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)

3.5 stars

My thanks to NetGalley for an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed Legends & Lattes, so I was delighted to receive a copy of the prequel Bookshops & Bonedust (& I also appreciate a good ampersand). We meet a younger version of Viv the orc, who is at the start of her mercenary career with Rackham’s Ravens. She is incapacitated during a minor battle on the way to fight a Big Bad necromancer and left to recover in Murk. Thus commences our tale of books, baked goods, and accidental resurrections in a sleepy seaside town (my favorite kind). With nothing else to occupy her time, Viv wanders into the local bookshop and becomes hooked on the proprietor’s recommendations. She then starts to help her new friend revitalize her store, which is in danger of going out of business. Baldree does some excellent seed planting here, showing us the roots of Viv’s entrepreneurial acumen and appreciation for the quiet life that feature so heavily in Legends & Lattes.

I enjoyed this installment a little less, mainly because Baldree tried to smush together the cozy low-stakes feel of his first book with a little more swashbuckling and suspense, which led to some really weird pacing issues. Due to the framing of the story, I also didn’t particularly enjoy the romance in this one; I felt that it could have been entirely left out without any effects on the plot or character development. I did enjoy old bookstore vibes, delicious pastries, hilarious skeletons, Viv’s ability to find new friends and allies in unlikely places, and above all, the epilogue.

I loved this! It is bittersweet getting a prequel, knowing that these friends and this life gets left behind but I was yet again enamored with everyone Vivian encountered and the epilogue made me squeal so loud my husband ran to see what what wrong

I was so excited to see this book after all the buzz about Legends and Lattes.

When they describe this series as "cozy fantasy" it's apt. There is some action and adventure, but for the most part it's just the lives of magical people (beings?).

The main plot centers around a necromancer, but there are a couple of low consequence subplots. Honestly my favorite pieces of the entire book was Viv helping Fern fix up her bookshop.

Bookshops & Bonedust is a prequel to Legends & Lattes and it introduces Viv as a much younger Orc at the beginning of her career. I really loved this book! The audiobook is read by the author and it is excellent. There is a poignancy to this story that is very touching and the characters are wonderful. I hope Travis Baldree will write more in this world! I recommend this to readers who like fantasy adventure with a sweet side of romance.

If you enjoyed Legends and Lattes then I have no doubt you will love Bookshops and Bonedust as well! Watching a young Viv in her prime, finding out the unknown about herself, making new friends along the way of healing and hunting necromancers. It is an all already great time.

I takes quite a lot for a book to make me cry and I was doing perfectly ok until I read the epilogue - which takes place about a year after the events of Legends and Lattes. Oh boy was I getting some funny looks at the coffee chop!

I could not recommend this book anymore if I tried. Grab a pastry, some coffee, and cozy up with my all time favorite cozy fantasy series.

(Thank you, MacMillan, x1000 for this eARC, all opinions are my own)

Why was this book so good? I think I am in the minority here when I say that I decided to read Bookshops & Bonedust before Legends & Lattes. So, I can’t compare the two. However, if Legends & Lattes is anything close to BookShops & Bonedust, Legends & Lattes will be my next read.

Viv has been hurt in a battle which forces her to sit and heal in the town of Murk. Viv is not happy about that at all. This book was such a surprise for me. I was laughing as the character laughed, and the banter in this book was the best. You want to talk about finding the right book at the right time. I want to say so much, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. I will say that Pot Roast is a little bean.
The narrator was great. I had a fun time listening to all the different voices.

5 stars! This was a fun read. It took me less than a day to listen to the audiobook. A book about books always makes me smile. I will recommend it to all fantasy lovers, Someone who needs a laid-back fantasy with low stakes. I can’t wait to get a physical copy of this book.


Thanks, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I will post my review on Youtube and Tik Tok on (10/31/2023) @allthisnerdyness

The hype is real and my heart is full - Travis Baldree has done it again with his Legends & Lattes prequel, Bookshops & Bonedust!

It’s no secret that I am absolutely obsessed with Legends and Lattes and when Bookshops & Bonedust was announced I could not contain my excitement! In this installment we go back in time following Viv as she recovers from an injury received while hunting a necromancer with her mercenary company, the Rackam's Ravens. She is forced to put her feet up and recover in the small seaside town of Murk and she is not happy about it. With little to do and needing to rest her injury she takes up reading and visiting the local bookshop - befriending the owner Fern & her adorable companion Potroast. Of course things won’t stay quiet for long and Viv is thrust back into adventure with her new friends, a sassy Gnome and a mysterious skeleton!

I cannot say enough about how amazing this installment is! Cozy fantasy at its best - full of friendship, books, adorable creature companions, amazing characters, snacks, adventure, everyday slice of life, mystery and all the cozy vibes! I absolutely devoured this book from the opening line to the epilogue and cannot wait to see where the series will go from here!

Method read: 🎧

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy!

I have really enjoyed this series so far and I am for sure going to just Auto Buy whatever the Author writes.
I liked the backstory with Viv, but I can say I didn't really enjoy her as much as I did in Legends and Lattes. I thought this story was interesting and flowed well. I really loved all the new characters and the little struggles they all went through,. It is nice to have a story that is not super Epic and confusing once in awhile.

Thank you NetGalley for this audio ARC. This was a quick and cozy read; however, it didn’t live up to the author’s first book.

If you were a fan of Legends and Lattes, you are going to love this book. It was wonderful getting to know Viv prior to coffee and pastries. I adored all of the characters. Bookshops and Bonedust made my cozy fantasy loving heart just burst with happiness. After reading the epilogue I can’t wait to read what’s in store next.

Charming cozy fantasy. I love that we got to spend more time with a character we love from the first book but also get introduced to new ones that you love from the start. I cried and laughed and it is another amazing addition to this series. I hope there are going to be more.