Travis Baldtree once again knocked it out of the park. Legends & Lattes was a book that I read that just hit a feel that I didn't know I wanted. I'm a massive D&D fan and L&L was a great story that reminded me of many different aspects of it.

When I heard Bookshops & Bonedust was coming out, I was...hesitant. It was a prequel. Something I wasn't sure I would want since I thought Viv got her happy ever after. She had her coffee shop and so many things going for her in retirement. However, Baldtree caught my attention with his voice and writing from the get go. He brought forth a story that I will be willing to listen to over and over again (and possibly include in my next d&d campaign!).

Viv meets so many characters that help to bring her full circle to L&L. Getting injured is something no adventurer wants, especially to be dropped off by her friends and party in a small town. Being told, we'll come back for you, especially with that party going after a strong necromancer who could potentially kill them. Not knowing what happens to your group that you've spent time with is hard.

As the owner of the bookshop that Viv has decided to help out with, Fern makes this story come alive even more. Potroast is the cutest thing ever and I really want a plushie made of him. Satchel is by far the best character in this whole story and I want a blue eyed skeletal homunculus as well.

One of my favorite bits about this story is Baldtree's imagination. As a person with 'no minds-eye' he creates a descriptive narrative that allows me to feel the scene instead of seeing it. He doesn't go on and on in a descriptive faction like most fantasy books do on what the coast looks like, etc. He brings a feeling to it that I appreciate and can't wait to see what happens.

“Watching you read what I give you, putting a book in your hands and seeing what happens to you once you put it back down . . . I can’t make you understand how that gives me something I didn’t know I had to have.”

If you’ve read Legends & Lattes, you’re going to want to pick this book up and read about a brief time in Viv’s life before coming to Thune. If you haven’t read Legends & Lattes and you enjoy cozy SFF, Dungeons and Dragons, small town romance, the found family trope, and/or low stakes character-driven stories… then what are you waiting for?

This prequel has all of the cozy, small town vibes of L&L, along with fabulous side characters, delectable baked goods, and a nefarious villain to overcome. We also have the added benefit of getting to know Viv before her battle-weariness. An appreciation for the written word absolutely permeates the entire story, as well as found family, first love, forging paths to follow one’s dreams.

The epilogue included a scene from the L&L time period, and it may have made me a little misty! Overall, I quite enjoyed lovely this addition to Viv’s story.

I’d also like to add that, similarly to L&L, the author narrates the audio edition of the book. It’s clear that Baldree has put his heart not only into the writing, but also the reading, of both books.

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.
___
Thank you netgallery and Travis Baldree for allowing me to listen to this amazing book.

If you read Legends & Lattes and loved it then you must read boneshops & bookdust. The prequal story of Vi and how she became a bookseller. It is an amazing story for fans of D&D and cozy stories. I love Vi the LBGTQ Orc.
This is a story of Viv and Rackam in an battle against a necromancer’s skeleton army. With an injured leg, Viv finds herself in small seaside town called murk. She ends up exploring the small town and meeting with the locals, and finds many different kind of adventures while she waits for Rackam to come back for her.

My favorite part of this book is this book also talks about how there will never be an age limit on figuring out things you want to do in life.

I honestly can't wait for more stories about Viv.

I am a huge Lattes & Legends fan, so I am so thankful to have had an opportunity to receive an ARC of the audio book through Netgalley. Thank you to Netgalley and TOR.

This prequel to Legends & Lattes follows Viv's journey to how she came to open the coffee shop. Viv suffers a battle injury in her leg and is dropped off in a quaint village to recover. There she discovers found family in the form of a bookstore where she discovers an interest in reading.

This has a more battling and action then seen in L&L, but it suited the story and provided a bit of action not seen in the previous book. It still holds the heartwarming qualities of a charming cozy fantasy that left me with the warm and fuzzies. The bookkeeper conveys the joy of watching someone fall in love with reading in such fantastic splendor while Viv discovers the business and marketing side of herself that really comes forth in L&L.

