**Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐(5)/5**
Like Legends & Lattes, Bookshops & Bonedust has my heart.

Bookshops & Bonedust is the prequel to Legends & Lattes, and provides some more of our main character Viv’s backstory. As a young warrior Orc recently injured in battle, Viv finds herself injured and is left behind by her mercenary company in the slow-paced beach town of Murk for some forced rehabilitation. Frustrated to be out of the action and bored, Viv finds herself spending time in the last place she might have expected—a bookshop. Viv finds unexpected friends and even a potential first love, along with a place in town helping to revitalize the bookshop. It’s not long before adventure comes knocking when a mysterious visitor appears and sets off a series of events that require Viv to protect herself and those she’s come to care about from a dangerous foe.

It was truly a joy to read Bookshops & Bonedust. I adore it all—the writing, characters, world-building, and storytelling in Baldree’s work are exactly what I want from the cozy fantasy genre. The audiobook (narrated by Baldree himself) is perfection, and I contend that it takes the story to a whole other level. While Legends & Lattes is famously a “high fantasy, low stakes” book, the stakes felt a little higher in Bookshops & Bonedust, which I enjoyed.

Fans of the first book will not be disappointed, and I enthusiastically (and frequently) recommend this book to everyone. Readers can also look forward to a small flash-forward update on Viv after Legends & Lattes! I anxiously (and hopefully) await the announcement of more books in this series!

**Acknowledgments & Disclaimers**
✨ Thank you to NetGalley, Travis Baldree, and Macmillan Audio, for providing an ARC and the opportunity to share an honest review of this book.
✨ All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
✨ My reviews and ratings strive to evaluate books within their own age-demographic and genre.

I liked this book. I enjoyed it. But it suffers from two very important things - it is a prequel, and inevitable comparison to Legends and Lattes.

The prequel problem:
I like the idea of characters and people that come into our lives and mean something to us, perhaps even change us, but are only in our lives for a season. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I find it quite as interesting in fiction as I do in real life. This is a prequel, which means the stakes ultimately don’t matter and the relationships aren't lasting.

Part of what made Legends and Lattes so cozy was the found family trope. Viv is new in town, and she developes friendships along the way. People who come to see her vision and support her in her journey.

When we meet the characters in Bookshops and Bonedust we already know they are not going to remain in Viv’s life. It's a bold story choice. I respect it. But I didn’t love it.

The Comparison problem:
This book takes place in the same world, with the same main character as Legends and Lattes. It is impossible not to compare these books.

The version we see of Viv in Bookshops and Bonedust is a lot younger and more impulsive. And I’m going to say it - less likable. She is even occasionally downright rude. I absolutely hated how she was so nosey about the local romance author in town, and wanted to know if the author and her butler were in a relationship. Viv commented to several people that she wondered if the author took inspiration from her romantic relationship with the butler, and even asked the butler himself!!

Maybe this was inspired by how insensitive fandom communities can be at times about people’s personal lives. But it is not funny. It is just plain rude and none of your freakin’ business!! I hated that our main character, who we are supposed to love, took part in the ugly side of fandom.

However, this part of the story may actually be helped by the fact that this is a prequel. We know how Viv’s story progresses, and we know she is a much better person in 20 years time.

Other things of note:
This book at times felt like it was trying to cater to the romantasy crowd, especially with the books that Viv likes to read being romantasy books. Legends and Lattes did blow up on tictok, and while I’m not a part of that particular side of the book community, I get the impression romantasy is very popular there. I’m just not sure this book actually accomplishes much with the romance angle. Our main character has a romantic fling with someone we know isn’t end game. It’s a bold choice. I respect it. In fact, I kind of like it. Past lovers can make an impact on us, for good or ill. But I wasn’t invested in their romance. I’m not sure if this is because I already knew that the relationship ends, or if it is from the lack of romantic tension in those scenes. As I’m not a romance reader, I’m fine with that. I just found it odd given the overall romantacy vibes I was getting from the books Viv reads, and the commentary on how books mirror real life.

