curse” here the protagonist, Ruby, states that women routinely put off urinating for ridiculous amounts of time which often leads to “cranberry juice issues” but in her current situation, her back teeth were not only floating, as the saying goes, but drowning and had “gone full Titanic.”
Similar to the other books, this was a twisted, dark tale, full of sex, drugs, violence, and betrayal. Paradoxically, there also were many instances of true friendship, love, and support. In his preface the author warns that though Ruby meets many real, historical characters and witnesses events surrounding them which have true historical roots, her interactions with them are completely fictional. While I’ve often encountered similar narrative devices before, this is the first time that such interactions seemed so plausibly real, and these were some of my favorite parts of the book. It wasn’t until the very last page of the book that I finally understood how this book fit into the narrative of the first two I’d read. My review is VOLUNTARY.
January 11, 2025
I have just finished reading this book and I am still not sure what I really think about it. This is the story of Ruby Hewson, later to become Ruby Rain as she fights her way from nothing to the top in a salubrious world and sinks back down again.
This is the first book that I have read by Sandy W, Robson and I now realise that perhaps I should have read Bone Park and Snowbirds first.
Having said that, I do think that the book is really well written and the author writes in a beautiful descriptive manner.
Ruby is brought up by her older sister, they have little money and do what they can to survive. Ruby is growing up to be a beauty and a terrifying incident as a young teenager changes the course of her life, and this book follows that life, life as a burlesque dancer, life as a prostitute, life as a porn actress, life as a drug addict, ruby's beauty would be her weapon, it encompasses all the people who helped her along the way, the people she learned her trade from enabling her to become the most famous porn star of the age.
The author shows Ruby's strengths as well as her weaknesses, her principles, her determination to show that women didn't need to be dominated by men, she also show's the tender side of this complex character.
I did enjoy the book although at times I thought that it dragged a little.
Thank you Net Gallery for this ARC, my review is entirely voluntary.
This is the first book that I have read by Sandy W, Robson and I now realise that perhaps I should have read Bone Park and Snowbirds first.
Having said that, I do think that the book is really well written and the author writes in a beautiful descriptive manner.
Ruby is brought up by her older sister, they have little money and do what they can to survive. Ruby is growing up to be a beauty and a terrifying incident as a young teenager changes the course of her life, and this book follows that life, life as a burlesque dancer, life as a prostitute, life as a porn actress, life as a drug addict, ruby's beauty would be her weapon, it encompasses all the people who helped her along the way, the people she learned her trade from enabling her to become the most famous porn star of the age.
The author shows Ruby's strengths as well as her weaknesses, her principles, her determination to show that women didn't need to be dominated by men, she also show's the tender side of this complex character.
I did enjoy the book although at times I thought that it dragged a little.
Thank you Net Gallery for this ARC, my review is entirely voluntary.
December 19, 2024
Real Rating: 3.5* of five
The Publisher Says: The Scandalous origin story of the last true sex symbol.
Hot on the heels of Bone Park and Snow Bird, Sandy dives deep into one of the fan favorites. The Grand Mafia's siren...RUBY!
From naughty to notorious...homeless to home wrecker, harlot to household name. Ruby Hewton (one half of the infamous Buffalo Girls from the Grand-Mafia Series) has a history even more risque than her retirement. The path to fortune and fame is a very crooked one.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Raunchy, saucy origin story for some terribly fun old-people sleuths' senior sex kitten.
I like this series because I need some fun that requires very little beyond crude decoding skills that, heaven knows, I possess. You do, too, or you wouldn't be here. You should know that Ruby's struggles are bona fide struggles with unkind unpleasant consequences for her...and the gory details are not stinted by Author Robson.
You are warned. It's not all funny-funny chucklefest. I think you'd do well to read this one first, the move on to the two books I've reviewed before. All three are on KU so make great escape-the-family-togetherness reads.
The Publisher Says: The Scandalous origin story of the last true sex symbol.
Hot on the heels of Bone Park and Snow Bird, Sandy dives deep into one of the fan favorites. The Grand Mafia's siren...RUBY!
From naughty to notorious...homeless to home wrecker, harlot to household name. Ruby Hewton (one half of the infamous Buffalo Girls from the Grand-Mafia Series) has a history even more risque than her retirement. The path to fortune and fame is a very crooked one.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Raunchy, saucy origin story for some terribly fun old-people sleuths' senior sex kitten.
