Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Holy shit, I want to live in this world. LEGENDS & LATTES is one of those TikTok books that deserves all of the hype. I loved Viv, the grizzled and world-weary adventurer orc who is tired of bounty-hunting and just wants to open a gnomish coffee shop. I loved Tandri, the succubus; Amity, the direcat (I want a direcat!); Cal the hob; and Thimble, the rattkin. This is probably the most likable crew of characters I've encountered outside of a Terry Pratchett novel, and even though this book advertises itself as having low stakes, I was still very concerned for all of their various well-beings.

I think it's hard to do cozy books well because the tension has to be replaced by something, and that something is usually character-driven, and if the author isn't good at writing compelling characterization, the book kind of falls flat. But this whole book was like playing Dungeons and Dragons over tea and crumpets with an enthusiastic and kind-hearted dungeon master who is gleefully reading off his character sheet while rolling nat 20 after nat 20.

I loved this book so much and read through it in a single day, which was a mistake, because after it was over, I still wanted more. I was so desperate for more cozy fantasy content that I immediately went out and bought a book called TIL DEATH DO US BARD that was comping itself to this one, because apparently I'm not ready to let go of my cozy queer fantasy wanderlust yet.

5 out of 5 stars