Bookshops & Bonedust

Synopsis: Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she's packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she'll never be able to return to it. What's a thwarted soldier of fortune to do? Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn't possibly imagine.

My Thoughts: The prose in the book is solid, and it's clear that it has been edited with care. There's an attempt to recapture the cozy and comfortable atmosphere of the first book, though it's only somewhat successful. I personally would have preferred a stronger emphasis on either more dynamic action sequences or more charming, bookshop-related scenes. Unfortunately, both elements seemed lacking, leaving the story feeling somewhat incomplete. The inclusion of a necromancer plot offered potential for an interesting twist, but instead, the narrative unexpectedly veered into exploring a romantic subplot between an Orc and a Dwarf, which felt out of place to me. The storyline also hinted at involving a rat female character in this dynamic, contributing to a sense that I was delving into someone's personal and rather unconventional fantasy. Overall, the book is an average read – it's not entirely unenjoyable, but it's not something I'd be keen on revisiting