Title: Jayhawk
Author: Dorothy Keddington
Publisher: Granite Publishing
Published Date: originally published in 1978, rereleased in 2010
ISBN#: 978-1-890558-39-0
From the back cover: To Angela Stewart, a summer on a Wyoming ranch with her college roommate’s family seemed like an ideal vacation. For Jay Bradford, his return to the Triple J Ranch involves a potentially dangerous quest and the search for an answer to a 26-year old mystery. Jay and Angela’s chance meeting on a lonely road at dusk, marks the beginning of their unforgettable journey into danger and love.
Many years ago, in junior high, my good friend Hillary let me borrow one of her mom’s books. It was Shadow’s Song by Dorothy Keddington. I read the rest of Dorothy’s romantic-suspense novels in the following years: Jayhawk, Return to Red Castle, Flower of the Winds, The Mermaid’s Purse, and as an adult, Aisling of Eire.
I’ve read each of her books at least half a dozen times or more over the years, and even though I know the story, the enjoyment has never faded. Each of Dorothy’s novels are written in her classic first-person style and never fail to draw me in.
Those of you who are faithful listeners of our podcasts have heard Sheila, Hillary and I mention several times over the years how much we wished for a new book from Dorothy and how great it would be to have her previous books rereleased. They’ve been out of print for years, and used copies were selling for, well, a lot of money.
Imagine my excitement when I discovered one of my good friends in our neighborhood was Dorothy Keddington’s daughter-in-law. I was soon introduced to Dorothy. We talked about the new book she was working on (I had read the manuscript thanks to her daughter-in-law) and I let Dorothy know about the large number of fans we’d heard from wondering how to get their hands on her books. We spoke about what it would take to get her books rereleased and the excitement of that possibility filled the room.
The Fairy Thorn was released in December 2009. The only thing that topped the release of a new book from Dorothy was the news that Granite Publishing would be rereleasing her older books in the coming months as well.
Jayhawk is the first of Dorothy’s romantic-suspense novels to be rereleased. Despite the fact that Jayhawk was first published in 1978, the story doesn’t feel dated (except for the absence of cell phones, but they are on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming). The suspense is well done and keeps the reader turning pages to the very end.
What makes the romance in Dorothy’s novels so effective is that it doesn’t take a significant portion of the book for the hero and heroine to get together. Instead, the reader gets to experience the excitement and anticipation of a new romantic relationship and watch it grow and strengthen as the hero and heroine struggle for survival through the action and suspense.
Dorothy has a way of describing actions and surroundings without disrupting the flow of the story, giving just enough detail and trusting in the reader’s imagination to fill in the blanks. The romance is toe-curling but doesn’t cross the bounds of propriety and the suspense remains effective through numerous rereads.
For those of you who may not know yet, following the release of Dorothy Keddington’s The Fairy Thorn this past December, Granite Publishing is re-releasing her older novels, starting with Jayhawk. We know there are a lot of Dorothy Keddington fans that follow LDS Women’s Book Review who will be as excited about this as we are here at LDSWBR! Visit the