The Baker and the Abandoned Mansion: Retelling Little Red Riding Hood and The Lover's Ghost

by Kathryn Radaker

An optimistic baker. Two spells gone horribly wrong. And a second chance at a forbidden love.

Poppy’s dreams are simple. All she wants is to settle down in a small, cozy cottage with Henrik and continue baking for her friends and neighbors. But war breaks out, tearing Henrik away from her with nothing but a promise of marriage upon his return.

When the war ends with no word from Henrik, Poppy makes a desperate request from her outcast grandmother. Unfortunately, Grandmother’s efforts backfire on them both, but Poppy’s luck changes when she encounters Miklos, a young man from her past. This youngest son of a disgraced noble family may be the key to unlocking Grandmother’s secrets…and Poppy’s future. But first, they must both confront and conquer the pasts that are haunting them.

Will Poppy and Miklos be able to defeat their respective ghosts? Or will they remain forever chained to those they’ve loved and lost?

Retelling Little Red Riding Hood and The Lover's Ghost

The Intertwined Tales is a multi-author series of clean fairytale retellings. Each novella entwines a famous fairytale with a lesser-known story to create one happily ever after. These standalone stories can be enjoyed in any order.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Retellings

162 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 21, 2024

Reviews

[Chantel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet and spooky

This book is sweet and just the right amount of spooky! I loved the spin on Red Ridinghood, and the creative way the story is told. It kept me both guessing and hopeful the whole way through.

[DJWman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Baker and the Abandoned Mansion is a captivating retelling that intertwines Little Red Riding Hood with the lesser-known The Lover’s Ghost, creating a story that is both familiar and refreshingly unique. The worldbuilding is vivid, the characters are well-developed, and the story strikes a compelling balance between emotional depth and darker, more haunting themes.

While I don’t typically gravitate toward spookier or paranormal stories, I kept an open mind as I’ve enjoyed Kathryn’s other works—and I’m glad I did. Despite never having heard of The Lover’s Ghost before, I found this retelling captivating even from the Red Riding Hood elements alone. The way the two tales are woven together makes this story stand out from other fairytale retellings.

One of the highlights is the relationship between Poppy, the optimistic baker longing for a simple, quiet life, and Miklos, her socially awkward childhood best friend. Their journey to confront their pasts and rekindle their bond is both touching and relatable, giving the story a heartfelt core amid its darker moments.

With its blend of originality, emotional resonance, and nods to classic tales, The Baker and the Abandoned Mansion is a memorable and rewarding read. Whether you’re familiar with The Lover’s Ghost or not, this novella is a standout addition to the genre and one I’d recommend to fans of inventive fairytale retellings.

[Kez Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this red riding hood inspired novella, it had a creepy fairytale vibe mixed with paranormal monsters.
It has elements of red riding hood through the wolf, red shawl, huntsman and grandmother's cottage in the woods, but had a creative spark of the undead trying to rise.
Poor Poppy is devastated when her fiancée Herik doesn't return home after the war. With her grandmothers help and a touch of dark magic they discover what happened to Henrik, and now they have to face the consequences.
It had a sweet childhood friends to lovers romance blossoming, family secrets and revelations, and some bakery drama.
It's an entertaining combination of stories.

[Sara]

DNF @ 30% because I cannot stand books where the FMC does something even though everyone tells her not to, and then she has to spend the rest of the book fixing her stupidity. IDK, maybe that's the point and she goes through "character development" or something BUT I don't think she was interesting enough to stick around and see what happens.

[Sarah Beran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this take on Little Red Riding Hood! It was a delightful mix of mystery, spooky vibes, a cozy bakery, and sweet romance. This will definitely become an annual fall read!

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contains: dark magic, kisses, undead.

This wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Grandma is an idiot pushover who forgets that she is an adult and No is a complete sentence. Poppy gets engaged at 16 without kissing the guy and somehow forgets her former best friend. Then there is a bunch of semi-necromancy stuff going on. I’m unclear how grandma tuned Dominic into undead. All in all this book seemed more borderline horror than fairy tale.

