In Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree, Viv is an orc who is starting out her career as a mercenary, but it isn’t going as planned—on one of her first missions, she finds herself stabbed in the leg. In order to not be a liability to her crew, she has to convalesce in the small beach town called Murk. There, she meets several people she unexpectedly connects with: the flirtatious baker, the gruff innkeeper, and the foul-mouthed bookstore owner. However, the sleepy town of Murk isn’t without adventure, as the necromancer Viv had been tracking seems to have found the place and is threatening to disturb the peace here. So Viv, still determined to make her living as a mercenary, takes it upon herself to protect this place and her newfound friends.

In terms of prequels, this is exactly what I wanted!

I loved Legends & Lattes when I read it last year, and so seeing how it all started is an absolute delight. I loved Viv in the original story, and it was great to see her back before she really became a mercenary. She’s very new to it in this one, still determined to prove herself and not yet jaded by all the struggle and violence. It’s a different mindset, but she still feels like herself at her core.

Further, it was fun to see the seeds planted in Viv that led to her opening a coffee shop in Legends. Her time in Murk does have a bit more drama and higher stakes, but she also spends a lot of time helping Fern in the bookstore and trying new pastries from her summer fling love interest Maylee. It’s a calmer life than she wanted, but it’s clear how much she likes it and how much she needs genuine connections with people. Also, the bookstore, for all its messiness and low sales, sounds like the coziest, most lovely place in the world!

I also really enjoyed the more action-y scenes! Viv has to track a necromancer’s creatures and gets into a couple of scraps, too, which are very entertaining to read. And one character discovered along the way, Satchel, actually ended up being one of my favorites of the whole book. He’s so strange and quirky and charming, and I want to be friends with him.

Beyond that, the plot isn’t super fast-paced, even with the heightened action compared to Legends. It’s still about finding calm and relaxation and friendship in a chaotic world. And while the ending is a little bittersweet, with Viv leaving to chase her ambitions, there’s still a sense of acceptance and gratitude in her for what she has experienced in Murk. And also the epilogue to the book left me feeling so, so satisfied and content.

In the end, Bookshops & Bonedust is a sweet story in an excellent setting with wonderful characters. The magic is great, as is the action and character development. Also, the audiobook version (read by the author) is fantastic. I don’t know if I like it as much as its companion book, but it was still a delight to read, and I look forward to further books by this author!

Bookshops & Bonedust will be published on November 7th, 2023!