Book Review: Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes) by Travis Baldree 

Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes) by Travis Baldree (2023)

Genre: Fantasy, Fiction

Page Length: 339 pages (paperback edition)

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

I never wrote a formal review on the previous novel in this series, but Legends & Lattes made my top ten favorites list of 2023. While the former novel was a cozy and heartwarming fantasy about bringing a new coffee shop in a small town and how business comes to life. Bookshops & Bonedust focuses on Viv’s discovery of an intriguing little bookshop by the sea and her newfound love of reading. Though Viv is stuck on bedrest she realizes the power that books have and how they transport her on adventures even though her body is in recovery mode.

While devouring new reads Viv manages to strike up a beautiful friendship with the bookstore’s owner Fern and her vibrant gryphet named Potroast (who is too cute for words). Though there are fun and memorable characters that Viv becomes acquainted with and a dangerous villain lurking in the shadow, this book is very calm. Like the appeal of most cozy fantasy novels and the novel’s predecessor fantasy elements with a low-stakes plots in a magical or high-fantasy setting. It still offers some exciting action battle scenes among the quiet nature of the seaside town.

The charm of this book is that the writing is engaging, the characters are enjoyable, and the story transports readers to Viv’s world. I want to visit this town and reading this book felt like a warm hug. The fantasy elements in this book always deliver making for a magical reading experience. I can‘t wait to read more of Baldree’s novels.

Final Verdict: