Legends & Lattes

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

I read this book along with several members of my dnd group, partly because the cover art just grabbed us, and partly because certain similarities in the description to members of our own party resonated enough to make us curious.

This book is just a purely delightful slice-of-life in a fantasy world. Viv is an orc and retired adventurer who wants nothing more than to open a coffee shop, and she happens to be in a part of the world where no one has encountered coffee before. She is a lovable character, even if she doesn't fully realize it, and that makes her very relatable. It takes hardly any time at all for members of her new community to pull towards her and start to form real bonds of friendship, and to share in her dream.

It's a cozy, low stakes read. The perfect escape for when reality feels a little too much and you need to dive into a book that takes you to another world, and just feels like a warm hug. I enjoyed seeing the way certain appliances and technology were handled in the book. (Not gonna lie, my bard character is now very interested in an Arcane Amplifier). As well as the very obvious love for both coffee and pastries that just permeates the pages, and the emphasis on community and found family that is so sweet and heartwarming. In short, I absolutely adored this debut novel by Travis Baldree, and am hoping to see more in this world (or others!) in the future.