Everything in the book felt like the first book taken up a few notches, except the starting a business side of things. I actually wish the book had spent more time revitalizing the bookshop. The books about reading that I love most focus on the book collection side of reading, rather than preaching to the choir by telling the reader how great reading is. Spending more time working on the bookshop would have brought out more vibes similar to the first book.

This book had much more action than the first book. While remaining somewhat low stakes and lacking real tension (it is a prequel afterall) we have serious things going on in the story. Viv is being stalked, both by mysterious characters in the streets, and in Viv’s dreams. It is a situation she can’t escape from. A conspiracy related to the necromancer Viv was hunting when she was injured is brewing and threatening the livelihoods of those in this small town. The second half of the book is dedicated to rooting out that plot, while continuing the day to day happenings of this small town.

The best new character in this book was quite literally a bag of bones. I’m not sure I can say more without spoiling things xD

While this book lacks the same charm the first book had, and I doubt I’ll reread this one, I am still glad I read it. It is a great book to read inbetween heavier books. It was a fun, cozy fantasy romp.

In "Bookshops and Bonedust" we learn about Viv the orc"s past career and her convalesce in which she falls in love with reading. She convalesces in Murk and we see how she becomes the person she is later on in the original book "Legends and Lattes."
Viv has no choice but to rest and read after her leg is injured in battle. She grabs a crutch and hobbles in to a local book shop (which needs work) and makes several friends. The Thistleburr Bookshop is owned by a ratkin named Fern who has a pet griffon Pot Roast. Another friend Viv finds is the female dwarf bakeshop owner Maylee (she has a summer romance with).
This book is a cozy read and fun if you like to hear about books and food and friends.

I received an audio review copy of this book via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Fresh & captivating cozy fantasy tale about an orc forced to take it easy after a battle injury, and falls in love with reading.

Viv is a tough battle orc who finds ways to fill her time while recovering from a severe battle wound. She's drawn to a small ratkin's bookshop, which has fallen into disrepair. The ratkin has a hilarious sailor's mouth that had me giggling at the contrast with her small stature and sweet voice. And then they both find themselves wrapped up in an adventure no one could have seen coming.

It's everything you want from low stakes high fantasy when you want a digestible and relaxing read. It has colorful and fun descriptions that bring the world to life. I listened to the audiobook, and it's clear that it was written by an author who is a talented narrator. It was created to be listened to. I sometimes struggle with audiobooks, but this one held my attention the whole time. I loved it!!

I received an ARC, and am providing an honest review. Thank you to Travis Baldree and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

I have received an advanced copy of this audiobook courtesy of Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for review purposes. Thank you! My opinions stated here is my own.

This book is narrated by its author, who has also narrated the first book in the series, "Legends and Lattes." He does fantastic job realizing his world, and it is a fun ride.

I am not a fantasy fan at all, but I really enjoyed Legends and Lattes, with its mix of cozy and humorous storytelling and found family setting. I was very excited to hear that another book in the same series was being published this year, and I could hardly wait to get the new book. If you are someone like me and have enjoyed Legends and Lattes, you would be likely to enjoy this book as well - it's a prequal to Legends and Lattes, where the main character, loveable orc Viv is the main character. In this prequal, she is wounded her leg during the hunt, and forced to take R & R 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. Bored and unable to move, she begrudgingly begins to read and befriends the owner of the bookshop.

This book was a bit slow to start, but it picks up its pace along the way. The story is somewhat predictable and I preferred the first book. I gave both books 4 starts, but the first one was like 4.3 stars and this one was like 3.75 stars for me. However it's still a fun and cozy book to read and will entertain Legends fans. I am already looking forward for the third book and sad to have to wait for another year for it.

I don't know if the story was good or not. Couldn't get past the sound of the narrator's voice, and the way he read it. Sorry

I love Viv the Cozy Orc Barbarian! She's a lovable lesbian who's prickly on the outside but loyal and loving when you get to know her. I loved her debut in 2021's Legends & Lattes and couldn't wait for Baldree's prequel. It delivers! Set long before Viv started her coffee shop. She's a daring adventurer fighting a necromancer. After an injury, she rests in a town with a cozy bookstore owned by a ratkin and her little griffin doggy (from the cover). Viv can't just sit around and do nothing! To keep occupied, she fixes up the bookshop, solves necromancer mysteries, and falls in love! Romance prequels are fun to see loves that could have been. I also love the titular bone dust character introduced halfway through. I'll write more about this one, but no spoilers just yet! If you think you'd like a cozy fantasy, try this!

Travis Baldree absolutely blows me away. I had the incredible opportunity to review the audiobook version of Bookshops & Bonedust courtesy of the incredible publishers at Macmillan audio.

I adore that this novel is narrated by Travis. It makes it 10x better for me. I LOVED Legends & Lattes and I wasn’t sure if this book would be just as cozy. It is. It’s the perfect prequel to Legends & Lattes. I can’t wait to snag the physical copy because I feel like this is going to be a book series I reread yearly. It’s warm. It’s captivating. It’s a beautifully magical story that you will absolutely devour and feel fully satisfied.

Bravo yet again! Brilliant 👏🏻👏🏻

3.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced listening copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book expecting it to be Legends & Lattes 2.0. To feel like curling up with a good book, a warm cup of tea, and a cat sleeping next to you on a rainy day, that coziness was what I was expecting. This is not a cozy book, there are far too many stakes for it to be cozy.

While it was not inconsistent and the characters were wrapped up nicely and neatly, I could not connect to this book. This story felt very impersonal. With Legends & Lattes, it was that warm feeling, where you find solace and a break in a warm novel. In Bookshops & Bonedust, it was not that, it felt colder, and there was more action. I did not go into this thinking there was going to be violence, murder, and many references to death. And while I knew this would be Viv's prequel, her previous adventures before she retired from her mercenary life, I once again, expected that cozy atmosphere to the book that L&L had.

I loved the way the book ended, it was smart and heartfelt, and the beginning was nice, but the middle was insincere. Bookshops & Bonedust felt like a placeholder. It lacked the community that Legends & Lattes had. In L&L, Viv interacts with the whole town, the baker, the bard, the shipping company, locals, and other sellers, it's like reading Animal Crossing. Whereas with B&B, Viv only interacted with about 5 people from the town. I was also not expecting the characters to all read romance books and discuss them with each other. I'm not complaining it just was not on my radar at all.

Travis Baldree narrates the audiobook and his narration is wonderful. The voices he chooses and acts for specific characters were so much fun to listen to. I stopped listening to the story and just focussed on him narrating for almost 20 minutes, trying to figure out how it was his voice the entire time. I would definitely read more books that he has narrated because he is a fantastic narrator.

I loved this prequel to Legends and Lattes!! Learning to know more about Viv’s backstory was a lot of fun and I’m hoping there will be more books to fill in the gaps.

In this novel, Viv, an orc, becomes injured in a battle and has to spend time in a small town healing. During her time there, she makes friends and learns more about herself as a person. When her healing is over, she has to decide what is most important to her, and if she should stay or go on as originally planned.

There are some really fun characters introduced in this book. My favorite is Satchel. His physical description and personality added a level of humor into the story, while also warming the heartstrings.

The narrator for this audiobook was Travis Baldree, the author. I absolutely loved the voices he gave the characters! He did a phenomenal job and I would listen to any other adventure type novel he were to narrate.

The only thing I didn’t care for about this novel was the amount of “swearing.” Too many of the characters used the same phrases repeatedly and I found it somewhat distracting and unnecessary.

Thank you to #NetGalley for an audio ARC of #Bookshops&Bonedust by #TravisBaldree in exchange for honest feedback. All opinions are my own.

Just as wonderful as Legends & Lattes. You'll really enjoy getting to know a younger Viv through some of the experiences that made her the orc that you fell for in the first book. All while being introduced to even more places and characters in this cozy fantasy world.

Bookshops and Bonedust follows Viv as she tries to take it slow and heal from a wounded leg in a small beach side town. She begrudgingly befriends the owner of a rundown bookstore and some other residents and her recuperation evolves into helping bring the bookstore back to life (haha) while also keeping an eye out for the necromancer that injured her.

