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Book Review: Legends & Lattes, by Travis Baldree

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Everywhere I go (online) these days, I hear good things about Travis Baldree‘s Legends & Lattes. So, I bit the bullet and bought myself a copy.
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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.

my review
I am always super nervous to pick up a book I’ve heard nothing but praise about. I too often find that I don’t agree with the masses. But in the case of Legends & Lattes, I have to admit that I do. The book is every bit as cozy, and warm, and feel-good as I’d heard. You just can’t help but love Viv and her found families. The side characters all differ, but each is lovable. There’s some humor. The romance is light, but sweet. There are a few mysteries left to intrigue the reader. (I’m convinced Durias is a time traveler, for example. You can fight me, if you disagree.) And the whole thing wraps up nicely in the end.

Some might find the narrative a little on the slow side or wish for more action. But I was happy just to exist with these characters for a little while.

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Other Reviews:

Girl Who Reads: Legends & Lattes, by Travis Baldree

Legends & Latte ~ a book review

Book Review – Legends & Lattes

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Book Review: Accused, by M.N. Jolley

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I accepted a review copy of Accused, by M.N. Jolly from The Write Reads. However, I later was looking for an audio book to borrow from Hoopla—to listen to as I did chores—and when I saw Accused, I thought, I might as well just listen to it. So, I went the audio book route instead. I should probably note that this book was a bronze medal finalist in the 2021 BBNYA competition, since that’s the reason for the book tour. However, I wasn’t part of the judging.

acused audio cover
My name is Levi. I’m a journalist, I’m autistic, I’m bad at magic, and I swear I didn’t kill her.

Research for the paper usually falls into a few basic patterns. Someone in the city says there’s a troll under Buck O’Neil Bridge, or they’ll call just so a friendly ear will listen to them complain about a pixie infestation.

That sort of content carries me through slow news weeks. It’s rare that I uncover a murder.

Being framed for murder, though? That’s a first.

With the Wizard’s Council hunting me for a crime I didn’t commit, I’ve got no choice but to solve the murder and clear my name. If I don’t unravel this case, nobody will, and I’ll go down for it so hard I might never see the light of day again.

my review
Some aspects of this book I really liked. I loved that Levi was on the autism spectrum and gay, but they’re just aspects of his character, same as being brunette or riding a motorcycle. There wasn’t a plot-related excuse for it or any particular drama about it. He was just allowed to be as he was. I also just plain like Levi as a character and thought the world interesting.

However, I was a little iffy with Ben—the magical equivalent of a Tinder date—being all-in for the danger and law breaking, after their first meeting with Levi. It just felt like there was a lot more trust there than there should have been. And I never quite grasped if the crime committed that led to the murder was business as usual or if anyone within the system was outraged over it. Not to mention if the perpetrators were actually caught and punished. And this left me feeling a little uncertain.

All in all, however, I liked a lot more than I didn’t and will happily read another Jolley book. (How dad-joke cheesy would it be to say it was a jolly good read?) Plus, Nikola Hamilton did a great job with the narration.

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Other Reviews:

The KC Warlock Weekly: Accused by M.N. Jolley – #BBNYA2021 Book Review!

#TheWriteReads #BBNYA Blog Tour Review – The KC Warlock Weekly: Accused by M.N. Jolley

BLOG TOUR – Review: M.N. Jolley – The KC Warlock Weekly: Book One: Accused

 

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Book Review: The Rise of Chaos, by Aeyla Reed

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It would be an exaggeration to say that I downloaded this book by accident, but it wouldn’t be an untruth. I signed up for Edelweiss a long time ago, possibly even years ago. But since I was happy with Netgalley (and familiar with it), I never really explored it. Until yesterday, that is.

Let me tell you, Edelweiss may not actually be overly complicated, but it is so HUGE as to feel complicated. In all of my floundering around I ended up downloading The Rise Of Chaos, by Aeyla Reed. I mean not in an “Oops, look what I did” way; more of an “Oh, I started the download process without really meaning to commit to that…well, might as well stick with it” kind of way. I had time to backtrack, but opted not to. I let fate take the wheel, or whatever

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A perilous adventure with trouble lurking under every unturned stone.
In the world of Terae, a war-torn place ravaged by eldritch monsters and wild magick, a young officer named Airis suddenly finds herself in the midst of a rebellion in humanity’s last city. Along with two close friends, she begins a long journey to secure a home for her lost people. Amid all this: a new romance blooms, secrets of a lost empire reveal themselves, and heroes are forged in the flames of combat.

my reviewI used to read quite a lot of manga (and watch as much anime). But I’ve fallen out of the habit over the years. Lately, I’ve been drifting in that direction again and have been wanting to explore books that are manga or anime-like. I’ve seen the genre called Progression Fantasy, but there might be a more precise title out there. (Just in case the previous sentence doesn’t make it obvious, I’m not coming at this from any sort of expert position.)

Regardless, looking at the cover of The Rise of Chaos you can probably understand why I picked it up. I figured it would be an anime-like story, and it is. But I didn’t realize it is also full-on LitRPG —with all the D&D-like character mark-ups and abilities, video game-like character health bars, etc—which I’m not an avid fan of. I flat out skimmed ever time a one of these passed (and some of them were quite long):

I skipped thes

But outside of the LitRPG aspects that didn’t appeal to me, I liked the characters. There was quite a lot of cute interplay between characters and I appreciated the m/f platonic friendships and the budding f/f relationship. However, I did feel like the world was only loosely described and we’re given the framework of political upheaval and then the book settled into filler and monster-battles that did little to move the plot along…or develop it at all, really.

All in all, I’d say this was a middle of the road read for me. It wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t really an all out winner either.

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Other Reviews:

THE RISE OF CHAOS: Genesis