Welcome to Wren Cottage Studio, home of illustrated short-read books by Gita Appleyard — the pen name of Ryn Shell, now retired from her public career as an Australian historical-fiction author and fine impressionist artist.
Here you’ll find later-in-life romance, second chance romance, cosy mystery, romantic comedy, firefighter romance, historical romance, and family saga fiction, art journaling and illustration.
Use the “Read the Book” buttons to find available ebook, print, and retailer options for each title.
Here you’ll find later-in-life romance, second chance romance, cosy mystery, romantic comedy, firefighter romance, historical romance, and family saga fiction, art journaling and illustration.
Use the “Read the Book” buttons to find available ebook, print, and retailer options for each title.
Gita Appleyard .99c later-in-life romance short reads
Series: Love and Other Disasters
Gentle, illustrated short-read romances about later-in-life love, second chances, new beginnings, country cottages, family, friendship, and emotional healing.
I Love You a Pea
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Cottage Quirks & Kisses
A cozy Australian small-town romance short story with heritage cottage chaos, grumpy-sunshine banter, bright yellow paint, humour, community charm, and unexpected love.
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An Ordinary Marriage
A gentle Australian later-life romance short story about marriage, humour, second chances, mature love, domestic life, and beginning again in the Dandenong Ranges.
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About Gita Appleyard --
-retired to the country where she thought she’d have nothing to do but read, write, and paint.
Gita Appleyard is an Australian artist, illustrator, writer, and designer.
Across her art and stories, she finds humour in life's absurdity, bringing painterly warmth, gentle wit, and human observation to cosy mysteries, later-life romance, and second-chance reinvention |
The Locket
A gentle later-in-life second chance romance about love after loss, new beginnings, and the courage to open an old heart again.
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About Ryn Shell --
Ryn Shell, formerly of Buninyong Gallery, was an internationally acclaimed Australian fine artist, author, and creative coach. Now in retirement, she focuses on nature art journaling while creating fun reads and illustrations under the pen name Gita Appleyard. |
Gita Appleyard .99c quick-read cosy mysteries
Series: InkPour Mysteries
Quick-read cosy mystery ebooks with bookshops, village secrets, missing clues, loyal dogs, gentle humour, and InkPour-style twists.
The Fine Print of Murder
A cozy library murder mystery with an amateur librarian sleuth, hidden secrets, city intrigue, elite corruption, whispered rumours, deception, danger, and bookish suspense.
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Small Town Puppy Love
A cozy Australian small-town mystery romance with dogs, a K9 police officer, puppy love, hidden secrets, danger, community charm, and animal-instinct sleuthing.
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The Return of Sherlock
A cozy Bellbrook art mystery with amateur women sleuths, forged paintings, gallery secrets, village intrigue, friendship, second chances, gentle suspense, and Sherlock the spaniel.
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Who Pointed the Peony
A character-driven Bellbrook mystery about aged care, justice, moral bite, peonies, a defiant elderly sleuth, her spaniel Sherlock, buried truths, and revenge.
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Bloom and Doom
A cosy Australian garden mystery novella with neighbourhood secrets, camellias, gossip, suspicious behaviour, second chances, gentle humour, and trouble blooming on Camellia Lane.
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What’s Happening in the Studio
Currently, I’m developing this website, creating more illustrated .99c short reads in romance and mystery, designing new book covers and chapter headings, and preparing another audiobook.
More Story Collections Coming Soon
- Ryn Shell Short Stories
- Gita Appleyard Romantic Comedies
- Gita Appleyard Firefighter Romances
- Gita Appleyard Spilled Ink Mysteries
- Ryn Shell Historical Fiction and Historical Romance
- The Stolen Years — historical family saga
- Book Bundles