I read Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes back in 2022 when it became a surprise bestseller for TOR Books (you can read my review here). Legends & Lattes was first published by Cryptid Press in February 22, 2022. Then a second edition was issued in trade paperback by TOR Books in November 2022.

We’re all familiar with the genre “Cozy Mysteries.” I think Travis Baldree writes “Cozy Fantasy.”

Bookshops & Bonedust is a prequel novel to Legends & Latte. Baldree gives the reader the origin story of the Orc mercenary, Viv, as she recuperates in a new town and discovers a love for bookselling and romance.

Brigands & Breadknives, the latest book in the series, begins with Fern, the rattkin bookseller we met in Bookshops and Bonedust, who has left her home and life and shop behind to set up a bookstore next door to Viv and Tandri. Though Fern is afraid of starting over, she’s willing to take a gamble on her friendship with the Orc coffee shop owner.

Fern has always been a bookseller and knows nothing else. But she decides she just needs to get away. This leads Fern to crawling into the back of the cart belonging to renowned elven adventurer Asteryx One-Ear, the Oathmaiden…and falling asleep. When Fern wakes up, she’s too far from home, so she resolves to continue the adventure until she can safely book passage home.

Asteryx One-Ear is a bounty hunter who is transporting her prisoner—a wild goblin named Zyll—across the continent to be delivered to justice. Zyll keeps escaping, only to return with new friends (like a creepy chicken demon), new weapons (like a talking Elder blade turned into a breadknife), and new enemies–the brigands. Asteryx and Fern work together to deal with these challenges.

If you’re looking for Feel Good cozy fantasies with likable characters and compelling stories delivering the same heartwarming touch as Legends & Lattes, give Bookshops & Bonedust and Brigands & Breadknives a try. GRADE: B (for both)