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Knight of Avalon #1
Lady of the Veils
Katie MacGregor spends every day balancing her ordinary high school life with an extraordinary heritage. Raised by her mother, an exiled Faerie princess, she spends much of her time traveling between her home in California and visiting her godparents, the High King and Queen of Faerie, in Avalon’s opulent White Palace. The connection she has to her second family is complicated by the irresistible pull she feels toward her best friend, their gorgeous son, Beri.
Beri, a notorious teenage sex symbol, is perpetually engulfed in scandal and pursued by the paparazzi. It’s easier to waste his time with supermodels and sports cars than to admit his feelings for the one girl he can never have. Falling in love with half-human Katie is an unforgivable act of sedition, and if his family only knew, they would be forced to punish him with exile.
As the Ogre War devastates Faerie, Katie and Beri embark on a treacherous journey into a realm teeming with danger and enchanting beauty. In this perilous land, where the emotions of the inhabitants control the weather and sentient forests take prisoners, they unravel a sinister plot against the throne that will imperil their forbidden love and their very lives. The world of magic holds far greater wonders–and far more dangerous terrors– than they ever dared to dream.
Beri, a notorious teenage sex symbol, is perpetually engulfed in scandal and pursued by the paparazzi. It’s easier to waste his time with supermodels and sports cars than to admit his feelings for the one girl he can never have. Falling in love with half-human Katie is an unforgivable act of sedition, and if his family only knew, they would be forced to punish him with exile.
As the Ogre War devastates Faerie, Katie and Beri embark on a treacherous journey into a realm teeming with danger and enchanting beauty. In this perilous land, where the emotions of the inhabitants control the weather and sentient forests take prisoners, they unravel a sinister plot against the throne that will imperil their forbidden love and their very lives. The world of magic holds far greater wonders–and far more dangerous terrors– than they ever dared to dream.
427 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2024
2 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 20, 2024
This book was amazing. Katie and Beri are perfect for each other and unfortunately it takes forever for them to figure it out but they get the idea, or at least the gist. It’s such a fantastical world too and the people are so interesting to read about. It’s epic and grand and beautifully described and I want more.
February 3, 2025
Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2024
I admit that I usually steer clear of fantasy novels, but Lady of the Veils by Michelle John completely surprised me – in the best possible way. While I don’t typically get into worlds filled with mythical people, this book hooked me by the third chapter and didn’t let go (I always give anything at least two chapters before I stop reading).
The story is more than just fantasy; it’s a deeply human tale of courage, love, and self-discovery. The characters feel real, with relatable struggles and emotions that drew me in despite the magical setting. The heroine’s journey is inspiring and grounded, making it easy to connect with her even if you’re not a fan of the genre.
Michelle John’s writing is vivid and engaging, bringing the world of Avalon to life without overwhelming the reader with too much detail. The fantasy elements are there, but they serve the story rather than dominate it, making it accessible even to someone like me who prefers more down-to-earth narratives.
What really stood out to me was the emotional depth of the story. The relationships, the internal conflicts, and the heroine's growth kept me invested, and the romantic subplot was a great bonus. I found myself caring about the characters and eagerly turning pages to see what happened next.
Lady of the Veils is proof that a well-told story can transcend genres. If you're hesitant about fantasy, I encourage you to give this book a chance – you might find yourself as pleasantly surprised as I was!
I admit that I usually steer clear of fantasy novels, but Lady of the Veils by Michelle John completely surprised me – in the best possible way. While I don’t typically get into worlds filled with mythical people, this book hooked me by the third chapter and didn’t let go (I always give anything at least two chapters before I stop reading).
The story is more than just fantasy; it’s a deeply human tale of courage, love, and self-discovery. The characters feel real, with relatable struggles and emotions that drew me in despite the magical setting. The heroine’s journey is inspiring and grounded, making it easy to connect with her even if you’re not a fan of the genre.
