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Tales of Rydding Village #2
Bread and Burglary
She found refuge in Rydding and security in bread.
Now a newcomer and a mysterious burglar threaten everything.
After a treacherous journey, Lucina found safety in the bakery of Rydding Village. Her peace is threatened when she learns that Nico, the new apprentice smith, is from the homeland she was forced to flee. Could he be an enemy agent who caught up with her? Even if he isn’t, the newcomer is the chief suspect in a string of burglaries, and Lucina worries the suspicion will spread to her because of their shared nationality. Her nightmares of being driven from the village may come true if she can’t clear his name.
Meanwhile, would-be wizard Bryn and healer Elwyn have their own concerns. The burglar leaves no trace, and the villagers are acting oddly. Is that related to the strengthening sense of magic around the village?
They’ll have to figure it out and find the thief quickly because a wealthy landowner is determined to accuse Nico, and she’s not willing to listen to the truth. Lucina will have to face her own heritage and take a leap of faith to secure the home she’s come to love.
A new cozy cottagecore romantic fantasy from the author of Enchanted, Inc.
Now a newcomer and a mysterious burglar threaten everything.
After a treacherous journey, Lucina found safety in the bakery of Rydding Village. Her peace is threatened when she learns that Nico, the new apprentice smith, is from the homeland she was forced to flee. Could he be an enemy agent who caught up with her? Even if he isn’t, the newcomer is the chief suspect in a string of burglaries, and Lucina worries the suspicion will spread to her because of their shared nationality. Her nightmares of being driven from the village may come true if she can’t clear his name.
Meanwhile, would-be wizard Bryn and healer Elwyn have their own concerns. The burglar leaves no trace, and the villagers are acting oddly. Is that related to the strengthening sense of magic around the village?
They’ll have to figure it out and find the thief quickly because a wealthy landowner is determined to accuse Nico, and she’s not willing to listen to the truth. Lucina will have to face her own heritage and take a leap of faith to secure the home she’s come to love.
A new cozy cottagecore romantic fantasy from the author of Enchanted, Inc.
232 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 7, 2024
40 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
About the author
Shanna Swendson
44 books1,139 followersOnce upon a time ...
A little girl learned to amuse herself by making up stories in her head. She turned everyday activities into exciting adventures, and she made up new adventures for characters from her favorite movies, TV shows and books. Then one day she realized that if she wrote down those stories, she'd have a book! But that was crazy, she thought. Real people don't become novelists. That was like deciding you were going to be a movie star. You couldn't just go and do it.
But, it turns out, you can, and she did. She realized her dream of becoming a novelist and seeing her stories in bookstores.
And then she started to wig herself out by writing about herself in the third-person.
This is her story.
The Novelist's Journey
As I said above in that bit of silliness, I've always been a writer at heart. My favorite way to play was to create stories and act them out with my Fisher-Price people, my Barbie dolls or myself and a box of play clothes. If none of those things were available, I could just sit and make up stories in my head. I occasionally got into trouble for being a little too creative, such as the time when I embellished a bit on my kindergarten experiences (where's the dramatic hook in coloring, cutting out and pasting?).
When I was in seventh grade and a bit old for Fisher-Price people, Barbie dolls or the dress-up box, I started writing these stories down in spiral notebooks. Later, I found an old manual typewriter, taught myself to type, then wrote a lot of first chapters of novels on it. I still hadn't figured out how to actually be a working novelist who gets paid for writing (finishing a book instead of writing a lot of first chapters might have been a good start), so when it came time to go to college, I went to journalism school at the University of Texas. While getting my degree in broadcast news, I managed to structure a curriculum that might also help me in my real career plans. I took fencing (which I thought would be useful for writing fantasy novels), an astronomy course on the search for extraterrestrial life (in case I wanted to write science fiction), psychology, interpersonal communication, and parageography (the geography of imaginary lands).
I got serious about pursuing my novel-writing ambitions soon after I got my first job in public relations (TV reporting, it turns out, would have taken away from my writing time) when I started joining local writing organizations and reading books on how to write a novel. Then I took the big step of registering for a writing conference. With the registration fee, you could enter two manuscripts in a contest that went with the conference. I figured if I was paying that much money, I'd get the most out of it, so I wrote two entries. At the conference, I met a real, live editor, who encouraged me to submit, and one of my entries won the science fiction/fantasy category of the contest. I hurried to finish the novel the editor had asked for, then mailed a proposal.
She ended up rejecting the book, but encouraged me to keep trying. I ended up selling that novel elsewhere, then sold two more books to that publisher before I had another idea for that original editor. That book ended up selling, and then one more.
And then I hit the wall. Due to a number of circumstances, some of which weren't my fault and some of which were, I didn't sell anything else for eight years. But then I had the idea that became Enchanted, Inc., I wrote it, sold it, and here I am.
Other Life Stuff
I think I need to get a few more hobbies or something else going on in my life that isn't related to reading or writing because currently my bio in my books is shorter than the "about the typeface" section. Yes, a typeface has a more interesting life than I do.
When I'm not writing, I'm most often reading. Otherwise, I enjoy watching science fiction TV shows and then discussing them on the Internet, working crossw
A little girl learned to amuse herself by making up stories in her head. She turned everyday activities into exciting adventures, and she made up new adventures for characters from her favorite movies, TV shows and books. Then one day she realized that if she wrote down those stories, she'd have a book! But that was crazy, she thought. Real people don't become novelists. That was like deciding you were going to be a movie star. You couldn't just go and do it.
But, it turns out, you can, and she did. She realized her dream of becoming a novelist and seeing her stories in bookstores.
And then she started to wig herself out by writing about herself in the third-person.
This is her story.
The Novelist's Journey
As I said above in that bit of silliness, I've always been a writer at heart. My favorite way to play was to create stories and act them out with my Fisher-Price people, my Barbie dolls or myself and a box of play clothes. If none of those things were available, I could just sit and make up stories in my head. I occasionally got into trouble for being a little too creative, such as the time when I embellished a bit on my kindergarten experiences (where's the dramatic hook in coloring, cutting out and pasting?).
When I was in seventh grade and a bit old for Fisher-Price people, Barbie dolls or the dress-up box, I started writing these stories down in spiral notebooks. Later, I found an old manual typewriter, taught myself to type, then wrote a lot of first chapters of novels on it. I still hadn't figured out how to actually be a working novelist who gets paid for writing (finishing a book instead of writing a lot of first chapters might have been a good start), so when it came time to go to college, I went to journalism school at the University of Texas. While getting my degree in broadcast news, I managed to structure a curriculum that might also help me in my real career plans. I took fencing (which I thought would be useful for writing fantasy novels), an astronomy course on the search for extraterrestrial life (in case I wanted to write science fiction), psychology, interpersonal communication, and parageography (the geography of imaginary lands).
I got serious about pursuing my novel-writing ambitions soon after I got my first job in public relations (TV reporting, it turns out, would have taken away from my writing time) when I started joining local writing organizations and reading books on how to write a novel. Then I took the big step of registering for a writing conference. With the registration fee, you could enter two manuscripts in a contest that went with the conference. I figured if I was paying that much money, I'd get the most out of it, so I wrote two entries. At the conference, I met a real, live editor, who encouraged me to submit, and one of my entries won the science fiction/fantasy category of the contest. I hurried to finish the novel the editor had asked for, then mailed a proposal.
She ended up rejecting the book, but encouraged me to keep trying. I ended up selling that novel elsewhere, then sold two more books to that publisher before I had another idea for that original editor. That book ended up selling, and then one more.
And then I hit the wall. Due to a number of circumstances, some of which weren't my fault and some of which were, I didn't sell anything else for eight years. But then I had the idea that became Enchanted, Inc., I wrote it, sold it, and here I am.
Other Life Stuff
I think I need to get a few more hobbies or something else going on in my life that isn't related to reading or writing because currently my bio in my books is shorter than the "about the typeface" section. Yes, a typeface has a more interesting life than I do.
When I'm not writing, I'm most often reading. Otherwise, I enjoy watching science fiction TV shows and then discussing them on the Internet, working crossw
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 4, 2024
I find these books to be fairly basic, in a good way. It's cozy, it's familiar. It's fun. It's comfort food. I really enjoyed it.
