Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter
Heather Fawcett || Publication Date - 17.02.2026
A cozy cat rescue, the opposing forces of magic and the magicians that wield it.
Fantasy
All Agnes Aubert wants is to be able to pull feral cats off the streets of Montreal. Her heart and livelihood envelop these cats so deeply that she has put all of herself into running a rehabilitation and adoption shelter. That is until a duel between two Magician's leaves her with a busted shop that's operating with three walls and a draft filled with the chill of the coming winter.
Her only option is to find a new building to rent, which has become slightly less than impossible due to her business. That is until she happens upon a deal which seems too good to be true. The rent is cheaper, it's larger so she would be able to take in more cats from the streets and give them a loving home, however, it has a waft of magic.
She has red flags popping up in her mind but if she can survive almost being crushed and encountering the most dangerous Magician ever known, she would do it all for her cats.
The first thing that's coming to my mind when I want to speak about reviewing this novel is that it feels disjointed. It wasn't the writing, and it definitely came from the direction of the narrative. A few times throughout I was wondering if I had missed something, like something had been explained previously and then brought up again. But I found myself rereading sections only to find out that it was simply never explained. I also had a lot of questions surrounding the events which acted as the catalyst to the novel opening up. It felt rushed and never fully fleshed out which left a lot for me to desire.
Another shortfall I'd experienced was with the characters. They had the essence of being there, as in they had a name and a description, but that was about it. Agnes had as much personality as a wet paper bag, and her entire schtick was the 'organised' and 'meticulous' owner of the charity. Her sister gives her ample shit about being a queen of checklists and realistically I believe one was used to form her entire personality. It was very regimented and restricted within the story, and everything Agnes said was bland at best.
Elise on the other hand was supposed to be the complete opposite, and I wish that included entertaining. Her actions are naively egotistical and she has an air of self-importance that is infuriating. There's no consideration for Agnes or anyone else when Elise opens her mouth, which causes her to lie without batting an eyelid and provoking a magician to bring on the end of the world. She purposefully endangered herself, Agnes and the shelter cats because she 'couldn't get a read on the guy'... What the fuck does pushing someone's buttons have to do with securing your opinion of them? It's like saying a bear is dangerous and proving the point by poking it with a stick.
Unfortunately I didn't feel any chemistry between the main character and her love interest. It came across quite rushed, and it also appeared in the story they had barely spent any time together. The most normal interaction they had was at night by the living room fire and they simply had a basic conversation getting to know each other better. Next thing is she is rushing down to his basement dwelling to kiss him. I understand men doing nice things is attractive but sometimes I feel that women in novels throw themselves at whatever kind hottie does the bare minimum.
Overall Thoughts
What I am beginning to realise is that, no matter how much I want it to be true for myself, cozy fantasy isn't a genre I gel with. I don't believe it is the low stakes, or the content of the novel, however I consistently feel as if it's not a subgenre for me. It is definitely a trend which has taken over the last few years, but I am yet to read one which is actually good... to be frank. I found myself scraping through the last half of the book and to me that is a better sign than none.
With that being said though, the novel is wonderfully written and if you're a fan of books like 'The Baby Dragon Cafe' and 'Books & Bewitchment' then this could easily be a slam dunk for you. I really wanted it to be one for me and I can tell that Heather Fawcett is an exceptionally talented writer. Though I believe I should have started with her 'Emily Wilde' series and not this one specifically. But that series is definitely still on and will remain on my TBR, despite my feelings over this novel.
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