My first love is books, and it's closely followed by coffee—Travis Baldree has written stories that combine both of those loves.

If you loved the first one, you're going to love this one. It hits all cozy fantasy feels us cozy fantasy lovers look for. And like the Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree has written a group of loveable creatures that I instantly adored.

If you love cozy fantasy as much as I do, Bookshops and Bonedust absolutely will not disappoint.

A great introduction to the fall season. I loved the bookshop setting, the discussions about books, and the overall bookish vibes. It was nice to follow Viv once again and I enjoyed the side characters, especially Fern. Everyone bonding through books and relating it to their lives was my favorite part to read. I also liked the action sprinkled in between and getting to see Viv in motion. But I was underwhelmed by the romance with Maylee. I felt it was unnecessary in the story.
The audiobook was amazing, I think it was the best way to consume the story. It made the experience that much more immersive.
Thank you Macmillan Audio for the arc.

A prequel to Legends & Lattes! This is the story of when Viv was injured and learned to love books. I think it took a little longer to get into than Legends and Lattes because there was a lot of setup. But once we were in, I loved it! Baldree is so good at creating characters you love. I was so sad when Viv left at the end because I wanted more Fern & Satchel especially. It does seem like from the epilogue we will at least get more of this. I’d definitely recommend reading Legends and Lattes first or skipping the epilogue. It won’t spoil much but it does reference things from L&L. For the audiobook, I appreciate the author wanted to read his own book but I wish Viv had her own voice. The other characters each had a distinct voice (he did great with Satchel) but Viv was just his normal voice.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you are expecting sword fights and swashbuckling you will find disappointment here. This book, a prequel to Legends and Lattes, finds Viv holed up in a tiny seaside town with a bum leg. While her pals ride off to glory she’s stuck feeling sorry for herself. A chance meeting with a washed up bookseller, a homunculus, an evil wizard and other characters brings the story you didn’t know you wanted to life. It’s gentle, humorous and definitely a cozy fantasy.

This was a delightful story to listen to on my daily walks. Just pleasant characters in a bookshop and an adorable dog/owl named Pot Roast who stole the show. I truly enjoyed this prequel. And the narrator's very different voices used for each character were perfect.

Travis Baldree does it again! There’s something that’s just so comforting reading his books. Like a warm fuzzy feeling that overcomes you while you are transported to his world of Murk. It’s also so smart. I love how he writes other books within this one while you join Viv discover the love of reading.

This story resonated with me so much and definitely any book lover who’s ever dreamed of having their own bookstore or works as a bookseller will fall in love with this story. And especially love Potroast and Satchel. These were two such fun characters. The plot while being cozy fantasy, moved quickly for me.

I love these stories so much. The audiobook was as wonderful as the first one!

Audiobook 5/5
Story 5/5
Characters 5/5
Overall book 5/5

I received a gifted audiobook copy of BOOKSHOPS & BONEDUST by Travis Baldree – thank you to Macmillan Audio!

BOOKSHOPS & BONEDUST is a prequel to the author’s LEGENDS & LATTES, following Viv’s recovery after the injury that side-lined her from the battles and the life she’s always thought she would have. While she tries to get back in prime condition, she winds up spending time at a bookshop and getting to know the locals in Murk.

I really wound up enjoying LEGENDS & LATTES more than I had expected, so I was excited to get my hands on the audio on this prequel. I was a bit worried going into this one that having it be a prequel and knowing that Viv wouldn’t be sticking around with these characters and relationships would maybe dampen the feelings a bit, but I needn’t have worried.

As with the first book, this is a very cozy fantasy setup and having it be set in a bookshop with book lovers really helped add to that for me. There is a bit of adventure, romance, and lots of friendship all of which really added up to an easy, bingeable read.

I think if you liked LEGENDS & LATTES, you will be pleased with this one! BOOKSHOPS & BONEDUST comes out on 11/7/2023!

If you found 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘴 to be a thoroughly cozy comfort read like I did, then you will not be disappointed with 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬 & 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭 (Pub 11.07)

”𝘚𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴?"

A charmingly diverse cast comes together to rebuild an adorable bookstore while experiencing first loves and adventure all while unsuspectedly soaking up life lessons. It made me smile, giggle and warm on the inside. I guess cozy, low stakes fantasy is this non-fantasy reader's cat nip.