January 19, 2026
Book 2 in the Tale of Rydding Village.
Lucina has finally settled into her new life as the village baker after fleeing her homeland, and for the first time in a long while, she’s starting to feel safe. Of course, that peace doesn’t last long. When someone from her former country shows up, old fears resurface and then things start going missing around the village, turning everyone suspicious of one another. I really enjoyed the mystery element in this one. It stayed cozy but still gave me enough intrigue to stay hooked. I also loved seeing more of Bryn and Elwyn’s relationship and getting to spend extra time with the growing community of Rydding Village. The village itself feels warm, lived-in, and full of personality. Overall, this was a soothing, sweet cozy fantasy that felt like curling up with a blanket and a warm drink.
Lucina has finally settled into her new life as the village baker after fleeing her homeland, and for the first time in a long while, she’s starting to feel safe. Of course, that peace doesn’t last long. When someone from her former country shows up, old fears resurface and then things start going missing around the village, turning everyone suspicious of one another. I really enjoyed the mystery element in this one. It stayed cozy but still gave me enough intrigue to stay hooked. I also loved seeing more of Bryn and Elwyn’s relationship and getting to spend extra time with the growing community of Rydding Village. The village itself feels warm, lived-in, and full of personality. Overall, this was a soothing, sweet cozy fantasy that felt like curling up with a blanket and a warm drink.
November 19, 2024
The mystery of Rydding village deepends
A new member of the village coincidentally arrives at the same time as a series of odd thefts plague the village and the surrounding farms. Lucinda fears of how this will affect her life as she finds out that the new member is also from her country. A land pestered by revolution and injustice, which forced her to leave years ago. Can she and her friends find out who the thief is and what the new villager's true intentions are before all is lost?
While a worthwhile read and a decent addition to the series, there was a lot of unnecessary repetition. Still fun though.
A new member of the village coincidentally arrives at the same time as a series of odd thefts plague the village and the surrounding farms. Lucinda fears of how this will affect her life as she finds out that the new member is also from her country. A land pestered by revolution and injustice, which forced her to leave years ago. Can she and her friends find out who the thief is and what the new villager's true intentions are before all is lost?
While a worthwhile read and a decent addition to the series, there was a lot of unnecessary repetition. Still fun though.
March 11, 2025
Lucina has settled in as the baker in Rydding Village, after fleeing her former country when political unrest put her life at risk. She's finally able to sleep through the night without nightmares, when a newcomer from her home country arrives and she fears he's come for her. Then, things start to go missing around the village and the villagers all start pointing fingers.
I loved the mystery, the continued developments in the relationship between Bryn and Elwyn and the expanded community of Rydding Village. This was a soothing and sweet cozy fantasy, perfect for fans of a Weary Dragon Inn Series, as it has a similar feel.
#FantasyRomance #Cozy #Magic #Mystery #Historical #Gaslamp
I loved the mystery, the continued developments in the relationship between Bryn and Elwyn and the expanded community of Rydding Village. This was a soothing and sweet cozy fantasy, perfect for fans of a Weary Dragon Inn Series, as it has a similar feel.
#FantasyRomance #Cozy #Magic #Mystery #Historical #Gaslamp
July 1, 2025
I didn't quite like this as much as the first book, but I really liked how the characters from book one are still being fleshed out! Everyone's story is continuing, and the village is growing (so slowly) and maybe starting to heal.
October 25, 2025
3.5 stars. This is the second tale of Rydding Village. It's a slowly weaving story that is fun to pick up when you have a moment. I would call it an easy-going read. Not intense but interesting and thoughtful.
August 8, 2024
love it!!
Read this long awaited book in one sitting. As usual, Ms Swendson knocked it out of the park!! Great read!
Read this long awaited book in one sitting. As usual, Ms Swendson knocked it out of the park!! Great read!
October 1, 2024
Sweet cozy story. Nice continuation of the village storyline.
November 3, 2024
This series is perfectly cozy and fun. It's not the most academic or thought-provoking, but that's part of the charm!
August 1, 2025
All around “fine” - a cozy read that hit the spot.
Full review to come
Full review to come
September 4, 2024
This series continues to captivate me with the interesti g characters and their adventures.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews