I had such a great time reading A Fate Forged In Fire! Now, I am a sucker for enemies to lovers and let me tell you, the romance DELIEVERED. Most of the book did keep my interest, however there were a few plot lacking points. But that is okay as I have high hopes that my questions will be answered in the next book!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion!

I found this book kinda hard to get through. The world building is INTENSE. I found myself confused at times and having to reread to figure out and remember everything that was happening.

Also, did no one else kinda get that the FMC and MMC and technically related? I get that it's kind of a distant cousin kinda thing... but also... it's strange and I couldn't quite move past it.

All in all, it was an ok read. Parts intrigued me. But the world building is a lot and makes it a lot harder to digest.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the early copy.

I had an extremely frustrating reading experience with this book to say the least which I was honestly surprised by because in theory it had all the elements of a book I would normally really enjoy. Enemies to lovers? Hell yes. Dragons? A Say no more. Political intrigue? Sign me up ASAP.

However, I fear what this book lacked from the beginning was easing me into the story. There were clearly a lot of elements at play and a lot of terminology being used and I didn’t understand any of it because there was no context provided especially since a lot of it was related to the world building. I genuinely think this book would benefit from a glossary.

I also felt like there was nothing done to make me feel connected to the fmc and her goals since we’re essentially thrown right into the story and the plot builds up very quickly.

I did have high expectations but unfortunately this book was not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC!!

I would rate this 3.75 ⭐️

I was going back and forth during the book about whether I liked it or not. There were some parts I liked and some I wasn’t a fan of.

I wish we would’ve gotten a prologue to give us a little bit of a back story, to connect with our FMC a little more. Still deciding if I liked her or not, she made a lot of questionable decisions.

I liked the enemies to lovers trope in this, but I feel like we could’ve gotten to know our MMC a little better. I loved the dragon aspect and very interested to read more about them/their bond in the next book!

Overall, I did enjoy it and the plot twists. I will be reading the second book!

I had high hopes for this book but, overall, it fell pretty flat for me. I predicted a lot of the twists and had trouble rooting for the main character.

What I liked was that Aemrya does not stop trying to get her throne and do what she thinks is best for her people when facing a changing political dynamic where women are becoming oppressed in the name of a god/savior. However, most of the time I found her to be a frustrating main character who tells herself that she’s smart, cunning and worthy of a crown (which is the only part I agree with because she REALLY wants to make the world better for everyone) but makes the worst, most impulsive choices. She is not open to understanding what others are going through, she acts first and thinks later and even then, she doesn’t really change her way of thinking. She seems younger than a 26 year old.

The romance was enemies (but you’re hot) to lovers.

I wish we had gotten more about the dragon/beathach bond and the dragon was a more fleshed out character where we heard their voice rather than just glimpses of emotions, thoughts, etc. Maybe this could have happened if she wasn’t separated from her dragon for a third of the book.

This book is for those readers who like a fast moving plot, political intrigue, and a character who is trying to fight back against an encroaching patriarchal society.
Trigger warnings: sexual assault, religious persecution, misogyny, spousal and child abuse (past), animal death (off page)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy of this book. This does not affect my review.

I only got to about 33% and ended up DNFing. Personally, I found the world building to be very confusing, I felt we were overloaded with info very fast and my brain struggled to understand what was even happening. It felt like a very cliche storyline. I also found the FMC to be very irritating to read about. I just don’t think this book was for me personally.

I feel this book ranges between a 3.5-3.75 star rating.

This was full of cliches but was somewhat enjoyable despite this. Was it my favorite book of the month? No. Was it my worst? Also, no. I wasn't overly invested, and for a book 416 pages long, I'd like to be. I finished it because the writing was good, and I really hate to not finish ARCs. I did not like our female main character. I understand she is written to be a badass, but I found myself not really believing it and wondering... what has she actually done?

God this one took me a while and not for the best reason. I didn’t like the FMC. She is meant to be that girl that is full of rage but she is just a bi*** sorry but I don’t understand how this is a person that I’m suppose to feel sorry for and want to continue to follow her. She is so mean to people and act like she is better than other but end up doing nothing.
And the chemistry between her and her husband zero. Didn’t feel anything at all felt like very anticlimactic.

A Fate Forged in Fire by Hazel McBride was phenomenal! This was a captivating enemies to lovers romance with an action filled plot that will draw you in from the first few chapters until the end! I was so addicted to this book I didn’t want to get off the couch! I had to know what was going to happen next! I gave this book a 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not only did this book have dragons in it which is my favorite but I love the morally gray aspect on the MMC as I love a little broody character. The FMC, Aemyra was interesting, she was a fire wielder but was also vulnerable and gritty. She was hidden away since birth and now she knows the truth about everything she is fighting to take back what is hers which is queen of Tir Teine.

