Avalon Tower

Fey Spy Academy, Book 1

By: C.N. Crawford, Alex Rivers

Narrated by: Amanda Leigh Cobb

Avalon Spy Academy rules: spy on the fey, resist falling for your mentor, and try not to die in the process.

I spent five years saving up for a European vacation. But instead of drinking champagne on the beach, I get swept into a war of espionage between the humans and the fey.

It turns out, I have a magic power needed to fight an evil fey king. I'm quickly whisked off to an elite spy academy in a hidden realm. There, in the ancient and gothic halls of Avalon Tower, snobbery and brutal competitions are among the oldest traditions.

As if I didn't have enough trouble, my new mentor is Raphael Launcelot, a maddeningly sexy demi-fey who already ruined my life once. I can't fall for him again. Romance is forbidden here; a distracted spy is a dead spy. So I need to push his dangerous allure out of my mind as we travel into the Fey realm. If we get captured, we’ll die horrific deaths–and humanity won’t stand a chance.

If you liked Frost and City of Thorns, you will love Avalon Tower.

©2024 C.N. Crawford and Alex Rivers (P)2024 C.N. Crawford and Alex Rivers

I love how this book was written

I like how she went into detail throughout the book without wasting time. Story was fast paced and pulled me into the world.

BookTok Was Right—This Story Hooked Me!

What a fun and surprising listen! I should’ve trusted the BookTok recommendation from the start—this one definitely lived up to the hype. While this book serves more as a prelude to the action-packed second installment, it lays the foundation for an incredible story that’s absolutely worth the wait.

At its core, this is the journey of how a seemingly simple girl becomes a spy, revealing the secrets of her past and the reason behind her importance. Add in a forbidden love story that teeters on the edge of disaster, and you’ve got a plot full of tension, twists, and emotional stakes.

I can’t wait to dive into Book Two and see where it all leads!

Worth the Hype

Great narrator and I loved the story! It’s giving Fireborne and Legendborn with a dash of spice. Everyone said book 2 is better but I really liked this book and now I’m really looking forward to book 2.

Highly Recommend

I recommend this book to all my friends who are fantasy romance readers. I'm eager to listen to the second book already.

I love spies!

This was a fun book. It was written in such a humorous way. The narrations were done so well. There were fey and demi-fey. I love that the FMC gets thrusted into a spy academy. It is also an interesting take on the story of Camelot. Im also very interested in the Dream Stalker, and what part they still have to play. It was a slower burn and I am excited to see what this romance brings.

The story was GREAT

I read the book on my kindle while I listened. The narrator missed words, added words, and kept saying magicians instead of Mages and it drove me insane. Was NOT a fan of that.

So freaking good

I was expecting something cheesy from some of the reviews and boy were they so wrong! This was such a fun fresh tale and I loved every second of it! Buying the book trophy 🏆 now. Spicy 🌶️.5

Fun series!

Fun and engaging story - I am not generally into the academy trope, but it wasn’t really center stage. The FMC was never frustrating (IMO) and I appreciated the thread of humor. Also, the narrator is one of my favorites, she consistently delivers in every performance and does a great job here.

It got better

Perhaps it was the narrator that held me back from being immersed in this story. Her inflections were distracting; at times, British accent done with the FMC's dialog. The voices of other characters were done better than the FMC.
Story wise, it took a few chapters before I was pulled in, and even then, I wasn't salivating for the next scene/chapter. Some of the early chapters I thought were unrealistic. Sparring on the first day of training? Then she's berated by Vivianne for it? It just didn't make sense to me.
The further I progressed, the story became more interesting and the end had me gaping. Though until that moment, it was kind of predictable with flashes of surprise.
All in all, the story was decent and I loved the world C.N. built, but I'm not chomping at the bit for the next book. This is a decent palate cleanser as of rn. We'll see if I'm needing another when book 2 comes out.

Loved it!

The narration was excellent! Fantastic story of fae and magic set in Camelot. Nia thought she was human but finds out she is demi fey when she performs rare magic. She joins a spy school to protect the humans from all out fey war. Super fun twist of the knights of the round table.