Pages to Fill

Legends & Lattes #0.5

by Travis Baldree

Short story prequel to Legends & Lattes. It is available in the book Legends & Lattes, second edition.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Audiobook, Fiction, Cozy Fantasy, Cozy, Adult

33 pages, ebook

First published June 7, 2022

About the author

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Legends & Lattes, Bookshops & Bonedust, and Brigands & Breadknives. Audie-winning. Audiobook narrator. Erstwhile game developer. Made Fate, Torchlight & Rebel Galaxy.

Reviews

[Miranda Reads]

This was a short story included at the end of the audiobook from Legends & Lattes and skips back in time to when Viv was out with her adventuring party trying to capture Bodkin.

Bodkin is a legendary dapplegrim (shapeshifter) who can take the form of anyone at anytime. And just when it looks like they have captured the elusive creature, she slips out from under them (in part due to Viv's mistake) but does leave behind an important clue for the group.

Viv and her gnome friend, Gallina, decide to pursue the clue and Viv ends up learning a few grim realities about life expectancy and adventuring.

I really liked the inclusion of this story - here we can see how Viv (who already was churning over the idea of retirement) really draw her line in the sand and it helped explain her firm stance on violence that comes up again and again in the main story.

The emotional depth from such a short story appealed to me and I liked catching up with some of Viv's old friends.

My favorite part is when we were able to join Viv as she discovers the inspiration for Legends & Latte. Such a wholesome moment!

If you skip this short story, you won't miss critical information for the series but at the same time, I think it was well-worth reading.

[Mel (Epic Reading)]

Anticlimactic, of course, as it’s at the end of the first book (second editions have this short story) and so we know that it likely ends with her discovering coffee. Additionally we know which characters cannot die as they play a part in Legends and Lattes.
That said, I’ll take more of Viv any day.
Hoping that book 0, the next one written which is also a prequel doesn’t disappoint because, again, we know what happens.
If you loved Legends and Lattes this short story is a great introduction to fighting orc Viv, as opposed to cafe owner Viv.

[* A Reader Obsessed *]

4 Stars

A nice little prequel to Legends & Lattes, this shows Viv working her mercenary life, where thoughts of the Scalvert Stone are already percolating.

I enjoyed this look-see into Viv’s gang, and Fennus is definitely not one to like at all. This ends perfectly as Viv takes her very first sip of coffee and solidifies her future plans!!


Legends & Lattes Series
0.0. Bookshops & Bonedust - 4 Stars
0.5. Pages to Fill - 4 Stars
0.6. Goblins & Greatcoats - 4 Stars
1. Legends & Lattes - 4 Stars
2. Brigands & Breadknives - 4 Stars

[Andrea]

coffee is peace

[✧ hayley (the sugar bowl) ✧]

➳ 3 ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

this was cute and fast and a good little prequel short story. overall nothing special, but i had fun! ☕️🫶





୧ ‧₊˚ 🍓 ⋅ ☆

[willowmoth (bookcravt)]

A short little story in between Bookshops & Bonedust and Legends & Lattes. It made me want to pause and smell some coffee beans. 😌✨️

🖤🩶🖤🩶🖤🩶

Reading-order note (if you care)
Personally, I think the best order to read them in is:

-Bookshops & Bonedust
-Pages to Fill (the short story that sits between them)
-Legends & Lattes
-The epilogue of Bookshops & Bonedust

That keeps everything in chronological order and, in my opinion, makes the whole story land even better.

[Steph]

cute lil prequel short! this is a fun romp. viv is on an adventure that takes her and her and gallina to an enormous gnomish library, which is grand and beautiful! there's also some sly investigation, lockpicking, and a badass fight scene.

i love when a prequel ends with an exciting flicker of what we know is to come for its characters - here, the discovery of coffee.

[Maddie]

A cute short story prequel to Legend & Lattes. You kind of know where the story's headed but it's still really enjoyable.
I'm really enjoying this series.

[Dana Cristiana]

Included at the end of the first book.

3.5 for the short story.

