Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter is a cozy, romantic fantasy novel written by Heather Fawcett, published by Orbit Books. A deliciously charming story full of magic, hope, and cats' shenanigans, that talks about grief and overcoming it while delivering a fun plot that feels like a warm hug.

Agnes Aubert runs a cat shelter to rescue and re-home strays, but after a mage fight she's looking for a new place to establish her shelter; a difficult task as she doesn't find a place with a reasonable rent or willing to accept the cats. She finds a particular shop that is the perfect place for the charity, a place maybe too good to be true; soon she learns that her landlord is using the charity as a front for his own magic shop. Havelock, the notorious wizard who almost ended the world two years ago, is hiding in her basement.

As you might have imagined by this point, this is a story that will revolve around Agnes, how she's trying to keep the charity afloat, and how having Havelock as the landlord will bring certainly interesting situations. Agnes has a personality that immediately shines: she's extremely organized, caring a lot for all the strays, the type of person that gets things done; it's difficult not to connect with her. She's so relatable.
On the other hand, we have Havelock: a selfish mage, a bit of a shady and self-centered character, but one that we could say that is like an onion, as we have to peel the layers to discover his real personality. The clash between him and the cats is certainly adorable (I love cats, so I might be biased), funny at times; and I loved how the bond appears between Havelock and Agnes.
Fawcett also managed to infuse most of the rescued cats with their own personalities, so I'm sure each reader will end up having a favourite (I think Banshee is the absolute boss).

A plot that successfully blends together explosive magic, and a charming slow-burn romance that, at the end, it's just telling us that sometimes it is worth giving an opportunity to love, even if it sounds crazy.
The pacing is not excessively slow, balancing well the graver scenes with others destined to alleviate the tension and get a smile out of you.

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter is a deliciously charming novel, a perfect choice if you are looking for a slow burn romance with a lot of cats meddling in it; Heather Fawcett has created a marvelous novel!