4/5 stars - very good, would recommend

This is another wonderful cozy fantasy form Travis Baldree. The stakes aren't very high for most of the book, but there are moments filled with action and a bit of adventure. Would recommend for fans of the first books or for anyone who is looking for a cozy fantasy that is character driven and heartwarming with a slice-of-life feel.

(Mild spoilers below)

Liked:
- the characters are all very lovable - Fern and Satchel were my favorites (I would love to read a book about Satchel's adventures after they leave Murk)
- gives you better insight into Viv's growth as a character (assuming you've read Legends and Lattes), and you get to see how far she's gone and meet some of the people that helped her grow
- found friendships, the MC makes friendships that she knows are temporary and yet that doesn't make them less deep or important
- the book explored the way books can help us escape from reality, but also the way they can help us understand ourselves and the world around us better. I really liked that we got to watch Viv fall in love with books throughout the story.
- Potroast the gryphet is adorable

Things I didn't like:
- I did find Viv's romance in this one to be less impactful to me since, if you've read Legends and Lattes, you know it doesn't last. In some ways, I wish I'd read this one first so I could have been more emotionally invested in that plotline. However I still did like the relationship and I liked the way both participants learned about what they were looking for from it. The book made it clear that, even though it was temporary, it was still important to them and they were glad to have been able to meet and spend time together.

Another wonderful cozy fantasy from Travis Baldree. I loved learning more about Viv and I need more books in this world! Full review on Youtube.

The prequel to the delightful Legends & Lattes, this follows a younger Viv and her adventures in a town called Murk, where she stays while an injury heals up and she can walk properly again. Viv quickly makes friends and becomes a fixture at the local bookshop, helping Fern, the owner, to make it more successful. But Viv’s warrior life isn’t far away during her convalescence.

I’m glad I finally got around to this. It was just as sweet and cozy and Legends & Lattes, though I think L&L is my favourite of the two. This was a little looser in structure and story, and of course, as a prequel, you know where it’s going. But it was delightful and I definitely vibe with cozy fantasy.

As cozy and escapist as Legends & Lattes. Exciting to catch up with many characters (but earlier in their lives) and see how the idea for the coffee shop came about.

Low stakes cozy fantasy! This was so enjoyable, but not the most memorable for me. This was such a fun vibe to read though!

What a treat! Bookshops and Bonedust takes the reader back to Viv's past, when she had just started being a mercenary. While proving herself that she's capable of the job title, she ends up injured and left behind in a small town. It's here where she meets a bookstore keeper and a baker, and thus fully commences the story.

I love how this author manages to add danger and mystery to a cozy story; all of it combined adds to an enchanting, adventurous, and interesting story. While this is a prequel, I would highly suggest reading Legends and Lattes first.

I had heard so many wonderful things about the first book that I requested this before I read it. It was so boring and not for me, so I will not be reading this prequel. Thank you for allowing me to have a copy, and I'm sorry.

Another cozy comfort read! As with everything, it’s hard to beat the first one in the series, but this is still an amazing book to curl up with. I do recommend listening to the audio book version of this (the VA is phenomenal), but regardless, this is a nice and easy story that everyone will fall in love with!

Enjoyed this prequel to Legends & Lattes and the narration by the author was well done. It took me a bit longer to get into this story, but once I did, I was hooked. Viv, the orc, is wounded in battle, and her band of mercenaries leaves her in the town of Murk. Viv wanders into a bookstore, and gets a recommendation from the proprietor named Fern. Gradually these two form a friendship, with Viv helping Fern breathe new life into the bookshop that she inherited from her father. When a stranger in gray comes into the shop, Viv knows that a dangerous necromancer has come to town, and she tried to figure out what the mysterious figure is seeking. Of course, adventure ensues, along with more memorable fantasy characters, including a skeleton that is animated with a special bone dust. Viv also finds her first love, and the epilogue ties up the story nicely - with the hopes that these characters will continue in another volume.

It is very possible that I love this book more then Legends and that is saying a lot since I loved Legends. I love the settings in these books. They're so well done that it makes you feel like you are there soaking up every bit of it. I think the real gem of this series is the characters. I adore the characters and how well their personalities come through in Baldree's writing. Their development and relationships with each other feels genuine and relatable. I can't wait to see what will be in store for this series.

This was just as delightful to read as the first one. Keep them coming!

Thank you Tor Books for giving me the opportunity to read this.

This was cute but not as good as Legends and Lattes. I just don't think this series needed a sequel to be honest. I liked it but I didn't love it.