[MARI]

No rating. Short novella before legends and lattes. The order of this series is kind of confusing me but 🤷‍♂️

[Alex]

3.5

Good despite very short length but felt kind of out of place between the end of L&L and an extract of B&B. Probably would have been better being adapted to lengthen the prologue of L&L given that the ending is obvious from the start and lends itself to establishing Viv's motives for opening the coffee shop more.

[Kerri]

This was much less my cup of tea (bean water?).

[Sotiria Lazaridou]

3.5⭐

[Bo Verhoef]

I don't like the fighting parts of this story sorry.

[Amber (ambervgn) :)]

leuk om te lezen waar Vivs obsessie met koffie vandaan komt 🤭

[Ангеліна Іванченко]

Реалістично мила та ніжна історія в умовах фентезі-пиздилки

[Brittany]

I'm trying to write reviews for every book I read in 2026 - wish me luck.

A short story detailing the precursor events to Legends and Lattes. Pages to Fill follows Viv the Orc who has grown discontent with her life on the road but doesn't know where to turn to next. As she hunts down her latest target, Viv stumbles onto the information that might change her life.

I didn't like this as much as I like Legends and Lattes but it was fun!

[Sabrina]

~3.75 stars

I would LOVE to visit that gnomish Athenaeum/library in Azimuth... RTC!

(Technically this was included within the edition of 'Legends and Lattes' that I have, but I'll give a separate rating/review anyway... an unexpected perfect fit for #MinisculeMarch hosted by The Sassy Library Fox!)

[Planxti'sImaginaryWorld]

Bookshops and Bonedust 4.0 stars
Pages to fill 4.5 stars
Legends and Lattes 4.5 stars

This short story, while not necessary for the book, filled in several corners in a quite entertaining way. It has all the character and charm I've come to expect from Baldree.

A nice bonus.

[Adam Froud]

A nice little prelude even if I can't remember 90% of it

[Andrée]

Very short prequel that gives you Viv's introduction to coffee but honestly nothing else of note.

[Melinda]

CHARACTERS
🔲 mary-sue party
🔲 mostly 2D
🔲 great main cast, forgettable side characters
✅ well-written
🔲 complex and fascinating
🔲 hard to believe they are fictional

PLOT
🔲 you've already heard this exact story a thousand times
✅ nothing memorable
🔲 gripping
🔲 exceptional
🔲 mind=blown

WORLDBUILDING
🔲 takes place in our world
🔲 incoherent
✅ OK
🔲 nicely detailed
🔲 meticulous
🔲 even the last tree in the forest has its own story

ATMOSPHERE
🔲 nonexistent
🔲 fine
🔲 immersive
✅ you forget you are reading a book

PACING
🔲 dragging
🔲 inconsistent
🔲 picks up with time
✅ page-turner
🔲 impossible to put down

[Ethan Westerfield]

This is a quick prequel to Legends and Lattes that explores how our main character Viv discovers the wonderful taste of coffee for the first time. I am a sucker for good world building and a good mystery to boot.

Also, this and some lines in Legends and Lattes make me think Viv and Gallena DEFINITELY had a fling at one point. There's just no way that didn't happen.

Keep up the good work Mr. Baldree

[Nainika Gupta]

Cute as all hell. Love Viv to death.

[Sandra Girard-Demontigny]

Although I really liked the Legends & Lattes story, I didn't think this short story was necessary, as we already knew the main lines of this story.

Malgré que j'ai beaucoup aimé l'histoire de de Légendes & Lattes, selon moi cette petite histoire n'était pas nécessaire étant donné que nous connaissions déjà les grandes lignes de l'histoire.

[Carolina]

2.5 stars ⭐️
This short story is at the end of book 1, Legends & Lattes.

We just read the book and this is what went on before, so we know how it ends already, and we know which characters cannot die already too.

A bit of anticlimactic feeling.

[Cristan✨🪐]

3.5⭐️

[Preslee Lynn]

Yesss more Viv lore

[Alyssa Keptner]

This was very cute! I liked the look it gave into Viv’s past.

[Vanessa (Wanderness)]

Read at end of Legends and Lattes but felt out of place after reading L&Ls. Maybe I should revisit before Bookshops and Bonedust and i might feel differently