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!

Dear Bookshops & Bonedust,
I was wary about reading you. Legends & Lattes was so good that i wasn't sure how you would compare. I had no reason to be nervous though. You were just as charming and cozy as the first book in the series. I loved getting to know Viv in her early days, before her life of adventuring had aged her and made her tired. The fact that you wrapped up with current day Viv was such a wonderful tie in to the first book. I cannot wait to continue reading all of these adventures!

Thank you to NetGalley, and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook!

Another fun installment (prequel actually)! This is a great take. Kind of twisting the D&D-style adventure to more mundane life. Fun characters including cursing rats and magical skeleton servants!

Cute and cozy prequel to Legends & Lattes. It was fun to spend more time with Viv and meet a new cast of characters from her travels, with a dash of adventure, and fondness for books and reading that jumps off the page. Enjoyed the story, but loved the first book a bit more - maybe because it was something new. Either way, this is still a great book to curl up with and might make you wish you had a cozy bookshop of your own.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook.

I loved it just like the first book. You can read either of them first. Viv is hurt and left from her people. She slowly goes around town, which is small. She begins to help the local bookstore, cute ways in which the owner can finally earn money. This book has a lot of profanity, within conversations with everyone.
I listened to it on audiobook through Netgalley. Book comes out in October and I would definitely buy or check it out.
The best part is that the shop owners pet is named pot roast!!!

This is a lovely prequel to Legends & Lattes, but that book doesn't need to be read first to really enjoy it. Viv is a young overconfident orc mercenary working for a professional outfit currently chasing down a necromancer. When she is hurt she is left behind to heal and wait for the company to come back and pick her up after they complete their campaign. Her leg injury has her slowly going about town where local law enforcement keeps a wary eye on her for trouble. But she soon makes friends with a bakery owner and also a the owner of a failing bookshop. Viv finds herself helping out more at the bookstore and discovers a mysterious book hidden in the shelves by a grey cloaked that is soon found dead.

A little mystery, some light romance, and new friendships give Viv the chance to blossom into a more thoughtful person. The book was a a delight to read and I can’t wait to see more stuff from this author.

Digital review copy provide by the publisher through Netgalley

Oh how cute.
A fantasy cozy mystery kinda read. Orcs with stab wounds and talking bones with bookworm rat people. Why not, right?
Parts failed to keep my interest but I was quickly brought right back into the story.
Is it bad I wanna read the moist books they talk about? 😜

What a delight it is to be able to return to the Legends & Lattes series with a prequel featuring a younger Viv. Here the orc is earlier in her career as an adventuring mercenary. Unfortunately for her, while fighting undead pawns of a necromancer, she is incapacitated by a leg injury. Fortunately the mercenary band she is part of, Rackam's Ravens, is kind to its members and sees to it that she her care is paid for and she can rest and recuperate in the small beach town, Murk while the rest of the band continues to seek the necromancer.

With a long period of healing and recovery, Viv is at a loss as to what to do with all the time. Once able, she explores the town of Murk finding ways to fill her days and forming relationships with the dwarf baker, the foul mouthed bookseller and her pet Grifflet, the innkeeper, and others in the inn and antagonism with the head of the local watch.

As in Legends and Lattes this fantasy world is much more realistic in and slower paced. There is still adventure and danger and the goals of an overall quest, but for Viv, the world is small and centered on Murk. When you can hardly walk, reading and conversations help fill the hours.

As Baldree was first known as an audiobook reader, it is no surprise that his narration is excellent. He keeps an even pace in the reading and has different voices, accents or ways of speaking for each of the characters. Plot wise the book begins with a bang and then settles into recovery before the mystery that drives the plot raises the tensions bit by bit. Chapters are short and full of conversation, and we see Viv grow wiser shifting between her different roles and how her presence in Murk is perceived over time.

Viv seems fortunate to be able to develop friendships anywhere she goes, given enough time to get over her hurt or temper. I'd happily make many more visits to whatever shop or adventure she takes next.

Bookshops & Bonedust is a prequel to the very popular Legends & Lattes. This story also centered on Viv as she recuperated from an injury during an altercation while working famous mercenaries, Rackam’s Ravens. She was restless and as she explored the seaside town of Murk, she discovered a bookshop and the escape reading provides. Naturally, she still managed to find trouble. The author excels at creating both lovable and terrible characters and a plot that highlights ordinary life in the midst of some extraordinary situations. While I favor Legends & Lattes because it felt cozier and I enjoyed how the found family really came together, I was truly invested in the fates of these characters, especially Satchel. I would have preferred more of a transformation and description with the bookstore, like the coffee shop in the first book—I think as an avid reader, more bookstore is always better.. Also, I was put off by Fern’s swearing as this pulled me from the cozier vibes, however, that will not affect everyone in the same way. The romance element was a bit weak and only saved for me by the epilogue. Even so, I could not wait to jump back into the story. The author certainly knows how to write an entertaining tale and I absolutely loved the narration by him. He is a master! Definitely one of the best audiobooks I have listened to this year. Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review.

This prequel to Legends & Lattes was a great read. You learned more about Viv’s past. There is a 20-year gap between Legends & Lattes and Bookshops & Bonedust. It will be interesting if the author will write more titles to cover the 20-year period. The characters that we meet in this prequel explains how Viv met a future adventurer and learns patience with herself. She realizes that ego can be your downfall if you allow it to rule you. There are a few interesting fast paced scenes in this book, but some slow periods also. Since Viv is recovering from a sword wound, I should’ve expected the slow pace of the book. But I wanted all action and adventure. The end makes up for the slow periods of the novel. It kept me on the edge of my reading chair. The book was a great follow-up to the first novel.