Legends and Lattes — Book Review with Content Warnings

Author: Travis Baldree

Genre: Cozy fantasy

Series: Standalone

Age Rating: Family friendly/clean

Synopsis

Viv is tired of living as a mercenary for hire and has a dream—to open a coffee shop in a city that has never heard of coffee. She arrives alone, and quickly discovers the power of friendship and allies as she builds and runs her coffee shop against those who would see her defeated.

Content Warnings

General Rating: Family friendly/clean (PG)

• Spice Rating: Mild—closed-door sapphic romance, kisses

• Violence Rating: Mild—sword violence, fire injury

• Profanity Rating: Mild—2 uses of f*ck

• Other Trigger Warnings: toxic relationships, fire injury

Overall Rating: 4/5

What a beautiful, cozy read! It was like a hug—warm and happy. Found families are one of my favourite tropes. The relationships are so wholesome. This book was the perfect pause after recent heavy dark academia reads. I blasted through it in one evening.

What I Liked

• Found family: The entire cast of side characters—Tandri, Cal, Thimble, and Pendry—are adorable.

• The uniqueness of characters: This is a true mythic fantasy with orcs, a succubus, hobs, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and all kinds of other fantastical sentient creatures!

• The cozy vibes: It’s like a Hallmark movie combined with Dungeons and Dragons.

• Mature protagonist: Viv is a hardened, experienced warrior who has a lot of life under her belt. It’s nice to read a mature protagonist—no teenage angst here!

Themes and Reflections

• Found family: The most wholesome thing in the world are friendships and those we call family, even if we do not share biological DNA.

• Hard work versus luck or providence: When good things go our way, is it because of luck and providence, or because we have put in the hard work to make it so? Viv discovers that hard work in building relationships pays off.

Writing Style

• Fluid, vivid, and descriptive prose

• Fast-paced, steady pacing

• Enchanting, lighthearted, hopeful atmosphere

• Imaginative worldbuilding

• Conversational dialogue

• Endearing characterization

• Third-person POV from Viv’s perspective

• Memorable and comforting—like a hug in a book
  

Tropes

• Humble beginnings

• Found family

• Redemption arc
  

Books Like This

• The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

• The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook to Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson

Publisher Info

• Publisher: Tor

• Release Date: June 7, 2022

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