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃: Print and Audio. Thank you to @tor for the ARC and @macmillianaudio for the ALC.

𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐎: I knew that author Travis Baldree was an audiobook narrator but this was my first experience with his narration. WOW & OMG. All the stars. I would like to request that he record 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘷𝘦 for a re-release. Please and thank you.

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄: While this is technically a prequel, I would read them in publication order. L&L first, then B&B.

Okay I am probably going to start a riot with this but I was a little disappointed in this book.... hear me out before you freak out! I still really enjoyed this book i did but I felt it just wasn't as good the Legends and Lattes. The first book was so warm; it felt like the first sip of coffee on a cold morning or reading a book during a gloomy day. It was absolutely perfect in its comfort. This book was lacking some of that. It was still good. I will always adore Viv with all my soul and young Viv is just was loveable. I just didn't feel this book in the same way I felt the first one. Please don't let that stop you though cause this book is still absolutely amazing!

I loved seeing Viv again and the way she collected people around her in her stop over in Murk. The bad guy she had to battle was compelling. Her help with the bookstore and bakery was the perfect amount of cozy. The Epilogue was so good! I can totally see why we needed book 1 and then this book in that order. The audiobook was really entertaining and helped immerse me in the story.
I am really hoping for at least one more in this series!

After DNFing Legends and Lattes, I thought I would give Baldree's latest book a shot. Unfortunately, it was just as boring as his first. This is a cozy fantasy and will certainly be wonderful for a specific audience. I am not that audience, however.

This prequel to Legends & Lattes is like a warm, cozy hug for any book lover. I enjoyed all the fantasy characters and cannot wait to reread it when my special edition copy is released (and then reread L&L obviously). And the ending was such a beautiful way of tying both books together!

If you liked the first one, or you enjoy cozy fantasy and stories about books and a bit of magic and a little magical swordplay, this is definitely for you. Like a cozy hug, this series is heartwarming and enjoyable. If you’re not familiar with cozy fantasy, be warned, you may be a bit bored. But the characters are wholesome and sweet and worth hanging out with. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, Tor Publishing Group, Tor Books, and Travis Baldree for the opportunity to read and listen to the audiobook of  Bookshops & Bonedust in exchange for an honest review.

Author Travis Baldree also skillfully narrates his own novel for the audiobook of Bookshops & Bonedust. This novel is a prequel to Legends & Lattes, and can be enjoyed with or without having read the latter, though reading this leaves me itching to dive into Legends & Lattes post haste! 

Orc Viv lives for battle, though being a mercenary isn't working out so well for her.

After sustaining an injury during a mission to find a necromancer, Viv needs to step back from the battlefield, at least for a little while. She finds herself in the simple beach town of Murk, hopeful to recover. Faced with the prospect of a mundane existence far removed from the action she craves, Viv's resilience and adaptability come to the fore as she navigates her new reality. What unfolds is a charming and surprising narrative of transformation, camaraderie, and the unpredictable nature of life's twists, with new outlooks and friends to join her (I particularly love Fern the Ratkin; it makes me want to be a Ratkin in my next Dunegons & Dragons campaign).

Baldree juxtaposes Viv's gritty mercenary past with the tranquil atmosphere of Murk, resulting in a delightful blend of tension and introspection. Viv's unexpected companions, from the sharp-tongued bookshop owner to a cast of other eccentric characters, inject the story with humor and depth. The seamless interplay between the mundane and the extraordinary keeps readers engaged as Viv's evolving perspective intertwines with the secrets and surprises Murk has to offer. 

Is Cozy Fantasy considered a genre? Because if it is, this book nails it! Viv's exploration of somthing to value in a bookshop, rather than on the battlefield, makes for a wonderful atmosphere in reading. A fun story with a hope to more in Viv's adventures.

This wasn't for me.

It was a cozy book with cozy vibes, but I prefer plot-driven books rather than story/experience based. This book is basically about what the MC gets up to in town while she convalescents.

The narration definitely affected how I experienced the book. The narrator was monotone, described everything in the same tone. He narrated a battle scene exactly the same as when the MC was cleaning a bookstore. I think if I read it I would probably given it 4 stars.

