Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for access to this absolutely fantastic alc!!

5 million/5 stars

Y'all. This is the absolute best book I've read/listened to in AGES. I love this story and these characters with my ENTIRE HEART. This is such a perfect, easy, cozy story, and I honestly enjoyed it LEAPS AND BOUNDS MORE than Legends and Lattes! Now, being both a bookseller and a lifelong book lover I may be a little biased, but this really read as a love letter to the bookworm in all of us, whether it is our living or our hobby (or both!).

I loved Viv's youthful energy in this book, even though it got her into a very less than ideal situation for her hahaha!

Fern is just lovely. I want to be her friend and work in her store, muttering foul language together over what's happening in our books.

I won't say anything too specific bc spoilers, but P was an adorable delight, and S was such surprise happy addition to this I wasn't at all expecting and I LOVE THEM DEARLY.

THAT. EPILOGUE. TEARS. TEARS EVERYWHERE.

I adored this. Favourite book of the year by far.

And the audio!!! Travis Baldree is already an audiobook narrator, so I knew this was going to be good, but DAMN, MAN. He brought so much life into each and every one of his own characters, I'm so glad he was the one to narrate this!! IT WAS FANTASTIC!!!

I never even knew that cozy fantasy was a genre, but I am here for it! Bookshops & Bonedust is the prequel to Legends & Lattes. While I haven’t read Legends and Lattes yet, I’ve heard a ton of great reviews about it, and was so excited to dive into the series.

This book was just a joy to read, or in my case, listen to. Not only do we learn about how Viv came to love books and eventually to owning a bookshop; but I loved the overall message that you’re never too old to find new loves, hobbies, and your overall place in the world. Just about every character we meet is adorable, especially Pot Roast, and this small town charmed the pants off me. Even though this book released after book #1 in the series, I’m 100% glad I read this before getting into to Legends & Lattes. Many comments of other reviews mention that the ‘adventure’ didn’t feel as high stakes when reading Bookshops & Bonedust, since they had already read Legends & Lattes and knew what was to come 2 decades later. I tend to lose interest if I know the future of characters, so my recommendation would be to read the prequel first!

Travis Baldree is a voice actor and was the narrator for his own books. He was excellent and I could have listened to this book & his voice for another few hours at least. I was entirely too sad to say goodbye to Viv and the gang, but I’m stoked for the sequels to come out and to dive into Legends and Lattes! 4.5 stars rounded down to 4!


Bookshops & Bonedust comes out November 7, 2023. Huge thank you to Tor and Macmillan Audio for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.

Cozy fantasy isn't something I've read much of. And I didn't read Legends & Lattes - although now I need to!

Viv is out with a crew on an adventure when she gets injured. They decide to leave her in Merk to recouperate and will pick her up on their return trip. She isn't happy about it.

She starts to meet others in this small town, which was quite a cast of characters. She befriends the bookstore owner and before you know it she's part of the town.

The audiobook was amazing! And I will definitely be continuing on with this series. So fun!!

Many thanks to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

4.75 ⭐️

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC before the official release date of “Bookshops and Bonedust”.

The audiobook narrator did a great job at telling this story with engaging inflection and tone and also varying voices for characters.

I originally read “Legends and Lattes” one year ago and it was a book that helped me get back into reading. I love low-stakes fantasy so when I learned that “Bookshops and Bonedust” was coming out- I was ecstatic. Legends and Lattes was one of my favorite fantasy novels form the past year and so I had high expectations for this prequel and was pleasantly surprised that it met all ands even exceeded my expectations.

It was well-written and had a plot that was cohesive and well-strung together. The characters were interesting and unique to this novel, and also charmingly memorable. I loved seeing Viv fall in love with a slower life and see her love for reading blossom.

You can strongly feel the influence of the first book with the heavy descriptions of food and the entire cottage-core vibe of the book.

It was highly enjoyable living out every book nerd’s fantasy of helping to refurbish a dying bookshop and saving a small town from trouble. The book also had one of the best epilogues that I have ever read.

Highly recommend 😊

I love this world. The epitome of cozy. I love Viv's growth and Galena and Fern. Potroast! Its all so wonderful and I gooe there are plenty more stories to come

Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes, #0)
Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You know, I specifically read this because of Legends and Lattes, for the hope that I'd fall for the comfort, the warmth, the utterly delightful idea that something can be built that can last.

