After the trauma of the last book I ate up "Bookshops and Bonedust" by Travis Baldree. Seriously, I started it my drive to work and finished when I got back to my place.

This is a prequel to Legends and Lattes, which I didn't realize for an embarrassingly long period. Early in her career Viv is rolling with Rackham's Ravens hunting a Necromancer , and takes a spear to the knee. This lays her up in a sleepy fishing village for weeks while she recovers and the group circles back. Seeing as she is in incredible pain and is bored she explores and finds a slightly...shaby bookstore. The proprietor ignites an interest in reading for Viv and we go from there.

Read by the author Travis Baldree, always great knowing exactly how names sound to the writer.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the ARC, out November 7 ,2023.

Reasons to read:
-Cozy af
-Little more backstory on Viv
-Makes you appreciate some of the choices and planning Viv uses in L&L more
-Still on with the baking, dude I'm trying to lean up a bit

Cons:
-Made me hungry and want to get a small business loan

This was cute and I adore Viv but I wasn't wrapped up in all the warm and cozy feelings the way I was with Legends and Lattes.

This cozy fantasy series is a true delight, like a cup of hot chocolate (but with a dash of liquor). There's mystery and intrigue, fights and fun, books and magic, whate more could you want? Travis Baldree's writing is charming and his characters are so easy to love. It was wonderful to get to see some of Viv's life before Legends & Lattes and learn more about how she came to be the Orc we know and love. This just makes me want more of these books, or at least, more from Baldree.

This is a wholesome cozy read. Although I did enjoy Legends and Lattes better. It’s an enjoyable story with good narration.

Travis writes so beautifully. I love reading these phenomenal storylines and this book definitely lives up to the hype of his last one!

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the Audio ARC!

10/10, no notes - this was pure perfection.

Travis Baldree, sir....you have no right to make me care so much about these characters! I would absolutory die for Fern. Pot Roast, or really any of the characters in this book both new and old. You just can't help but love them and their adorable little quirks.

While this book has slightly higher action and stakes than Legends and Lattes, it still firmly falls into perfect Cozy Fantasy in my opinion. It leaves you feeling warm and happy and you'll find yourself smiling and laughing out loud along the way. And no, the epilogue did NOT make me cry, that would be....silly....or something.....*sniffle*

But seriously, I don't want to say too much and give anything away but this book is a love letter to readers, wanderers, and those of us that don't really know what we want to do when we grow up. Baldree ensures us we're allowed to not know what our big passion is, and that it's okay that it changes over time. He reminds us that just because we've always done something doesn't mean we have to continue, but also that just because we've never done something doesn't mean we can't start. It's the little things, little windows, that shape who we are and sometimes it's worth knowing it will hurt when it shuts to get the experience that lies beyond it.

This is a beautiful story that left me crying, laughing, but most of all smiling. It's the warm cup of cocoa we all need - don't miss out on this one!

In this prequel novel to the lovely Lattes and Legends, we revisit Viv as a young Orc near the beginning of her career as a mercenary. Injured in the hunt for a powerful necromance, Viv must recuperate in the small town of Murk, in which she stumbles into a slightly worn little bookshop for lack of anything else to do.
From there Viv makes friends, find unexpected adventure and perhaps the eventual inspiration for her own shop someday.
A wonderful story giving up some of Viv's backstory and meeting some delightful new characters!

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fun, cozy book along with Legends & Lattes. I love all things books so a book dealing with a bookshop and an owner that has the intuition to pick books for people, love! It wasn’t as good as the first book. With this one, it seemed like Viv was not very concerned with building and keeping the relationships. I also think that having the author read the book for the audiobook is great! it really gives the book more character because it’s getting read the way the author envisioned it! recommend!

Travis Baldree has once again hit it out of the park with the second installment of this cozy fantasy series. I loved Legends and Lattes and feel the exact same way about Bookshops and Bonedust.

It was great to be back in Viv’s low-stakes fantasy world that is the prequel to Legends and Lattes. This second book comes with more quirky, lovable characters and sidekicks for Viv. This book takes place in a small town bookshop. Travis Baldree’s written descriptions are so good that I could clearly picture the shop in my mind. Another favorite aspect of the first book continued with this one with all the descriptions of the food being prepared and eaten. Seriously, I was hungry anytime I read this one.

Travis Baldree reads the audio version of this book and his narration is perfection. Like the first one, it’s completely a hug in a book with a bit of adventure thrown in.

4/5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audioARC of this book.

A second book that is just as good as the first. This was another adorable story with a loveable group of characters. I adore the low stakes high fantasy coziness that keeps happening. I absolutely recommend the audiobook so you can enjoy Travis Baldree and his myriad of voices. What a lovely adventure. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Viv is wounded in battle and is holed up in a seaside town while she recovers. She stumbles, quite literally, into a local bookshop. Over the next few days, she forges a fondness for reading and a friendship with the proprietor of the shop. Her injury is healing, albeit slowly, and she's on track to meet up with her crew when they come back through town. Nothing to worry about. Until a man who smells suspiciously like the necromancer they had been battling shows up in town.

The stakes are a little higher than in Legends and Lattes. I loved the first but I enjoyed this even more. I even gasped a few times. Ha!

This cozy fantasy is full of charm. Viv is rough and tumble but has plenty of heart. I love the sapphic undertones. It's wholesome fantasy with just enough action. I want to live in this world right alongside Viv. I can't wait to see where she goes in the next book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving this to me free to read for an honest review.

