Review: Keeper & Kindred by Toni Binns

Posted March 5, 2026 by Lola in Fantasy, Review / 4 Comments

Keeper & Kindred (Magical Emporium of Wares #2)
by Toni Binns

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Cozy Fantasy/ Slice of Life
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: no romance

Blurb:
Welcome to the Magical Emporium of Wares, a bookshop that appears only to those who need to find it.

The winter solstice is coming, and with it, a reckoning.

Sable thought being the Shopkeeper meant serving coffee, shelving books, and managing a talking cat’s attitude. She’s made peace with the magic, even embraced her role as guardian to Indigo, the world’s most curious baby bookdragon. But as the solstice draws near, a magical teacher arrives at the shop’s door—someone from the Cat’s past who might hold the key to his freedom.

The Fates begin whispering to Sable through golden auras. Old bargains, made long before her time, surface with dangerous demands. And somewhere in the chaos of rearranging shelves, interrogating a cryptic teacher, and managing interdimensional customers, Sable has to figure out how to tell her mother she won’t be home for the holidays.

The secrets she’s uncovered can’t be ignored. And the Cat—mysterious, maddening, and more vulnerable than he’d ever admit—might be the key to everything, if only Sable can get him to trust her.

Coffee can only solve so many problems. But friendship, courage, and one very determined Shopkeeper might just be enough.

Discover what lies beneath the Emporium’s cozy surface—pick up your copy of Meow: Magical Emporium of Wares Book 2 today!

My Review

I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.

Keeper & Kindred is the second book in this cozy fantasy slice of life series. Book 1 Contracts & Cats was one of my favorite reads of 2025 and I think this one has a good chance of being one of my favorite reads of 2026. After the way book 1 ended I was thinking maybe this book would feel a bit less cozy and more serious, but I am glad to say this one felt just as cozy. Even tough there is a bigger plot and some more serious topics, it feels like a cozy lighthearted read most of the time.

Keeper & Kindred continues in the same vein as the first book with some overarching plots going on as well as daily shop activities were Sable helps the customers that show up that day. I enjoyed spending time in the shop again and with these characters that already feel so familiar and I enjoy reading about them. It’s such a cozy read and has that perfect slice of life feel, but with plenty going on to keep me reading.

Sable, The Cat and Indigo are such likable characters and I just love reading about them. I also like reading more about Betty and the interactions between all of these characters. This book has some more things going on related to each of them. Sable is learning something more about herself and I like seeing her explore that more. Indigo’s grandfather is struggling and she has to go help him out. And Sable now finally knows why the Cat is stuck at the shop and wants to help him. And we see more of what Betty can do, I liked the new room they created for Sable.

This one has a bit of a festive vibe with the whole book leading up the Solstice celebration, so it had some holiday and winter vibes due to that. I liked seeing Sable plan the celebration and decide what to buy for everyone. And the holiday scenes were fun to read. I did feel a bit sad how Sable can’t go home as she can’t leave the shop and was curious to see how that would get resolved.

To summarize: I just really enjoyed reading this book. It was easy to read and I loved spending more time in this world. It was a lighthearted and cozy read with plenty of fantasy and magic elements as well as some overarching plot lines. I really like reading about these characters and spending more time with them. This book has some interesting things going on with all of them and I liked seeing Sable learn more about herself and explore that. I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the third one!