Return to Red Castle

by Dorothy M. Keddington

Red Castle ... an ancient citadel of wine-red stone in the heart of Utah's primitive High Uinta Mountains. Hidden away near its rocky base, a small plane lies twisted and broken.


The four men ... desperate, ruthless, will stop at nothing to retrieve the plane's valuable cargo,
but their only clue to its location are the words ... Red Castle.


Jesse Chisholm ... rugged, lonely, one of the new breed of modern Mountain Men. As a geologist for the Forest Service, he calls the wilderness his home and only the mountains know the secrets of his heart.


Melissa Heydon ... spirited, young, in love with life, the mountains, and Jesse Chisholm.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Mystery, Lds Fiction, Suspense, Clean Romance, Historical Romance

234 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Dorothy McDonald Keddington is the author of five best-selling romantic-suspense novels and the gripping true story, A Square Sky. She had co-authored two musical plays with poet-lyricist Laura Bedore.

Dorothy Keddington is native of Salt Lake City, UT. She has taught creative writing both privately and for community schools. She is an accomplished pianist, organist, and popular speaker for civic, cultural, and educational events in the Intermountain West.

Reviews

[Katie (hiding in the pages) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melissa and Jesse met many years before--when he was still grieving for his young deceased wife and she was just a kid. Despite the big age difference, they eventually meet up again with some new feelings developing. They go hiking with her brother and his friend in the Uintahs and run into some suspicious characters and a mystery.

I loved the misunderstandings. I was almost blushing for her!!

Full of adventure and romance, Return to Red Castle is very delightful.

**content** some swearing and some violence.

[Maryann Christiansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I went on a backpacking trip to Red Castle and decided the extra pound to take this book along was worth it. It was so fun to read the author's description of Red Castle and the very lakes and trails where I was! The story itself was pretty cheesy and predictable... And awkward? but a fun, easy, relaxing read with a good mix of adventure and romance. I didn't like it enough to carry the extra weight out...I thought I'd burn it but decided to leave it in a ziplock bag for the next person to read!

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Dorothy Keddington, for bringing such a wonder, such a blessing in my life as this book. Missy is just like me and I love her point-of-view! She had me bawling by page 11. The story is so sweet and enchanting and I loved every word of it! Jesse Chisholm is even better than Mr. Darcy on the hot scale. Like Mt St Helens in a man's body. I...love...him. That's all I have to say. I could read this book twice a month. Oh wait. I've already done that.

[Tabitha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this as a teenager and it has only improved with age though some of the references aren't as current. Jesse and Melissa's stories are intertwined so well, and this hiking trip combines his past with their future. Drug runners interfere and what follows is a high speed adventure. Drugs, violence, and death included but tastefully. Clean romance. Definitely a reread as I'm not sure how many times I have. (At least 5).

[Julie Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first Keddington novel. My sister borrowed it from a friend and would read to me from it. I was hooked. I borrowed it from a friend a year or so later(I think I was 15) and read it in a day. I then worked my way through her other novels. I was super excited when they came back in print.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes it's nice to spend time with an old friend. I read this book first when I was in high school when it became one of my favorites. And it still is! Great, clean romantic suspense.

[Rachael Litchford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book continuously since I was 8 years old. Once I finish it I just reread it. I have been doing that for 12 years! I FINALLY got to visit Red Castle yesterday. Which has been a dream of mine basically my whole life, due to this book.

I loved the writing before going. But after experiencing the trail for myself. I am in awe of her writing. I felt like I had been to Red Castle before because of the descriptions.

Sadly I didn’t find my Jesse. I blame Dorothy Keddington for the reason I’m not married. My expectations are just too high now.

[Sara]

Rereading a book from your teenage years: spoooky (but in a fun way).

Lol, it was so bad? The racism and age difference really popped off the page in 2022, the premarital sex evangelism went full force with a flower metaphor, and the dialogue could have been written by my grandma.

Do I continue the torture and try rereading a Jack Weyland book next?

[E.T. Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit that I liked Jayhawk more, but this book was so good too! I loved that you got to learn about more and more of their time together when they were younger and how they slowly grew to love each other. It was all so good!

