I read Legends & Lattes, the first book in Travis Baldree’s series, last year and I loved it. It felt like I was reading a TTRPG except the players chose to open a coffee shop instead of fighting people at a tavern. Travis Baldree released Bookshops & Bonedust, which is a prequel to Legends & Lattes and details Viv’s prior adventures. This might be an unpopular opinion based on everything I have heard, but I enjoyed Bookshops & Bonedust more than Legends & Lattes.

During a battle with Varine, the Necromancer, Viv is injured and taken to the town of Murk to recover. Rackam’s Ravens, Viv’s mercenary group, leave her where they intend to finish Varine without her. While Viv recovers, she meets Fern when she stumbles into Thistleburr, Fern’s bookstore. Viv helps Fern redesign her shop and starts to develop a bond with both Fern and Potroast, Fern’s pet. As Viv makes herself at home, she sees signs that point her to the fact that Varine might return. Can Viv recover quickly enough to protect Murk?

One reason why I preferred Bookshops & Bonedust to Legends & Lattes is the fact that there was more of a driving plot in this book. Varine is clearly evil and there are signs of her return throughout the book. In Legends & Lattes, I found the pacing to be slower at times because it felt like I was reading about Viv brewing coffee, which is fine, but I wanted more going on in the background. In between Varine’s return, I liked Viv’s friendships that she formed especially with Maylee. I won’t spoil it, but I thought Viv and Maylee’s relationship was cute which ended up tying into the book’s epilogue.

With Bookshops & Bonedust being a prequel, I think it helps to read Legends & Lattes first. There are several name drops and this book illustrates how Viv met one of her party members. I thought her name was familiar, so I read the first chapter of Legends & Lattes. Sure enough, she was a friend and partner to Viv. There’s also a nice reveal about Viv’s sword and how she found it which I think helps to provide more worldbuilding in Viv’s story.

Bookshops & Bonedust was such a delight to read. I don’t know if Travis Baldree will write more books in the series, but I hope he does. This has quickly become a series that I would recommend to anyone and everyone. I would be slightly offended if I recommended this to someone and they didn’t like it. I rated Bookshops & Bonedust five stars on Goodreads.