I was excited to try this one because it had a lot of elements I like in a romantasy: enemies to lovers, hidden identity, political intrigue, strong FMC, but it ultimately was not to my liking. The romance left an icky taste in my mouth - the chemistry between the two was not great and I’m just not fully on board with MMC being horrible to the FMC. The FMC was also just not fit to be the ruler she’s trying to be. It’s a House of the Dragon wannabe but not in a good way and took too many elements directly from the source material. It makes me question more and more the trad publishing of fan fiction type works.

I enjoyed this book a lot. The characters and the overall plot were compelling. The magic system was interesting and I look forward to being able to explore it more in future books. But the pacing in this book felt a bit off to me, both in general and for the romance. I think mostly because it meant that both the hero, the heroine, and some of their family members acted in ways that didn't feel in-line with what we knew about them so far. And it didn't feel like it was a way to world-build, instead it felt like those characters 'had' to do those things because of the timing of the story, rather than that being their actual character. These blips weren't jarring enough for me to stop reading or not look forward to the next book, but it did impact my overall enjoyment.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️



My first impressions of A Fate Forged in Fire is the War of the Roses conflict in Great Britain’s history meets House of the Dragon politics.

A Fate Forged in Fire is the first book of a Celtic-inspired romantasy series. There is a lot of Scottish culture references (think red hair, tartan/clan tartan, etc) that I really appreciated, as well as a few of the characters in the audio have a Scottish accent so it helped to set the mood as I tandem read/listened.

Amerya’s identity as the secret, predestined heir to the throne is revealed almost immediately in the story. We learn that her father secreted away her and her twin brother to train and ready themselves to fight and launch a rebellion against the current ruling branch of their familial clan - who is lead by an insane King and a religious fanatic Queen consort, who after the King’s timely demise, allows a patriarchal religious cult called the True Religion (an anti-magic faction) to take over her kingdom, Tìr Teine.

Much like House of the Dragon, only the royal family may soul bond a dragon (though other magic wielders may bond other creatures to enhance their magic). There are only 4 living dragons left to bond, believed to all be male, 3 bonded to male members of the clan and 1 unbonded murderous dragon living in the wilds.

The transition from Enemies to Lovers between the FMC & MMC was a little rough for me, but the cliffhanger had me distraught because I didn’t want the book to end! I can’t wait to read book 2, and the wait is going to be brutal since we don’t have a date or even a title yet!


Notable Tropes ———

🐉 Stabby FMC
⚔️ Enemies to Lovers (ish)
🐉 He Falls First
⚔️ Hidden Identity
🐉 Prophecy/Destined to Rule
⚔️ Cliffhanger Ending
🐉 Court Politics/Political Intrigue
⚔️ Morally Gray MMC
🐉 Rebellion/Line of Succession Conflict

💥There are a few triggers present, so please check the trigger warnings before jumping in and prioritize your mental health. The most notable for me was assault against the FMC as well as an attempted forcible reproductive sterilization. 💥



Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Delacorte Press for the eARC and to Hazel McBride for the great read!

I really tried to like this. I listened to the audiobook after starting it on my Kindle and putting it down for about a month. At first, I was really intrigued and interested in the plot, but ultimately found it to drag on a lot. I did not like any of the main characters, and honestly found them to be a little insufferable. They were so surface-level to me, and the chemistry between the two of them was nonexistent. It could be a me problem, but I was CONSTANTLY confused throughout the entirety of the book, causing me to be frustrated and discouraged from pushing through.

Anyways, I'm keeping this short and not so sweet because it took me so long to get through this book and I'm so glad it's over!

A Promising Story Held Back by Pacing and Language

A Fate Forged in Fire has an intriguing premise and some compelling character dynamics, but I found myself struggling to stay engaged throughout much of the book. The pacing was uneven and slow in areas where I expected action or development, and then rushed through parts that felt like they deserved more attention.

There were moments of strong tension and emotional depth, especially between the main characters, which kept me reading. However, certain phrases and word choices pulled me out of the story; the writing sometimes felt overly dramatic or repetitive, which made it harder to stay immersed.

That said, the world-building had potential, and the themes of destiny and resilience were handled well in parts. I can see fans of slow-burn fantasy enjoying it more than I did. Overall, a decent read, but it didn’t fully live up to its potential for me.

A Fate Forged in Fire delivers a bold mix of Celtic-inspired fantasy, political rebellion, and slow-burn romance, with strong themes of matriarchy, power, and identity. Hazel McBride crafts a richly detailed world with elemental magic and dragon lore, while exploring the tension between tradition and change. Though the premise is compelling and the enemies-to-lovers dynamic simmers with potential, the pacing is uneven and the romance underdeveloped. Aemyra is a fierce but often frustrating heroine, and the info-heavy opening slows momentum. Still, this is an ambitious and atmospheric debut that will appeal to fans of character-driven romantasy with feminist roots.

thanks to the publisher and netgalley for ARC access!

it took my about 45% of the way in to really get hooked and the first few chapters didnt really draw me in. I think it felt very dropped in the middle of the story and I had to pick up worldbuilding along the way. it went a little too far into show dont tell there were some parts where I was like okay just tell me what is happening here and what that is. by the time there were dragons tho I was like oh awesome. I do hate a cliffhanger which this book does end on and the romance has definitely not reached their happily ever after. I did like the staunchly feminist true queen lense of it all and the treatment of women being considered with the highest of respect instead of this nasty world we live in now. overall did enjoy and will probably pick up the sequel because I want to know how this shakes out!! I didnt really care about the boy character tbh I mostly just want our girl to be queen. like dude u stood by war crimes one too many times and u have literal evil creepy advisors whispering in ur moms ear please tighten up.