Travis Baldree will forever and always be an immediate buy for me. Bookshops & Bonedust was the the most perfect prequel ever. Absolutely cozy with a smidge of risk. Seeing Viv in her non retired days was the absolute best. Meeting new characters that you instantly fall in love with seems to come easily to T. Baldree. While on the hunt for a necromancer, Viv gets seriously injured and her crew drops her in a secluded town to heal while they pick up the chase. Viv finds new found family while mending and I honestly feel a part of the family as well. I was lucky enough to get this arc as an audiobook so I even received the full Baldree experience and am so glad I already have this book preordered for Nov.

If possible, I enjoyed this even more than Legends and Lattes, maybe because this one deal with the joys of reading and growing a circle of readers and community at the same time, a topic near and dear to my heart. If you liked L&L, you'll like this one too, with the opposite being true as well. The same vibes are here - instead of choosing to stop adventuring and slow down her life, Viv is instead forced by injury into recuperating at a seaside town and find that while she still wants to get back on the road, taking the time to read and enjoy a good pastry (or two) is just as worthwhile. There's the usual wonderful cast of side characters, my favorites being Fern, the ratkin bookseller, and Satchel, the...well.

As with L&L, this is just a warm, cozy book, that makes you want to sink into it, like toes into sand or settling back into a comfy chair. The descriptions are lush, the pace slow, and the characters all delightful.

Thank you for the ARC audiobook to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio.

Have you read Legends & Lattes and loved it? Great! You'll love this book.
Did you just pick up this book and haven't read the previous one? That's fine, as this is a prequel and you don't need to know ANYTHING about Legends & Lattes at all!

Speaking of not knowing anything at all - I listened to the audiobook version of this delightful novel, not knowing that Travis Baldree has been an audiobook narrator for many years! I read the paper version of the first book (but will likely go back now and get the audiobook of L&L), and was happily surprised when I saw that the author was going to be reading his own book. Sometimes when this happens, it's wonderful.... and sometimes it's really not. Within about ten minutes of starting B&B I had said out loud "Oh, he's good. He's really good!' about three times. To the internets I went, and imagine my surprise and delight!

In regards to the book itself, I was a little apprehensive, since prequels can be iffy. I needn't have worried. I loved learning more about Viv and her adventures before she decided to settle down and become the proprietor of her own shop, the beginnings of her wanting more than the road and the battle.
The characters are delightful and all have distinct points of view. I would have liked a little more about the Big Bad Necromancer, but that's not the true focus of the story. It's a story about Viv helping folks, learning that a life in a town can be just as satisfying for her as a life of danger and violence.
Of course, as someone who is a former bookseller and currently works in a library, a story set partially in a bookshop is like catnip Very clever to engage those of us who are book nerds.

If you like this emerging category of Cozy Fantasy, absolutely give this a go. I know I'll be revisiting it again soon.

Baldree does it again! If you have already read Legends & Lattes and loved it then you will surely love this book. If you haven’t, it’s still a great place to start and you don’t necessarily have to read the first book before Bookshops & Bonedust.

This is a cozy fantasy with low-stakes but there is still plenty of action and intrigue too. The cast of characters are all so lovable and memorable and that is a difficult feat which the author makes seem easy. The story really makes me think about how choices we may view as mistakes or circumstances that seem like setbacks at the time can ultimately end up leading us to something wonderful. I think we can all relate to that in some way.

I was granted free early access to the audiobook by Macmillan Audio, Tor Books, and NetGalley and this is my honest review. I highly recommend the audiobook! I love when authors narrate their own books. Baldree’s voice acting and narration is superb.

If you’re looking to lay down your sword for a spell, grab a cup of tea and some baked goodies, and cozy up with a good book that feels like home, this is the one.

I loved this prequel to Legends & Lattes even more than the original! After an injury prevents her from continuing on with her adventuring party, Viv finds herself surprisingly invested in a local bookshop that's struggling to make ends meet. Add in a dangerous sorcerer and a homunculus made of bones and you've got a recipe for excitement. This one is faster paced than L&L--which I appreciated--but just as cozy and cute!