An extra bonus chapter transports us to after the events of L&L which does give spoilers to L&L, so take caution if reading the prequel before indulging in Legends & Lattes.

I loved this so much. I will definitely pick up the physical book once it is released.

I received this one from NetGalley for a honest review. I give this ⭐️⭐️⭐️ three stars I was hoping this would shine a little more light to the first book considering this is more of a prequel, but it didn’t hit the mark for me. I’m not saying it’s bad I’m just saying it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

This was such a fun read, a thoroughly enjoyable cozy fantasy romp. The start was a little slower than Legends and Lattes but it quickly picks and is just as good. I loved all the characters and hope they reappear in future books to come. The narration was excellent, good accents and various tones really differentiated the characters.

This book was so good. I thought Legends and Lattes was perfect, until I discovered this book. Prior to this, I wasn’t into anything cozy, but these books have opened up a new world for me and how I want cozy everything.

Bookshops & Bonedust brings us Viv, who has been hurt on a job with her group of travelling mercenaries, and left to heal in the town of Murk. While recovering she helps a local bookshop get back on its feet, and makes connections with the local town-folk, learning about them, where they come from, and why they are where they are, and discovering more about herself, and her future, in the process.
As someone who has yet to be able to make it through Legends & Lattes (not because I dislike it, just because of scheduling issues) this book made me so incredibly excited to eventually be able to pick it back up, but I also didn’t feel as though I was missing anything from not having read the book, it stood on its own incredibly well.
Viv was such a fun protagonist. It was refreshing to have a main character who knows exactly what she wants in the moment, but also be so open to experiencing something new. While this was a book about self discovery, Viv still knew who she was at her core, and didn’t let anyone take that away from her. The supporting cast was some of my all time favorites, and I hope the author once again revisits them in the future, perhaps jumping off the epilogue.
The message of this book comes through beautifully. It’s a book about beginnings and endings and how sometimes the right people come around at the wrong time and that’s okay. “Sometimes, it'll never be the right time. And sometimes, we aren't the right people yet.” I think sums it up perfectly, giving us a bittersweet ending, that is not shied away from, from the very beginning. Overall an incredible novel, and I cannot wait to read the rest that Travis Baldree has to offer.

Absolutely obsessed. Even better than the first one (later timeline). Please don't stop this wave of cozy fantasy. It's giving inspiration to cozy D&D campaigns, magazines and more. The writing was warm and sensitive as usual and I could read twenty more of these from Travis Baldree.

Adored. Honestly, even more than Legends and Lattes (also superb).

Bookshops & Bonedust felt meatier. There were slightly higher stakes that kept me invested. I appreciated its place as a prequel. It gives the reader excellent insight into Viv’s past and personal development.

Baldree is a quality writer that I am thrilled to see more from. They possess the rare skill of writing something that is both captivating and relaxing.


Plot - 5
Writing and Editing - 5
Character Development - 5
Personal Bias - 5
Final Score - 5

Thank you Travis Baldree, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for my anudio advanced review copy. My opinions are my own.

Publication: November, 6th 2023

'Bookshops & Bonedust' would have been a cute, cozy novella, but it didn't have quite as much oomph as I'd like for a full-length novel. It was still an overall enjoyable read, but not enough to become a reread for me.

The story - Viv, a headstrong orc, settles in a quaint town to recover from an injury that's sidelined her from the battlefield. She meets some fun characters, include a baker she quickly falls for, but when a gray man seems to be stalking her the adventure scales up.

I should say, to start, that while I love cozy fantasy (LOVE - it's the only kind of fantasy I've been into lately), I have not read Legends & Lattes. This is the prequel to Legends & Lattes so it didn't cause any problems for me.

The world was cute and the characters were too. It was enjoyable and certainly cozy, but the problem with cozy novels is that they're *harder* to write than plot-heavy books. To make a cozy work the characters and world have to be somewhere I'd like to just hangout doing not much for xx,xxx words and this fell a little short of that.

This was also more plot-heavy than I was expecting (not a bad thing) but the problem was the stakes - I just wasn't sold on them. They felt very nothing-burger to me and I kept waiting for a reason to care.

The epilogue was a little random, just a pretty blatant setup for a third book. Surely there could be a better way to do that?

Thanks, NetGalley and Tor, for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Prior to Legends and Lattes, Viv is enthusiastically defeating reanimated skeletons as part of her job as a bounty hunter when she receives a debilitating leg wound. As her fellow bounty hunters continue on mission, Viv is left to languish in a little port town with barely more than an inn, a bakery, and a bookshop to its name. With nothing better to do, Viv investigates all three and finds herself persuaded to start reading. But trouble seems to follow the orc wherever she goes, despite her excellent decorating sense. Does she dare invest in a summer romance only to break the local lady's heart when she inevitably leaves with her fellows as soon as her injury heals?

Dare I say I liked this book better than Legends and Lattes? It definitely has cozy elements to it, but the thrill of mystery and romance is more pronounced, and while L&L definitely beats it in its descriptions of mouthwatering pastries, B&B has that smidge of adventure that L&L was missing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This book was an absolute delight! First - can I please visit Travis Baldree's kitchen? Every time he describes food in his books, I have an overwhelming need to eat a hearty meal!

If you enjoyed "Legends and Lattes" this prequel is an absolute must add to your TBR. Baldree is a master of cozy settings, charming and easy to love characters, and a Dungeons and Dragons feeling plot. This book tells the story of a time when Viv took a break from adventuring with the ravens to recover from an injury and befriends a bookshop owner.

Watching Viv, one of my all time favorite characters, fall in love with reading was an absolute treat. Not to mention, books with characters who read romance novels may be my all time favorite trope. And, there's a little critter named Potroast who you're guaranteed to love! It felt so special and cozy to be on an adventure with Viv once again.

Like his other book, Baldtdee narrates the audiobook and knocks it out of the park. The characters voices are exactly how I imagined and are easy to differentiate from one another. No complaints from me whatsoever.

I pre-ordered this audiobook about 8 months ago, and while I'm so grateful to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for letting me listen to it before it's release, I'll be keeping my audiobook purchase because I know I'll listen to this one again and again!

3.5/5 ⭐
0.5/5 🌶️
4.0/5 🎧

I really enjoyed this prequel to Legends and Lattes, but I definitely liked the first one more. I was disappointed that we saw more romance between Viv and Mira than we ever did with Viv and Tandy... And that it wasn't about her discovering coffee. All and all I liked it, but it left me with a bit of what was the point of that? Had it been different characters, I think I may have felt much differently.

The audio was well done again. Travis did a great job narrating his own story, although I do wish it was a female narrator given it's from a FMC's POV. But given it's 3rd person this doesn't matter as much.

I really loved the adventure aspect of this story and the bit of action we got while still being a cozy read.

I hoping we get more from this world and from Travis.

I am currently 50% completed with this novel. Honestly, I am whole heartedly enjoying this adventure. I think that this prequel might be my favorite of the Legends & Lattes series. The audiobook is a delight. Will provide more insight once completed.

Bookshops + Bonedust is a prequel to Legends + Lattes and we follow Viv as she realizes her career with the mercenary company-Rackam's Ravens is not going according to plan. It may have something to do with her being injured during a hunt for a powerful necromancer. She ends up being sent off to the sleepy beach town of Murk so she can recuperate. She may have never predicted seeing herself in a bookshop with the company of the bookshops foul-mouthed proprietor. As she worries her life would have less action in it she quickly find that a new adventure awaits her when a mysterious and suspicious traveler in gray appears.

First off, I want to start this review off by saying: yes, I read legends + Lattes back in December of 2022 (rated 4/5 stars) but I am going to reframe from comparing Bookshops + Bonedust to Legends + Lattes.

Bookshops + Bonedust definitely has that cozy fantasy vibe to it and makes you want to read it on a rainy day curled up on your couch with a fluffy blanket.

When being transported into this books world, you really get that feeling of Murk being a sleepy town with not much going on. I love the feeling Travis emanates with his writing when it comes to the characters emotions or the setting. But with the world building, I think Travis does well on painting the picture of the world but when it comes down to it there is not much meat to it and is just really the bone structure of the world. I would have liked there to be more in depth world building as well as more in depth character development. I did enjoy most of the characters but they could have been more well rounded.

For the most part I enjoyed the romance and I did find it to take away from the plot at times, but it was mostly enjoyable.

Bookshops + Bonedust does suffer from an uneven paring but in the end the plot is nicely tied up.

This was an okay read for me but a lot of people will enjoy Bookshops + Bonedust. This book makes a great fall/winter read and is great for a cozy day in. Also, if cozy fantasy, romance, and a relaxing read are things you are seeking, then look no further and pick up this book.

This pre-qual was PERFECTION. I wanted to curl up inside the book and stay there. It was the perfect amount of cozy, romance, bookish and adventure. I loved the first book, Legends and Lattes, so Bookshops & Bonedust had big shoes to fill. I think it had exceptionally large shoes (Ogre size) when you already had a character that was loved and cherished. Travis Baldree does a great job with characters and I love each of them so much. They have distinct personalities, are complex and have great character arcs. I was a bit worried on how the book would work out when it was 85% in and the climax hadn't happened yet, but it actually wrapped up the "action" in a way that worked out well enough and I was satisfied.
Had this been a stand-alone I definitely would have been SO sad, but knowing the next part of the story, it was perfect. I also am hoping that maybe a third book would be in our near future.
I listened to both books on audio and loved them both, especially with the author narrating. Just so good!

3.5 stars. Alright so, first things first, I loved Legends & Lattes. I read it for the first time immediately preceding my read of Bookshops & Bonedust, which may have been a mistake? Hear me out...

The two books are remarkably similar, especially in the first half of B&B. As such, I found myself a little...bored? The plot just seemed to be repeating itself in a different timeline of Viv's life, with a slightly different type of business venture. However, things did turn around in the second half of the book, which had significantly more action that L&L. Adorable characters, cozy vibes, low-stakes conflict, no complaints with any of that at all. Definitely worth a read if you're a fan of L&L! Overall, I liked it, I just wish it hadn't been so repetitive of the first book.

Thank you to Travis Baldree, Tor Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for my advance audio and digital copies.

Legends and Lattes hit the world by storm and gave us one of the best cozy fantasies! Bookshops and Bonedust has the same vibes and is a fun look into younger Viv.

This is a prequel that shows us Viv after she has an injury and is left behind in a small town to recover. There is a bit of adventure but the main focus is on her recovering, making friends, and of course the bookshop! It has all the cozy vibes your heart could desire.

Honestly I could live in a Travis Baldree world and never be bored, he's such a great writer and narrator!

I keep it short and sweet. I did not like it. The reason for this was the repetitiveness from the previous installment which was a copy and paste formula here. Except for the coffee shop we have a bookstore, instead of low stakes we have stakes that I have no idea what they were about. Viv as a character is a perfection, I like spending time with her. But the characters here didn't sit with me well because they were not very consistent along the journey. I also think that I would have a much better time if the narrator was different. With all my love for Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree reads books to me in such an unclear way, with intonation in strange spots, going fast and slow, and back and forth. I cannot explain it any better but anyone who had a bad experience with an audiobook knows that sometimes our ear just won't have it and that's it.

For that reason alone, I just want to point out that if you just finished the first book and want more - this is the perfect book for you. Don't go far. If someone doesn't mind having the same formula repeated and just wants to immerse into the world - be my guest, that is my best recommendation, right here. That is not to say, and I will do it at some point - just read a physical version and might be better off with that choice. So for now I just wanted to say that I am glad to meet Viv again to get to be inspired by her reading and I hope next time we meet, we both going to have a splendid time.

I will be posting my IG review in the day of release.