Recipes for an Unexpected Afterlife is a cozy, heartfelt fantasy about an undead orc named Rottgor who opens a restaurant after centuries as a Death Knight. What starts as a strange retirement plan turns into a beautiful story of healing, food, and found family. It’s got a Legends & Lattes vibe but with more emotional weight, dealing with grief and second chances in a surprisingly touching way.

Huge thank you to NetGalley for this arc!

Sadly, I had to DNF this book around 50% mark. As much as I like cosy fantasies, this just wants for me. I’m not sure if the writing was for me or it was simply bad time for this book. I didn’t vibe with the main character. However I love the concept of the story and maybe I’ll give this second chance in the future.

In the city of Necropolis, Rottgor the undead knight is being forced into retirement. After centuries in service, he's not really sure what to do. But he decides to return to his roots and open a restaurant, opening a whole new life up to him.
I wanted to enjoy this book, really. It seemed adorable, and I loved the concept of Rottgor and an undead retirement. But there were two major factors that led me to DNFing. First was Calfe. His character was kind of ridiculous. He met Rottgor and immediately put the entire plot into motion by basically pledging his life to Rottgor and getting him the restaurant and being ready to fight for this guy he'd just met. He just felt inconsistent and unrealistic. Second was Astra. Literally I quit when Astra said the word "abrasive." She's supposed to be about nine. She acted either much younger or much older than her age at different times, and quite frankly, it was really unsettling.

If you’re looking for a new cosy fantasy book this is great. I was immediately drawn in by Rottgor and his second (?) chance to live him dreams. Would recommend to anyone but especially if you enjoyed legends and lattes!

Rottgor, our loveable undead protagonist, is being forced to hang up his death-defying duties and finally follow his heart. What follows is a story about building a restaurant, finding out what it means to define your own life but even more so about building a community—one mismatched, loyal friend at a time.

The world is richly described to the point where I feel like I can picture the streets and the people within them.
What really stood out to me was the emphasis on found family. How Rottgor finds meaning after centuries of service.

If you’re craving undead kindness, unexpected friendships, and the kind of fantasy that wraps you in a blanket rather than throws you into battle—this one’s for you.

A warm, cozy fantasy with a cast of characters who come together and create not just a family, but a soft place to land for others who need a place where they can be nourished and loved.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This book was so…nice! This is such a wonderful little cosy fantasy, and sometimes I feel like that genre gets neglected. Sure, we have romantasy dominating the charts and a certain level of focus on the broad sweeping epic, but there is something to be said for a cosy tavern setting with a lot of heart.

The characters are incredibly endearing. Astra was a personal favourite for me, and she just has so much spark. I completely understand where the found family aspect would come from for Rottgor, and it just made it all the more adorable. It was also nice to read something where there was no agenda to the action, and no panic- just a lovely setting, great characters, good action, but it felt like things were going to be okay.

Some sections were a little difficult to read, with action that jumped around a bit too much. The writing at the start was pretty much perfect, but it did get a little difficult around the middle to read. The ending made up for it though, and I just really loved this one.

Well worth putting on a candle, your favourite D&D instrumental playlist, getting comfy in bed, and reading this one!

This was definitely an interesting read. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, so major kudos to the artist Ellie White. Having not heard of this author before, the cover really sold me on the book. The story starts off cozy and is full of rich details that really bring the world to life. For me though, the amount of description, plus all the characters and not a lot of plot movement in the beginning, got a little overwhelming. However, I can definitely see this hitting hard for a very specific audience. If you love the deep lore of something like World of Warcraft but want it with a cozier vibe, you’re probably going to eat this up. Overall, it was cute and enjoyable, not totally my thing, but I can still appreciate what it was going for and wojld absolutely recommend it to anyone wanting a heartwarming read.

I am deeply grateful to NetGalley and Cozy Quill for this opportunity to read a digital ARC and provide my honest review.

Overall I enjoyed the story and the characters and the world behind this book. The journey Rottgor/Razgaif goes on is solid and he finds his chosen family along the way.

Retired orc opens a restaurant is not a book I thought I'd read twice and there's a reason a ton of reviews are mentioning Legends and Lattes, but I feel like this will not be able to reach the same level of audience. Unfortunately the writing is nowhere near the same level; this book probably needed a couple more rounds of edits to flow better and to be more showing, less telling in it's descriptions in order to pull you into the world.

I would recommend this if you are really into cozy fantasy, but probably not for broader audiences. It didn't captivate me and was more difficult to get through than I want for a lighthearted story.

An adorable story with so much heart. Rottgar/Razgaif is so sweet and I just want a world of happiness for him. Deston J Munden has managed to write story that is quite Terry Pratchett-esque, a standalone that reels you in and wanting more of the world.

I particularly enjoyed the sweet relationship between Razgaif and Astra. Did I tear up? Yes, absolutely! Several times.