Michelle John’s writing is vivid and engaging, bringing the world of Avalon to life without overwhelming the reader with too much detail. The fantasy elements are there, but they serve the story rather than dominate it, making it accessible even to someone like me who prefers more down-to-earth narratives.
What really stood out to me was the emotional depth of the story. The relationships, the internal conflicts, and the heroine's growth kept me invested, and the romantic subplot was a great bonus. I found myself caring about the characters and eagerly turning pages to see what happened next.
Lady of the Veils is proof that a well-told story can transcend genres. If you're hesitant about fantasy, I encourage you to give this book a chance – you might find yourself as pleasantly surprised as I was!
July 6, 2024
3 ✨
Katie MacGregor lives in California with her mixed family of humans and fey. Living her ordinary student life, she has to witness the capital of the neighboring country, Faerie, being conquered by orges. Worried about her childhood friend and secret love, she has to venture into unknown lands, fight with scary and wicked creatures, and overcome a plot against the crown─all while she is out of bubble-gum! On her journey she finds love, friendship, and family, and learns the importance of trusting in her own abilities.
This novel is written in one pov!
⋆⋅☆⋅⋆
First of all, this was my first time reading this book, and I haven't read the previous version, so I cannot really compare how much has changed. I loved this novel primarily for its ideas. The world-building seemed so funny and full of potential to me because of the really interesting mix of a fey realm and our contemporary reality, which I actually haven't seen anywhere. While there was a lot of attention to small details that were rather helpful in really fleshing the world out and making it more realistic, there was also a lot of big picture information missing. Some short, well-placed information dumps would have made it a lot easier for me personally to really see the world come to life in front of my eyes. At the start, I was pretty confused, and while this got easier during the continuation of the story, it sadly took away from the story for me. This also applies to the magic system, which sounds crazy intriguing to me.
"The fey waited for her in the football field behind the public high school in Arborville."
I loved the humor and self-awareness within the novel! Not only was the prose itself handled with a lot of wit, but the characters and their interactions were also thoroughly infused with some nicely used sarcasm and jokes, which added a lovely nuance to the narration. Additionally, I have to say that I loved some of the writing. Like, some sentences really had me sitting there, thinking: "Wow. This is beautiful and magical, and if I could eat it, I would."
When it comes to plot and storyline, it felt like certain plot points were kind of slapped into the story and not further discussed, which left me wondering whether they were forgotten or overlooked, but they were picked up way too late again, when discussing them earlier would've worked better. The major plot points are also affected by this. Some came too fast, were over too fast, and neither discussed beforehand nor really processed afterwards. This is a theme throughout the book, not only regarding the plot but also with other aspects.
I really loved the side characters. While some were kind of shallow, there were characters that really made the story for me. Especially because of the funny mix between fey and, for example, Texan accents.These were the details I lived for in this story. I was also able to tell apart different characters by the way they talked, like they had unique mannerisms, which I can really appreciate because this is not something that I experience a lot. I especially like Cora, Shannon, Brother, Jim,... iykyk, guys.
Which brings me to Miss Girl herself: Katie. She kinda felt toned down in her emotions. What I mean by that, is that at times where she should've been screaming, crying, or lying in a puddle of her own making, she felt too tame to me. There was something very neutral about her way of experiencing this story. This definitely influenced my reading experience because a lot of potentially very emotional situations were either not nearly deep enough or over way too soon. Often times, there was not enough space for me to develop feelings towards characters and relationships or situations. And then when a lot of emotion should have been evoked, it more often than not was not impactful enough. I almost mourned the lack of mourning and grief in some parts.
This then leads me to the emotion Katie was feeling the most: love. Her romantic feelings were probably the most explored. Which would lead one to believe that the romance is more foregrounded and focused on within the storyline but it actually wasn't in-your-face all the time. Plus point for me! Though, it kind of felt rushed, since I wasn't able to experience the platonic friendship first before diving into exploring the romantic bonds.