I like this series because I need some fun that requires very little beyond crude decoding skills that, heaven knows, I possess. You do, too, or you wouldn't be here. You should know that Ruby's struggles are bona fide struggles with unkind unpleasant consequences for her...and the gory details are not stinted by Author Robson.
You are warned. It's not all funny-funny chucklefest. I think you'd do well to read this one first, the move on to the two books I've reviewed before. All three are on KU so make great escape-the-family-togetherness reads.
March 26, 2025
Ruby Before the Rain by Sandy Robson is different from what I normally read, so this review might have be a lower rating that it might deserve. I found the references in the different decades (50s, 60s, 70s and 80s) to be accurate because I was there at the time. However, I did not experience the hardships and drama that Ruby did in those eras. Ruby is a survivor! I guess I am being judgemental, but I do not agree with her lifestyle. The book was interesting, informative and disturbing at the same time. I received this book as an advance reader from Netgalley and BookWhisperer and I always review every book that I read. These sites are great ways to meet new authors and decide if you want to continue reading the author.
December 15, 2024
Well, that was unexpected! Reading the description of this story, I was not prepared for what was to come. This is a story of a woman who is determined to escape her current life, but who ends up following a path that includes burlesque shows, prostitution, the adult film industry, and lots and lots of drugs. This is not my typical read, but it was an interesting delve into this world. Ruby makes her way into success and money, but there is certainly a cost.
September 25, 2024
I loved this book! The characters are beautiful, the story is beautiful, and the writing is beautiful. As with all of Sandy's books, I always feel as if I truly get to know the characters and that I am along for whatever ride they are on. I am always sad to leave them when the books end.
December 15, 2024
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.
3.5 stars
I rooted for Ruby through all her hardships and successes but found some of her hardships a bit hard to read. I wish there had been a content warning to prepare me.
3.5 stars
I rooted for Ruby through all her hardships and successes but found some of her hardships a bit hard to read. I wish there had been a content warning to prepare me.
January 16, 2025
Who says that women of a certain age are boring? Not Ruby!!!! An entertaining story of two of those women of a certain age who prove that boring is the last thing they are.
February 23, 2025
I didn’t know what to expect but it was an interesting read. I did receive an advance copy for an honest review.
March 2, 2025
First, thank you for the e-arc. I just could not get into this story, unfortunately. DNF'D at 24%.
February 26, 2025
When I ventured into Ruby Before The Rain, I honestly didn’t know what I was getting into. Sandy W. Robson has previously written a couple of books featuring an older version of the Ruby character which I didn’t read before this.
The book follows Ruby from growing up as a young kid to a life that takes her into burlesque dancing, stripping, prostitution, corn, and more.
Thank you Netgalley and Book Whisperer for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
The book is wild!
I don’t really know what I was expecting when I started reading this book, but it certainly wasn’t the story that was revealed on the pages. This book was a brutal and tragic combo of how trauma and destructive decisions can destroy a life.
The book featured an interesting alternate history on the porn industry in particular that was fascinating to explore.
I will let you discover how she got the name “Ruby Rain” by yourself!
The George H. W. Bush side plot was insane.
Parts of this book are outrageous in a good way, everyone is completely blown away but the George H. W. Bush side plot. It was so funny and unexpected. Of course, he’s probably a weirdo sex freak. I cackled at the reveal.
The book follows Ruby from growing up as a young kid to a life that takes her into burlesque dancing, stripping, prostitution, corn, and more.
Thank you Netgalley and Book Whisperer for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
The book is wild!
I don’t really know what I was expecting when I started reading this book, but it certainly wasn’t the story that was revealed on the pages. This book was a brutal and tragic combo of how trauma and destructive decisions can destroy a life.
The book featured an interesting alternate history on the porn industry in particular that was fascinating to explore.
I will let you discover how she got the name “Ruby Rain” by yourself!
The George H. W. Bush side plot was insane.
Parts of this book are outrageous in a good way, everyone is completely blown away but the George H. W. Bush side plot. It was so funny and unexpected. Of course, he’s probably a weirdo sex freak. I cackled at the reveal.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews