Another fantasy instalment by the one and only, Baldree! I really enjoyed Legends and Lattest, and dare I say it, I loved this one even more. Such a warming read with compelling characters.

"Bookshops & Bonedust" by Travis Baldree - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Fern looked affronted. “Of course they’re important! They’re my books!” “ p.g 72

Disclaimer:

This book is an ARC from NetGalley and Pan Macmillan; thank you.

Summary:

While pursuing a powerful necromancer, Viv gets seriously injured and is dumped in a quiet town called Murk.During her recovery, she stumbles across a bookshop run by a rattkin, Fern, who appears to be struggling as much as Viv. Deciding she has nothing else to do, she decides to help Fern. Before long trouble appears to have followed Viv, pushing her back into adventuring.

Thoughts:

This is a prequel to “Legends & Lattes”, which after reading this, I can’t wait to get into.

Viv was a great character to follow; I actually liked all of the main characters in this, and felt they were all fleshed out. I enjoyed Viv’s character development throughout the story and it made me want to continue reading. I like the relationship she blooms with the baker, Maylee. I really liked Fern, who was my favourite character.

My only issue would be it felt the main villain, the necromancer, appeared to be put on the sidelines and the final confrontation seemed a little quick. Regardless, this was my only issue; the atmosphere of the book was really well done, and I liked the characters a lot.

I also nearly cried at this book.

I don't read fantasy books because they usually contain for too many characters with very similar names, so I was gobsmacked to find myself bereft, upon finishing Bookshops and Bonedust. I'm seriously considering just downloading Legends and Lattes, to get more of the story instead of starting the next book I'm supposed to be reviewing! This is a fabulous read.

Viv is an orc, injured in battle, that needs to rest and recover before she can go back into battle. Her company will collect her from Murk, where's she's healing, once they have completed their mission.

We follow along with the different friends she makes, as she heals and witness the inevitable battle at the end of the book.

It really did leave me hungry for more, and not just lassy buns 😉

I LOVED Legends and Lattes and this one did not disappoint it was phenomenal! I had never read a ‘cosy fantasy’ before L&L, but I am glad I did they’re wonderful and Baldree pulls them off every single time!

Viv is an orc who is wounded during the hunt for a necromancer and is left to recuperate in the town of Murk. She spends her time at a bookshop and finds herself enjoying the company of a baker. There is still plenty of action, but my main love for this book is the wholesome moments the characters all share. The characters and their interactions are incredibly heartwarming I just wanted to climb inside the book and live in Murk with them!

Baldree now has me hooked, two books about coffee shops and bookshops — I don’t think there is anything I would want to read more!

I read an eARC of this book so thank you to Net Galley, the author and the publisher for allowing this.

I absolutely loved the first book by Travis Baldree ‘Legends and Lattes’ so I was so excited to read the prequel! It didn’t disappoint! You don’t need to have read the first book to read this one, but you’ll enjoy it just as much if you have! I’m glad I read them in this order rather than chronologically in the story.

This is cosy fantasy at its best. If you’re a person who plays fantasy games and enjoys the side quests, learning more about the characters and doing tasks that aren’t just fighting then I think you’ll love this book! There’s plenty of action in this story but there’s no gratuitous violence. The book is about found family, discovering more about yourself and personal growth.

Viv (who I love so much) is an Orc who is convalescing in a small coastal town following a leg injury. Her crew are on the trail of a necromancer and will return for her after several weeks. Viv finds a bookshop that’s fallen into disrepair. She’s not previously a reader but the owner Fern knows just what to suggest to get her interested. While in the town Viv starts to build relationships and find ways to make herself useful to the townsfolk. However the threat of the necromancer starts to put her new friends at risk.

I absolutely loved this book, just as I did the first. It’s so wholesome and heartwarming. It’s just the perfect cure for a bad day. Highly recommend and I will read absolutely anything this author creates now!

"Never trust a writer who doesn’t have too many books to read. Or a reader, for that matter"

Viv is back, and this time she's in a different town, taking on a bookstore. I bloody loved this prequel to Legends and Lattes, if you loved the original, you'll love this. Some great supporting characters and the same cosy feel to it.

I read Legends & Lattes last year (before it hit the social platforms) because the title sounded right up my alley. It was one of my favourite reads of 2022 so when i saw that there was a sequel i was so excited!

Coffee shops are such a comfort to me, but you know what's more of a comfort; a BOOK SHOP!

In Bookshops & Bonedust, we see Viv's life before she joined her band of mercenaries. An injured Viv is dropped off in the quiet town of Murk to recover while her army continues on fighting. Here she meets a collection of fantastic characters who shape the way Viv lives her life (which we then see in Legends & Lattes)

This is just perfect. The characters are warm and loving. The story has adventure and depth. Honestly, I wanted to cry at the end when we see how the characters developed and intertwined. I didn't want it to end.

Thank you Travis for writing this cuddle of a novel. I can't wait for everybody else to get to read it.

Thank you to Net Galley and Tor for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

That I would love this series was a known quantity for anyone who knows me personally, and I am beyond grateful to Netgalley and Tor for giving me the opportunity to review an ARC of Bookshops & Bonedust.

In this prequel to the much loved and entirely deservingly hyped Legends & Lattes, a younger, more reckless Viv recuperates after an injury in a harbour town and discovers sourdough bread, an army of the undead, and, uh, moist books.
There's more action than in Legends-, but that makes sense for the story being told, and it's just as wonderfully comforting regardless. I finished it in a day, and if I had one criticism it's that I was foolish enough not to buy a latte to enjoy while I was reading.

Travis Baldree is by now one of my all time favourite authors. What I like about his books especially is that you can't possibly guess what is going to happen next. Except by now I have a feeling he will trash any newly decorated business :) Bookshops and Bonedust is warm, funny, tense, romantic, cosy, sweet, lighthearted and a bit dark, simultaneously. This is the perfect prequel to Legends and Lattes, with a much younger Viv. I love how we already saw a shimmer of the mature orc she is going to become. Oh and how I like all the other characters, they are so original and perfectly fleshed out! I could have highlighted half the book, there is a lot of beautiful sentences there, but I laughed out loud and bit my nails as well. Seriously, if you want to read the perfect cosy fantasy novel, you should definitely read this.

This was an excellent installment into Vivs world. I really wnjoyed getting to know a younger Viv and seeing a new side to her character it almost enriches the first book as I feel I know her even better by knowing some of where she has come from. As always the side characters were brilliantly written my favourite being Satchel I loved his character. This did in the first half feel less cosy than the first book but I feel it makes up for it in the second.

5*

Baldree has done it again with Bookshops & Bonedust. After reading Legends & Lattes, I knew that I needed to read anything that Baldree put his mind to and that I was right.

Following Viv at the start of her adventuring career, Bookshops & Bonedust guides the reader through many of the events that shaped the Viv we know and love in her later life. Filled with a vivid town full of rich and diverse characters, the story is cosy and familiar, whilst still bringing new threats and energy.

I recommend this book to anyone seeking a cosy fantasy novel with just enough twists and turns to make it utterly devourable.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

After adoring Legends and Lattes, I was both excited and dubious when I heard a prequel was coming out - could the same magic and charm of this hug of a book be recreated? The simple answer is yes.

Bookshops & Bonedust is a little ‘edgier’ than Legends & Lattes, set 20 years before Viv the orc retires and opens her coffee shop, here Viv is injured while fighting Varine the neocromancer’s wights with Rackam’s Ravens. Viv is, begrudgingly, left in the sea-town of Murk to recover while Rackam continues on searching for Varine, and experiences a quieter sort of life, at least until a body turns up!

Again the characters and the relationships and interactions between them are key to to this book and the true heart of what makes it so enjoyable and easy to love. Viv is a little different than she is in L&L but still very much the same character, here she is still ambitious, reckless and wanting to prove herself to Rackam and fight. With her injury forcing her to slow things down, she finds Thistleburr’s Booksellers, a tired, cluttered old bookshop run by Fern the potty-mouthed Ratkin and her gryphet (part pug, part owl) Potroast. Viv and Fern soon become friends and when learning how business is struggling, Viv takes it on herself to help tidy the bookshop and improve business. Along the way she also encountered Gallina, a feisty gnome you will remember from L&L who wants to prove herself with Rackam and attaches herself to Viv and her adventures when a mysterious hooded man appears and soon turns up dead. There’s even time for a bit of romance with Maylee the dwarf and I can’t go without special mention to a homunculus named Satchel, a talking skeleton forced into Varine’s servitude.

This book consists effectively of 2 plots; Viv helping with Thistleburr’s bookshop and the threat of Varine the necromancer. This book has more threat involved compared to L&L where of course the entirety of the book was about coffee and setting up home. Here there is threat and fighting although it’s still incredibly light so it’s only a minor change. The chapters with Fern and her business are adorable and charming though and the sort of care-free narrative my worry filled life craved. You follow them buying furniture, moving the furniture, restocking, moving books, decorating and business ventures and it’s a comforting read. Fern introduces Viv to various books and you experience her passion for reading and, again, this is a very cute love story for books :)

This is a journey not a destination book and it’s a comforting, enjoyable read to sit down with these characters as they live their lives and open their hearts to eachother. You will find yourself reading it with a smile, loving each character for a different reason. Also I adored the epilogue, I’m keeping it spoiler free but I loved it :) This book has absolutely ruined me however because I will never be able to find a gryphet of my own :’(

Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review :)

I need more books by Travis Baldree! This book tugged at my heartstrings and wrapped me in a warm hug. The stakes are higher for Viv in this story, but the cosiness of this series is still strong. There are a lot of similarities with Legends and Lattes that it feels familiar and comforting, while also having some differences that brings something fresh and new. The ending left me silently crying to myself in a heap of blankets, wanting to reread the series again.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

'Bookshops & Bonedust' by Travis Baldree.
Legends & Lattes was one of my favourite books that I read last year so when the opportunity came up to read this I couldn't resist.
I loved this book, probably even nore than Legends & Lattes.
The book is a prequel to Legend & Lattes and starts with Viv arriving in the little town of Murk to recover for a couple of weeks after being seriously injured. She becomes a frequent visitor to a quaint little bookshop and from there the adventures begin.
I love all the side characters in this book, Fern, Maylee, Satchel, Gallina and Potroast.
This book is perfect for anyone who wants to begin reading the fantasy genre. I can't wait to read more in this series and to read more about Viv's adventures.
I would give this book a strong 5 out of 5. Thankyou so much to NetGallery UK, the author Travis Baldree and the publishers for letting me read this in return for an honest review.

A beautifully written cosy fantasy that transports you to another world. This is truly what you want in a book, to be taken away from reality and transported by amazing world building and go on an adventure with wonderfully written characters. This book has an amazing pace and I loved meeting all the different characters throughout and seeing friendships develop. I felt like this was a warm ug in a book and I highly recommend for a great fantasy read.

Bookshops & Bonedust was a true 5-star read for me - I think it even surpassed Legends & Lattes in terms of how much I enjoyed it (though I'm easily swayed by a book-ish setting, and I was in my sickbed when I read its predecessor, so this is entirely subjective). The characters were, as we've come to expect from this series, wondrous - I adored Pot Roast and Satchel especially. I really enjoyed the extracts which are included from the books that Viv reads - and I loved that she was getting to enjoy some cosy fiction at the same time that the reader is! I found myself being quite moved in parts - as in Legends, there are some thoughtful and reflective gems amongst the adventure and romance. All in all, this was an utterly delightful read.

Absolutely cozy and heart warming. If you loved Legends and lattes, you will adore Bookshops and Bonedust. Here we see a younger, bloodthirsty orc Viv who has injured her leg on a mission and is trying to heal the wound in the sleepy town of Murk. Unexpected friendship, sleepishly sheepishly cozy setting, a summer fling, baked goods ("she caught a whiff of baking in the breeze, cutting through the pungent odors of brine and seaweed", owned by a dwarf, Sea-Song bakery), gnomes, making wrong choices. It is GREAT! Also the highlight is a run down bookshop Thistleburr Booksellers with "chaotic piles of books, charts and miscellanous junk" (and smelling like mildew and carpets that need burning) filled with surprises. The friendship between the bookshop owner and Viv is heartwarming. I loved how the owner selects a book and gives to Viv, how Viv (who def didn't dream of reading through her rest days) finds out what she enjoys in books and also the 'story beyond the story', the book discussions, marketing tricks to attract more customers (I am intrigued by all the blind date with a book descriptions!). I loved the passages on painting, revamping the bookstore, taking stock of the collection, a bookish event by a famous author. Everything, even minor details, fills you up with warmth—take the example of a surgeon who visits the bookstore and "When the surgeon finally departed, he had three bundles under his arms and a bun in his teeth" or the smell of bread "still warm—moist and crumbly with a hint of sourdough tang or baked goods that "glisten on brown paper"

Read if you enjoy :
-COZY max books perfect for autumn and the colder seasons. Or really, any time of the year when you need a lift me up.
-Second hand books and lovely, quaint bookshops
-You love the smell of baked good.

Thankyou to the publisher and Netgalley for an arc of this book.
This was a perfect prequel and complements Legends and Lattes well, it’s a great fun and heartwarming cosy fantasy. The book was well paced and I’m glad we got to see more about Viv from before Legends and Lattes and I loved the unexpected relationships between the characters. Whilst I did really enjoy this book i would say i preferred the coffee shop atmosphere of the original a little better.

I loved this book. Perfect follow up to legends and lattes. These books are just brilliant for binge reading and the feel good effect. Like a Hug in a book! Hope to read more from this author.

Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree is the upcoming prequel to everyone's favourite cosy fantasy, Legends and Lattes. This time, we're swapping coffee beans and cinnamon rolls for second handbooks.

Our favourite sword-wielding Orc is back. Before she dared to dream of opening Thune's first coffee shop, young Viv travelled with a band of mercenaries who were on the hunt for a powerful necromancer.

Rather unsurprisingly, baby Viv is brash, bloodthirsty and determined to prove herself. Unfortunately, her overly zealous attitude leads to a foolish mistake and a brutal injury that leaves her bedridden and left behind to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk.

What follows is a wholesome and whimsical tale featuring foul-mouthed booksellers, baked goods, a gnome with a series attitude problem and an incredibly sweet romance that will leave you beaming with unadulterated joy.

I adored how Viv's discovery of books slowly started to flourish and how the stories she lost herself were reflected in her own life lessons and journey. Baldree certainly has a wonderful gift of creating the cosiest and immersive settings. I could practically smell the leather and ink, and imagine myself weaving between the precarious piles of grimoires and sea maps.

Even though the stakes seemed slightly higher this time around, I enjoyed the gentle pace and how it added even more depth to such an intriguing character.

I did find myself missing the ambience of the coffee shop, but I appreciate how the prequel was more like a love letter to bookshops and the booksellers. The epilogue tied everything together perfectly.