[Rosalyn Nightshade · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Baker and the Abandoned Mansion is an incredible tale about two people who are battling ghosts from their pasts (literally!). It was such an interesting retake on Little Red Riding Hood and The Lover's Ghost and Kathryn managed to blend these two different tales together so seamlessly. I loved watching Poppy grow from a naive girl to one who understood the world better but still retaining her joy and passions. Miklos was also such a great character who has lived in hiding for so long that going back to society terrifies him. I'm glad that he was able to overcome his past fears and visit Poppy at the bakery. I despised Henrik so much. He said so many things to Poppy that actually made it seem like he loved her (and maybe he did) but he didn't actually care about her. Throughout the book he just kept on trying to get her back and, more than once, I wanted to scream at him to leave her alone. I actually really loved Poppy's grandmother. She turned away from her previous hobbies but the moment Poppy asks her for help, she goes back to her past mistakes. I really felt sympathy for her; she just wanted to help her granddaughter and ended up giving them even more problems. However, if it hadn't been for what she did, Poppy and Miklos would never have been reunited. I really think this book needs a prequel on Poppy's grandmother's backstory. Overall, this was such a great retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and The Lover's Ghost (third book that I read by Kathryn Radaker and I loved it!). I would definitely recommend this book to everyone who reads this review!

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found it!

The perfect book for a romantasy/fantasy spooky season read.

I don’t usually go for scary stuff but I was reading this arc and got completely drawn in. The detailing and scenes had my heart pounding to the point of not being able to read unless it was bright outside.

The pacing was perfect. There were a wide range of secondary characters that developed the world to give the perfect small village feel and showed the societal pressures the characters were facing in their lives. The main characters were extremely detailed and I felt we had a full understanding of each one with how short the book was.

This was a great Little Red Riding Hood retelling blended with a retelling of The Lover’s Ghost. They were seamlessly blended that this was my favorite in The Intertwined multi author series so far. This had a darker side than the others, with death and curses but it ends in such a happily ever after that my heart was so happy, especially with the sweet forehead kisses.

A m/f romantic fantasy fairytale retelling with sweet treats, ghosts, magic, and second chance friends-to-lovers.

Poppy’s pov told in third person

Main characters-

Piroska Sipos - aka Poppy, baker
Henrik Farkas - town hero
Miklos Varadi - former baron’s son
Grandmother - witch

Steam - clean with some kissing

[Cass · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poppy is one of the dumbest female characters I've ever read. I think that was on purpose? Her grandmother even called her out for it (nicely saying naive, but Poppy went beyond that imo). It was actually kind of interesting to see her continuously mess up, though not in a funny way. She was also pretty selfish and often did not take responsibility for her actions. I did not like Poppy.

Miklos seemed fine, though he didn't show up until almost 40%.

The grandmother was a murderous, bad witch. She took it upon herself to kill Miklos' brother, botched it, let Poppy badger her into more dark magic, botched it, then tried to use Miklos to get Poppy to like her again.

The horror elements of the book were interesting (and surprising) enough that I chose to continue reading until about the 70% point. When I stopped reading, the past had been revealed. The romance seemed to kick up a bit, which didn't interesting me, since I disliked Poppy.

Kindle version had very few (if any) errors.

[Bess · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've never been a fan of Little Red Riding Hood. This story was a mix of two stories: The Lover's Ghost is not one I've ever heard of; however, I have to say, I'm not a fan.
This story was creepy. I'm not a fan of creepy at all.
Poppy thinks she's in love with the town's resident hero. However, when he is sent off to war, he promises he'll marry her upon his return. Fast forward a few years, and men start trickling back home, and Henrik is not among them. Listening to the town's gossip, Poppy believes he's left her for another woman. She does what every one of us does when they find out their guy picked someone else, we moved on...no, we summoned him. Turns out summoning a dead man makes them a ghost able to haunt you! Well done, Poppy! Couldn't just leave him be?
So, we spend 1/2 the book figuring out how to re-unalive him.
Not my cup of tea. The writing was fine. No complaints on the writing or the author at all.
My first read by Kathryn.

[Theplacesihavebeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was well written. The world building was well thought through and the characters well developed. It does have spiritual paranormal aspects so if that is not your cup of tea this may not be for you. It was not as creepy as I initially thought it was going to be. The first instance of the supernatural was probably the creepiest it gets, and if you are smarter than me you won't read it when you are alone at night out in the country! Spiritual paranormal themes is not my cup of tea, but I tried to keep and open mind while reading and found that I still enjoyed the story, but because of that I will probably not read it again, or at least not soon. I did receive an advanced copy of this book and it was requested that I leave a review but not required. All opinions and words are my own.

[Bri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect mix of just a bit spooky and adorably cozy!

This book would be perfect for someone who is looking for a seasonal autumn read but doesn't like scary books.

