A review by angorarabbit
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

adventurous funny lighthearted 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? No

4.0

Ethnicity, some gender, and orientation diversity. Most of the violence is in the prologue and the short story that  follows the main story in my edition of the book, These can be skipped with little lost to the main story. There is a little kissing but no spicy stuff. 
 
TLDR:  The last chapter is the chef’s kiss. 
 
Context:  This was my 3rd book choice for the Kindle Series Pioneer Spring 2024 challenge.It made up for Tress of the Emerald Sea. 
 
So let’s compare Legends and Lattes (Legends) to Tress of the Emerald Sea (Tress) shall we?  
 
The basic plot is similar. A woman goes on a quest. She does not know how she will achieve her goals but she sets off anyway. On the way others join her because she is a good person. With the help of others the woman achieves her goal after vanquishing an opponent. 
 
So Tress is a 2 star and L & L a 4 star to me. 
 
Two things:  writing style and characterisation. 
 
Legends has no narrator asides telling you that Viv is remarkable, or humble, or so like other girls that no other girl is like her. You taste the Midnight Crescents because Tandri puts it in her mouth. Tress tells you that Charle eats a pie. Tress has to tell you that sexism has no place in business, Legends just shows men and women working. Legends trusts the reader. 
 
With apologies to Fort, Tress’ characters are backdrops to Tress. They have few initiatives of their own, even the narrator. Charlie in particular felt like a hot mess of tropes to me. On the other hand Legend’s characters seem to have lives of their own. I can imagine Thimble going back home after a baking day and sipping a cold drink pleased at everyone’s reactions to his newest creation. Calamity sitting back with a warm soup and an ice pack on aching muscles reflecting on a job well done. 
 
Also I love the idea of a studious non-violent orc. I am looking forward to the further adventures of Viv, Cal, Tandri, and Thimble. 
 
Also also the elf deserved what he got, elves spend way to much silver on hair care products. 
 
Lastly I am rethinking my aversion to Amazon’s KPD. Thank you to tor.com and all the booksellers out there for making this available to non-Kindle-Unlimited readers.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings