Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter, by Heather Fawcett

July 9, 2026 Lark_Bookwyrm Book Reviews 0 ★★★★★

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
Published by Del Rey on 2/17/2026
Genres: Fantasy, Cozy Fantasy
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Bookshop | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Chirp
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five-stars

Also by this author: Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

A woman who runs a cat rescue in 1920s Montréal turns to a grouchy but charming magician to help save her shelter in this heartwarming cozy fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of the Emily Wilde series.

Agnes Aubert leads a meticulously organized life, and she likes it that way. As the proudly type-A manager of a cat rescue charity, she has devoted her life to finding forever homes for stray cats.

Now it’s the shelter that needs a new home. And the only landlord who will rent a space to a cat rescue is a mysterious man called Havelock—who also happens to be the world’s most infamous magician, running an illegal magic shop out of his basement. Havelock is cantankerous and eccentric, but not not handsome, and no, Agnes absolutely does not feel anything but disdain for him. After all, rumors swirl about his shadowy past—including whispers that his dark magic once almost brought about the apocalypse.

Then one day a glamorous magician comes looking for Havelock, putting the magic shop—and the cat shelter—in jeopardy. To save the shelter, Agnes will have to team up with the magician who nearly ended the world . . . and may now be trying to steal her heart.

Havelock is everything Agnes thinks she doesn’t need in her chaos, mischief, and a little too much adventure. But as she gets to know him, she discovers that he’s more than the dark magician of legend, and that she may be ready for a little intrigue—and romance—in her life. After all, second chances aren’t just for rescue cats. . . .

“Absolutely magnificent! Full of cats and magic, this is the kind of book you want to instantly reread. I loved every character, every cat, and every moment with all my heart!”—Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

Another enchanting tale from the pen of Heather Fawcett

Agnes Aubert runs a charity cat shelter in Montreal—a city still recovering from a major battle between two formidable magicians. The building housing Agnes’s shelter was badly damaged, and with winter coming on, she goes in search of new premises. Unfortunately, no-one wants to rent to a cat shelter, let alone one constantly on the edge of poverty. Almost no-one. Desperate, Agnes agrees to rent a former scarf shop on the Rue des Hirondelles, despite dire warnings from the neighboring shopkeeper. It appears nearly perfect: warm and reasonably weathertight, with an apartment upstairs for Agnes herself, and at a surprisingly low rent. Surely, it’s a safe place for the many cats she rescues—if only she can continue to ignore the oddities of the place. Strange noises from the basement; delicious smells from the built-in oven left by a baker, several tenants ago; visitors who seem decidedly otherworldly… it’s a lot to take in. But no one warned Agnes that her absentee landlord was the Witch King himself, Havelock Renard.

I loved this enchanting story, with its strong echoes of Howl’s Moving Castle and Beauty and the Beast. Agnes is a widow, still grieving her husband’s death. She loves the shelter cats and cares for them tenderly but with clear-eyed practicality, affectionately tolerating their quirks and even their bad behavior. It’s clear that Fawcett herself is fond of cats; she gives each one a distinct personality, without anthropomorphizing them at all. Havelock himself—unpredictable, elusive, disturbingly magical and decidedly grumpy—comes across rather like a cat himself, which perhaps explains why Agnes feels drawn to him despite her fear of the magician whose spell nearly ended the whole world. Agnes is what I used to hear described as “a bleeding heart”; she has a soft spot for feral cats and other misunderstood creatures. I’m sure you can see where this is going.

In fact, though, I was surprised, in a good way. The romance, if you want to call it that, never takes over the story*; this isn’t a romantasy in the way I think of that genre. As I said before, the book reminds me of Howl’s Moving Castle, particularly the Studio Ghibli adaptation. There’s a similar slow unfolding of events as Agnes begins to put together the clues about what happened when the Witch King nearly destroyed the world, and what precisely is going on now. I loved the whole thing, from Agnes’s wholehearted determination to save the city’s feral cats from the street, to her quiet grief for Robin, her dead husband, to her growing sympathy for and exasperation with her magical landlord. And I adored the cats with all their eccentricities.

I was very intrigued by Havelock’s air of mystery and otherworldliness, and by the descriptions of magic and how it works in this world. Fawcett melds the “rules-based magic system” and “magic as mysterious, unpredictable force” in a way which retains the mystery and terror of magic while at the same time giving just enough shape to it for Agnes (and the reader) to have some idea of the risks and consequences of using magic, or even of being in its vicinity. There are some very poignant moments throughout the book, including one near the end that almost broke my heart, but there is plenty of wry humor, too, and a touch of the same wonder and delight that I found in Fawcett’s Emily Wilde trilogy.

If you are a fan of Heather Fawcett, of Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle or of Robin McKinley’s Spindle’s End and Rose Daughter, I heartily recommend reading Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

* I love a good fantasy romance or romantasy, but if you come into this expecting heady attraction, spice, sensuality, pining, or a story that prioritizes the romance, you may be disappointed. Do I ship Agnes and Havelock? Definitely. But the romantic aspects of this story are subtle and complex, inextricably woven into the overall plot but not its sole or primary focus.

Challenges: COYER 2026: Out to Lunch Again; NetGalley & Edelweiss Challenge 2026