Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

November 11, 2023 4:05 AM

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. (Blurb from Amazon)

posted by Literaryhero (10 comments total)

This is the prequel to Legends and Lattes. I haven't read it yet (it just came out), but I am jazzed. Going to try to not just read the whole thing in one sitting, but I will probably be back soon with an update on my feelings.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:06 AM on November 11, 2023

Its the same flavor of cozy as Legends was.
posted by Karmakaze at 7:04 PM on November 11, 2023

I still think the first one should have been called Dunkin's & Dragons.
posted by gauche at 12:53 PM on November 12, 2023 [5 favorites]

Just finished! I’m always skeptical about prequels but this one was great. Just the right amount of cozy.
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 3:17 PM on November 12, 2023

Not sure what I think of this one - need to let it simmer in my head for a bit I think, and maybe re-read. It meandered perhaps a bit too much, in comparison to the fairly clear goal in Legends.
posted by paduasoy at 2:12 PM on November 15, 2023

All I want in life is more books like Legends & Lattes, so very excited to read this. I'm making myself finish New York 2140 first, so maybe I'll get to this in 2025? (sob)
posted by jeoc at 7:32 PM on November 15, 2023

Another great blend of cozy and action. Hygge and Haranguing.
posted by Marticus at 8:41 PM on November 15, 2023

I don't read a lot of romance fiction but I have a subtle suspicion that there is a non-fantasy/RPG subgenre of cozy lesbian romance out there. Can readers with a difference range than mine confirm/deny?
posted by Karmakaze at 7:41 AM on November 16, 2023

It meandered perhaps a bit too much, in comparison to the fairly clear goal in Legends.

Yeah, honestly I prefer my cozy fiction a bit less plot heavy. The whole necromancer part could have been dropped and just focus on Viv convalescing. I think I would have enjoyed it more, and I don't really know what good the necromancer brought to the story aside from Satchel, and it could have been introduced in a different way.
posted by Literaryhero at 1:07 AM on November 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

there is a non-fantasy/RPG subgenre of cozy lesbian romance out there.

Absolutely. Here's a list. It seems like a growing genre!
posted by restless_nomad at 6:55 AM on November 17, 2023