I was so excited to get back in to this book universe and learn more about Viv! I was also once again so incredibly hungry while reading all of the descriptions of the delicious food stuffs. The stakes aren't quite as low as in Legends in Lattes, but it's still a relaxed read, befitting of a small town. This book is bittersweet, but not in any way that you aren't aware of from the beginning and the epilogue had me tearing up.

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

Seeing Viv during her prime monster fighting days was really interesting. Being in a different city from the first book was some nice world building. Overall a fun cozy fantasy series.

I loved the first book, so I was excited to read this one! I’m pleased to say that it lived up to its predecessor. Bookshops and Bonedust brought all the cozy, small town feels plus some more action. The narrator’s voice was calm and soothing, and it added to the reading experience, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy, found family and small towns but make it queer.

I loved the print version of Bookshops & Bonedust, and I enjoyed the audio version even more. This will be a definite addition to our library’s audio book collection.

Now I know what you are thinking. I loved Legends and Lattes so much, I’m not sure I want to read about Viv’s life before.

That’s where you are wrong. Or I was wrong. I found myself even more engrossed in Viv’s story and more intrigued in her journey from mercenary to barista. We find an injured Viv doing her best to hunt for a necromancer but also heal so she can get out of this quaint little town with nothing to do. Or of course so she thinks. We find our fearless Orc spending her days in a bookshop, and honestly that’s the best way to recover from an injury. In fact I feel an injury coming up in my near future if that’s where I get to heal.

Anyways. Since Viv can’t relax if she tries, she finds plenty of things to keep her busy. From remodeling to romancing to eventually merc’ing around. There are lots of pastries, stolen kisses, adventures and good books. Most importantly there’s Satchel.

All in all I am hooked and will read any and every part of Viv’s life.

Thank you again to netgalley for providing me with the audiobook in exchange for a fair review of the story.

I absolutely loved this one! I loved Legends and Lattes, and wasn’t exactly sure what to expect going into this one. I went in blind, and was thrilled by the journey. There’s a lot to be said about a character driven story that manages to capture and hold onto my attention, and Baldree managed to knock it out of the park yet again.
The cast of characters throughout this book are so endearing and heartwarming. I fell in love with all of them. Fern?! POTROAST!!! Ugh they were all adorable and will now live in my head rent free.
I loved the addition of the books within the book, from all of the different sides. As a reader, having someone recommend me books is always fun, so being able to see some newer readers in the story experience that was awesome.
Books can bring people together, whether they’re mysteries or the “spicy and moist” ones 😂
5 out of 5 stars, highly recommend for anyone who’s interested in character based fantasy stories. The audiobook is narrated by the author, and it’s outstandingly well done. There’s a ton of variation in his voice that helps to add to how individual the characters sounded

I REALLY love this book. Small town with a book and coffee shop! What’s not to love about this book? It’s one of those feel good books that you will have to read every now and then.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Author for allowing me to arc read this book. Beautifully written! I was not paid for the review as it is my honest review.

Y'all! This book was perfect, yes, perfect. I needed a cozy, autumn read that had some excitement, love, understanding, renewal, and discovery... and this was it! If you love all those things plus fantasy and books and imagination then you need to read this book! Plus it is as beautiful on the outside as it is on the inside... so buy a copy for your shelf! That's what I plan on doing. Thank you so much to Travis Baldree for writing (and narrating) this gorgeous story and to Netgalley for the audio-arc!

It took me a while to track that the author reads this audiobook. At first, I was like, "I'm not sure about this narrator's voice. Eight hours is quite a commitment..." But within just a few chapters, I was all, "Dang, the pacing and characterization are perfect. Absolutely spot-on. I wonder what other books this narrator has read..."

Then, boy, did I feel sheepish. Perhaps I should pay closer attention?

All this to say, Bookshops & Bonedust is all kinds of fun to listen to. It's cozy and charming and a perfect escape from the real world. Plus, Fern, the bookshop owner who draws Viv out, is basically the readers' advisory of my dreams.

Ahem...I listened to Bookshops & Bonedust before Legends & Lattes, so now please excuse me while I cue it up.