Viv helps Fern with her bookshop while she recovers from a leg injury. She fixes the bookshop up by fixing a wooden floor, painting and replacing rugs. The character of the “dog” is named Pot Roast and seems super adorable. The character Satchel is described as a bag of bones? I was confused on that part. I liked Fern’s personality. Overall, it was a wholesome story but not something I would read again.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced reading copy of Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree.

The audiobook is narrated by the author, Travis Baldree, which I love!

The first cozy fantasy novel Legends and Latte’s takes place in Viv’s new coffee shop. This one is a prequel to Legends and Latte’s where Viv is helping her new found friend with her bookshop.

While I don’t feel like this book was needed for Legends and Lattee’s I am so happy it was written! I love Viv’s character but always grow to love and appreciate all the characters in both this book and Legends and Latte’s.

These books were made for fantasy and non fantasy readers alike. I highly recommend these to everyone!

“If Dungeons & Dragons had a baby with Animal Crossing you would get the absolute delight that is (Bookshops and Bonedust)” - Riley Marie

I wasn't sure if this could possibly live up to the perfection of Legends and Lattes, but I needn't have worried. Just as sweet. Just as cozy. Like a warm chocolate chip cookie, Travis Baldree serves up the very best cozy fantasy. And, not unexpectedly, he narrates the story just as brilliantly. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series (please tell me there will be one).

Bookshops and Bonedust returns us to the world of Legends and Lattes, but takes us back in time. Before Viv retires from her mercenary ways and opens a coffee shop, she finds herself wounded and alone in the town of Murk. But while she's healing from a not insignificant injury, she slowly begins to build friendships with the various inhabitants of Murk, finding a spot for herself at the local bookstore and gradually falling for the town baker. Her mercenary training comes in handy when a talking skeleton shows up and a necromancer threatens the town.

While I still love Legends and Lattes more, I loved this glimpse into Viv's life before Tandri and her coffeeshop. As a lover of books and bookshops, watching Viv fall in love with reading made my heart so happy. Because I don't read blurbs before I start reading, it took me a hot minute to realize this was a prequel, but once I figured that out, I fell headfirst into the story. The side characters, like the side characters in Legends and Lattes, MADE the story. Fern and Gallina and Satchel and Maylee and Pitts and Potroast are all so colorful and unforgettable. And it's easy to see how Viv's experiences in Murk prepared her for the life she would ultimately have with Tandri down the road.

Like with the Legends and Lattes audiobook, the author Travis Baldree narrates this story. He does a phenomenal job bringing his characters to life. If you have a choice, I'd highly recommend the audiobook; it was a delightful listening experience. In fact, the audiobook bumped it up to five stars. Just reading it, I would give it 4.

Travis Baldree has cornered the market on cozy fantasy. Bookshops and Bonedust is a low stakes fantasy novella, which fleshes out Viv and her history. My favorite part was probably at the very end where Baldree ties it back in to Viv's present day, when Fern reaches out to Viv and plans to come visit. (Oops, spoiler.) We get to see a glimpse of Viv and Tandri happily married and thriving in Thune.

Thank you so much to Tor and Netgalley for my advance review copy.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a cozy prequel to legends and lattes. I personally preferred LL but only slightly. This is a look into what made Liv the lovable ork that we have come to adore. Full of snarky humor and an adorable Gryphon named Potroast, this is the most cozy of reads for a cool fall evening by the fire, with a mug of hot coffee.
Oh, and that epilogue…!

I loved this audio book so much and can not wait to own the physical book when it releases. This stand alone prequel to the beloved cozy fantasy legends and lattes was everything I hoped it would be and more .

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A prequel to Legends and Lattes, this story follows Viv as she starts out her career as a Mercenary. Things don’t go quite as planned and Viv ends up stuck in a little nearby town where she gets to know the local shop owners. However, the little town is not as quiet as it seems.

I absolutely loved the first book in this series and the second one, in my opinion, was better than the first. The way everything was connected, from the big themes to the small delightful details, made this feel like such a large world in such a tiny space.

The audio book was fantastic! I find Baldree’s voice to be very soothing and the way he narrates for each character is so consistent. It’s so nice to be able to close my eyes and fully immerse myself in this little part of what must be the Forgotten Realms.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who likes action and adventures, plays D&D, or likes romance.

This was such a sweet, cozy, funny and a little bit romantic fantasy. It was fun to learn more about Viv and who she was before we meet her in Legends and Lattes. I really enjoyed seeing her interact with everyone in the small town. And seeing her connect and become part of the community. Definitely recommend picking this one up.

Thx Macmillan audio via Netgalley.

Ok this book is so damn cozy! It’s a warm hug of a story. I’m packing my bags and moving to Murk!
This prequel was charmin, giving us a bit more insight to Viv, and how she came to want to own a coffeehouse. She’s younger, more tightly wound, and isn’t happy to be stuck convalescing in this tiny coastal village. But danger can blossom anywhere, and Viv is ever the fighter. Once again, Viv teams up with a gaggle of locals, each with their own unique quirks. I especially love how Baldree writes bakers. I can smell the bread and treats. He’s an absolute master of atmosphere.
Overall super charming, and an enjoyable low-stakes fantasy.

I listened to the audiobook, and was quite pleased with the pacing and voice work. It was really easy to sink into Murk for hours on end.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this audio ARC, in exchange for my unbiased opinion.