Dnf at 20%. Nothing unique. I couldn't see how the men hating fmc would end up with a male love intereste.

I really enjoyed the author's writing style for the most part and found the concept intriguing for sure with a fallen matriarch society and the last royal descendant hoping to take back their glory by claiming the last known dragon once the king dies. But execution was lacking for me. The heroine was stereotypically strong and arrogant without enough nuance to her character to make me really care about her, amd the breakneck pace of most of the book had the same effect on me.
I needed a stronger reason to be invested than surface level tropes.

DNF - 30%

I tried - actually, I tried more than I usually do with books that I feel are probably going to be a DNF. Some moments made me think I was going to actually get into the story, but I was let down. I really could not connect with Aemyra. She's supposed to be taking over the country as its queen, but she doesn't ever think things through. She acts too much on impulse and is so arrogant. I didn't get far enough into it to get a proper grasp on the MMC, Fiorean, so I can't comment on the romance. I just had to give up and move on.

This had an excellent premise and a very promising start, but I found the rest of the book to be all over the place. Our characters acted almost as caricatures at various moments and the dragons felt underdeveloped. Overall, it just felt a lot like a rip-off of House of the Dragon but not as good and definitely not far enough removed from the inspiration.

I got through 6% of this book before I had to look at the reviews to see if the main character grows. She doesn’t, and I don’t want to spend 400 pages with a sassy idiot who thought it was a good idea to make fun of the crowned prince’s purchase that her brother had made after she informed us that she was keeping a low profile.

I dnf'd about 10-15% in. I really wanted to like this but it just dragged on and felt like it was never getting to the point. I may try to give it a go again in the future but this was just not for me.

I am really disappointed that I didn’t like this book. The only reason I finished it was because it is hard for me to DNF books. I just couldn’t connect with the characters or the story and at one point thought it was my reading slump. I eventually realized it wasn’t my reading slump just this book. The only thing I remember about this book is the FMC pissed me off with her attitude, she was so insufferable.

An unexpected pleasure to read! I am glad I had the chance to read this title- the beginning was a bit slow to get into but I did enjoy the story overall. I can't wait to see how Hazel's writing develops as the series continues.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It took an insanely long time for me to get into this book. Usually that's the norm for these books but there was just something about this book that made the beginning drag even more so than usual.

Maybe I've just read a few too many of these types of books or I just can predict things but I already knew some of things that would be coming. For example without giving a lot away I will say the dragon and the ending. I would say that I'm interested enough that I would read the second book in this series since it's a duology. I just hope it says at 2 books.

I also wish the pronunciation guide was at the beginning so I didn't spend the entire time changing the way I said names.

3.5 stars rounded down

Okay. At first I thought this would be very meh, very standard romantasy. I was VERY pleased once I got into the book to find we have ACTUAL enemies-to-lovers-to oops we're enemies again. I loved that the main character was not horrendously distracted by the man's handsomeness and she never really forgot who he was in all of this. This is a complicated fantasy with lots of lore that at times I did feel a little weighed down in trying to figure out what was going on but overall the reading experience, especially once we get to the second half of the book really took off. So if you're not feeling the beginning, I think it might still benefit to keep going because it does pick up quite a bit and has a lot of good parallels to the real world right now as well as in the past. I really was pleasantly surprised by this one.

Three stars
The magic system and religions are interesting but the rest is okay. The fmc behavior contradicts herself from being a cocky blacksmith who is an amazing sword fight to constantly relying on her magic later in the book it was disappointing. Also he is said to be so powerful before bonding that it is disappointing that the priest are able to subdue her so easily. The romance is interesting and I'm very confused about how we are just ignoring the potential first cousin romance.
I do think I've been reading too much in this genre and books using the same Tropes but it was very predictable for me and thus underwhelming.

The first in a duology, A Fate takes us on a journey through a region filled with dragon riders and who doesn’t love dragons. Our FMC finds herself fighting to take over the throne after the king dies and she can’t take her rightful place due to politics. I tried to enjoy this more. Sometimes romantasy can be a little repetitive but at least the story kept me interested.

This book really surprised me—in the best way. A Fate Forged in Fire is packed with emotion, magic, and strong character development. The main character’s journey feels real and raw, and I loved watching her grow through everything thrown at her (and wow, there’s a lot).

The world-building was vivid without being overwhelming, and the relationships—especially the complicated ones—were written so well. It’s the kind of fantasy that focuses more on the personal stakes than just battles or politics, which I appreciated.

There were a couple of slow parts in the middle and a few side characters I wished we got to know better, but overall? Super worth the read. If you’re into fantasy with heart and a good emotional punch, give this one a try