All of the key Little Red Riding Hood elements you expect to see are there, but the story itself is taken mostly from The Lover's Ghost, making this stand out among other Red Riding Hood retellings.

The main couple is so cute. A baker who just wants love and a quiet life, and her socially awkward childhood best friend. It's honestly so endearing!

Poppy did annoy me at one point, but not enough to take away from my enjoyment of the story as a whole. (Yelling at her grandmother for doing the thing she asked her to do is a bit unfair, although it was a bit understandable given the circumstances.)

[Selily · Rating 5 out of 5]

A satisfying and deliciously creepy story that feels something like a village fable, with all the familiar parts of a red riding hood story and a happy ending. I loved the supernatural aspects and the blend of the creepy and the sweet. I also loved the villagey setting and all the character names with an eastern European flavour. I didn't feel like anything was missing from the story, but I was slightly disappinted when it was over because I was quite enjoying it! Although this book released in November, it has a very October feel to it and I would particularly recommend it for the Fall and around Halloween. Kathryn Radaker is an excellent writer whose craft I've been a fan of since I first read her work. I'm looking forward to more books from her!

[Renee Marski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a cute story! Poppy is the baker's apprentice. On her days off, she visits her grandmother in the woods. When war comes, her betrothed goes off to fight, promising to return to her. Except he doesnt and rumors abound. A botched spell has him stuck in the In-Between and he tries to take her with him. But the return of a childhood friend changes things. They must work together to stop the undead. And hopefully have a future.

A great red riding hood story with a twist! The perfect seasonal read!

[Lj · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cosy yet somewhat spooky fairy tale retelling. All the elements you expect in a 'Little Red Riding Hood' retelling are present, but mixing the story with the lesser known 'Lover's Ghost' creates something entirely different and unexpected. It does get a touch more spooky than I would usually read, but it never becomes scary or horrific.

I received an ARC and leave an honest review.

[Kimthebookishbaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really adored this book. The baking metaphors taken from common phrases/metaphors "could hear bread rise" or later on "It felt like... expanding, breathing, like bread dough growing lighter and softer as the yeast did its work." As someone who loves baking, this made my heart so happy and felt so natural from a character that bakes.
I've never heard of the Lover's Ghost before but this story was so great even just from the Red Riding Hood retelling. That said, it's more on the darker side of fairy tale retellings as it has dark magic and ghosts trying to come back. However, I didn't find it super dark, just a tinge like twilight, just barely dark?
Miklos is such an interesting character but you root for him from the get go. I also loved Poppy, definitely often felt sympathetic for her. Gran was the one I felt the most controversial about. Times I loved her, times I really didn't like her, but I think it was meant to be that way.
Regardless, this is a fun story and perfect for fall/Halloween time for a slightly spooky read!

[Cilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This retelling Little Red Riding Hood has a lot of elements you would expect, yet because the tale is entwined with the Lover's Ghost, it has a somewhat spooky/creepy element you get when dealing with the undead. Thankfully it doesn't get to 'horror' so is still PG 13. I enjoyed the characters and plot and the happy ever after ending. I received an ARC but this review is my own.

[LeeAnnReeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fairy tale retellings. The characters are well developed, the storyline is enchanting. The twists involving the Little Red Riding Hood story are unexpected. I truly enjoyed reading this story, it had me from the first chapter.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Baker and the Abandoned Mansion by Kathryn Radaker
What I loved about this book:
👫 A cinnamon roll baker
👫 Simple dreams (she just wants a home and a family!)
👫 Potions with unintended consequences 
👫 Forbidden love and second chances 
👫 Sweet romance, a couple of kisses
Another favorite from the Intertwined Tales! This one is a mix of Little Red Riding Hood and The Lover's Ghost. The Lover's Ghost is from a Hungarian folktale and I had no knowledge of it before I read this book but looked it up afterwards to see all the tie-ins! This one definitely has some spookier elements but as one who doesn't like paranormal this still felt like fantasy to me. Be sure to have a sweet treat nearby, you'll get hungry!
Favorite scene: Poppy and Miklos escaping the In Between
Favorite character: Poppy (our main female character)

[Mildly Mad Hatter(Semi Hiatus)]

DNF at I don't know how far in.
I DNFed this because of dark magic, I didn't read a lot of it, but what I read was creepy and just not something I want floating around in my head forever.

[Ami Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a clean romance that combined Red Riding Hood with Dracula! Who would have thought it would work out so well, but I loved it! There were enough elements of each story that I could follow the story and still enjoy the suspense, as well as the romance!