Legends & Lattes

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes

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Billed as a “hot cup of fantasy slice-of-life with a dollop of romantic froth,” Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree is a beautifully written, fun and easy read. It’s a story every Dungeons & Dragons (commonly abbreviated as D&D or DnD) player will enjoy, but it’s entertaining and easy to follow even if you know nothing about the fantasy tabletop role-playing game.

The main character, Viv, is an orc who retired from adventuring because she “reached her limit of blood and mud and bullshit.” She finds the perfect property and sets up a unique new shop. Her first employee is a succubus named Tandri, who is the perfect counterpart to Viv. Together, they open the shop’s doors and Viv slowly convinces people to try her obsession: the exotic gnomish sensation called coffee. No one in town had ever heard of it, and Viv is terrible at describing the hot drink.

Tandri, on the other hand, takes on the marketing and suggests offering free samples to lure customers in:

While the business continues to expand, with a baker, a bard, and loyal customers, not everything is perfect for Viv. From the very beginning, she’s being watched. The Madrigal has been collecting fees from local businesses for so long they are an ever-present menace. Viv has no intentions to pay for the Madrigal’s “protection,” which sets them on a collision course.

Meanwhile, the menu keeps expanding, with new drinks and treats, and Tandri uses her skills to update the shop’s menu board every time there’s an addition. These menu updates are lovely, each one proclaiming that Legends and Lattes provides “finer tastes for the working gent and lady.”

Baldree’s skillful descriptions made me want to brew a cup of coffee even though I don’t drink it! The dialogue is delightful, too. The descriptions, word choices, and dialogue make this a well-crafted novel, despite the “low stakes” it brags about. It’s a novel of high fantasy, done really well. Legends & Lattes is also a subtle sapphic romance, with just the right amount of warmth and affection.

As a full-time audiobook narrator, it’s no surprise that Baldree narrated his own book. It’s almost as if he wrote the book to be read aloud, with a lovely rhythm to the words.

According to the author’s website, “Legends & Lattes started out as an unassuming project for National Novel Writing Month 2021, and turned into something else entirely. A cozy, low-stakes novel of found family and reinventing oneself, it became an instant Amazon bestseller and word-of-mouth success. Now republished, it was an instant NYT, Publisher’s Weekly, USA Today & Indie Bestseller. It is currently being translated into 9 additional languages.”

I read the updated version of the book that included a short story at the end called “Pages to Fill” – which is also available to read online for free. It’s a lovely addition: a prequel showing Viv in her previous employment with her old gang. It’s how Viv’s current story began, and has far more action than the book itself. I think it could have served as a better prologue to the novel, but I’m just glad they added it.

The ebook version had lovely little artwork at the beginning of each chapter, some of which I’ve included here because they’re so lovely.

I look forward to reading the sequel, Bookshops & Bonedust, slated for publication November 7, 2023. Look for my review before then.

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Visit the author’s website and follow him on Twitter.

Legends & Lattes cover design credit: Peter Lutjen.

Legends & Lattes cover art credit: Carson Lowmiller.

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