4.25 STARS

Really enjoyed this one. Some of my favorite elements and tropes including TRUE enemies to lovers, dragons, bonds, elemental magic, political intrigue / rivals, messed up family dynamics, and some good world building. The FMC was her own vibe, very unapologetic about who she is. Some of the pacing with the tension between her and the MMC was slightly off, but still liked their dynamic overall. Scottish/Gaelic influence is always a plus for me. Definitely recommend if you like any of the above and looking forward to see how the story continues.


Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC! All feedback is my own.

I love following Hazel on YouTube and learning about her life as an author!! I read part of this book and loved what I read so far and I can’t wait to purchase and read the entire book once it’s released. We need more books with female rage!!

I picked this one up on several different occasions to give it a fair shot, and every time I ended up DNF'ing.
The pros: Celtic mythology world-building/clans/fire magic/dragons
The cons: Insufferable FMC, misogyny, and a hope the enemies would not become lovers, pacing issues.

I think this new duology will connect to romantasy readers who enjoy darker themes/morally grey characters, and an arrogant MC, is just wasn't connecting for me.

There is a lot to like about this book, unfortunately it just wasn't for me. I loved the mythology connections, but just found the overall story to be pretty similar to a lot of other books I've read lately. The plot twists were pretty predictable, and I found myself uninterested in the story often.

I do think a lot of readers will enjoy this story, and think this book will be popular. This was just not a bookish love connection for me.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

I feel like I've read this book before, but not necessarily in a bad way, just in a... dragon, romantasy, super strong fmc kinda way. But let's take a minute to appreciate the world building. Its clear that author took her time with the world building and storytelling- where it fell short for me was the romance. I'm a fan of enemies to lovers- just not this one, the MMC fell flat for me.

Would I recommend it? Yes, but only to people who exclusively read romantasy. There is room for growth and I'm certain that book 2 will be incredible.

This did take me a little while to get into. As the beginning of the book was a huge info dump and a lot of world building that felt a little clunky and confusing at times.

Around the 40% mark I felt like things started to take a shift and the pacing was a little faster which I appreciated. I enjoyed the lore of the dragons and world, it gave a house of dragon vibe to the book.

However, the main character Aemyria was a little bit insufferable at times. I did appreciate the true enemies to lovers aspect of the book, but I did feel that their love wasn’t totally believable.

This book has a lot of potential to be a great start to a series and of course it ended on a major cliffhanger.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this eARC.

This book was just okay. Unfortunately, it was really hard for me to get into and didn’t hold my interest. The story itself had potential but the delivery wasn’t quite right. The pacing was too fast and it was hard to follow what was happening. A lot of telling and no showing, which is something I personally don’t care for. The main character was also tough for me… I didn’t mesh with her personality and this made it very difficult to get through. I’m really sorry this one didn’t work out.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 35%. I couldn't do it, y'all. I had such high hopes when I read the synopsis on NetGalley, but then a friend warned me about questionable incest, and I was hesitant to even start. When I finally did, I was greeted by the most insufferable FMC I’ve come across in a while. I felt like NOTHING happened, then at 20%, sh*t started hitting the fan, and then... NOTHING AGAIN except Aemyra’s whiny, bitchy attitude. So disappointing.

I found A Fate Forged In Fire to be a well crafted fantasy world brimming with unlikable characters. Sadly, the latter overshadowed the former.

It's so hard to get into a story when you dont feel akin to the MC and Aemyra was a hard pill for me to swallow from the start. Her arrogance and overall naive nature just grated on me from start to finish. I didn't feel connection to anyone within these pages and that is a shame because I did find the world and overall trajectory of the plot to be intriguing.

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVED THIS!

This was such a fun unique plot! The world-building was a bit hard to understand, as I feel we were just given terms but never told what they meant. However, as you go along and use context clues, you just make some conclusions as to what each term is. The twists were so unexpected, and the ending had me jaw dropped. I had a couple expectations of what I thought would happen, but I never really knew.

I didn't reread the synopsis before diving into this, and I highly recommend going into it semi-blind. NOW THIS... THIS IS A TRUE ENEMIES TO LOVERS. I absolutely loved seeing the interactions between our main characters and seeing how their relationship continuously changed. They were times where our fmc Aemyra could be so incredibly frustrating but when you put yourself in her shoes, you understand a bit where she's coming from.

I can not wait to be able to continue on with this series, even though the first hasn't even been published yet... ooops. Also, there are some heavier topics mentioned in this book, so please please look up content warnings!!

Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for the eARC of this story. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I am a sucker for anything with dragons and so when I got this arc I was psyched! AFFIF is a fresh new romantansy with roots in Irisih mythology and celtic culture, and as someone of Irish descent I loved to see it.

Did a AFFIF feature anything brand new to the romantasy genre? No.
Was it full of these usual tropes and formula we all know? Yes.
Was it a little cheesy and cliched at times? Yes.

But did I enjoy it? Also yes.

Most of the time lately, when a book is advertised as "enemies to lovers" it is usually more along the lines of "annoyances to lovers." But AFFIF had multiple moments of our FMC Aemyra and our MMC Fiorean trying to kill each other, and we see sword fighting turn into knifeplay so it is allowed to be classified as actually ETL in my opinion. The romance did feel cliched and rushed to me, but I did enjoy their banter and that the whole book wasn't just spice.

I loved the way it used Celtic myths for the worldbuilding and the way the author took inspiration from the rise of Christianity over paganism to drive the plot. And of course, I loved the dragons.

While it is far from perfect, it was fun and I will definitely be picking up book 2 when it comes out!

Plot: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Writing: 3/5

Thank you to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for an eARC!

TLDR: Wasn't for me, couldn't connect with the characters and wasn't invested in the plot as much as I would have wanted to be.

I really wanted to love A Fate Forged in Fire. The premise—blending mythology with a slow-burning romance—sounded like exactly my kind of read. Unfortunately, while the story had potential, the execution left a lot to be desired. As mentioned in some of the other reviews for this book, to me the romantasy genre feels oversaturated with a bunch of books with similar premises being published currently. I've also been on a high fantasy kick so this may be biased against romantasy, but I don't think this is the genre for me. This book reminded me a lot of Fourth Wing and the problems I had with that book as well. The FMC is just insufferable and has little personality to make me want to root for her. There was little that was original and I felt that the twists were predictable and tired.

The pacing dragged for large portions of the book, with repetitive inner monologues and scenes that didn’t seem to move the plot forward. The protagonist’s decisions often felt inconsistent or unmotivated, making it hard to stay invested in her journey. There were moments of emotional depth, but they were too few and far between to balance the rest of the narrative.

The worldbuilding had flashes of originality, but it was underdeveloped, and I often found myself wanting more clarity or texture. I appreciate the themes Hazel McBride tried to explore, especially around identity and belonging, but the writing didn’t quite carry the weight of those ideas.

Overall, A Fate Forged in Fire had the bones of a strong fantasy tale, but I struggled to stay engaged. With tighter editing and deeper character development, this could’ve been a much stronger read.

Hazel created a beautiful world and the tension! The Dragons scenes were amazing and wish there was more! Love the Bond!


My only criticism was with the actual characters. The FMC was a bit over the top for me and the MMC was lacking….like we needed more of him.

I think I’ll continue the series when the next book releases.

This book, yall are not ready 😩 This is a book for TRUE enemies to lovers, lots of court politics, warring kingdoms and an anti-feminist religious cult that’s giving The Handmaids Tale vibes. OH AND DRAGONS 🙌🏼 This book reads like high fantasy with the romance being more of a subplot. It’s so much more than a romantasy novel.

The world building was phenomenal, the use of Scottish lore was super well done. I loved seeing all of the nods of Scottish culture woven throughout. I mean, men in tartan and dragons? Please ✋ We need nothing less.

Aemyra has been a secret royal in hiding for a decade, waiting for her chance to take back the throne and bring their kingdom back to the matriarchy it once was. She is headstrong and brash at times, acting before thinking, but she really cares about her people first and foremost.

Fiorean, the MMC, and a dragon rider, would do anything to protect his family and keep them on the throne. When these two collide, it is fire 🔥 (literally, because they have fire magic 😮‍💨). The banter and tension between them was so well done, I was devouring any moments they had together.

This book is action PACKED! The stakes are high and Aemyra really experiences some heartbreaking, traumatizing moments. I could not put this book down - I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. And the ending?! Omg I’m just at a loss for words! Hazel really threw in that insane twist and cliffhanger to keep her readers needing more! I just know book 2 is going to be another action filled masterpiece.

I was really excited about this book. Based on the synopses, it just sounded really epic. It had magic, dragons, political intrigue, and enemies to lovers. However, even though there were elements of the story I enjoyed, there were also aspects of the story that were really confusing and a struggle to get through.

World Building

The world building was really interesting. I like how each different territory/clan is ruled by a specific elemental magic and its respective magical creatures. I did find Tir Teine history fascinating, especially how the survival of dragons depends on the strength of the ancient queens. I just wished it was written in a way that wasn’t confusing. I felt more information could have provided, especially about the magic system, the connection between the dragon and the royal female heir, and the bonding with the magical creatures. You would think the bond would be a mutual partnership and sharing of magic and souls. At least that is how it was described in the beginning, but you find out later, that is not always the case, which then brings up the question, what does it mean to bond? The author also uses a lot of Scottish Gaelic language throughout the story without really explaining the meaning of the word. There is a pronunciation guide, but I feel this book would really benefit from a glossary.