Received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

Seems like there is a divide in the fandom-some prefer the debut more than the prequel and others the opposite. I for one definitely enjoyed this one more! I loved the book-related angle. Flew right through it! One of my favorite scenes was when the tavern keeper was asked about washing the same mug over and over.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about a prequel, since I loved Legends & Lattes so much, but this was a really lovely look into Viv's past, into the fierce warrior she used to be (as well as the dumb, impulsive kid of the group), and the epilogue had me WEEPING. If you enjoy Baldree's work, this will surpass all your wildest expectations and leave you wanting more.

I'm going with a 4-star rating as I think if you enjoyed Legends and Lattes, you'll enjoy this book as well. It serves as a prequel novel, following our beloved Orc Viv from an earlier time. She is injured after battle, and has to rest up in a small coastal town. As you can imagine, this town is cozy with its own bookshop, bakery, and local flare. Like it's predecessor, it uses fantasy and cozy mystery tropes to tell a cozy fantasy story. It does involve some necromancy to provide a mystery to solve, but definitely nothing too dark or terrifying. I personally think I can only read these when I am in the mood for something cozy, as it's nothing mind-bending or super surprising. It's more so about enjoying the characters and how they creatively decide to solve common real-life problems, but it's somehow adorable because these high fantasy creatures probably never had to think about how to market old books.

I loved Legends and Lattes and wasn't sure how a prequel would fit into Viv's adventuring past while still being a cozy fantasy, especially with a romance we know can't last, but Bookshops and Bonedust definitely pulls it off. It was nice getting the glimpse back with the other book's characters at the end, but I loved the new characters enough that I never found myself missing the other cast. Highly recommended.

"See you in the story past the story," said Fern.

It's strange for someone with my level of anxiety to be okay with a book that doesn't have that "uh oh" moment. You know, when the worst case scenario has come to fruition, the other shoe has finally dropped, and the bad news just gets worse. And while this book did have its little ups and downs, you don't ever see the other shoe drop.

The second book in the Legends and Lattes series and I liked it more than the first. While it's a prequel to Viv's life as a cafe owner, it did a better job of putting together a fantasy story that satisfies the fantasy nerds and also the cozy vibes you're hoping for. And wow, this book was cozy. It's partly because this book appeals to the readers with Viv working at a small bookstore in a town where she's recovering from a pretty nasty battle. The bookstore was everything you love about bookstores; messy books all over the place, an eccentric bookseller that's hoping to find you the perfect read. There was even a bookstore dog!

And as Viv recovers from her battle wounds and reads these books about epic battles and even more epic romances, you can see Viv change, grow, become someone more than just the battle-hardened orc who is only here for a quick stint before linking up with her crew and resuming her search for a necromancer name Varine. This introduction to Viv is exactly what I needed to understand her motivation to own a cafe in the first book. Why cozy after so many years of battling it out with whatever bounty she came across? Well, the answers are written on these pages and you can't help but to push Viv to live the life that she wants.

The characters were also so great in this one. I mentioned the bookseller and the cute dog (which was actually part dog, part griffin), but there was also the gnome who wanted to join Viv's gang, the skeleton homunculus owned by the necromancer but hoping to be set free, the gate guards, the doctor, the lumberjack. Honestly, it was a plethora of fun characters that really made this world much bigger than it is. I had a hard time keeping track of what each character was, but that's my own personal problem.

I even loved the conflict. As in the case with all cozy-style stories, there has to be some conflict and this one was well put together. Instead of explaining everything right at the front, it was introduced slowly bringing a small amount of mystery to the story that made me happy to see play out. Of course, it's very low stakes so whatever worries you may have about following along or the level of death, rest assured that it'll be enough to get the blood going, but not enough to step away from the book.

And as I read the end of the book with the tunes of The Velvet Underground playing in the background, I had a smile on my face. The courses of Viv's life before she owned the coffee shop punctuated with "O Sweet Nuthin'" felt like the final scene of a movie, where there's nothing but smiling faces that everyone got what they wanted and then some. Maybe some are a little more worse for wear and others walk away without what they truly want, but if that's not a metaphor for life, I don't know what is. It's not a perfect book, but it's perfect enough.

I physically hugged this book many times while reading. Travis Baldree you have done it again <3. I really hope this isn’t the last we see of Viv and friends!

A delightful entry to Baldree's cosy fantasy world. A joy to read about Viv again in her younger years as a merc; would absolutely read more set in this world.

I wrote about this on The Storygraph and on Goodreads and sent links to various social media sites. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6306827470 Really a 3.5