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Tales of Rydding Village #3
Clouds & Curses
There’s no place like home—until it’s gone
Ceri never thought she’d return to Rydding Village after she married a nobleman, but she also never thought that her stepson would inherit everything and send Ceri and her daughter packing. Now she’s back at her parents’ home, only to find they may lose it if the harvest fails—and it always rains during the harvest.
Would-be wizard Bryn believes the rainy harvests may be part of the curse that has left the village nearly abandoned, but he doesn’t think he has the skill or knowledge to break the curse. The best he can do is find a way to save the harvest magically—but it will take the cooperation of the entire village.
Meanwhile, Ceri finds that her home isn’t her only problem. The man she jilted to marry the nobleman is back in town, and one look at him makes it clear to her that she made the wrong choice. He’s no longer just a farmhand, and he knows secrets that could ruin her. Does he want her back, or is he out for revenge?
To secure a future for herself and her daughter, Ceri will have to find the strength to face her past and trust a magic she’s not entirely sure she believes in.
Ceri never thought she’d return to Rydding Village after she married a nobleman, but she also never thought that her stepson would inherit everything and send Ceri and her daughter packing. Now she’s back at her parents’ home, only to find they may lose it if the harvest fails—and it always rains during the harvest.
Would-be wizard Bryn believes the rainy harvests may be part of the curse that has left the village nearly abandoned, but he doesn’t think he has the skill or knowledge to break the curse. The best he can do is find a way to save the harvest magically—but it will take the cooperation of the entire village.
Meanwhile, Ceri finds that her home isn’t her only problem. The man she jilted to marry the nobleman is back in town, and one look at him makes it clear to her that she made the wrong choice. He’s no longer just a farmhand, and he knows secrets that could ruin her. Does he want her back, or is he out for revenge?
To secure a future for herself and her daughter, Ceri will have to find the strength to face her past and trust a magic she’s not entirely sure she believes in.
312 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 26, 2025
18 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Shanna Swendson
40 books1,135 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 19, 2025
Harvest time approaches, and with it comes a new set of problems for the village's latest tenants. New characters and old must work through their personal problems while also digging for info and solutions to what looks to be a curse on the village. A fun read. While old and new mysteries are revealed and a few are answered, more remains to be discovered.
August 13, 2025
I think this book is the best in the series so far. It starts answering some of the questions about the curse the town seems to be experiencing. Excited for the next entry in the series and I hope there are several more to come!
I think showing multiple characters’ POV in a single installment really helped this book feel a head above the others.
I think showing multiple characters’ POV in a single installment really helped this book feel a head above the others.
March 31, 2025
Fun story, continuing the village stories.
April 12, 2025
I loved this book! The world building and character are great, and I found it just charming. The whole series is lovely.
April 19, 2025
So sweet. I have really enjoyed this series.
August 2, 2025
Better than the first two books. Doesn’t feel finished, hopefully there’s a fourth book coming.
September 8, 2025
Fine, nothing bad, cozy read
Full review to come
Full review to come
August 25, 2025
I read this third installment in the Tales of Rydding Village series in almost one sitting. I liked the addition of the new characters, catching up again with others, like Elwyn, Bryn and Mair and how (most) of the village worked together. I also liked the progress in the bigger storyline and look forward to learning more about it in book 4.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews