Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

“Is there anything more contrary and self-centred than a cat? Yet I’d risk my life for them.”

This was utterly delightful and is prompting me to move Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries up the tbr!

Honestly it felt like this book was written just for me. A cosy fantasy (with some mystery) that has magicians AND CATS?!?!?! Lots and lots of cats.

Agnes was a very likable character and you couldn’t help but root for her, and all those she encountered — most especially the cats.

The magic system was also fun, and I enjoyed how it all worked. Agnes’ Type A personality turning out to be a superpower that would help Havelock catalogue the enchantments he has packed into his workshop made me inexplicably happy. It makes no sense that her skills in organisation should mean so much to me, but we are where we are. I would really love for her to come to my house and catalogue all my books and dust my bookshelves. 😀

Havelock was a fun character, I like that he was a grumpy ass, but as we got to know him he became more and more likable. The development of his and Agnes’ friendship was very cute, and that friendship becoming something more, was even cuter.

“Would not the world be better off if we contented ourselves with the small miracles of life?”

Even though this book is cosy and comforting, it also manages to do a great job exploring themes of loss and grief in a way that didn’t feel hopeless.

Worth mentioning that this takes place in Montreal, and as I’m still down bad for all things Heated Rivalry, just having a book set in Canada helped scratch the HR itch! 😀

This would be a nice Autumn read!

Synopsis:

A woman who runs a cat rescue in 1920s Montreal turns to a grouchy but charming wizard to help save the 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 much-needed cat rescue charity, she has devoted her life to finding forever homes for lost cats. 

But after she is forced to move the cat shelter, Agnes learns that her new landlord is using her charity as a front—for an internationally renowned and thoroughly disreputable magic shop. Owned by the disorganized—not to mention self-absorbed, irritating, but also decidedly handsome—Havelock Renard, magician and failed Dark Lord, the shop draws magical clientele from around the world, partly due to the quality of Havelock’s illicit goods as well as their curiosity about his shadowy past and rumors of his incredible powers. Agnes’s charity offers the perfect cover for illegal magics.

Agnes couldn’t care less about the shop—magical intrigue or not, there are cats to be rescued. But when an enemy from Havelock’s past surfaces, the magic shop—and more importantly, the cat shelter—are suddenly in jeopardy. To save the shelter, will Agnes have to set aside her social conscience and protect the man who once tried to bring about the apocalypse—and is now trying to steal her heart?