Baldree's latest work is fantastic. This prequel to Legends and Latte's delivers the same heart, lovable characters, and feel-good moments.

Viv's career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam's Ravens isn't going as planned. Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she's packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she'll never be able to return to it. Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn't possibly imagine.

Fern, the bookshop owner, is one of my new favorite literary characters!

I look forward to Baldree's next work.

As a huge DND nerd, I really enjoyed spending time in Baldree's cozy world.

I will say, the writing is a little hard to get into at first, (both with this book and the Legends and Lattes.) It reads very much like a DM setting a scene -- theatre of the mind, making sound effects, describing All of the Things.

Once I reframed my expectations of the writing, I did really enjoy Baldree's story. But I do think that I'd want to give readers that heads up while recommending/handselling this.

I'm deeply curious about the audio recording for this, just based on how the writing reads so much like a DM setting a scene in a game and I'm already used to listening to that style of setting a scene (opposed to reading it with my eyes), if that makes sense?

I'm just not a fan of cozies, but the Orc thing got to me. I enjoyed it, tho I did struggle getting past the cozy thing. I like my UF dark, and this didn't do it as much as I wanted to, but enough that I'm hooked.

Thanks to Netgalley, Travis Baldree, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest option.

Since this title has been out for a little bit, I can firmly say that the Legends and Lattes series is now one of my favorites. I reviewed it separately on Goodreads upon completion, and it's one of the few fiction series that I'm both excited for and will continue to read until it is finished.

B&B picks up the exact same feeling of whimsy and low-stakes fantasy/romance that L&L had, but seeing the younger version of Viv was really encouraging. She felt exactly like the novice version of L&L Viv should, which isn't always an easy thing to capture.

I've already recommended this book to dozens of people, and I really hope that they enjoy it as much as I did.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre/tropes: fiction, cozy fantasy

I fell in love with 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 & 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲 earlier this year. Reading and listening to the prequel, 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝘀 & 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁 felt like donning a familiar sweater - all cozy comfort and warmth.

We get more insight into our favorite orc, Viv who has to recuperate in the town of Murk after sustaining a serious injury in battle. Not one to just sit around twiddling her thumbs, she makes her way around town getting to know it, and ends up befriending a bookshop owner, Fern. She encourages Viv to read, and you know what folks? It’s so awesome to see someone (fictional or not) fall in love with reading because someone has the magical ability to read that person, and know exactly which book to thrust into their hands. That’s Fern! She’s become one of my favorites. Since Viv is staying around, she helps Fern with her shop, gets close with a few more adorable characters, and also helps fight off a menacing threat.

I can’t express enough how much I love this book. Travis Baldree’s narration was absolutely delightful, and I loved hearing the characters come to life through his voice, the way he saw them. The story is heartwarming, and inspiring. The world within so inviting. It feels like a massive hug.

Of course, I had to obtain my own copy of the book which will go in the ‘happy section’ of my bookshelf. Read this if you love books about books. If you love stories set in bookshops. Read this if you want cozy good feels, and to warm your soul.

My thanks to@netgalley @torbooks & @macmillan.audio for my ARC & ALC. 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝘀 & 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁 out now!

I was worried the second book wouldn't live up to my expectations after the first. It did and so much more. This is just wonderful cozy fantasy, like a nice cup of tea on a rainy day.

Sorry my review is so late, I got way too behind on my ARCs. But oh. My. Goodness! Bookshops & Bonedust was everything I hoped it would be and more. I loved getting this glimpse into what Viv was like pre- Legends & Lattes, and I loved how beautifully the two tied together there in the epilogue. Fern was amazing, and I loved watching a tentative relationship with Maylee bloom, even though they knew from the beginning that it wouldn't last. Seeing Viv become a reader, while already knowing what her personality becomes further down the road, was wonderful. I cannot wait to see what Mr. Baldree comes up with next.

a good prequel to the first one. i highly recommend this cozy book! it pairs well with coffee and the reader truly delves into the adventures deeply, feeling encaptured fast.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of “Bookshops & Bonedust” by Travis Baldree in exchange for an honest review. Absolutely adorable! Very heartfelt, warm, and cozy feeling. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a found family trope, or loves the video game “Skyrim,” “Baulder’s Gate 3,” and “Dungeons & Dragons.”

I was so happy to get my paper book signed by Travis on release day. While Legends and Lattes will have my heart forever, I loved getting back into that world here and enjoyed Viv's story before the story.

Travis Baldree picks up from where he left off in Legends and Lattes-- it's more of our fave cozy romance genre! This gives the same warm fuzzy feelings, but this time with books! I mean, first it was coffee, and now it's books. Is there any better combination? Anyone a fan of the first book will definitely fall in love with this one. Just an overall enjoyable, warm read!

