Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Legends & Lattes

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Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

61 reviews

abbey_marie's review

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I really liked this book once I got into it. As the book jacket says, “High Fantasy, Low Stakes.” It fits that description perfectly and is an incredibly cozy, relaxing read and perfect for fall!

Things I Loved:
- The Food! Cinnamon rolls, coffee, chocolate - this book has all the cozy deliciousness with detailed descriptions that will make your mouth water. I’m not lying when I say that I am now craving a cinnamon roll as big as my head! (And I would LOVE to have a real Legends and Lattes somewhere to go get one!) I also loved that no one had ever heard of them before, because that was just charming and added a bit more magic to the story and the detailed food descriptions.
- The Characters! I loved how Viv was a strong female lead, Tandri too, and the diverse cast of characters that created a community around Viv as her cafe grew and thrived. Val and Thimble were perfect! Thimble especially with his soft-spoken demeanor and baking genius! Not joking - Baldree should totally make a stuffy of him because all the members of my book club would probably buy it lol.
- Slice of Life! This book is perfect for those readers who love slice of life novels. This goes relatively day-by-day and is slow-medium paced, picking up more in the middle. I’ll admit that at first it took me a while to get into it, but once I did it was a cozy book I really wanted to return to at the end of the day under a cozy blanket with a warm bevvie in hand!
- The Setting! Thune was so cozy! It feels almost like a rural, medieval-like Scottish or Irish village, but in a fantasy setting. I really enjoyed the descriptive writing style used by Baldree and the way it drew you into the story. I think it added an extra layer of warmth and coziness to the story.
- Queer Rep! 🏳️‍🌈 Just love the love story and how it unfolded. I honestly wasn’t expecting it at first and then really grew to love it as a smaller side plot. And the ending! 🥹🥹🥹 IYKYK

Things I Liked:
- The Fantasy. I’m not a high-fantasy reader, so this genre kind of caught me off guard in some ways since I didn’t really know what to expect going into it. I wasn’t familiar with many of the different types of characters (and am still not super well schooled on them now lol), but this book made me like high fantasy and want to learn more about it. I usually shy away from the genre because I don’t know a lot about it and it seems complicated, but this was a great introduction.

Things I Didn’t Like:
-

This book is made to be low stakes, so I understand that, but I do feel like the main conflict with the Madrigal was resolved too quickly. I almost wish there had been more tension there and the conflict with Fennus had been cut, even though it did add to the story. I actually loved how the community rallied around Viv after that, but I still feel like the main conflict arc could have been developed more and the tension could have been held onto more before coming to a resolution.

The beast killing scene at the beginning was a little too gory for me. Maybe it was expectations—I went into the book thinking it would be super cozy and start super cozy, after Viv had gotten the Scalvert’s Stone, and it kind of caught me off guard. I’m not big on gory fight scenes, so it just felt misplaced for me and I honestly skimmed it. (Had to come back to it later obviously lol, since I didn’t know some names.)

I wish we saw more of the seemingly magical, time-traveling dwarf! My book club said this too and I totally agree, I would have loved to see more of the little guy because I feel like there’s a story there!

Overall, this was an awesome book! I would totally recommend it to anyone looking for a cozy read

maybe minus the slightly gory prologue lol

or a relaxing book perfect for fall! Definitely for a lover of cinnamon rolls! 🧡🍁☕️ (Also, why is there no cinnamon roll emoji?! Someone needs to get on that!)

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kkulhannie's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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zydecovivo's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I first saw this book on StoryGraph and then started seeing it everywhere, convincing me it must be overhyped. It seemed to me like a DM (or wanna-be-DM) just wrote out their D&D campaign and managed to get it published. Nevertheless, I put my name on the waitlist at my local library. Over a month later (!!!), I finally got the chance to borrow it. I started it after a long workday, just trying to read a few pages to keep my reading streak alive. I could not have been more wrong about the premise.

Don’t get me wrong, it is probably (most definitely) D&D fan fiction. However, the story itself is probably the best Coffee Shop AU I’ve read so far. I was quickly charmed by Viv’s no-nonsense but fair treatment of total strangers, nose-to-the-grindstone attitude, and willingness to seek a life change on her own terms. She has had a rough life, probably the result of someone’s D&D campaigns. But after one final quest, with the help of a so-called “lucky charm,” she goes in search of her heart’s desire: opening a coffee shop in a town that had never heard of coffee. She gets more than she bargained for, mostly in the form of a new group of friends who truly support her, as well as a love interest (who I hope is asexual, but right now, unconfirmed). Viv’s old campaigning party even comes back to help, showing that she is still loved for more than her strength and sword skills. If it’s not obvious, I love Viv, her new friends, and the way they carve out their new community and niches in the coffee shop. There is some drama (gotta have a plot after all), but it only serves to teach Viv that she is (and always was) enough for her friends. It is a beautiful story about found family, friendship, and finding a new place in the world, things we all seek in our own lives.

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dymonlikestoread's review

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Book Review
Legends and Lattes
Author: Travis Baldree
Rating: 4.5/5
Synopsis: After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv, an Orc, is hanging up her sword for the last time. Viv hopes for a fresh start by creating Thune's first-ever coffee shop. To make her dreams a reality, she will have to make new friends along the way.
This book is such a breath of fresh air. It is incredibly cozy, and the characters are each so loveable. Viv has a simple dream of starting a coffee shop and, for the first time, settling down to start a permanent home. We get to read the progress of Viv's journey step by step. While the beginning was slow, it picked up after the shop was in full swing. The book was funny and heartwarming. Thimble and Pendry were my favorite characters. If you enjoy Slice of Life Anime or looking for a comforting book. I would highly recommend this book.

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shottel's review

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A delightfully down-to-earth story set in a world most of us recognize as the backdrop for epic adventures of high magic and dangerous beasts, Legends & Lattes has us follow the main character as she opens a coffee shop in an unfamiliar city which has no knowledge of what coffee even is. She deals with some very mundane issues of corruption, business, and old friends, while a romance blooms in the background. My sole problem with this book is that it seems that romance stays a bit in the background; maybe the author is trying to riff on the whole "oblivious lesbians" stereotype, but I don't feel like there was a satisfying conclusion to that line, even as every other thread gets tied up in a neat knot by the end. Nevertheless, the book is generally quite lighthearted, very well-written, and a wonderful break from the "big" stories most fantasy novels trade in. I strongly recommend it, with the sole caveat to not expect much from the romance part of the story.

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scifi_rat's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

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tinkeringcheck's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

So I really liked the characters, especially Viv - our kind and determined fish-out-of-water protag. I also liked the community of odd ducks that gather around her, the little corner of the city we see, the retired DND character settling down and starting over vibes, and the chill fantasy atmosphere where pressing issues include generating word-of-mouth-advertising. I read it all in one sitting and can't remember the last time I had such a relaxed and easy time with a book.

... But (and I hate that there's a but) the flip side of that was... the plot. Or lack thereof. For a story set in a fantasy captial-A adventure world, the plot is pretty non-existent. Literally the only plot beats are inventing the elements of a Hip Modern Coffee Shop. It was cute at first in a wink-wink nudge-nudge way, but when it became the entire plot it just felt... boring. These characters are deeply amazed by modern things like *checks notes*

a range hood

, and when it happens for the nth time with very little fantasy veneer it becomes hard to care all that much. I really think the story could've hinged on one of the mysterious and too easily hand-waved B plots and felt much more cohesive.

Honestly, I think the plotting might have fallen victim to the low stakes promise, which I think that can work if woven into a bigger story. But here it's like the bigger story was relegated to the background to keep the stakes low, but the mountain of consequences from it suddenly fall on the characters anyway. Agency? No ser. Only chalk boards and long discussions about menu options over here.

So I'd argue the story doesn't even stick to its low stakes claim in the first place. It's more like 90% 'boring shopping trip' and 10% 'air-dropped consequences from the more interesting, higher stakes plot happening in the wings.'

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refrejarator's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Very sweet - a nice, low-stakes read for quiet days with a cuppa.

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted relaxing

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Title: Legends & Lattes
Author: Travis Baldree
Series: Legends & Lattes #1
Genre: Cozy Fantasy
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: February 22, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Comforting • Delightful • Simple

📖 S Y N O P S I S

After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.

The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.

💭 T H O U G H T S

When it came time to choose my 12 recs from 12 friends selection for the month of February, I was looking for something shorter and fluffier given so many other books I planned to read this month were on the longer side and/or tackled heavy topics. Enter Legends & Lattes, which ticked the right boxes.

Legends & Lattes is a high fantasy, low stakes, slice-of-life story. For me, it was really the cast of wholesome characters and their relationships that made this story shine. I came to care about each one of them and really didn't want anything bad to happen to them. In particular, Viv was such a strong and capable lead, with the ability to stand on her own two feet. I admired her bravery in forging her own path. While the dynamic between Viv and Tandri was genuine, I was anticipating a little more romance than what I got.

The concept of opening a coffee shop in a world where no one knows what coffee is was intriguing and comical at the same time. Seeing the struggles and triumphs of opening a new business mirrored reality. I particularly loved seeing how the menu changed from start to finish. And I must say this book definitely left me with so many cravings.

I read a physical copy while listening to the audio, which enhanced my enjoyment. I didn't realize the author, Travis Baldree, is full-time audio narrator and his narration is perfection. His characterization is one of the best I've heard and I'd definitely be interested in checking out more of his narrations. Additionally, the edition I read had a bonus story 'Pages to Fill', a nice little addition.

Legends & Lattes certainly made me step outside of my reading comfort zone, and that is exactly why I love doing the 12 recs challenge each year. Would I have picked this up outside of the challenge? Probably not. Did I enjoy my time with these characters? Absolutely! It is the ideal blend of fantasy and cozy mysteries, with a touch of romance dusted in. When readers talk about hugs in book form, this is what they mean. I am not sure when, but I will be definitely picking up the prequel Bookshops & Bonedust at some point in the future.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• lovers of high fantasy and cozy mysteries
• readers looking for a coffee shop read

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Things don’t have to stay as what they started out as."

"She thought about what Tandri had said just a day ago about reciprocity. Pain that was ignored, magnified on its return."

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