If you loved Legends & Lattes than you are definitely going to enjoy this one. This was like a warm hug in a book! I loved meeting young Viv, as well as the new set of characters and the beachy setting.

Another cosy read following up from legends & lattes, great to be back with Viv however for me this fell a little flat. I wish legends & lattes had been a standalone but I can't wait to see what the author does next!

LOVED LOVED LOVED this one!!

Travis Baldree just had a way of writing cosy fantasy books that just pull you in and make you feel like you’re in a warm hug! I really enjoyed the first one of this series and couldn’t wait to pick this one up!

The cosiest read so far this year, I loved Legends and Lattes and Bookshops and Bonedust carried on that love!

A wholesome story with low angst and great characters, only wish there was more for me to read right now.

The book was just as good as the first book. Did I want it to end? No! Do I need more from this series. Yes!
Great storyline and a fun read that kept me turning the pages..

I absolutely adore this book. It was just what I needed at the perfect time and I will say it is even better than Legends And lattes.
I love the fact that it had an increased stakes, while still remaining cosy at its heart. Viv as a younger character Is a dream to follow, but what really sold me was the bookshop. And potroast. Loved potroast and satchel. The plot of this book really gripped me but it was the characters that really sold this and the world. I wish I could live here.

5/5
I love Vi. I would die for Vi.
This book made me cry, I just love a good cosy fantasy and I feel like Travis Baldree is killing the game rn

This was a lovely, somewhat cosy prequel to Legends and Lattes that I did really enjoy. Whilst it didn't quite live up to the cosiness and wholesomeness of L&L, it was still a great read.

Viv is very different in this book, but I still really enjoyed her character. She is still very much a mercenary at this point, and her mindset does reflect that, so it was interesting to see how she would change and learn to see life a little differently during her recovery.

I loved the setting of the seaside town and the focus on bringing a failing bookshop back to life, I honestly wish that was the entire plot and that the non-cosy stuff didn't happen. It felt very against the cosy fantasy genre to have so much high stakes drama and life-threatening scenarios!

The characters were fun, and I especially liked the small romance happening even if we knew it wouldn't work out because of L&L. However, the characters are not as wholesome and cosy as L&L and sometimes were unlikeable.

Bookshops and Bonedust, much like Legends and Lattes, took me a few tries to get properly hooked. I must have picked it up and put it down at least five times before I got properly invested. However, when I did get round it to reading it, it was well and truly worth it. Travis Baldree is truly excellent at writing cozy fantasy, and I loved all of the new characters we got to meet in this book. Especially Satchel.

Viv the orc in her prime age, got a serious battle injury on her leg. Her superior left her in a small coastal town to recuperate. She’s so bored that enter a sad-looking secondhand bookstore in that area, even though she’s never interested in reading before.

I… didn’t enjoy it as much as L&L but that’s probably a me problem. The big portion of this book is about reviving the secondhand bookstore and the process of finding joy in reading which I think is a little silly for a topic because everyone who read this book is obviously a reader already??

There’s also a lot of friendships made along the way, while of course there’s a side “threat” that ensues Viv but since this is a prequel that was released later and we know that Viv is completely fine in L&L, the stakes & tension felt lower than it should. Also about the epilogue that’s clearly set after L&L, so even though this is a prequel it contains spoilers to the supposedly 2nd book. In short, whichever book you read first, you’re gonna get spoiled.

A fantastic cosy fantasy that will have you craving more.
I love the world that Travis has created for these books and this storyline did not let me down. Brilliant story arc, loveable characters and the cosiest of locations.
Well worth curling up with a cuppa and getting lost in the pages!
Thank you for an arc in return for an honest review.

“Scones and sexy books? Yes, please!”

This book hits you with all the warmth of walking into your favourite bookshop cafe. Except, you know, if there were orcs and necromancers there. I didn’t know I needed this cosy, slice-of-life fantasy until I met Viv, the orc recuperating in the seaside town of Murk after a battle injury, and the zany characters she finds on her journey to recovery. Blending the low-stakes storylines of friendships, relationships, and the perils of bookselling with the over-arching plot of the hunt for a powerful necromancer, the pacing was steady but never unbearably slow. This was a heart-warming story that served as a great introduction to this universe for me.

Having heard such great things about Legends and Lattes though having never read it, I had high hopes for this and I was certainly not disappointed. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy Bookshops and Bonedust without having read Legends and Lattes but my concerns weren’t needed.

Bookshops and Bonedust introduces us to Viv in a way that doesn’t assume any prior knowledge of her character, but is still able to drop you right into her world. I’ve never thought of myself as a high fantasy enjoyer, though this high fantasy low stakes story was right up my street - I’ll definitely be reading L&L now!

This was an interesting, quirky story. However you really need to have read the first book to get a feel and understand the characters etc.

Bookshops and Bonedust is a triumphant, cozy return to Travis Baldree's vibrant world of small town drama, all served with a slice of trouble, mystery and romance.

A prequel to Legends and Lattes, we explore our beloved orc mercenary Viv's earlier adventuring days, as she's left to heal in the seaside town of Murk after a particularly nasty leg wound from a necromancer's minion leaves her crippled.

Whilst I don't think it captures quite the same unique cozy niche as L&L did, this is still a well-paced story with plenty about it to love.

It was great to get an insight into a much greener Viv, twenty years before L&L, meet a new cast of characters (Satchel, when you meet him, is my favourite new addition), and still drool over mouthwatering descriptions of food (yes, it wouldn't be a Baldree book without a bakery).

There's something wholesome and captivating about Baldree's writing. I really loved the character arc Viv underwent, helping to rescue a struggling bookshop, and uncover a deeper, darker mystery along the way.

Bookshops and Bonedust is a wonderful follow up that conjures up nearly as much magic as the first. It is as familiar and warm as your favourite jumper on a cold day, and definitely worth snuggling up to read.

A prequel that stands on it's own as a great cosy - but not too cosy - fantasy read.

I read Bookshops and Bonedust before Legends and Lattes, despite hearing about and wanting to read Legends and Lattes for ages, this just came first because I really wanted to review it, and Netgalley luckily obliged. Thank you!

I primarily experienced Bookshops and Bonedust through the audiobook, which is masterfully read by the author, Travis Baldree, who clearly loves and understands his characters and reads with unwavering energy and affection, drawing the listener in to spend time with Viv and the friends she makes in the town of Murk while enduring a period of convalescence having been wounded at the beginning of the book.

After listening to this book, I immediately bought Legends and Lattes to listen to, and listening to that, did not feel like Bookshops and Bonedust either needed any prior knowledge of Legends, or that it spoiled what was to come, despite it being a prequel and knowing, ultimately where Viv was going to end up. Legends and Lattes felt a lot more slow paced, I preferred the plot in Bookshops, though maybe people who read Legends first think that about Legends too, it could just be the element of discovery in a new world and characters that leads me to think that way.

Bookshops and Bonedust just felt really nicely paced, a really great balance between character development, 'fantasy peril', danger and threat, a touch of romance, and just the feeling of being wrapped up in a book blanket. I loved the characters in Bookshops, they felt a little more vivid to me that those in Legends, though again, that could just be because Bookshops was the first book I read out of the two, but I really liked Satchel and Fern, and Fern's friendship with Viv. The world building was good too, just enough so that I could picture and feel the setting.

I would recommend the audio version, I really want to own hard copies of the books now, there's nothing like being able to see the spine of an old book friend on a bookshelf, like surrounding yourself with a found family, but I'll be listening to the audio over again for sure, loved it!

Okay, so I need to be honest. I started this book all the way back in the summer, but with the house move I just completely forgot it. And I so regret leaving it for so long.

This prequal follows Viv when she takes a (forced) break in the sleepy seaside town of Murk. Along the way, she makes a bunch of friends and helps to reinvent a book store.

I loved this. It was delightful and cosy and everything I wanted. This series is the ultimate cosy fantasy and Travis Baldree can do no wrong.

I also got an audio e-arc of this and the audio book was so well done! Really recommend reading it this way.

Thank you to Travis Baldree, Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the free e-arc and audio book! I'm so sorry it took so long to review. All opinions are my own etc.

When Viv gets wounded during a campaign to apprehend a necromancer, she is left behind by her crew in a little town called Murk. Partially immobilised, she is forced to slow down and tries to enjoy exploring the neighbourhood. Soon, she finds a local bookshop run by Fern, who excels at book recommendations...

Bookshops & Bonedust is an exciting prequel to Legends & Lattes. In this book, we meet a younger version of Viv, still full of energy, craving adventure and ready for any fight. Her stay in Murk is temporary, but she still manages to build strong and meaningful bonds. The novel is another cosy and relaxing read, with a bit more action, as the undead drama seems to follow Viv into sleepy Murk. I absolutely loved this book and would recommend it to all book lovers!

I want to start off this review by saying that Viv is such a badass main character and I love the way she navigates love and friendships.

I loved the friendship between Fern and Viv, as well as the remodelling of the bookshop. Satchel was my absolute favourite character and I found myself laughing out loud because of his one liners! I definitely preferred the chemistry between Viv and Tandri over Viv and Maylee, but still lovely nonetheless.

Unfortunately though, Bookshops & Bonedust felt more like a 2.5 star rating for me (rounded up for review purposes). Comparing to Legends & Lattes, I felt that the characters fell flat and I ultimately did not connect to them as much as I did the characters in L&L.

Whilst reading, the story didn't entice me very much and because of this, I found that there were too many characters to keep up with and B&B ended up being quite a complex and long read for me. I am so disappointed with this, because L&L was one of my top reads of 2023 and am gutted I didn't connect with B&B in the same way.

I think that I am possibly changing my reading taste and high fantasy with low stakes just does not interest me anymore, so absolutely no fault of the author here!

Thank you, Netgalley, for my copy of Bookshops & Bonedust.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a free ecopy of Bookshops and Bonedust. Another wonderful installment in the series, I absolutely loved the story and hope this isn't the last week hear about Viv. As someone who doesn't usually read high fantasy I would appreciate explanations/descriptions of fantasy characters/beings when sometimes there are none.