ARC Review: Lattes & Legends or you really need to read this one!

Hello everyone! I hope you all are safe and happy! Today I am finally back with a review, for a book that I loved and that you just need to read!

Thanks to the Author. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Legends & Lattes
Author: Travis Baldree
Pages: 258
Publication Date: February 22nd, 2022

High Fantasy with a double-shot of self-reinvention
Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv the orc barbarian cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen.
However, her dreams of a fresh start pulling shots instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune’s shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners and a different kind of resolve.
A hot cup of fantasy slice-of-life with a dollop of romantic froth.

First thing, first… have you seen this cover?? It is amazing! And I am madly in love with it! And then let just think a moment, a fantasy with Lattes in it? How cool is it??? (I may be partial, because I am Italian, and even if we don’t really have Lattes here, we have coffee. And more often than not coffee is something other than a simply bevarege. It is more a cultural thing in itself, not for everyone sure, we have some really bad people who don’t drink coffee, but we are mostly ashamed by them and tend to hid them like dirt under the carpet. But anyway, coffee is important and now we have coffee and fantasy. I was sold!!!) (and I was joking about the people who don’t drink coffe… maybe!).

And this was the right book at the right moment. I really was in need of something upbeat and easy-going, after the two more demanding and more angsty books I just finished, and this was just the perfect one! When I started it I just wanted to sample a couple of chapters before going on with my afternoon, but then the old “just one more page” became “just one more chapter” and I kept repeting this lies quite a lot. And so I spent a whole afternoon with this book. It was really pleasant, I was comfy and I drank quite a bit of coffee (and eat cinnamon rolls because the book made me do it!!!) while I followed Viv around. And I had a great time with it!
But be warned. This book is quite dangerous! It would make you crave coffee and baked sweets!! Really, this book was the worst!!!

This is quite the peculiar book, but I can guarantee you that it is delightful, original, hooking and fascinating! We met Viv, a she-orcs who wants more from her live after years spent as an adventurer, and she decides to open a cafè in a new place. And she comes prepared! She has done a lot of researchs, she has chosen the city with a lot of thoughts and now we follow her as she has to find the perfect place.
And while we follow her, finding the place and re-building it because it was a dismissed livery, so there are a ton of repairs and adjustment to make that place in the nicest cafè ever, we get to know her better, and we soon meet some other interesting characters too!
But before talking about the characters, let me tell you that it was strangely fascinating and totally captivating watchin Viv building her new buisness. I was intrigued by the works, by the research, and it was really interesting!!! I couldn’t stop reading!
And we get to see a coffee machine in there too!!! I was amazed by it, really!
And sure, the story may not be full of action, but it compelling and for once it was really nice to read something so… quiet and menial, but in the best possible way!

And to add to the cozy feeling, we have an amazing fond family in there too! We have some unique and really different characters, and yet they all came to love Vivi and her place. Cal with his contagious grumpiness, Tandri with her amazing creativity and Thimble’s delicious baked goods (they would make you craving sweets, just so you know!). They all become part of the family, but they are not the only ones, for sure! Let’s not forget about your usual noisy but kind neighbor, for example, or the Viv’s old crew, too! It is just so full of good people, and sometimes it is really refreshing to read about people who are good, and that do good things.
Sure, it is not a perfect world, so bad people exist in there, too, and we meet them too, fear not! But for the most part of the book we follow good people doing normal thing, and it was pretty amazing!

So, if you want to read something original, delightful, that gives new meaning to the world “cozy” and you are not averse to some hot beverage and baked sweets, well… YOU NEED THIS ONE!

What about you? Have you heard about it? Read it? Or do you want to?? Let me know!!

You can find the preorder here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09R9FSZB5

Happy reading!
S.