All the feels of Legends & Lattes! Heartfelt and fun adventures, found family, real and funny characters. An autobuy author for me.

What a warm hug of feel good this was! We're treated to all of the cozy vibes of friendship, family, and bookstores. Now this is the prequel to Legends and Lattes and I'm almost glad I haven't read that one yet? Following Viv, it's clear based on L&Ls blurb that this isn't the final destination in her character arc so sometimes it can be a bit disjointed when it comes to being invested in character relationships.

With that being said, I was invested and loved the entire cast of characters. and a heartwarming plot. Themes of youth and having big dreams played a role in this and it brings you right back to that spot in your own life. The world building was almost surprisingly more than I expected and leaned harder into the fantasy aspects than I was anticipating. It wasn't a bad thing, I just had to shift what I had expected the book to be a bit.

The audio of this was an absolute delight to follow along with and kept me thoroughly engaged and invested. The narration was easy to get into and brought the characters and story to life.

I absolutely loved this prequel to Legends and Lattes (but definitely read Legends first). It was everything I hoped for and more after I heard the title.

This story stars Viv at the beginning of her career. we get to know her when she was a little more brash, a lot less worldly, and see how she became the person she grew to be (well, at least a little).

The overarching story was entertaining and kept me captivated. But, it was the setting and the characters that really made this special. They were extremely loveable…who doesn’t want to read about a Griffin named Potluck?

This is a hug in a book, something I know I will read and reread, and imho was a gift to all the book nerds out there who ever dreamed of working in a bookshop.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an arc of this audiobook. I apologize if misspelled any names or locations, I read this via the audio narration. Thanks to the author for a spectacular job bringing his characters to life via the audio. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 stars
I enjoyed the first book about building a coffee shop community. In this second/prequel, we encounter a bookshop community. Viv is recovering from an injury in the small town of Murk where a whole new world opens for her with books and the cast of characters at the bookshop. It will be interesting to see if there’s more crossover when book #2 is released!
*Thanks to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for this advance audiobook copy for review

If Travis Baldree writes it, I am ONE THOUSAND percent going to read it! If he narrates it, it's basically a given that it's on my shelf.

Bookshops & Bonedust is the prequel to Baldree's beloved novel, Legends and Lattes. Readers are transported into Viv's mindset, a saber killer who has recently had a setback and needs to hangout in beach town Murk. Not only is this town the opposite of what Viv is used to, she's also sidelined by a devastating leg injury. What else can she do but walk the city and come friends with the owner of a bookstore, spending hours reading books she wouldn't have imagined doing so. Adventure is out there for Viv to take, she just doesn't realize it yet.

Listening to Bookshops & Bonedust immediately made me want to pick up and relisten to Legends and Lattes. Baldree's narrations allow the author to vividly put themselves in the world he writes and feel like they are on a journey alongside the characters. I adored the little town of Murk and all of the creatures that Viv ran into, especially with Baldree's accents for them. Cozy fantasy lovers will LOVE this prequel and others looking for a nice read beside the fire will as well!

Bookshops & Bonedust is a low stakes high fantasy novel, with the vibes of a gay book-loving nervous-beginner's Dungeons and Dragons campaign. The characters are vivid and easy to get to know. The setting is descriptive, yet not overbearing. The plot is entertaining, as well as heartwarming. It serves wonderfully as a precursor to Legends and Lattes, and will satisfy and cozy fantasy fan.
I was once again impressed with Travis narrating his own work. When the author voices their characters in an audiobook, listeners are guaranteed that the dialogue and characterization is presented as the author intended, giving the story an added authenticity. His voice fits in perfectly with the fantasy setting, and made for an enjoyable read.

This book is a prequel to Legends and Lattes not a sequel. I was a bit confused at first!

That being said I really enjoyed this book. It was fun to see a younger Viv and I loved the bookshop setting.

I am sold on this universe and will read anything Trevor writes. I do want to know what happens to Viv and to coffee shop though! Maybe the next book?!?

While I did really enjoy this one, I liked the first one a little better, so I had to give it a 4 as I gave the first one 4.5.
We got the same cozy vibes as the first book, which I just really loved. We also get a bookstore in this one, which I know so many people will love. The new characters are fun. It was great to see Viv forced to interact on a cozier level that she is used to while she heals, and how that leads into her personality in Legends & Lattes.
The cozy vibes flowed through most of the book, but we did get a few actions scenes which broke up that flow nicely. I was a little bit more invested in the first one, I'm not sure if it was just the immediate decision to run a coffee shop and that just caught my attention, but my interest lacked just a tiny bit from the first one. Maybe it was because I knew Viv would be leaving at the end, but the epilogue was cute and tied the two together.
The author narrated this audiobook and he did a fantastic job. His voice is right for this kind of cozy fantasy world and I was here for it.
Even though this book doesn't come out for another 4 months, I already want more books in this cozy world!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the free ALC in exchange for my honest review. I really ebhoyed this cozy prequel to legends and lattes i loved the narrations the story was soo goood. Only small complaont is parts of it felt a bit repetitive but still enjoyable. I look forward to more books in this world.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Publishing, Macmillan Audio, and Travis Baldree for allowing me to review the audiobook for Bookshops and Bonedust!

If you love cozy fantasies then this book is the one for you! Viv is an orc wounded while hunting for a necromancer with a band of mercenaries where she is forced to heal in a seaside town of Murk. With her downtime she finds a bookshop to occupy her time. She meets a bunch of unique characters included a dwarf and a funky skeleton!

The narration was done by Travis Baldree! He made every character stand out in their own way and I could easily tell them apart. Even when excerpts from the books inside the story were told they were fun!

I can't recommend enough if you loved Legends and Lattes and comforting reads then snag this when it comes out!

Thanks to Macmillan audio and NetGalley for the advanced readers audio copy!

This book follows Viv's story before we meet her in Legends and Lattes. After an injury sidelines her and forces her to take a load off, she starts helping out at a bookstore in Murk. Its her first taste of a low stakes and cozy life. There is some intrigue throughout the book but it's still overall a cozy blanket of a book. If you liked the first one this will definitely be enjoyable for you!

For everyone who read Legends and Lattes and ached for more time in this world. This will be a true delight.

20 years before we first meet Viv building her coffee shop, we find our favorite Orc who is new to her journey with The Ravens has been injured and must rest as her team goes on ahead. As Viv heals up in Murk she makes new friends and helps the local bookshop stay open while falling into the joys of reading.

At first she feels like this will be a long and uneventful wait for her team returns. But she soon finds out there is something going on in Murk connected to the necromancer her team is after.

As with Legends and Lattes it is a great cozy fantasy that has amazing characters that will stay with you long after the story has ended. Hope to see more books in this world.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an advanced audiobook for review.

I received this as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.75⭐️

This was so bittersweet! I loved so much about it, but far and away what I loved most was the narration, it was perfect.

Not quite 4 stars, and it'll take me some time to process why. Or process and change my mind.

A book every bit as warm and magical as the first one as we follow Viv on an earlier adventure that seemed to give her a taste of what the quiet life could be.

I loved everything about this book. It is so sweet and everything we loved about Legends and Lattes, plus BOOKS! The epilogue is one of the best I’ve read. I didn’t realize it was going to be about Viv in the past, which was great to hear about her injury and how she rehabbed herself and the small community. I absolutely loved that the author read the audiobook — it adds an extra layer to the story. I loved the bookshop and how they turn it all around! It’s a heartwarming fantasy that just gives you all the cozy feels. This book is not to be skipped! Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Baldree has done it again, creating a kind, cozy found family fantasy. This one is a really fun prequel where we get to see the seeds of Legends and Lattes Viv planted in a younger version of our heroine. I loved the salty little sea town setting and the dynamic between all the characters and the central mystery was just the right amount of narrative tension without being too much. It almost felt like a cozy mystery with fantasy trappings. Highly recommended for someone looking for a fuzzy blanket of a book.

So, this book was a disappointment to me. I don't think it's a bad book, in fact I think Baldree wrote a better plot to this book, and some of the descriptions and dialogue is better than L&L.

There are two main reasons this one didn't work for me as well. The first is the decision to make it a prequel. I'm not opposed to prequels, and perhaps the lower stakes of L&L made it seem like another low stakes story but earlier could be thought as a good idea. But low stakes books still HAVE stakes - L&L had plenty of stakes. It was just, "are these two characters going to get along", "is Viv's coffeeshop going to work", etc.

This one- we know Viv moves on from these characters and there is not really a fundamental shift in her character throughout this that makes her journey satisfying. She...learns to like reading, I guess? Beyond that, the stakes of this book are actually higher - there is danger and conspiracy in this book to a higher degree than in the original- but simultaneously lower, because we know everything is fine at the start of L&L. So I was mostly just letting events happen with no fanfare.

The second reason, I think, is more on me than the book, but I don't think a bookstore is as good of a setting, or maybe Baldree didn't write the book sections as interestingly. It felt like preaching to the choir, people reading this book obviously like books. So having a bookstore owner wax pontific about how reading is so fun just makes me go, "yeah, duh" more than Viv trying to convince people that coffee tastes good. None of the book talk is particularly inspiring, it's mostly like "wait, people read mystery novels? Whatever for?!?!?" "Well, because the ACT of READING a STORY is MAGIC, Viv!"

Finally, the epilogue is vexing to me. I don't understand why it's in this book. The epilogue is a flashforward to after the ending of Legends and Lattes. And it is exclusively designed for people who have read both books. It's utterly meaningless to this book and basically spoils the end of L&L, which being a prequel is fine, but some people will read chronologically. It's mostly to set up a third book, which could have been done a different way, I think.

6/10

The author did a fantastic job as the narrator. I enjoyed their voice very much.

The story is great. Getting to learn about Viv's past was wonderful.

This is the perfect cozy read, highly recommended!

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio and Travis Baldtree for allowing me to listen to an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Out this November, Bookshops & Bonedust is one of my most anticipated books of 2023 and it lived up to the hype! This prequel to Legends & Lattes was a journey into Viv's past and I loved every moment of it. Another great group of characters with big personalities and I was here for it. With wonderful plot points and dynamic character development, this book made my heart full, I am totally and completely in love with this world and hope it bears many, many stories in the future.

The audiobook was crisp and clear which is the superb quality that I have come to expect from Macmillan Audio. The narrator, who just happened to be the author, had the perfect cadence for this read.

I received a review copy of this book from the author/publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

3.5 stars. It's a lovely prequel to Legends & Lattes and the The cozy fantasy vibes you loved are even better this time around. I really love combining 'modern' things with fantasy because it is very D&D and this book does not disappoint with 'blind date with a book' being included. This is a great casual read, with a fun setting, interesting character, and relatively low action. (One thing I wish this series had more of personally, but I can respect that isn't what they're trying for)