I cannot recommend these cozy fantasy books by Travis Baldree enough!!! Bookshops & Bonedust is just as delightful as Legends & Lattes! I know this is a bit outside of most of your comfort zones but at its heart it’s a small town, cozy comfort read that will absolutely warm your heart! Although these characters aren’t exactly human, they have all the same feelings and emotions and humor!

They’re also quick reads so you can fly through them!

I didn't think that I would like a prequel as well as the first book. I was wrong. It was as beautiful and charming as the first. This series will forever be comfort reads for me.

Prequels are hard.

Most exist for no reason other than the need to build out a franchise or to expand upon IP with a built in money. Because of this, most prequels come across as creatively cynical; they don't exist genuinely but instead because they will print money.

Prequels are also hard because they require authors to work within the confines of what readers already know will happen. Nothing "suprising" can happen because the twists must work within the rules, worldbuilding, plots, and character arcs that have already been established in the previously published books. This means that, at worst, prequels are made inert by their ability to do anything interesting, and at worse they invalidate the meaningful gains made in the other books.

Bookshops and Bonedusts fell somwhere in the middle of these two extremes for me. Unforunately, this left the book a bit of a dissapointment for me. It was by no means a complete failure, but it failed to live up to the cozy perfection that Legends and Lattes offered up.

Bookshops and Bonedusts follows Viv (the main character from Legends and Lattes) as she is wounded in a battle. As she recovers, she settles into a village and meets a whole cast of quirky characters, including a ratkin that owns a cozy (yet failing) bookshop and a dwarf who runs a successful bakery. Viv works to help save the bookstore and find a bit of romance all while trying to defeat an evil necromancer who is chasing after her.

At its best, Bookshops and Bonedusts attempts to elicit all of the same emotions from the reader at Legends and Lattes. There is a colorful cast of characters living in the same village, slowly building a cozy business, and a slightly darker threat pervading the book to give it a bit of plot momentum and excitement. If what you are genuinely looking for is just those cozy vibes, Bookshops and Bonedust has got you covered. Except for a sequence at the end, it is a gently paced book that feels like being wrapped in a warm blanket.

But you know when someone gives you a hug and you can tell their heart is not in it? You know how you want that warming endorphin fit from having someone wrap their arms around you and it doesn't quite "hit"? That was my feeling while both immersed in and walking away from Bookshops and Bonedusts. Despite hitting all of the same beats as Legends and Lattes, there was just something missing from this book. There was a hollowness and emptiness; once you scraped away the cozy fantasy tropes, there wasn't much left over. I found myself reading through the book looking for that cozy endorphine it and not finding it. I think that the hollowness has emerged through the book's existence as a prequel - and a prequel that doesn't necessarily have a purpose for existing.

The main conceit of Bookshops and Bonedusts is that it gives readers backgrounds on how Viv came to the realization that there is more to life than being a member of a violence band of warriors. Viv comes to appreciate the quieter, gentler, and cozier parts of life. As the book begins, Viv is anxious to get back to her crew, despite the fact that she can barely stand on her marred leg. As the book progresses, she finds that we can fill our lives with genuine relationships, that human connection and making people content (rather than dead) can actually be exciting and meaningful.

I just don't think this was a story that needed to be told.

As readers we already KNEW all of this. Legends and Lattes had already laid that foundation, and I'm not sure that this was an origin story that needed to be told. I think that hollowness I was feeling was coming about from the very fact that this was a story without a purpose. This is an attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle, and doesn't quite reach the heights of Legends and Lattes. Travis Baldree is obviously a very talented writer, but I cannot help but wonder if his strengths as a storyteller would have been better served in a completely new world, or a story set in the world of Legends and Lattes that didn't necessarily center Viv. Viv's story arc in Legends and Lattes was so beautiful and perfectly constructed that giving us MORE just felt unneeded. This was especially true whenever Bookshops and Bonedusts started to give Viv character development that she allgedly first got in Legends and Lattes; if she had this journey in this earlier time period, then why, as the reader, do I care about her development later?

This all also leads to a bit of a tonal disjuncture in the book. In the last act Viv has to confront the evil necromancer that is chasing her (where the "bonedust" in the title comes from!). As I briefly mentioned earlier, this has the same purpose/function that the cartel had in Legends and Lattes; it gives the book a bit of higher stakes. It really worked in Legends and Lattes because it sprinkled just a bit of stakes onto all of the coffee shop building, adding some tension to a book (and genre) that exists mainly to avoid it. The necromancy storyline is much less successful here. The magic and history between Viv and the necromancer is not given enough space to fully flesh it out, and this conflict is MUCH darker than what we had in Legends and Lattes. Based on what we are told about this particular villain means the stakes should be even higher, the danger more real, and the conflict more nuanced and complex. Since this isn't a dark, epic fantasy, and the real focus is on Viv's relationship with her new friends and saving this bookshop, the necromancy stuff just falls flat. The action scenes toward the end feel tacked on and again don't really feel like they need to be there.

As I criticize the very purpose and existence of Bookshops and Bonedust, I want to emphasize that it is by no means a bad book. I read it over the winter holidays (I read Legends and Lattes the year before during the American Thanksgiving holiday), and it nicely encapuslated those warm holiday feelings. As I mentioned, Baldree knows his way around telling a story...especially in making an engaging narrative around a story in which very little actually happens. I'm normally a high stakes reader; I like when worlds are ending, gods are battling, etc., and so books like this are a great change of pace. If you liked Legends and Lattes and wished it was 300ish pages longer, than Bookshops and Bonedusts is exactly what you are looking for.

I've seen many, many five-star reviews for this book, and so I think I'm a bit of an outlier with my thoughts here. So hopefully reading this review alone doesn't automatically turn you off from the book! Bookshops and Bonedusts still have a lot to offer, including being one of the best love letters to booklovers and booksellers in fantasy. If you have a favorite indie bookstore, that place that is a transportative and magical home away from home, this book will bubble up those nostalgic wonderful feelings of walking among the shelves and finding your next favorite read.

Concluding Thoughts: Since the publication of Legends and Lattes the cozy fantasy has exploded in a lot of different directions, and authors are finding ways to achieve those warming vibes with stories that have something a bit more to say. I'm afraid that this particular prequel has gotten a bit lost in the dust. It is still a beautifully constructed novel, with some fun, quirky characters and a love letter to booklovers and booksellers everywhere. However, because Baldree and Tor went back to the same well again with this book, it just fails to live up to what Legends and Lattes had to offer, and ultimately doesn't justify its own existence (or the hours readers will sink into the book). I'm still a huge fan of Baldree and I cannot wait to see what he has in store for us in the future, perhaps this time a bit away from Viv.

A wonderful sequel to Legends and Lattes. I love the characters and the absolute coziness of the story, this one taking place in a bookshop and featuring many more fantastical characters. I will definitely recommend this to lots of my students.

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree is a prequel to Legends & Lattes. Viv's career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam's Ravens isn't going as planned. Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she's packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she'll never be able to return to it. What's a thwarted soldier of fortune to do? Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn't possibly imagine. Still, adventure isn't all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.

Bookshops & Bonedust is a solid addition to Viv's world, and I was glad to see some of her life from before she discovered coffee. Those that have not yet discovered Legends & Lattes can start with either book. It feels like it has been awhile since I read the other book, so it took me a hot minute to realize that this was the prequel- at first I thought it was just set in the same world- but I caught on. I loved getting to know this set of characters and how a baker and bookshop owner affected Viv's mindset. Aside from that, it was an enjoyable and engaging read, even for those not looking for Viv's character development. I thought there was a nice balance of adventure, mystery, and good fun. I think fans of the genre and the author will greatly enjoy the read.

After reading and loving Legends & Lattes, I was so excited for Bookshops & Bonedust.

Admittedly, I am slightly confused as to why this prequel makes sense for Viv's story. In L&L, we know that Viv is a retired battle orc and her desire to slow down and retire leads her to opening a cozy coffee shop. That leads me to question why we wouldn't have been given Easter Eggs in L&L about her bookshop that we see in Bookshops & Bonedust. This story would have made a lot more sense if it acted as a sequel to L&L and was a sort of "expansion" on the coffeeshop.

Overall, though, this was a cozy read and I did really enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! What is there to not enjoy about this book? Legends and Lattes was one of my favorite reads last year, it was a cozy piece of joy that everyone rightfully embraced. When given the option to review this book, I jumped at the opportunity. Reading about young Viv's life was insightful and charming. This book is for all fantasy readers who want a break from violence and need a hug. I can't wait to read more of Travis' work!

If you enjoyed Legends & Lattes, this is more of the same cozy fantasy goodness. :)
Thank you very much to Tor and NetGalley for the ARC!

Bookshops & Bonedust is a prequel that takes place 20 years before Legends & Lattes. In this book, we meet a much younger Viv who has just started her career as an adventurer. Her career gets waylaid (and potentially derailed) by an injury, and she's left behind in a small seaside village to recover. As Viv regains her strength and starts to move around town, we get to know the town and its inhabitants along with her. I fell in love with the place.

Like Legends & Lattes, this cozy, low-stakes fantasy pulled me in right from the very beginning. I love the great circle of friends Viv gathered around her in this book. That "found family," and a bit of mystery and romance kept me engaged: I literally could not put this book down once I started. It's a fun, feel-good story that not only put a smile on my face, but also brought a tear or two to my eyes. It's another fantastic story by a fantastic author and narrator. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

Travis Baldree's narration is excellent as always. He gives each character a distinct and easily recognized voice and personality. His narration really brought this story and its characters to life.