Review: Bookshops and Bonedust (Legends and Lattes #0.5)

Bookshops and Bonedust (Legends and Lattes #2)
By Travis Baldree

Published By: Tor Books
Publication Date: November 9, 2023
Date Read: April 3, 2024
Genre: Adult – High Fantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Hardback
Pages: 368

From Goodreads:
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.

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.

Bookshops and Bonedust is a book that has been on my TBR since it first came out. I read Legends and Lattes when it first came out and fell head over heels in love with Travis’ writing and the cosy vibes of this world. Hearing that there was a prequel, I knew that I just had to read it. I wasn’t actually aware that this book still included Viv. I don’t read blurb’s okay… so sue me! But I am so thrilled that she is in this one again, as I absolutely adore everything about her. I am so glad that I finally picked this one up as it was everything I was hoping for and more. I loved every single moment of this book.

Although this book is a prequel, I highly recommend reading Legends and Lattes first. I feel like this book just means so much more and is so much more enjoyable when you know all of the events from Legends and Lattes. In Bookshops and Bonedust, we have gone back to when Viv was first starting out as a mercenary and finds herself injured, so while she is recovering she finds herself befriending a bookshop owner, and helping her to revive her old bookshop.

I adored every second of this book. Many times I found myself just sat there, grinning at the book. It was just such a cute and cosy read. It really felt like receiving just a big warm hug in the form of a book. One thing I loved about this book is it showed how Viv became a reader. I loved seeing her go from this big hard Orc who doesn’t read, to an avid reader and book lover. It was so beautiful to see and experience. I really do think Bookshops and Bonedust is a love letter to authors, book lovers and readers everywhere. In addition to this, this book did have some higher stakes than Legends and Lattes. I felt like there was little bit more action and plot, which was a big plus for me as a plot driven reader. I honestly just love everything about Travis Baldree’s work. I have fallen head over heels for this world and his characters and I just wanted to stay in this book forever.

Bookshops and Bonedust was just utterly brilliant. I loved seeing younger Viv, but I can’t like I was starting to get sad because I knew from reading Legends and Lattes that she didn’t stay in the seaside town. I just wanted her to stay there forever. I hope Travis decides to write more in this series and in this world, because I just adore it so much. This book has made me realise just how much I love cosy fantasy books and I can’t wait to read more. If you’re after a cosy fantasy read, Legends and Lattes and Bookshops and Bonedust are a must-read!