Viv was so used to her very existence being an obvious threat that it was honestly startling to hear a casual joke at her expense, even such a mild one. She supposed clunking around on one leg tended to dull one’s fearsomeness. His wry grin went all the way to amused. “Let me be the first to welcome you to Murk, jewel of the western coast! A very small part of the western coast. And this here is The Perch, my place.” I’ll get it next time. Worst case I climb those stairs myself.” The man smiled wryly. “Don’t think you could outrun me, could you? You’d better fall onto one of these stools while you still can.” Bookshops & Bonedust takes the world of Legends & Lattes and weaves it into a universe. It does the impossible: showing us a character twenty years before her story, and making us hold our breath to see what happens next. It's the rare prequel that beautifully adds depth, power, and love to the lore. This is a book for those who were once young and pulled between fighting the world with all they had . . . or curling up in a dusty bookshop with a good story."—J.R. Dawson, author of The First Bright Thing

Immediately I was so invested in Viv’s dream to open a coffee shop, I was desperately hoping her and Tandri would grow close and I really really wanted Thimble to make me some sweet treats. Sometimes, right things happen at the wrong time. Sometimes, what we need isn’t what we seek. And sometimes, we find ourselves in the stories we experience together . . . Reading Viv’s perspective on the state of the bookshop it’s clear Fern is overwhelmed to the point that she’s kind of given up on it, there’s so much to do that she can’t see where to start. A bookshop has to have an ambience and certain style to attract readers and that’s what Fern is missing. She needs a friend to bounce ideas off and help set her on her way and we know that’s going to be our Viv. Viv might’ve been bedbound for two days, in and out of consciousness, a muddle of circular dreams and throbbing agony. The surgeon had come and gone multiple times. Or maybe he hadn’t, and she’d just been hallucinating it over and over. She half remembered the man’s face, tangled up in a shame she couldn’t identify.

This prequel is the perfect place for readers to start Baldree’s cozy fantasy series where folks band together for good, and evil is conquered through cleverness and friendship.”—Library Journal, STARRED review Legends and Lattes and Bookshops and Bonedust, Travis Baldree truly knows the secret recipes for crafting wholesome cozy fantasy novels.

This is genuinely the most pure and wholesome series I've ever read. There's nothing to overanalyze or stress over. It's just a sweet small-town story, full of adorable characters, just a dabble of romance, and a cozy mystery to keep things a little more interesting. I even cried a little at the end. To be perfectly honest, though, it isn't a perfect story. Similar to the first one, a large part of it is a little slow and dull. Nothing of significance happens other than a few sightings of the mystery man in gray, a possible romance brewing, and Viv's new-found love of books. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed it immeasurably. Beth: I’m most looking forward to seeing Baldree’s version of a fantasy bookshop! I absolutely love working in a bookshop myself, so I can’t wait to see one brought to life in a high-fantasy world! Bookshops & Bonedust is the perfect follow up to Legends & Lattes; it's a pleasure to meet a Younger Viv and watch her grow slowly, stubbornly, into the orc we love so much. Some bittersweetness is inevitable, but Baldree reminds us that the past-even our mistakes-is the fertile soil where we plant the seeds of a beautiful future." - C L Clark When Legends and Lattes appeared and took over the fantasy landscape early last year, it popularized the cozy fantasy subgenre. Before the surge of romantasy, plenty of fantasy authors rushed to write and publish their respective cozy fantasy novels as soon as possible. The purpose might be to write a wholesome story that resonates with readers. Or maybe they hoped to gain the fame and success Baldree attained from his debut novel. Traditional publishing tends to follow trends, and cozy fantasy was (and is) one of the trends in the market. Whatever the reasons, since the release of Legends and Lattes, I still haven’t found many cozy fantasy books or series that attract my interest as much as Legends and Lattes did. Sure, most of the books I read are serious, grim, or dark in their tone. But occasionally, I would like to have the option to take a break by reading a wonderfully cozy or slice-of-life story when I am in the proper reading mood. This is where Bookshops and Bonedust came in. Written after Legends and Lattes but chronologically taking place two decades before it, this is a prequel novel I didn’t know would be written but grateful to have. The author did not plan to write this prequel, too! And similar to Legends and Lattes, Viv’s younger days manage to charm me again. The stairs opened into a long, rough-timbered dining area in an inn or tavern or whatever they called it around here. A big, stone hearth crouched cold along one wall, yawning like a disappointed mouth. An iron chandelier hung askew, entombed in candlewax. Glass floats and storm lanterns were strung or nailed up in the rafters, alongside netting and weathered oars with names carved into them. The handful of scarred tables were unoccupied.Nils: Oh I’m the same, ever since reading The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, I’ve been so drawn to cosy fantasy. I'm excited to continue to read anything Travis Baldree writes. Whether it's in this universe or in another! His gaze sketched over her, brows rising as he spied the saber, then returned to the mug he was polishing. This is a book that is going on my list of books to read every year. I'm already looking forward to the next time. 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.