This had so much potential! The writing is witty and quotable, and mythical creatures that read books? I love that! Unfortunately, I got burned out by the consistent use of profanity and females flirting with each other.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the ARC! I throughly enjoyed Legends & Lattes and was so excited to read Bookshops & Bonedust. I enjoyed this one, the bookshop aspect was perfect and the storyline was incredibly intriguing near the end. I think what missed the mark for me was the narrator. This is so unfortunate, because the narrator is the author and he is excellent at crafting a cozy and fun fantasy story. I think I would prefer a full voice cast or even a female narrator since the MC is female.

Bookshops & Bonedust is the follow up novel to Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes. Baldree narrates the book and does a fine job. This is a prequel and we get to know a younger version of Viv.

Some things I enjoyed:
The world is in a small sea-side town. It was fun getting to know some of the town patrons.
Baldree continues the cozy fantasy theme.
Fern and the bookstore.

Some things I less enjoyed:
I really liked Satchel, and would have enjoyed his presence more.
As with Legends & Lattes, this is a slow paced book.
More in-depth character development. I did not feel a great attachment to most of the characters, including Viv, because I didn’t really get to know them.

3.5 rounded up. Overall, I enjoyed Bookshops & Bonedust. It is a slow-paced, low-stakes, cozy fantasy. If you enjoyed Legends & Lattes, you will get the same “feels” from this.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved legends and lattes and I think I loved this one even more. The audio book took me to another world and I’m absolutely obsessed.

I adored this. It was a delight to meet a young, brash Viv, and the cast of characters was so, so much fun. Felt like the pacing and plot were smoother than Legends & Lattes, which is an exciting sign for books to come. Travis Baldree has really cemented himself for me as an instant read.

This prequel made me happy by giving us a look into a beloved character's backstory.
I loved seeing her develop friendships and a love of reading. The pace was a bit slow and it just didn't give me as much excitement as Legends & Lattes, so it's a 3☆.
Still a very cozy book and the ending made me smile.

Thank you, Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Is it as good as Legends & Lattes? Nope! Is it worth a read? Possibly yes! Full video review below.

https://youtu.be/nl_QIwi6p5I

I loved this story! I have zero complaints with the writing. I love the coziness and the vibes are vibing. However, my issue is with the audiobook. I love that Travis Baldree gets to narrate his own books but I just wasn’t a fan of his narration for this book or Legends and Lattes

3.5/5

Not as strong as Legends & Lattes, but this prequel brings us an injured and healing Viv in a new setting at a sleepy beach town and discovering the joys of a cozy bookstore. I enjoyed the variety of creatures we get introduced to and all the vivid descriptions of food. It was nice to see Viv discover a new side of herself while she connects with the locals and with a dash of romance.

Love love love!! A great read that had foreshadowing and kept you guessing! I love how the narrator really brought you into the story.

I received this audiobook ARC courtesy of NetGalley.

I really enjoyed this. A fun story about what happens in between all the big, exciting parts of an adventure. A little bit of action, a sprinkle of romance, and a ton of heart

I received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this audiobook from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great book for first time readers and seasoned book worms! As of this review, I have not read the first book, Legends and Lattes, and used this opportunity to see if this story can act as a good prequel or a great standalone in itself without having to refer back to the labeled "first" in the series.

I was not disappointed! I was hooked from the very first - Viv is a great character. Super funny and insightful but able to understand their own flaws. Seeing her reading a book for the first time and falling in love with it gave me sheer delight! Reading this prequel whetted my appetite and I need to know more about Viv and where she ended up.

I really liked the dialogue and the story had great secondary characters, although sometimes hard to tell which of the female characters was speaking.

I love the idea of a cozy mystery with fantasy/D&D elements and I hope that there are many more to come!

📚Book Review📚
insta: @thecat_chronicles

Title: Bookshops & Bonedust
Author: Travis Baldree
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Review:
"... Viv was grateful for all the wrong times that had led to this right one."

*Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for this honest review.*

Another wonderful adventure with Viv on her quest for found family! The prequel to Legends & Lattes has higher stakes and higher fantasy, without losing any of the charm that made us fall in love with Viv in the first place.

Baldree is a master at capturing the quiet awe of first love; whether it be falling in love with a person, a story, or that first sip of coffee. The fact that our author also narrates the audiobook gives us a more intimate look into the characters. Baldree’s wry voice is a perfect match for the dry humor of our protagonist, giving an extra layer of life to Viv and her friends.