"His face said she'd become a church and he'd knelt to pray, as if the moment he kissed her would be a sacrament."
In general, I simply would have loved more. More details of the world, more big emotions, more plot discussion. I wouldn't have minded reading 400 pages more, to be honest. The world is so interesting and hilariously unique that I would have gladly read an extra book worth of pages if it would have meant I can truly experience the story the way it was intended to.
Now to my biggest point of criticism and probably also my most irrelevant: the pictures. Honestly, at first I truly loved the idea. Such a cool and nice touch that would have made the world a lot more graspable. However, the AI pictures got worse and worse. Mistakes with fucked hands were the minor ones, but there were inaccuracies with character details that were mentioned within a description and ignored for the picture. I would have loved if the pictures were actually commissioned by a real artist, because then a lot of the obvious mistakes could have been avoided, but I know that this isn't easy. Anyways, I loved the idea!
I will definitely keep reading because I truly fell in love with the world, and I feel like I physically crave more information and details about how everything works.
꒦꒷♡꒷꒦
I'm very grateful to have received the novel as an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!
Katie MacGregor lives in California with her mixed family of humans and fey. Living her ordinary student life, she has to witness the capital of the neighboring country, Faerie, being conquered by orges. Worried about her childhood friend and secret love, she has to venture into unknown lands, fight with scary and wicked creatures, and overcome a plot against the crown─all while she is out of bubble-gum! On her journey she finds love, friendship, and family, and learns the importance of trusting in her own abilities.
This novel is written in one pov!
⋆⋅☆⋅⋆
First of all, this was my first time reading this book, and I haven't read the previous version, so I cannot really compare how much has changed. I loved this novel primarily for its ideas. The world-building seemed so funny and full of potential to me because of the really interesting mix of a fey realm and our contemporary reality, which I actually haven't seen anywhere. While there was a lot of attention to small details that were rather helpful in really fleshing the world out and making it more realistic, there was also a lot of big picture information missing. Some short, well-placed information dumps would have made it a lot easier for me personally to really see the world come to life in front of my eyes. At the start, I was pretty confused, and while this got easier during the continuation of the story, it sadly took away from the story for me. This also applies to the magic system, which sounds crazy intriguing to me.
"The fey waited for her in the football field behind the public high school in Arborville."
I loved the humor and self-awareness within the novel! Not only was the prose itself handled with a lot of wit, but the characters and their interactions were also thoroughly infused with some nicely used sarcasm and jokes, which added a lovely nuance to the narration. Additionally, I have to say that I loved some of the writing. Like, some sentences really had me sitting there, thinking: "Wow. This is beautiful and magical, and if I could eat it, I would."
When it comes to plot and storyline, it felt like certain plot points were kind of slapped into the story and not further discussed, which left me wondering whether they were forgotten or overlooked, but they were picked up way too late again, when discussing them earlier would've worked better. The major plot points are also affected by this. Some came too fast, were over too fast, and neither discussed beforehand nor really processed afterwards. This is a theme throughout the book, not only regarding the plot but also with other aspects.
I really loved the side characters. While some were kind of shallow, there were characters that really made the story for me. Especially because of the funny mix between fey and, for example, Texan accents.These were the details I lived for in this story. I was also able to tell apart different characters by the way they talked, like they had unique mannerisms, which I can really appreciate because this is not something that I experience a lot. I especially like Cora, Shannon, Brother, Jim,... iykyk, guys.
Which brings me to Miss Girl herself: Katie. She kinda felt toned down in her emotions. What I mean by that, is that at times where she should've been screaming, crying, or lying in a puddle of her own making, she felt too tame to me. There was something very neutral about her way of experiencing this story. This definitely influenced my reading experience because a lot of potentially very emotional situations were either not nearly deep enough or over way too soon. Often times, there was not enough space for me to develop feelings towards characters and relationships or situations. And then when a lot of emotion should have been evoked, it more often than not was not impactful enough. I almost mourned the lack of mourning and grief in some parts.
