The absolute epitome of getting the biggest cuddliest hug from a book. I honestly think I prefer this to its predecessor and that was all kinds of perfect too! Joyous!!

This book is fun and heartwarming. The fantasy genre is utilised so well by the author. You are transported into a world of vivid characters and creatures. The cozy vibes, mild peril and low stakes action mix together magically. The book is like a love letter to reading. What I really liked was the exploration of how connections with others can change our paths in life.
Read this when you are sad, stressed, lonely or happy - basically the perfect read for anytime and any emotion.
Thank you to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for an E-ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars.

Bookshops and Bonedust provides more of what you’d expect if you’ve read Legends and Lattes - a warm, slice of life fantasy that is very cosy and not too serious.

While I enjoyed this book, I found the characters Viv meets in this story less interesting than those from Legends and Lattes, and therefore found this instalment less enjoyable overall. While still fun, I feel a whole new story with new characters (and perhaps a Viv cameo) would have been a better way to explore the world further than just a Viv prequel.

That being said, I look forward to reading what Travis Baldree publishes next!

Having only recently read Legends and Lattes I was intrigued by the prequel. I both listened to the audiobook of this one whilst reading along on an ebook. I love Viv as a character and the introduction of a love interest for her was really nice. Travis also did a fantastic job of narrating his book.

This is purely a personal thing but I don’t think ‘cozy’ fantasy is for me. I spent the whole book waiting for something more to happen.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the arc to review.

A most enjoyable read. Very interesting to learn more about Viv's backstory. I think I might have enjoyed this even more than Legends & Lattes which has become one of my favourite reads of the last several years.

Having never read the infamous Legends & Lattes, I was hesitant to pick this prequel up. I am not a typical cozy fantasy person (grimdark, violence, bloodshed? Much more my jam!). However, I'm happy to report that I have no regrets. Bookshops & Bonedust is a quick read that keeps you smiling the entire time.

We are set in a small coastal town where nothing much really happens. There is a dusty bookshop nobody really visits. A sandy beach where no one really goes to.

But... there is also a bustling bakery where a single bite of a pastry is bliss, potential-friends and friends-in-the-making, a mystery to be cracked, and the most adorable skeleton I have ever encountered.

I can't say too much more about that last bit.

However, what I can say is this: low stakes doesn't mean no fun. Low stakes means you get all the action, plot, relationships, and joy without worrying your favourite sidekick is about to be sacrificed for the protagonist's character development.

And doesn't everyone, at some point, need that?

Well thanks to Netgalley for gifting me an early arc, I am now, a couple of months before publication, hoping and praying for a third book in this fantasy world. This is big hearted writing with another cast of wonderful characters- a totally refreshing combination.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the ARC.

*4.5 Wow this encapsulates everything I loved about the first one but a step to the left. Instead of autumnal coffee shop vibes bookshops and bonedust wisks you away to a wet summer seaside town, and I absolutely adored it. The friendships were amazing and Viv was just as much of a joy as she was in Legends and lattes. If you were a fan of the original you are sure to adore this one 😊

I absolutely ADORED this book. I had read Legends and Lattes and found it to be just so comforting and magical and I have to say this book surpassed the first in terms of my enjoyment of it. Both books are excellent but this one was my favourite. Its a prequel to Legends and Lattes and it centres around Viv having injured herself when on a hunt for a necromancer. She is landed against her will in a town called Murk to recuperate. There she meets a series of characters and finds herself involved in some adventures of her own.

I devoured this book and Travis Baldree is going to be a must buy author for me. I have already ordered my hardback of this book and will be recommending this to everyone and buying as gifts for Christmas. its the perfect cosy read.

4.75 Stars!

Synopsis: Viv is a young Orc working as a mercenary but when she is injured she ends up stuck in Murk while she heals. Murk is quiet, but when Viv stumbles across an old bookshop, a cute baker, and a mysterious man things get more interesting.

CW/TW: Violence/Blood/Injury

Rep: Sapphic (Lesbian) MC | Sapphic relationship.

Previous Mini Book Review: Legends & Lattes, by Travis Baldree

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree is another brilliantly cozy high fantasy with low stakes and slight dangerous streak.

In Legends & Lattes we settle down with Viv as she retires from her mercenary work. This time, however, we get to see a younger Viv working with renowned mercenaries. Viv, however, having the ambitious, swing first think later attitude ends up injured and resting in a little town.

Oh I loved this! It immediately reminded me just how much I love Viv. Despite being a mercenary, Viv is an absolute sweetheart – though she initially appears gruff, she just can’t help but lend a hand to others and become enmeshed in their lives. Viv’s adventure into town leads her to meet Fern, the bookshop owner, and her companion Potroast. This initially leads to a reluctant Viv reading some books recommended by our foul-mothed but lovely Fern, but this quickly leads to her meeting a cute and flirty baker and discovering something odd happening in Murk.

Firstly, I LOVED the little bookshop and the books Viv is recommended! I so badly want a Fern to recommend me books. I also adored Viv and her slow growing connection to reading and the slow immersion she finds as she gets lost into them. Secondly, Fern makes the bookshop all the better! Her foul mouth is entertaining and her love of books and talent at recommending them, slyly too I may add, made me love her so much (and Potroast of course)!

Moreover, I thought the little first love story was adorable – it was slow burn and flirty and such a sweet addition to this cozy fantasy. Not only was the love story sweet, I also loved the little addition of the bakery and its delicious sounding goods!

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Baldree cozy fantasy without a little mystery and danger! Viv, while recovering, notices a strange visitor in Murk – who begins to give her a feeling of unease that she cannot shake – and Viv’s instincts are not wrong. However, these strange occurrences are not winning Viv any points with the local law enforcers…or one in particular that is. I really enjoyed this little dark streak, it was intriguing, mysterious and compelling.

Overall, Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree is another successful cozy high-fantasy that is absolutely immersive and charming!

*I received an eARC via Netgalley from Pan Macmillan/Tor in exchange for an honest review – thank you!!*

*Plot*
After the hype and success of its predecessor, Legends & Lattes, I was a little unsure whether Bookshops & Bonedust could reach such heights, being a prequel, but I absolutely excited to give it a read and find out.
Fortunately, my fears were unwarranted. Travis Baldree knocks it out the park again. Bookshops is easily as good as Legends, easily

Somehow Baldree has made them feel quintessentially the same, but also different enough to not feel repetitive, keeping the story interesting and the readers guessing.

Despite ultimately being a cosy book, Bookshops & Bonedust isn't with stakes, and I love how cleverly they tie into Viv's initial mission. Necromancers, wights, and assassins abound, no one can accuse this book of not having high stakes. Yet I think what keeps the book feeling grounded are the very personal stakes of the bookshop itself. The necromancer plot definitely adds an interesting layer of tension and mystery, but it's the thought of that dear little bookshop going out of business that truly puts the fear in me. It's these personal stakes that give the book its heart and its sense of 'cosy'.
On the whole, this book has the perfect balance of both plot stakes and character stakes.

*Characters*
It was so nice to be back with Viv, even though this was technically a different Viv to the one we know and love. She's younger and dumber and making reckless choices in an attempt to prove herself. Taking that arrow to the leg was the best thing to happen to her. Her recuperation time in Murk is not only an opportunity to heal but also to grow. Throughout this book, as she gets to know the locals and discovers a love of reading, she slowly becomes our Viv. Patient, helpful, kind, selfless.
She hasn't hung her sword up yet though, so we get to see Viv in action, kicking some arse.

Every relationship grew from nothing and you can really feel the development and growth. It makes Viv's departure at the end all the harder. You can't help but get attached to these characters, even knowing the trajectory of Viv's life, knowing that she'll walk away from Murk and these friends that she's made, it doesn't hinder a fondness growing for them.

*Setting*
There's something almost nostalgic about Murk for me. As a kid, my family and I used to holiday in the UK, spending long weekends in quaint, sleepy little seaside villages, visiting local shops and walking the beaches, searching for fossils. Murk reminded me so much of those cosy holidays of my childhood and gave me such warm fuzzies, it was like reading a fluffy blanket and hot cup of tea.

I love how Murk isn't necessarily painted in the most glamorous of lights, given Viv's initial feelings of the place. It's isolated, a little run down, even structurally unsound in places, but it's so utterly charming not despite its flaws, but because of them. You can't help but fall in love with the place.

Viv's most frequented places include a bookshop, and bakery, and an atmospheric pub with a warm fire. Sounds perfect. If Murk were a real place, it's exactly the kind of place I would've visited with my family as a kid.

*Writing Style*
This is a love letter to reading and books in general. If you're a book lover/collector/hoarder, then there's no way you won't at least appreciate this book. It was a joy to watch Viv fall in love with books and discover her love of reading for the first time.

As I mentioned above somewhere, Baldree finds a perfect balance regarding the stakes, but also with the pacing. There's just enough action to give the series a new flavour, but not so much that it strays too far from the cosy elements that make these books so well-loved.

The writing is high quality with fantastic descriptions that really bring Murk and its quirky inhabitants to life.

*Final Impression*
November is the perfect release date for a book like this. It screams winter cosies, curling up on a rainy day under a blanket to binge the whole thing.

The epilogue was perfect. Beautiful, Had me both tearing up and filling with hope for the future of these characters. Even if we never see them again, the ending gives me confidence that Viv and the gang will all do all right from now on and that the best is yet to come for them. And that's a rather comforting thought indeed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book for reviewing purposes.

Bookshops & Bonedust definitely fills that early autumnal need to cosy fantasy, the setting in a bookshop is an absolute dream and I especially loved Fern, who was 100% my favourite character of the book. I loved being able to see the growth in Viv to become the character we know from Legends & Lattes, something I partially dread about prequels is characterisation and development but this was spot on.

I will say the minor romance in this book felt slightly unnecessary and I did not feel any of the build up to it, but as it is only a subplot it doesn’t really deduct anything from the story so I can’t judge it too harshly.

‘Legends and Lattes’ was a delightful hit for me earlier in the year so I was extremely excited to hear that we’d be getting another book with Viv and her world this year.

We’re getting into the perfect season for a cosy fantasy, even better when it’s a cosy fantasy starring bookshops and bakeries, and I ate it up!

Set twenty years before the events of Legends & Lattes, Bookshops & Bonedust is a standalone cosy fantasy by BookTok sensation Travis Baldree about the power of good bookshops, great friends and the unexpected choices along the way.

First loves. Second-hand books. Epic adventures.

Viv’s career with the renowned mercenary company Rackam’s Ravens isn’t going as planned. Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she’s packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk – so far from the action that she worries she’ll never be able to return to it. What’s a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?

Spending her hours at a struggling bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted. Even though it may be exactly what she needs. Still, adventure isn’t far away. A suspicious traveller in grey, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.

Sometimes, right things happen at the wrong time. Sometimes, what we need isn’t what we seek. And sometimes, we find ourselves in the stories we experience together . . .

While I didn’t adore ‘Bookshops and Bonedust’ in the way that I did ‘Legends and Lattes’, it was still a quick, easy and involving read and I’m so glad I got to read it early.


Travis Baldree writes the most evocative settings and Murk is no exception. This is a small seaside town that I would spend a few weeks healing in with glee. There’s a cosy (if slightly dilapidated) bookshop, a bakery bursting with goodies, and a stern guard captain to contend with - it all sounds delightful. Even with such a small space to work around, Baldree fills these spaces with characters that are bursting with life. Everyone is so rich and layered, full of complexity and detail, that it’s impossible not to fall in love with them and their day to day lives. For the books and worlds that I fall in love with, someone that I always wish for is more time with them in their day to day - Travis Baldree delivers just that.

Getting to see Viva at the beginning of her career was such a treat - she obviously has a very different view on her career at this point to when we first met her and it’s so interesting to see the seeds that were planted in Murk and how they would grow into the Viv of ‘Legends and Lattes’. She’s a wonderful character to follow at all stages and I hope we get more about her - particularly a sequel to ‘Legends and Lattes’ tying in some of the characters from ‘Bookshops and Bonedust’ which was hinted at the end of the novel.

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the early review copy.

Is ‘Bookshops and Bonedust’ on your TBR?

Written by Sophie

First things first a huge thankyou to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for my advanced copy for my thoughts ahead of the books release in November! Legends and Lattes has been one of my favourite reads of 2023 and I was beyond excited to receive an advanced copy of the prequel, Bookshops and Bonedust.

Viv the orc is holed up in the town of Murk recovering from an injury from her last battle. The town slowly squeezes its way into her heart as she stumbles upon a bookshop in need of some TLC. Viv discovering a love of reading and befriending Fern was one of the highlights of this book for me and I would have loved a book just about rejuvenating the bookshop (much like Legends and Lattes). The main plot focuses on defeating Varine, a necromancer causing havoc and destruction. Unfortunately for me the prequel did fall a little flat but I think this was because I wasn’t invested in Varine’s demise.

The epilogue was extremely redeeming and suggestive of a third book, which if going in the direction the epilogue suggests I would love to read! Where Legends and Lattes was the definition of cosy fantasy, Bookshops and Bonedust leans slightly away from this in my opinion.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The prequel is just as addictive as Tragis Beldere's first: Legends and Lattes.

Viv is younger and more Impulsive which leads to an injured leg and Rackham's Ravens leaving her in the sleepy town of Murk. What follows is friendships, first loves, and books (some spicy ones included).

The bibliophile in me expecially loved this book!

At first I was apprehensive about getting a Legends & Lattes prequel, because that book was the epitome of everything I wanted in a cosy fantasy, but this absolutely lived up to every expectation there was.

I loved getting to experience a younger and more rambunctious Viv, back when she still has that hunger for fighting and getting to see her slowly fall in love with the possibility of a quieter existence. I also really adored all of the incredibly beautiful descriptions, and Travis Baldree has a simplistic writing style that reads so elegantly and really pushes the emotions.

I’m all about the low plot, cosy vibes, but I did appreciate that this one had slightly more plot to it than Legends & Lattes. All together this was an incredibly sweet and wonderful piece of escapism, and I loved getting to slip into the many books Viv experienced throughout.

(Thank you so much to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the E-arc of this brilliant book in exchange for an honest review).

If you liked legends and lattes you will like this book. This prequel gives us a glimpse to Vivs past.

It also makes me want to open my own bookshop!

This is another fun cosy fantasy by Travis Baldree and I can't wait to read more from Travis, especially after the epilogue!

An amazing follow up to Legends and Lattes, it’s the cozy fantasy book every should read this year.
Perfect setting, with the hero helping to save a run down bookshop whilst uncovering the reason a sinister character is lurking in a quiet sea town. Loved the characters, emotions flying from laughing to crying!

heartwarming found family 💕 Cosy and relaxing story . I really loved this read. I cant wait for the next one

I’m a huge fan of Legends & Lattes, so when I got approved for Bookshops & Bonedust, I couldn’t believe it!!!
Much like Legends & Lattes, this book brings me so much comfort, it’s so warm and a feel good book.
I loved young Viv, and seeing what she did before Legends and Lattes, and in her mercenary days.
Travis Baldree has once again created such heartwarming characters in the form of goblins, dwarves and ratkins who all bring something amazing to the book itself.
This books is perfect for a cozy day of reading with your favourite hot beverage and a tasty snack!
Thank you to Pan Macmillian, Netgalley and Travis Baldree for an ARC copy of this book!