Read this for the cozy times, the feels, and the very lovely well-crafted world with interesting magic and creatures. I saw hints of more aspects to explore and I look forward to it!

Thanks to NetGalley, Deston J Munden and Bindery books for letting me review this eARC.

This is my first cozy fantasy and while not without its faults i quite enjoyed it.

What i enjoyed:

The setting is intriguing. A hodge podge city made up of all and sundry. With an emphasis on the undead. It felt quite different. I would definitely like the city and its history explored in future books.

The main characters are all likeable and easy to root for.

Its well written(for the most part) and the descriptions of the food will make your belly growl if you’re even slightly hungry.

What i didn’t enjoy:

The side characters felt a bit under explored. And while they were explained to be quite different when introduced i struggled to remember who was what.

Everything happened way too quickly. Four minutes after being introduced everyone was willing to die for each other or spend the rest of their life together. I felt that things could have been dragged out a bit more.

All in all though i would recommend this, especially for fans of the cozy genre.

Thank you to Bindery Books/ Cozy Quill and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book

This was a really fun and cozy read with good world-building and fascinating characters. The story follows a hero after an epic story and what he wants to do in his somewhat forced retirement. Most of the time I don't like children in books, but Astra is so cute and a nicely developed character that I fell in love right away.
Throughout the book you get a sense of reading a cozy fantasy after an epic fantasy novel. What happens to the heroes after the world is saved and they can retire? Of course there is still conflict in the city and Rottgor sees it through the eyes of a resident for the first time in his life. And tries to find his own place in the city.
I can definitely recommend Recipes for an Unexpected Afterlife to anyone who likes a cozy fantasy with interesting characters and found family.

Thanks to Deston J. Munden, Bindery Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

An undead orc soldier returns (not voluntarily) to life and has to figure out what is important now, including building a meaningful life and protecting found family at all costs.

Recipes for an Unexpected Afterlife is a sweet and inspiring story. It’s a story of second chances, forgiveness, and most of all appreciating life. There were several times throughout the book where I had a smile on my face because of a quote or a magical moment. I think this book had some of the most interesting characters that I ever read. I wish there pictures where I could see all the characters.
So glad I had a chance to read this. I think this is a book I will think of often.

It’s OK. The devout cozy reader may enjoy this, and I thought there were some interesting ideas about what happens when you simply did not expect to live this long. It borrows something from DnD and something from cozy animes. I am notably not a cozy fantasy person. Within the genre this will have appeal, but outside of it I’m not sure.

Oh joy, another cosy book about a retired soldier(knight) opening a business. I thought retirement was supposed to be about NOT WORKING. Obviously my gripe with the genre doesn't lie solely with this book, but the cosy genre is just overrun with books about capitalism being ‘nice’ gag
Ignoring the fact I’m supposed to feel all warm and fuzzy about reading about a retired knight opening a restaurant, I did have a good time. 3 stars.

The good
-Found family was great. Did get the warm and fuzzies from the main focus of the book which is Rottgor and Asra’s relationship.
-The magic system and world. Definitely added something new to the genre. -No romance. If you want romance, look elsewhere.
-The food made me hungry. I instantly wanted to cook something.

The bad
-Rottgor is approached by an elf dwarf and is instantly given a business without any discussions about what he actually wants from his new life. I thought this dude was going to hook him up with some work to keep him busy but an empty business was just thrust onto him.
-Astra says the orphanage can’t always feed her enough but it's funded by the government and seems to all have enough of everything else. They even have a decent education and guards but I’m supposed to believe the kids are going hungry.
-Too many side characters are introduced at once. Some of them seem pretty cool but with so many around its hard to care about any of them as individuals.

You know what I would have preferred? Instead of opening a business he teaches the orphans how to cook. Something more community focused rather than a business.

Early free copy via NetGalley

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

The cover and blurb of the book caught my attention. But I was expecting a funnier book that would make me laugh. However, especially the first half of the book was blue for me. That's why it took me longer to finish the book than expected. It's a lovable story where hope blossoms and love wins. It's an ideal book for those looking for a change in content because the characters are not human. The beautiful ending will leave a smile on your face.

Thanks to Deston J. Munden an NetGalley for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A really refreshing take in the cozy fantasy space! I will be picking up several copies to give as gifts because it really is just like a big warm hug in a book!

As I read this story, I envisioned this being the retirement story of one of the orc warriors from the Lord of the Rings series. Envisioning this great warrior being given the ability to pursue a little-known dream of running his own restaurant was heartwarming. Of course, with any life transitions, it was not without its bumps and unexpected adventures. The core of this story is the story of a found family, which was so touching that I cried happy tears. This was an enjoyable, cozy, and fun read. The characters were unique and multidimensional, and the adventures and battles were compelling. My only warning is: have a snack handy when you read this. The description of the foods that are made would make my mouth water.

Thank you to NetGally and Deston J. Munden for giving me the opportunity to read this wonderfully cozy story.