Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

“People just sat around drinking it from these little ceramic cups, and I had to try it, and… it was like drinking the feeling of being peaceful. Being peaceful in your mind. Well, not if you have too much, then it’s something else.”

This was exactly as cute as everyone said it was. Legends & Lattes is much like a hug in book form! Now I was told that nothing really happens and that is blatantly untrue, Viv goes through some stuff and it was not insignificant stuff. I wasn’t expecting to get my heart broken the way I did, I really do hope that Amity ate Fennus, he deserved it!

I wouldn’t have thought I’d be so invested in an orc setting up a cafe but I really was very invested. I loved every single detail and I’d have read more. I enjoyed the relationship development between Viv and Tandri but I’m greedy and would have enjoyed a little bit more from them. What I loved about this book most of all though, and I have to admit is a favourite trope of mine, is the found family trope! It was lovely to read and made an already cosy read all the more cosy. Cal, Tandri and Thimble were lovely characters and Viv deserved them in every way. The idea that the Scalvert’s Stone brings to you the energy you give out really shows what a special orc Viv was, she had a heart of pure gold and deserved her HEA with her found family!

Shoutout to the recipe for Thimblets at the end of the book! I will absolutely be making them. I also enjoyed the short story ‘Page to Fill‘ which gave us Viv’s first encounter with her beloved coffee!

“WHAT FLAMES COULD NOT CONSUME,
NEVER SHALL BE EXTINGUISHED”

Synopsis:

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.