Plot

Honestly, I am confused with some of the motivations and reasons behind certain plot lines. Again, it relates back to not enough information was provided in this story. I don’t fully understand why the Chosen (people without magic) from the True Religion hates the Bonded (people with magic) so intensely. It is never really explained. We would meet side characters like Sir Nairn, who are completely devoted to the True Religion, but we don’t know where this devotion stem from, because their stories were never explored. In terms of the fight for the throne, I am confused why they don’t want a queen on the throne. I mean I understand the current ruler doesn’t want to give up their power. However, knowing that the dragons are slowly being extinct, and their survival is connected to having a female heir as queen, why are we trying so hard to kill the only female heir?

Characters

I have mixed feelings about Aemyra. I love her loyalty and how strong and talented she is as a warrior. However, it is so hard for me to see her as a ruler. She is reckless and emotionally driven. She cannot strategize for the life of her. She is basically a pawn in this chess game between her father and Fiorean. Perhaps that is what the author was going for, to have her epically fail, so that she can grow in the next book. However, it was so frustrating to read. Surprisingly, I liked Fiorean character. He is not what he seems, and every decision he makes there is always a hidden purpose.

Romance

The enemy part of enemies- to-lovers was so well done. There was no mercy as they tried to kill each other before being forced into a marriage of convenience. It was a lot of fun to read, because you can feel the undeniable attraction as they went for each other’s throats. Sadly though, wasn’t a big fan of the lover portion. Felt the transition was a little too sudden. However, the ending did pique my interest. I am slightly curious to know where this relationship is heading.

Overall, I'm on the fence about this story. On one hand, this story was a struggle to read. I really wanted to be engaged in the plot, but having to pause and find contextual meaning to a word or trying to make sense of a certain plot line, really took me out of the story. On the other hand, I am curious to see how the author explains the magic, the impact of the aftermath on Aemyra’s relationships, and the direction she will take with the romance. I think my curiosity is slowly winning out, so we shall see.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This one was hard to get into but the dragons and fantasy elements were cool. It was a bit cliche in some areas but overall a weird read

3.5 stars

A Fate Forged in Fire is a fun start to a new romantasy series with dragons, elemental magic, enemies to lovers romance, and political intrigue. Aemyra is our rightful queen in hiding FMC and Fiorean is a prince of the royal family she’s trying to overthrow who she ends up forced into marriage with.

I obviously enjoyed the dragons and there are similarities to Fourth Wing in the way they Bond with their riders and gain access to more magic. The plotting and battling were exciting and there are some emotional and heartbreaking moments. While I didn’t always feel super connected to the main characters, I enjoyed the tension between them and the ending made things a lot more interesting. I likely will read the next one!

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book is true enemies to lovers. They legit are trying to kill each other for at least half of the book and it is just amazing. I love this world and the power struggle that is happening in it. The rightful Queen needs to overthrow the wrongful rulers and a whole entire new religion. It was just insane and I couldn't put it down. I love the romance in this book and the ending was absolutely insane. I need more right now.

I really really really wanted to enjoy this one. I mean, I adore dragons, Celtic mythology and more wrapped up in a romantasy novel?! Sign me up.

BUT...it was so hard to connect with any of the characters. The FMC really had a bratty attitude...I honestly felt myself rooting AGAINST her. She was quite entitled and did not have the makings of a protagonist worth rooting for. The writing was also very repetitive/cyclical. Like you would read the same sentence but in different variations multiple times within a chapter. I mean, we get it, you didn't want to get off of the dragon the first time you bonded to her...but you don't have to tell me nearly four times that is how you are feeling.

I will not be posting my review on other retail sites or socials out of respect to the people who were a part of this book, but hopefully A Fate Forged In Fire finds its audience and the love it more than I did! I wish it the best of luck.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for and ARC of this book.

I have really been craving a fantasy romance book, and this definitely scratched the itch. I've never read a Celtic-inspired fantasy, and I loved the history and intricacies. Aemrya and Adarian are twins who have both been blessed with fire magic, but they live in a kingdom that is increasingly hostile to magic users. Of course, as in any good fantasy romance, our protagonist Aemrya has a hidden heritage - she's the hidden heir to the throne. When the king dies, Aemyra seizes her chance, but things get messy immediately.

This isn't the world's most original fantasy romance, but it is a really fun, fast-paced book. Aemyra is a classic heroine, but I appreciated that unlike other fantasy romance books I've read, she's not completely infallible and all-knowing. The way the magic works is interesting, and the dragons make sense within the world. The side characters could definitely be more fleshed out, but the characters we care about are consistent and dynamic. The spice is quite good and doesn't feel forced or shallow, and the enemies-to-lovers really works. Overall, a fun read and I'm excited for the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!