Sure, it's a fantasy, but that's just an element to amuse. A little necromancy, a splash of blood, but that's nothing.

The good stuff is BOOKS. Books and bonedust and teasing companionship and MAKING FRIENDS.

God. This book was just as good as the other.

Should we want ALL that Travis Baldree has to offer? Yes. I think we should ALL want an unlimited amount of feel-good fantasy X 2 thrillers as we can possibly support.

READ IT.

This delivers what it promises. It’s a cozy read and I love that she finds a love of reading. Very low stakes and slower paced. I personally prefer high fantasy, so take my opinions with a grain of salt.

Bookshops and Bonedust is an excellent prequel to Legends and Lattes. I would recommend reading L&L first, but I think you could follow this easily without doing so. In this book, we get some of Viv's backstory from before opening a coffee shop in a small magical community that has never heard of the divine beverage.

Viv's mercenary career is not going well and after a significant injury, she has to lie low at a bookshop. While there, she makes new friends but adventure doesn't stay away just like Viv's desire for it continues despite a broken leg. This story is full of fun, quirky characters, a bit of love, and a lot of adventure and found family.

The icing on the cake is the incredible audiobook narration by the author! I was shocked at his incredible vocal abilities and the range of voices he performed, especially since I read an e-book of Legends & Lattes. If low stakes fantasy is your bag, put this on your TBR.

When rookie adventurer Viv, sustains a serious leg injury in her first battle, she's forced to go to the nearest town to recuperate while the rest of her crew continues hunting down a necromancer. Viv's not one to sit still for long, so when she befriends a local bookshop owner she embarks on a personal adventure to help the store become more successful.

I thought this was just as wonderful and cozy as Legends and Lattes, and I loved that we got to the very beginning of the journey that eventually led Viv to end her time as an adventurer and open up a coffee shop. I loved the relationship between Viv and Fern, and I particularly loved how the epilogue really brought everything back together.

In this prequel to Legends + Lattes, Viv spends her time in the town of Murk while recovering from a battle injury. Travis Baldree again creates an interesting world full of unique characters. I’m doing so, he shows us Viv’s early life and how her motivations will later play out in Thune.

I really appreciated the dialogue of this creative cast of characters. The found family theme is a favorite of mine and it definitely added to the cozy vibe of the book. Similar to Legends + Lattes, food plays a pivotal role in this story as well. My grievance with the audiobook was that the descriptions of the characters/scenes were confusing at times. The story was a bit slow at points, but the ending was strong. The epilogue brought the story full circle to tie into Legends + Lattes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the ALC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

4/5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed <i>Bookshops & Bonedust</i> as much as <i>Legends & Lattes</i>, perhaps even more! I definitely definitely definitely recommend reading <i>Legends & Lattes</i> first for reasons that would be a minor spoiler, but <i>Bookshops</i> still holds up well on its own. There's a lot of nice flavor for a reader who has read the original, for sure, and allows for super heartfelt moments that call back to themes and ideas from <i>Legends & Lattes</i>. The ending in particular...... ahh!!! I was worried this book would let me down knowing that Viv, our protagonist, doesn't stay in this cozy seaside town for long. However, Travis Baldree wrapped it up so nicely and satisfactory for Viv.

Also, this was my first time listening to Baldree in audio form. WOW is he good. I highly recommend the audio for audiobook listeners. I shouldn't be surprised given his experience with VO work, but WOW!

<i>Bookshops</i> in general had more plot elements driving it forward than its predecessor and I could really feel Baldree coming into his own as an author.

I feel like with a cozy fantasy book like this it definitely takes a special kind of voice to narrate and I wasn't a huge fan of this voice for this story. I would like to read this book without narration and see if I liked it better that way.

Not quite as good as "Legends & Lattes" because it has less of a plot. L&L was specific in its goal (to launch a successful coffeeshop as well as a new life) while this one is more of a meander. The plot is Viv is recovering from an injury and misadventures ensue. But this series is officially my favorite for road trips as audiobooks because it's anti-stressful and entertaining in all its rambles.

Listened to the audiobook as an arc via netgalley.

If you liked Legends and Lattes you will absolutely adore the follow-up. A prequel to Legends this introduces us to a much younger Viv who is just getting started in her adventuring career, and gets stuck in a small seaside village after an injury.

This book hit me hard and really connected with me due to the relatability of Vivs situation. I had a stroke and as such I have a lot of difficulty getting around. Another symptom is immense nerve pain that can basically sideline me for an entire day. To get through the pain, I often find myself curled up with a good book, using it to escape. This is a central component of this book, Bookshops & Bonedust highlights the power of the written word.

This entry has a bit more action than Legends and introduces a bevy of truly lovable characters. A must read.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I own a physical copy of Legends & Lattes that I bought shortly before being approved for this audiobook, and I had yet to read it, so it was fun to be able to read the prequel prior to the original novel. However, after reading other reviews, I found that my experience was common in that I felt it wasn't as low-stakes as I was expecting since I didn't have the foresight of how Viv's future would pan out.

I absolutely LOVED Fern and her foul mouth, I found myself cackling every time she spoke, and I related to her love of recommending books to her friends.

I will say that I did struggle to stay focused, but only because I am not used to male narrators, so I did actually re-start the whole thing after I got about half way through my first listen. I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything, and that seemed to help, but it did take away from my experience overall though I do acknowledge that is a "me" problem and has nothing to do with the quality of the recording or the book's content. That being said, it was a fun book overall and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a cozy fantasy novel.

I honestly went into this book expecting it to not be as good as Legends & Lattes. But it was just as good! And as always, Travis Baldree does an amazing job narrating his books!

Being back with Viv and learning more about her was so amazing. The nee friends we made in Merk and the cool new creatures introduced. Travis Baldree does an amazing job with cozy fantasy and it’s the perfect read for the -ber months!

This story was everything Legends & Lattes was but that epilogue had me in happy tears. I really hope we get a spin off book about the character mentioned (no spoilers here) based on that epilogue!

I think you're all going to be reading this one next month, let's be honest lol This is the prequel story to Legends and Lattes and yes you can absolutely start with this one if you are the rare human who hasn’t read legends and lattes yet. This book had over 100 reviews already when it was a month out from release so I know ya’ll are excited. This follows the brief time in Viv’s life before she arrived in the small town of Thune so it’s like an introduction to her character before we get those main events in book 1. It still carries all of the small town cozy vibes. I do wish we could’ve gotten a sequel but maybe there is one in the works. I still really liked this one! Just felt more like a repeat of book 1 with not a whole lot of differences but why fix what's not broken?

An absolutely delightful and engaging prequel to the beloved Legends & Lattes book, made only better by the vocal talents of the author. I was incredibly engaged and enjoyed listening to this book the entire time. A great follow up for this author.

Okay, now do a flower shop. Or better yet, crafts!

Legend has it that before Viv even tried her first latte, she busted her leg and ended up in a small town with a bookshop in need of her super-strong hugs. There's a dash of sapphic romance, yummy baked goods, and of course, a cozy bookshop complete with a shop pet (a dog/bird thing named Pot Roast!). This is still a sword and sorcery fantasy -- our protagonist is an orc, after all -- but it's mostly that feeling you get when you snuggle into a comfy chair with a warm cup of tea. If you're trying to organize your bookshelf, Travis Baldree belongs right between Alexander McCall Smith and your D&D manual.

Is it necessary to read Legends and Lattes first? Technically no, but there are a few nods to the first book that you won't want to miss. You should read both, though. No matter which angle you come from, you'll love Viv.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author/narrator, and publisher for providing an early copy of this audio in exchange for my honest review.

Once again, Travis Baldree delights with another tale featuring Viv, the sword-wielding orc whose heart is as big as her biceps. Here we see her before she chooses the quieter life of a coffee shop, in a situation where an injury forces her to rest - which leads her to adventures of a very different sort.

If you loved "Legends and Lattes", this one is such to please you just as much. I love how Baldree builds characters who feel so real despite being pure fantasy. His world-building is top notch.

I can only hope we see more of Viv and her cozy world in the future.

I was given an advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review. Travis Baldree narrates, and he does an incredible job. Well worth listening to.