I thought Hazel did well with the world building. It gave me vibes of Game of Thrones and a little bit of Fourth Wing and think this would be perfect for readers who enjoyed those books!

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Hazel for approving me this e-book copy! This title will be releasing on May 27th, so be sure to add this one to your Tbr ASAP!

Tropes:
Slow burn
Dragon bonding
Enemies to lovers
Action filled political plot
Morally grey MMC
Fire Wielder FMC

A Fate Forged in Fire by Hazel McBride is a captivating enemies-to-lovers romance that immediately drew me in and kept me eagerly turning the pages.

Thank you to Net-Galley and publishers for an e-ARC of this story!

Overall I found this to be very middle-of-the-road, relatively similar to so many other romantasy books out at the moment. My two biggest faults with this were our FMC and the pacing/writing choices.

We are meant to believe the FMC is 26 (and I assume the MMC is around there too but it doesn't explicitly say for him) but she consistently acts fourteen. She is overly rude, obnoxious, and immature solely to create a basis for considering this "enemies to lovers". For example, in one of the very beginning scenes, she is chatting with her brother in a tavern after work and she does not agree with something her brother says, so she, mid-sentence, tries to stab her fork into the table -through her brother's hand- to get him to stop talking? Like you twin brother you love oh so much, has a different opinion to you, so you casually try to impale his hand into the table? And her brother just rolls his eyes and changes the subject, but this bitch-awful attitude stays with the FMC from the first to last page, most of the time fully unjustified.

This is not "enemies to lovers", it is "he hates her because she's an asshole, and somehow grows to 'love' her asshole-ness". The MMC isn't anything special either, but at least his actions made sense most of the time, while FMC is petulant and annoying no matter the circumstances. Their chemistry was never believable to me; they never actually get to know each other, they loathe each other one page and are making out the next. [The end twist also felt totally out of nowhere and based on miscommunication, which undermines the character growth they supposedly went through together in the rest of the book.]

My other concern is the general structure of the story. FMC spends most of the story trapped in the castle waiting for her family to figure out the next steps, so we see a lot of her wandering around and arguing with everyone around her, ultimately not accomplishing much. I think potentially adding her brother's POV, who is still outside handling the war strategies and grieving on his own, would not only help us care about her family more, but get a larger perspective of what led up to the final battle. I'm also still confused about some of the general facts of the story: how do all the clans generally interact with each other? Why was her father excommunicated in the first place? How did the religious tyrants manage to convince so many people that actually, women shouldn't be in charge and the magic you're born with is disgusting? We spent a lot of page time watching FMC pick petty fights with those around her and not enough worldbuilding, in a world that could've been really interesting. You suggest there are chimeras and dire-wolves and whatnot, but we never see them! You give us elemental magic, but everyone we interact with has fire power, so we never see the span of the other types of magic! I imagine this will become a series so maybe we will learn mor about the other creatures and magics and clans in following books, but I don't think I will be picking up the sequel(s).

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the eARC!

I was curious about the premise, especially the dragons, but the execution fell flat. The beginning was too slow for my taste. As a frequent fantasy reader I’m used to having a learning curve with each new world however, it felt like there was too much info dumping and the Scottish Gaelic was an extra challenge on top. The plot picked up about halfway through but it was a lot of pushing to get myself to that point.

DNF at 31% no star rating because I DNFed but on NetGalley I will give it a two star as I feel like that’s what I would have rated it if I read it all. I did get this as an ARC from the publisher and the author for my honest review so here we go.

I couldn’t stand the main character. She was one of those “I’m a woman and I should be on the throne but everyone is against me but I’m not actually going to do anything and just feel sorry for myself.” I really couldn’t stand her. She was cocky one minute and then woo is me the next.

The pacing for this book also felt off. Everything was happening too fast yet too slow. I kinda wanted to know what happened to our characters but at the same time the story wasn’t compelling enough to actually push through.

A Fate Forged in Fire is a daring, risk-taking adventure. It melds *true* enemies-to-lovers romance alongside an action-filled political plot that will have you at the edge of your seat.

Aemyra, a blacksmith revealed to be a queen in hiding, must navigate politics, protect her heart, and face dragons, in order to take back her stolen kingdom. Her journey will be an uphill battle, but there is none better suited for the obstacles that will stand in her way.

I liken this work to a cup of coffee, we each have our own preference in type and serve. My cup may not be to your taste, not in the way yours is to you. This is how I took to this book. It’s not quite my cup of coffee, but I am absolutely convinced it will be for many. Maybe for the very person who is hopefully reading this! While I wish this worked better for me as a whole, I did find myself enjoying it in generous sips. Especially that ending! Whew! It ends on such a high note that has me firmly seated for its sequel. I became invested by the final act, and now I yearn to know how it will all end! I have previously read a duology where the first book did not quite work for me, and then I read the final book and it changed my entire perspective of the two works together. I now consider that duology a huge favorite. I will not be surprised whatsoever if this happens here in the future! So do not let my star rating dissuade you in any way from trying this one. For it’s certainly an adventure you should take!

