A greta follow up to Legends and Lattes. This one is more like a prequel, we find a young Viv left in a sleepy town by to recover from a leg injury while the rest of her gang follow the trial of a necromancer. While their Viv become friends with the local bookshop owner Fern and helps her revamp the store while trying to save everyone. It full of adventure, romance and friendships. It’s a lovely story and an easy read with a feel good vibe. Well worth reading

The prequel to Legend and Lattes still retains the charm from the original book. We follow a much younger Viv and have a similar premise of helping to set up a book shop whilst there is some evil baddies plotting mischief. There are loveable characters and you can't help but enjoy reading about the renovation. The epilogue for me was a highlight in the book and I do hope the series is continued in Thune with a bigger exploration of the Madrigal. Definitely worth a read if you enjoyed the first one, not quite as good but then I think I enjoyed the other characters more.

Bookshops & Bonedust is the prequel to the wonderful Legends & Lattes. Set 20 years earlier, it follows Viv who has ended up in a sleepy beach town after being injured in battle. There she discovers a bookshop and some interesting characters who show her the town is more eventful than she thought possible. This is another great slice of 'cosy fantasy' and a great addition to this universe!

The first book started this year's cosy book only tbr. I love that we get to see young Vi and how her journey started and her love for reading.

I love how we see her growth in this book and how there are so many little nods to the vi and coffee in the other book. So happy I got to read this and can't wait to see how this series goes.

Any one want a cosy book then this is one for you

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for review.

I was so over the moon to be allowed an early copy of this book, as Legends and Lattes is one of my all time favourite reads of all time and this book cemented Baldree as one of my new favourite authors.
Bookshops and Bonedust was a delight to read from start to finish, with slightly more high stakes than the previous book following Viv and a lot more fighting scenes which I wasn't mad about!

I loved everything and everyone in the town of Murk, so much so that while I was reading the closing chapters I started sobbing because I didn't want to leave the characters and finish the book. I want this series to go on forever.

There was nothing wrong with this book, it was utter perfection.

This prequel is truly wonderful and so pleasing to read. I loved it all. The bookshop and Fern particularly, Viv was brilliant and her relationship with Mylee was so cute.

This book has everything you could want in a book, books, cake, marvellous FMC and her friends and an exceptional plot.

Travis Baldree has written another masterpiece and he is now on my favourite author list and I will be purchasing anything he publishes in the future.

Thank you so much for the opportunity of letting me read this early. It was an absolute privilege.

I stated in my review of Legends & Lattes, that I wanted more books set in this world. So when I heard about Bookshops & Bonedust , I was so excited. I have always loved cozy fantasy books and like the previous book, I really enjoyed this book. The vibes, as they say, are immaculate. It has always been my dream to either own a bookshop or work in one and through this book, I got to live my dream in a way. It was quite interesting to get a backstory to the Viv we know and find out about her past.

Again, the cozy vibes of the town setting made me want to jump into the world and live there. The eclectic cast of characters that filled the story made it even more fun to read. This is definitely one of those light-hearted fantasy books that you can read and finish in a day, because that's what I did lol.

If you enjoyed reading Legends & Lattes , then you are going to love Bookshops & Bonedust !

This was a really enjoyable book. I loved Legends and Lattes and I really enjoyed getting to know Viv’s character and understanding a bit more about what led her to wanting to change her life and live a quieter life in her cafe. Once again this book has loveable characters with just enjoying mystery and intrigue to keep the plot ticking over. I did find it a little bit slow to get into but I think that was more because I had been reading a few fast paced books prior to this one and had to adjust!
Another brilliant cozy fantasy that will be perfect for fans of the first book.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable book. The characters as ever were welcoming and well crafted and it was so interesting to see Viv years before Legends and Lattes. I really enjoyed watching her delve into books and the beginning was a gentle amble. It’s not a fast action book, but that’s kind of the point with cosy fantasy. I love how the author is obsessed with cake and this is apparent in both books. Highly recommended and the epilogue was perfect.

This was so wonderful - maybe the best prequel I've ever read, it adds so much to the text while standing alone perfectly well. It's almost too cosy and adorable; I think it shares the edge of overdoing it, but I don't mean that negatively. Books that you can climb into like a warm blanket are too rare and so necessary, I won't lament that this is a fuzzy duvet of a novel. Would like to add an extra 5 stars just for Potroast, honestly.

Once again Travis has smashed it out of the park with this. We get to see a younger viv. A more restless viv but we still see the side of her that we met in Legends and Lattes!! The side characters in bookshops and bonedust are all just adorable!! More fleshed out than in his previous book and it was great spending time with them. The teaser at the end was so mean but I just cannot rave about this enough !!! It's wholesome and cosy and everything i needed

I think I prefer Legends and Latte's, but still really enjoyed this installment. I adore the little world and the characters Baldree has created in these books.

One of the things I'd wanted at the end of book one was a little more backstory, and this delivered it in the best possible way.

If you enjoyed the first book, you'll love Bookshops and Bonedust.

As predicted, this was an absolutely smashing prequel to Legends & Lattes! A bit different, not as cozy as Legends, more cozy adjacent with a meatier plot but in a very good way. Loved all the new characters especially Potroast! I really look forward to seeing what Baldree comes out with next, fingers crossed for something more in this world 🤞🏼

Seriously just read this, I absolutely loved this, like just honestly read it, like there’s not much more I can say except that I am going to be recommending this book to any of my friends who are looking for a new read once it’s published.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this ebook.
I read this in a very short space of time. I loved the pace, the syntax, the cool created other world. I .love everything about it. It’s a beautiful, fun, fantasy romp. The characters are deep and delicious. I can find no faults. It’s gorgeous. After finishing it, I went straight to Amazon and bought Legends and Lattes, I finished it this evening and am bereft.
Please Travis, can we have another one soon?
A million stars. ( or 5 seeing as now it’s NetGalley)

Brilliant, enjoyable fantasy. Lapped it up within a day. The characters come to life with all the troubles and joys of real life in a believable fantasy setting.. Each one slots together and perfectly fits into the story. The story is easy read, but was intricate enough to keep me entertained.. Witty banter to keep plucking my ‘funny bone’. And an ending that maybe needs some hankies close by. (On that note I didn’t realise this was a prequel to another Travis Baldree book which I had previously read; so when you have accepted my recommendation, finished this book and enjoyed it so so much, go and find ‘Legends and Lattes’ too. As it is equally entertaining.) Thank you to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Bookshops & Bonedust' by Travis Baldree.

'Bookshops & Bonedust' is the prequel to Travis Baldree's previous and well known novel: 'Legends & Lattes'
I'll be honest, I loved it to start and I fell in love but as the story progressed it just didn't work for me. No idea why but it was gutting when I realised I wasn't into the story as much as I was to begin with.

I am so glad I read this as the prequel first and can read Lattes & Legends straight away! Really looking forward to it!

A great story with lots of feelings and complications :-)

It’s no secret I adored Legends & Lattes, and my expectations for this book were definitely set high! Luckily, they were met! This book has slightly more action while still managing to maintain the cosy feel that I was hoping for. It also has books within books, great friendships and learning to support others, which I love.

The friendship between Viv and Fern is so lovely, but also all the other characters too - from Brand to Satchel, there’s lots of different aspects to friendship which is wonderful to see. And the relationship with Viv and Maylee is adorable, if bittersweet from the start. But that’s what I love about it. I think it’s unusual to see a relationship you know won’t last or for one to be dealt with realistically on mismatched feelings. It felt incredibly realistic and very well handled.

The mystery/magic aspects worked pretty well for me too, they’re not necessarily as strong, but they’re also really a side plot while we get to see Viv learn what it means to have a team around you and how to relax and listen to what you may want in life. So I. That sense they’re perfect.

I also laughed so hard at the books Fern gave Viv and how she got on with them! I want to read some of them, they sounded hilarious. And the spicy ones made me giggle at how it was all handled. So brilliant! So many lovely shoutouts to bookworms and bookshops here, from signings to book blind dates, it was lovely to see.

Honestly such a fun and cosy fantasy, exactly what I wanted. 5 stars.

This is really a book about books. About discovering the joy of reading, but also about suggesting just the right book to a friend at just the right moment. Which is pretty apt, as it was a recommendation for Legends & Lattes which pretty much single-handedly got me back into reading regularly again.

I adored the first book, and the growing relationship between Viv and Tandri, so I went into this prequel with some trepidation. Given the timeline, this couldn’t really be the same kind of story, and I wasn’t sure that young Viv on her own would be quite as endearing as the collection of coffeeshop regulars.

I needn’t have worried. Viv as we first meet her, is a headstrong and arrogant sellsword, just starting out in the business of crushing skulls. Soon after, she needs to take an extended break at a quiet seaside town, very much against her will. Boredom eventually drives her out of her comfort zone, and into a run-down bookshop, owned by a notably foul-mouthed rattkin called Fern.

There is much more to the story than just hitting the same beats, of course, but eventually there is a cast of delightful characters in orbit around the shop, and it plays artfully with similar tropes about working in retail.

There are slightly bigger stakes this time round, and as a result things feel slightly less cozy overall. It is also more of a summer fling, than an epic romance. Despite those differences, if you enjoyed Legends & Lattes, I am certain you will enjoy this too. And I promise you will die for Potroast.

Thanks to Pan Macmillan for providing me with an early copy for review.