[Adrianna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Loved keddington in my youth but remember not liking this one for some reason. Decided to revisit it. I was right. This is the one of hers I just can't stand. The age difference. The liability she becomes when he told her to stay behind. I just...no.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melissa is eight years old when she first meets Jesse the summer after his wife was killed in Red Castle. Jesse is 11 years her senior, but that doesn't stop them from becoming fast friends and spending two weeks of every summer connected by some unseen force. As they each grow older, their relationship takes several twists and turns until they can finally decide what they each want from each other. As they take a several day hike into Red Castle territory again, there are ghosts from the past waiting around every stone, and some new haunting things happening in the mountainous terrain. Several men are chasing after the group, determined to hunt them down, kill them, and preserve their precious secret. They battle many obstacles until they can finally find the peace they have been seeking.

The story is captivating and the dialogue gave me "butterflies" during all the good, romantic parts of the story.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one my mom tried to get me to read for over 10 years. I didn't want to read it because the cover looked lame. Yeah, it wasn't until I read this book that I learned not to judge a book by its cover. Oh my gosh, it's so good! It is the kind of book you want to read again as soon as you are done. (So are the rest of Dorothy Keddington's books...FYI!)

[Mindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my wonderful aunt Rae. I love her books, and I feel silly that I forgot to add them to my books. My other wonderful aunt Sue, recently rated them on her goodreads. And it reminded me!!! :) It's been awhile since I have read them, so I am going to reread them soon.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

High mountain adventure with a twist. A big burly brokenhearted mountain man and the girl who can help him heal. What's not to love? Great descriptive book mad me feel like I was there. Realistic dangerous situation. Well written characters and great dialog. Nice clean romance :)

[Quirky Shauna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this numerous times in my teenage years. Might be the best book boyfriend ever!

[C.C. Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to give this book 4 1/2 stars I can see where some people would have problems with the plot and the female character lead kind of not taking the lead enough but really I feel its a tad unfair. She is not an outdoor expert. She hasn't study or done any outdoor survival skills, never needed to. (Just like many people in our day) Her body is on the delicate side, (Not all woman are built to go toe to toe with men!) she's a good person, supportive and trusting in others experience she trusts yet somehow that is not enough by todays worlds standards of what a woman should be. Which is a shame. This book is a clean romance with just enough steam where it doesn't go too far and would be good for ages 14 and up perhaps. The plot is a little predictable but you have to take into consideration the age of the book. Sometimes older literature doesn't age as well as we would like it to so you have to take that into account. I loved the book as a young teen my taste has changed a little over time but this is still a great read in my opinion.

[Tam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a perfect sappy 80’s romance. I loved it!! Just when the romance was getting a bit too cheesy a drug dealing, hostage adventure began. After all was safe the author did a good job pulling everything together for a nice, feeling complete, ending. This read was also set in the mountains and red rock with mountainous wild flowers - three of my favorite things. However, I could do without sleeping in a tipi; not sure how that would be romantic. 😅 I still couldn’t help loving this book

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one you can pretty much judge by its cover. Ha! But it was a fun, popcorn read.

[Madelin Santana Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quiero los libros es español

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

YIKES!!! This book was meh!! The main character was terrible and so girly. Cinderella is like Katniss Everdeen compared to her.

[Becki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love! This was one of my favorites as a teenager. I just re-read it with my daughter and loved it still as an adult.

[Jemin Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a youth multiple times and loved it every time. Just seeing the cover brings back find memories. A delightful read.

[Kay S]

One of my favorites!

[Haylee Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

The love story and the amount of adventure through the story was great!

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

my mom and aunt recommended this book to me a while ago (I've read it before) because they remembered reading it as a kid.
cute story and romance!

[Kate Bohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made my day! I love to go back through the book and read certain chapters to make a bad day better.

[Peggy · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, THAT was cheesy. 🙄 And predictable. And riddled with terrible cliches. But also somehow mildly entertaining!

[Elizabeth Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean, that cover tho! 😍🤣

[Sandie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars...A clean romance with quite a bit of suspense. It kept my interest, and it was a good story. There were just a few little things that bugged me, which took it down to 3.5 stars.

[GoatRobe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covered a much wider variety of topics than I was expecting. Drug running, horse chases, murder, and wolverines just to name the big ones.