This then leads me to the emotion Katie was feeling the most: love. Her romantic feelings were probably the most explored. Which would lead one to believe that the romance is more foregrounded and focused on within the storyline but it actually wasn't in-your-face all the time. Plus point for me! Though, it kind of felt rushed, since I wasn't able to experience the platonic friendship first before diving into exploring the romantic bonds.
"His face said she'd become a church and he'd knelt to pray, as if the moment he kissed her would be a sacrament."
In general, I simply would have loved more. More details of the world, more big emotions, more plot discussion. I wouldn't have minded reading 400 pages more, to be honest. The world is so interesting and hilariously unique that I would have gladly read an extra book worth of pages if it would have meant I can truly experience the story the way it was intended to.
Now to my biggest point of criticism and probably also my most irrelevant: the pictures. Honestly, at first I truly loved the idea. Such a cool and nice touch that would have made the world a lot more graspable. However, the AI pictures got worse and worse. Mistakes with fucked hands were the minor ones, but there were inaccuracies with character details that were mentioned within a description and ignored for the picture. I would have loved if the pictures were actually commissioned by a real artist, because then a lot of the obvious mistakes could have been avoided, but I know that this isn't easy. Anyways, I loved the idea!
I will definitely keep reading because I truly fell in love with the world, and I feel like I physically crave more information and details about how everything works.
꒦꒷♡꒷꒦
I'm very grateful to have received the novel as an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!
August 24, 2024
Worthy Read
Ms. John propels us into the world of fae as we have never understood it or experienced it. Wonderful read!
Ms. John propels us into the world of fae as we have never understood it or experienced it. Wonderful read!
August 9, 2025
So much fun! Katie is a headstrong teenager thrust into an impossible world. I've devoured the whole series so far. Very good writing, loads of magic and interesting characters.
December 23, 2024
Reading “Lady of the Veils” was an enchanting experience. Romantasy is not my usual genre, but the author hooked me completely with her exemplary story-telling craft.
This story is full of beautiful lines and surpassing images that follow each other like pearls on a string. In between them are moments of crisis, decision, and action that seem like they were lifted from a modern thriller. Sprinkled over it all is a sort of wry self-awareness that is at the same time modern and real.
This story isn’t (just) about pointed ears (there are some), swords (same), and magic (lots), not just about Kings, Queens, Princes and scions (there are several), it’s all that and much more.
This tale speaks to diversity, identity, tolerance, trust, and finding the power of owning the consequences of one’s own choices made in pursuit of doing what’s right or maybe chasing one’s heart. And yes, there’s a touching love story woven into the fabric of it all.
This book is the first of a series, but also holds up well as a standalone read. It’s a delight to know that there will be more of Katie, Beri, and the many other fascinating characters, both likable and not, to come.
This story is full of beautiful lines and surpassing images that follow each other like pearls on a string. In between them are moments of crisis, decision, and action that seem like they were lifted from a modern thriller. Sprinkled over it all is a sort of wry self-awareness that is at the same time modern and real.
This story isn’t (just) about pointed ears (there are some), swords (same), and magic (lots), not just about Kings, Queens, Princes and scions (there are several), it’s all that and much more.
This tale speaks to diversity, identity, tolerance, trust, and finding the power of owning the consequences of one’s own choices made in pursuit of doing what’s right or maybe chasing one’s heart. And yes, there’s a touching love story woven into the fabric of it all.
This book is the first of a series, but also holds up well as a standalone read. It’s a delight to know that there will be more of Katie, Beri, and the many other fascinating characters, both likable and not, to come.
June 6, 2024
I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait for the next ones. There were a few parts that felt slightly rushed, but the story line and characters made up for it. I love being able to develop emotional connects to characters and i definitely did with this one
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews