There’s something delightful about a story with low stakes. So often stories set in fantasy worlds have so much at stake that the quiet moments can be lost, the fates of the kingdom or the world taking over. Legends & Lattes is all about the quiet moments, of the therapeutic joy of brewing a cup of coffee. It’s also about the joy of making something with people you care about, and dare I say it, of chosen family. Not that the last part is super explicit, but I am one to draw in those themes to a work and as such I once more found myself desperately trying to avoid crying with meds under my tongue as I approached the conclusion of the story. What can I say, I’m that kind of gal. Give me an outsider and her group of misfits finding a home for themselves with each other and I’m all yours.
Viv is a retired Orc Barbarian mercenary (a retired DnD player character let’s be real), who after a lifetime of living and avoiding dying by the sword, has moved to a small city with the intent of building something new for herself. With the help of a college dropout, an underemployed handyman and a very talented baker, she starts a coffee shop in a place that doesn’t know what coffee is.
This book was such a warm and cosy time, it’s all good vibes and soft feelings. The growing sense of home that develops over it’s pages, of finding people you care for and those who care for you were a treat to follow. Deliberately invoking a classic fantasy world, this is like if your DnD party put all their points into carpentry, baking or painting and then proceeded to ignore the wild campaign your DM had built for you in favour of putting all your gold into buying a local fixer upper.
Shoutouts to Emmalita for recommending this one, my first read plucked from the CBR reviews since joining here.
