First a love of coffee and now book...or is it the other way around since BOOKSHOPS AND BONEDUST is the prequel to LEGEND AND LATTES??? Doesn't matter, because holy ish, this audio book was sensational.

The same smooth, comforting, yet engaging themes as Legends and Lattes, the prequel finds Viv seriously injured and unable to stay with her comrades on their quest to take down a powerful necromancer. Now, Viv must survive in a sleepy seaside town while she heals up. Her patience is being tested both by the injury and the unknown of if her crew will actually return to collect her.

She finds herself drawn to the town's rundown bookstore and it's foul-mouthed owner, who has a gift of matching reading material to the reader. Through the recommended books pages, Viv begins to find out more about herself and the community she's found herself in.

Topped with witty dialouge, and slow burn romance, Bookshops and Bonedust not only holds up to it's predecessor but it adds so much depth to VIv's story. Not to mention that Travis Baldree's gift of plot is my new favorite things. It's never what I think it's going to be and I'm along for the ride.

Plus, I used to think if my life every was assigned a narrator I'd want it to be someone like Morgan Freeman or Kate Winslet...everything changed when Travis Baldree opens his mouth and reads aloud. Once you're introduced to the characters voice, you never have to second guess who is talking. Baldree has a peaceful presence in his writing. His tone lulls you into the story more than Thimble's treat lure customers into the cafe. (IYKYK)

5 outstanding stars for this fantastical work of art.

My eternal thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this EAB in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

I am obsessed with these cozy fantasy books from Travis Baldree! If you loved Legends & Lattes, you'll love this one just as much. This is a prequel, showing Viv's past where she is a little less mature and a lot more rash. There are a lot of new characters, with quirky but lovable personalities. I can't wait to see more stories from this universe. The narration was fantastic (I love when authors narrate their own work). Travis is great with creating distinct voices.

Warning, these books WILL make you want to go out and buy a run-down business to restore!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an eARC of this audiobook!

This was just the book I needed at the time I read it.

I loved this one even more than Legends and Lattes. I loved the feel and coziness of Legends of Lattes but had a hard time relating with all of the coffee aspects and didn't think there was enough action for me. This one is centered more on books and there is more action and mission in this one that had me hooked from beginning to end.

Viv is injured and needs to heal and recover in the small town of Merk. There she goes into a bookshop that is struggling and she becomes friends with the bookshop owner and they work on reviving the bookshop. In addition they work together to bring down a necromancer. I loved every character and the found family that I now expect with a Travis Baldtree novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for an audio-ARC copy to read and review.

I have always enjoyed fantasy books, but never thought I would like cozy fantasy....till I started reading Travis Baldree. Once you enter the world of Viv you never want to leave. So how was this new adventure of Viv?

It was fantastic. It was full of new characters that with minimal backstory you are in love with. It is still filled with the adventures expected of a fantasy book. I listened to this on audiobook and Travis Baldree as the narrator and enjoyed his narration.

Thank you Tor and Net Galley for the ARC audiobook!

Travis sure knows how to hit you with the feels and make you feel right at home.
Another cozy read that I hated to end. I loved visiting Viv again and meeting some new characters. Fern became and instant favorite. The banter was so great! It made easing into wisdom and deeper looks effortless. Thank you Travis for another gem! Your words to the small things into precious treasures. And I believe you have become an auto buy author for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for this advanced copy.

Fans looking for more cozy fantasy featuring Viv will love this addition to the "Legends and Lattes" world!

Thank you to Netgalley for my audio #arc

Absolutely if you loved Legends & Lattes you're going to love Bookshops & Bonedust.

Here we have a prequel, a much younger and much rasher Viv getting thrown into a situation that all young and rash people of any species and age have a hard time dealing with: injury recovery. Not only must she heal her body, she must figure out what to do with her LIFE in this small seaside town of Murk when her merry (?) band of mercenaries trudges forward on a quest she has to wait out. But... did that same quest come to her, here, somehow??

Once again my favorite characters continue to be the Ratkin, this time in Fern, a fowlmouthed bookstore owner and her pet Pot Roast. Also shout out to Satchel for being a guy I was always interested to listen to whenever he opened his mouth.

As I listened to the audiobook, I can only praise Baldree's work-- the varied voices and moods for the character really helped set the vibe of everything, and to me, who basically only listens to audiobooks when I'm driving or spending time at the scanner/copier combo at work, kept my attention well.

Also... there was a part in the present-day epilogue that had me gently gasping... what a nice way to tie the two stories together.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the borrow in exchange for my honest review!

It's incredibly refreshing to read a cozy fantasy. This is a fantastic glimpse into Viv's younger life and how she was inclined to open her coffee shop later in life. Beautiful found family and a well built world.
The beginning of the book was a little slower than I would have liked. It took me a hot minute to get into it. But it makes sense for a cozy fantasy to take a bit longer to get going. Don't want to get blood pumping too quickly. So that being said, I did take off a half star for that. Otherwise this was definitely a 4.5 out of 5 stars.
The author/narrator is fantastic and really gives fantastic voice to the characters that he created.
I can't wait to see if we can get another installment in this universe.
Full review on Pages n' Pages podcast episode post date 8/15/23.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review .

Travis Baldree could narrate ANY cozy fantasy story and I would listen enchantedly.

*Spoiler FREE review below!*

L&L was a fav read of last year. B&B offers more incite into Viv’s backstory, which was a delight.

One word: N E C R O M A N C E R S !
Like howwwww can this wordsmith make the undead feel more vivacious than many living folx I know? These new - to us - characters were refined and diverse and absolutely huggable. In fact this entire read feels like a hug.

The flow and prose of this story is what inched it ahead, for me, infront of L&L. I paused the audio multiple times to take in the way Baldree described character’s feelings and movements.

This is a story to recommend to a wide range of readers with, what I feel to be, a high rate of success! As well as the Bookish community will feel very seen with sweet subtle references to books and stories within.

P.S. Caution: this book may cause drooling from descriptions of food.

Much gratitude to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced Audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

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.