Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Legends & Lattes

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Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

80 reviews

ziracrow's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

4.0

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dragonaion's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I was unsure what to expect when I saw this book, but kind-hearted fantasy was just the thing I was looking for. Halfway through the book, I found that I couldn't put it down.
This reads exactly like a one-on-one D&D campaign, whose main adventurer reached the end of the main campaign, maxed leveling, and said to their DM, "I don't want to stop playing... But I don't wanna adventure anymore."
This book is the DM smiling, leaning forward against their screen and saying, "Do you remember the coffee you found in that last city?"

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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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laurathebookseller's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

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lizzie_beth98's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

delandjessica's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

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

4.0

This book was just a pleasant experience from start to finish. It advertises itself as “A novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes,” and it absolutely delivers on that promise. I didn’t realize I was reading a “cozy” novel until about halfway through, but by then I was so invested in the characters that I didn’t even care.

If you have any background in Dungeons and Dragons or the Dragonlance book series, the world in this book will feel very familiar to you, but the great thing about it is that it’s not necessary in order to understand and enjoy the story. Pretty much the entire book boils down to an orc woman decides to give up being a bloodthirsty adventurer for hire and establish her own coffee shop. There’s very little conflict, tension, or stakes involved, and mostly just follows the orc as she figures out how to build and run the shop and how to make it successful, including them going through a whole charade of “discovering” modern coffee shop things like adding ice or pairing it with biscotti. It’s a lighthearted jaunt into the personal world of this one character and presents such a refreshing angle on a story universe that’s usually so focused on killing and plundering and adventuring and the like.

The characters are unique and relatable, and I found myself getting excited with them whenever they had a win. However, I knocked off a star because the ending was really unsatisfying. The author went through all the effort of setting up a villain of sorts, who does a terrible thing near the end of the story, but then there’s no final confrontation of any kind between him and the main characters. They essentially just deal with the problem he causes, and then leave things up to karma to deal with, which does happen in a very contrived epilogue at the end. It just left me feeling discontented, but it wasn’t enough to ruin the rest of the book since I enjoyed it so much.

Also, please note that there is some strong language in this book that just kind of comes out of nowhere starting at around the 2/3 mark. It personally felt really out of place in this traditional fantasy world. The book also features a LGBTQ+ relationship, so if that’s not something you’re interested in, this isn’t the book for you.

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