I can not recommend this enough to literally anyone who will listen to me. READ IT!

I adored Legends &Lattes, so I was beyond excited to hear about Bookshops & Bonedust. Travis Baldree has really broken ground on cozy fantasy as a genre, and I hope it sticks around. I love, love, loved this book. The atmosphere, characterization, and inter-character conflict were top-tier. I also loved the splicing of the books Viv read and how they paralleled the main novel. As with Legends & Lattes, Bookshops & Bonedust was peak escapism. I'm typically a moderately paced reader, but I got through this book in two days! There was also a bit of strife in bookshop ownership that many of the librarians here will relate to. And the epilogue had me legitimately sobbing.

My only issue is with the audiobook formatting - my version would cut off the first few seconds of each chapter beginning, and sometimes where there was an audio cut.

edit: This was my first audiobook through NetGalley! I believe it is a formatting issue within the app, not the audiobook. Re-winding at the beginning of the chapter resets the audio and plays the first few words.

I liked this better than Legends & Lattes. It's a prequel, and goes into a rest that Viv took earlier in her career. The story is more developed than L&L, but keeps the cozy feel and adorable characters. And the Epilogue had me tearing up a bit. I'll definitely read new installments in this series.

I received an audio ARC from Netgalley for an honest review

I don’t know how to feel about listening to the audio book version. I did really enjoy the narrator as they brought the characters to life. But, right before listening to this, I had read a physical copy of Legends & Lattes and the two formats had different, but good, vibes. Also, where this one retained the cozy feels of Legends and Lattes, it also had a bit more action than it which I liked. Overall, although I liked the narrator, story and characters, I would have to rank this a little less than Legends & Lattes at a 4.5.

Another cozy fantasy book, which isn't my genre of choice but I loved the previous book so much I was excited to listen to this. Fantastic side characters, and the focus on books and story telling was very well done.

If you like the genre "cozy fantasy" this is for you. A prequel to Legends & Lattes Viv is in battle and is unexpectedly sidelined due to injury. She finds herself in the small town of Murk and needs to pass the time while she recovers and waits for her company to return. She finds herself in a run down bookshop and in the middle of a lot of trouble, friendships, summer love and sword play.

Favorite character hands down - Satchel. Bravo Travis Baldree on another brilliant story.

Loved the audio (narrated by the author). Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Books on this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Comes out 11/7/23.

Travis Baldree, you did it again.

I wasn't sure anything could match the wholesome, cozy feel of Legends and Lattes but this certainly did! I loved the bookshop and the epilogue and and the necromancy and the characters and the epilogue and just everything about this book -- but especially the epilogue, wink wink.

Note: If you also thought this was a spin off of legends and lattes, just a heads up that it's actually a prequel! I was pleasantly surprised to find Viv was our MC yet again.

--- 4.5/5 stars

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Travis Baldree has done it again, creating a world and characters that I immediately cared so deeply about. Viv is young and fresh and eager for battle. She is strong and cocky, so when an injury takes her out of commission and forces her to recuperate in the quaint little beach town of Murk, she is anything but happy about it. She's so worried about rejoining her mercenary company, Rackam's Ravens, that she spends the first part of her visit lamenting her fate and giving off grumpy scary orc vibes. But when she wanders into a down and out bookshop, we see the beginnings of the hardworking, smart, levelheaded Viv that we know and love from Legends & Lattes.

While the stakes are a bit lower in this than in Legends & Lattes- we already know what is coming so we know that Viv does not stay in this quiet town- I felt the same warmth and happiness that I felt when reading the first book in this series. I absolutely loved the characters that Viv meets in Murk, especially the bookshop owner and the magical skeleton. I would have liked more development of Maylee's character- if we're going to have a summer fling I want to be crying when it has to end. The climax is action-packed, and we get to see magic as well as good old fashioned brute force battles. The addition of the epilogue really made my heart swell, and I hope it's an indication of what we can expect from the next book in the series.

The audiobook narration was really solid. It's read by the author, which always lends authenticity to the telling of the story, although I would have loved a woman's voice to really bring Viv to life.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Travis Baldree, and Macmillan Audio for sending this audiobook for review consideration. All opinions are my own. 4.5 enthusiastic stars- if you love a traditional fantasy setting without the need for maps and glossaries, this is the book for you.