Publication: 17th February 2026 – Orbit
All strays are welcome here.
Agnes Aubert is very fond of making lists. These lists kept her afloat when she lost her husband two years ago. And now, as the founder of a cat rescue charity, her meticulous organization skills feel like the only thing standing between her beloved cats – His Majesty, Banshee and sweet elderly Thoreau, to name a few – and utter disaster.
But when Agnes is forced to move the charity, she soon discovers that her new shop is being used as a front; right under her feet is the lair of the decidedly disorganised – not to mention self-absorbed and infuriatingly handsome – Havelock Renard.
Havelock is everything Agnes doesn’t want in her life: chaos, mischief, and a little too much adventure. But as she gets to know him, she discovers he’s more than the dark magician of legend, and that she may be ready for a little intrigue, perhaps even romance. After all, second chances aren’t just for rescue cats…
Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter was such an entertaining and riveting read, not that I expected any less from Heather Fawcett. There is so much to love about this novel, starting from the protagonist, Agnes Aubert. She is kind and selfless, she sees the good in everyone, including the broody and powerful magician that once almost ended the world. She is determined and super-organized, all things that are helpful when she is running a cat shelter together with her sister Elise. But, when her shelter is destroyed during a magical attack, it’s not easy to find a new one, as building-owners are not keen to have cats all over the place, until she meets a young man who offers a cheap place to rent. Here enters the landlord, Havelock Renard, the Wicked King, grumpy, a loner, allergic to cats, involved in an incessant war with his sister over magical artifacts, and wanted from the police. And just like that, the quiet life that Agnes has built for herself quickly becomes quite hectic.
Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter is a wonderful cosy fantasy set in an atmospheric 1920s Montreal, featuring themes of grief, love (although, the romance is not central, but only hinted), and found family, an intriguing magic world, and, my favourite part, a wonderful and assorted cast of cats, with different personalities, that kept me quite entertained. Highly recommended!!!
A huge thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.
Heather Fawcett is the author of the middle grade novels Ember and the Ice Dragons and The Language of Ghosts, as well as the young adult series Even the Darkest Stars. She has a master’s degree in English literature and has worked as an archaeologist, photographer, technical writer, and backstage assistant for a Shakespearean theater festival. She lives on Vancouver Island, Canada.
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