One of my difficulties in reading was learning to embrace its protagonist Aemyra. I envy those who understand her immediately. I genuinely wish I could have felt less frustration at her unyielding stubbornness and blinding pride, as well as her consistent proclamations of being queen, so I could better admire her wit, courage, and strength. Because there is no doubting her bravery. She is not one to turn away any challenge, making her a formidable opponent even when her adversaries have her in their grasp. She is also a very formidable opponent to her newly betrothed husband, and enemy, Fiorean.

I so deeply appreciate a romance that begin with a true enemies-to-lovers arc! This isn’t rivals-to-lovers, Ameyra and Fireon are genuine enemies. They are constantly undercutting the other, throwing physical and verbal jabs, and fighting the clear attraction they mutually share. It has all the set up for a romance to feel addicted to, but this is where I found another bump in the road as I became tired by their cyclical interactions. Their back-and-forth became repetitive, and even when that special something gave way between them, it felt like a two steps forward, one step back situation. A cycle beginning anew. I found myself far more interested in getting to know more Ameyra’s former lover, Sorcha.

That said, I do keep in mind this is a duology, the story is not complete and given what may happen next, I won’t be surprised if I end up shifting perspective on the love story facet. Especially considering what goes down in that jaw-dropping ending! The book ends with such high tension that had me feeling this urgency for more and more!

A Fate Forged in Fire takes risks, it may not land all, but I remain impressed with its courage in storytelling. This is a book whose potential became more and more tapped into as the story went along, and for that, I know I’ll be sticking around for that sequel!

Thank you kindly to NetGalley and Ballantine for this advanced complimentary copy, I leave this honest review voluntarily.

From A Fate Forged in Fire's blurb, I thought I would LOVE this. Unfortunately, this was hard for me to get into, I disliked the FMC, and all around found it a snoozefest.

Well I just finished this book at almost midnight because I could NOT put it DOWN! Now I’m sitting here dying to know what’s next, and knowing I can’t find out 😭 Fair warning, this has a cliffhanger hanger that will have you wanting to rage a little.

This book is such a great fantasy, filled with high stakes, true enemies-to-lovers, and dragons. I could not stop thinking about the story even when I had to do other things throughout the day. Hazel McBride has crafted an amazing first book in an epic series!

Honestly, this was basically just wannabe Game of Thrones with Fourth Wing level writing. It had a lot of textbook romantasy tropes--dragons, royalty drama, morally gray love interest, etc. I never really connected with the main character, personally, and so I had a really hard time getting invested in this story. I did enjoy the sexy parts, though, and for that it gets three stars.

I genuinely enjoyed this book! At first, I had a difficult time reading it due to the language used, but once you get used to it, it’s an easy read. I am a sucker for an enemies to lovers plot and the tension between Aemyra and Fiorean truly delivered. A queen destined to rule a kingdom, a cult of men determined to keep her from her throne..what more could you ask for? Oh, and dragons! This book had it all and I can’t wait to see what Hazel McBride does with this series!

Thank you netgalley for the ARC!

So this book ends on a cliffhanger. Just putting that out there! Anyway, I did like the book. The world building was great and the enemies to lovers was doing its piece! I liked the banter and dragons duh. Aemyra needs to grow on you. The author is meant to portray her as bad ass and someone who could be seen as a queen that is worthy of her crown and doesn’t take sh*t. HOWEVER, that’s not what I got. I felt she was incredibly arrogant and childish. I think the cliff hanger was wild and solidified the NEED to read book 2. Besides the biggest betrayal shocker, I think the spice was cute. I thought this was a great palate cleanser in between rereads. I still recommend and will be continuing this series!


✨Tropes✨
⭐️ Betrayals
🌙 Banter
💫 Slow Burn
⭐️ Dragons
🌙 Elemental Magic
💫 Enemies to Lovers

I had to dnf sadly. The lack of glossary in the beginning was really hard to get over. And I felt like I was flying blind for a bit. I did find the one in the back eventually, but I was bummed to see it only included pronunciations and didn’t include terms for what each thing was in the world building section. I was so lost in the beginning, I truly had no idea what was going on. I didn’t know what half of the words meant and that made it really hard to follow the story. I had such high hopes for this one but I ultimately had to give up because it was only giving me a migraine. I think the addition of important world building information in easy to understand terms would make this much more enjoyable. If an updated glossary was added, I’d love to give this book another try. Thank you!