3.5 rounded up.

This is a pretty good follow up to Legends & Lattes - technically it is a prequel, though the last bit takes place after L&L. It details what happened to Viv when she was recovering from a wound.

Honesty, Fern and Gallina stole the book. Potroast was a close second.

Viv helps Fern with her bookshop, and so the book is in part, a love story about reading. I like the fact that romance was shown to appeal to all genders and sexualities. That was a nice touch.

On one hand, however, I did find some of the plot points to feel a bit too much like the first. Perhaps this is because I read the two within roughly 6 months, and if I had a year or more between the two it might not have been an issue. But the struggles with running a business is there with Fern, so while different, it also feels a bit the same. Also the romance aspect of the book doesn't quite work for me. Quite frankly, the book really didn't need it. If there had been more about Viv figuring out her relationship to love or sexuality, maybe. But it didn't really need to be there. Don't get me wrong, it was nice. You like both characters, but it felt more form than anything else.

Still, this was a nice cozy read. And if you like book, it will give you a warm feeling.