Book Review: Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

Hey all, Sam here.

Yep, I fell off my schedule again. This post was definitely meant to go up about a week ago. I’m sorry. I keep seeing my dozen partially written up drafts and then basically freezing up and not finishing any of them. Somehow I need to figure out how to actually get through all of these drafts of the many many books I’ve read somewhat recently and get them scheduled. It’s not even like they need to go up every day or anything; I honestly don’t think I could get back into blogging as intensely as I did in 2019-2020, but even just two or three posts a week would be great.

I’m going to keep trying to work through my massive review backlog (and my massive TBR backlog). Maybe eventually I’ll somewhat catch up on everything. We can keep hoping and dreaming, right?

Anyway, today I’m here with the second release of the “Legends & Lattes” series, although this one is technically a prequel to the first book, so you could actually read this one first if you wanted. Nevertheless my personal recommendation is to read these books in publication order.

All right, let’s dive on into the review.

When an injury throws a young, battle-hungry orc off her chosen path, she may find that what we need isn’t always what we seek.

In Bookshops & Bonedust, a prequel to Legends & Lattes, author Travis Baldree takes us on a journey of high fantasy, first loves, and second-hand books.

Viv’s career with the notorious 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 beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn’t possibly imagine.

Still, adventure isn’t all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, 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.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

After meeting Viv in Legends & Lattes, it was nice to go back near the beginning of her journey, when she was still young and believing in the wild adventure and danger filled life of a mercenary/adventurer. This book basically shows the first hints at a foreshadowing of the retirement coziness that Viv will eventually settle into, and that was fun to witness.

That being said, if you fell in love with characters like Tandri and Thimble in the first book, you won’t see much of them in this one, aside from the very end, as this book is very much set up as if Viv has been telling Tandri about this earlier period of her life.

Instead we are treated to more characters to love, like rattkin bookseller Fern and her adorable pet/companion Potroast. Considering Fern’s business and the fact that Viv is injured (and therefore bored due to sitting around), we are introduced to a lot of adventurous romance stories, and thankfully we get to read some excerpts from them.

And, much like in Legends & Lattes, Viv ends up gathering several members of the community and creating a found family, which makes you wonder if the gathering of her people in the first book was because of the luck from that stone, or just because of something that just naturally draws community to Viv.

Reading this felt like a new adventure with a familiar friend, and was cozy in its own way, both comforting in similarity to the first one while also introducing us to new places and people, and expanding what we knew of Viv and of the world she inhabits.

There was also a good amount of baked goods in this story as well, so once again I will recommend having a snack on hand while reading, just in case. I also liked that the end of this adventure made it clear that things are still going well for Viv with her cafe, and it hints to a third book that might bring characters from both books together (which, obviously, we already know happens; I’m reviewing the next installment hopefully later this week).

This was another quick comforting read, and I’m glad to have multiple copies on my shelves to pick up and revisit whenever I need a little cozy adventure.

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All right, well that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.