Aemyra is hiding with her twin and adopted family until the king passes. Then her father comes and does his best to put her in place as the new queen. Their plan fails.
Aemyra is then lured into a trap from the man that killed her family but she’s unable to kill him.
She is forced to marry her enemy.
This book was alright. Just very predictable.
It even has that line, not a threat, it’s a promise.

This book was fun! It had a slow start but it did start to pick up and get more exciting. The FMC was incredibly annoying at first and I almost DNFed but she got better. I always love a good enemies to lovers and a true slow burn and this book did not disappoint in those ways plus the dragons were great.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was culturally shocked i always forget The Isles have their own language. What an amazing story. The dragons the legends the twins all perfectly created to be swoonworthy. The romance was weird it felt a tad Stockholm at times but it didn't I don't know what to 🤔. I will add to my list of read it now I need a copy.

Okay first off , thank you to the publishers for this e-copy !


This is my favorite read of the year . AND ITS NOT EVEN OUT TILL NEXT !!!!!!!!!!

This is what I want from a fantasy book with dragons .
I want a connection, I want FIRE , I want a BOND , I WANT DRAGON RIDERS !!!! And that’s what I GOT !!
This book is House Of The Dragon , with Outlander in the most brilliant way .
My gosh , the world building , and magic system was tremendous. I was on my toes the whole time I was reading this , because it’s so high stake , I WAS LIKE WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT !?

You have a lost queen who was forced into hiding with her twin , who is ready to claim her throne , but as always there is obstacles … and dragons .

The romance was giving , and it was a slow burn that had me GASPING. TRUE ENEMIES TO LOVERS !!!

Our FMC is strong , and in a world full of men she is the QUEEN WHO IS RIGHT TO RULE !! This is very female driven and about the matriarchy. She’s fighting against the odds and proving that WOMEN CAN DO ANYTHING!!!! There was a scene that had me absolutely sobbing because of what happens to her BY MEN ! and it absolutely broke me . Women are so strong !

I also appreciated the fact that this is heavenly Scottish and focuses on the history of it !

This was so good … and the ending ….. I need book 2 RN ! 😫

If Game of Thrones and Outlander had a baby, it would be this drool worthy book!
A Scottish inspired Fantasy, full of heat, banter, politics and battles!

In a land built on matriarchy, there hasn't been a queen for over 100 years. Crumbling under mad kings allowing a new religion to poison the minds of the people of Tir Teine against the use of magic, a female heir hides in secret for years waiting to ascend the throne. Hiding in plain sight, Aemyra, the rightful heir, blessed by fire from the goddess herself, finally has her chance to seize the throne when the king dies, but when plans go amiss, becoming queen may be more difficult than she anticipated.

This took me longer than normal to get into and finish, partially just life but also a bit of confusion during some of the initial world building and pacing, but once I was in... I WAS HOOKED! Like *storming off into another room to read cause my boyfriend was breathing too loudly* hooked!!

Thoughts and Potential Spoilers:

I loved this book. If you're a Throne of Glass fan and missing a bit of our beloved "Fire Breathing Bitch Queen" Aemyra definitely gives off some Aelin energy! Aemyra is fierce and rage fueled! There are times she comes off as arrogant (especially when seeking vengeance), and runs in to traps without thinking, and though it was a *throw the book screaming WHAT ARE YOU DOOOOINNNGGG* moment, it lead us to some of our major conflicts. There are also some moments that seemed like a conflict of character. In a world that historically a matriarchy is honored, and women are actually celebrated compared to most fantasy books, sometimes Aemyra drags on the women of court. Reading it, I saw it as her pitying the women who are essentially brain washed by the True Religion to be meek, but it could come off a bit wonky like she's looking down on them. Not the total "women supporting women" vibe that I feel like she should have? But I think that depends on how you read it, cause again I read it as empathy/pitying the women. She does mention multiple times wanting to liberate them and the court and does encourage them to stand up for themselves a few times too.

Don't even get me started on Fiorean. From the moment our MMC stepped into a scene I was smitten and rooting for an enemies to lovers plotline, but to get a forced marriage?!?! Chefs Kiss! He goes from swinging a sword at her and stopping her from escaping to "take your hands off my wife." and giving her a dagger to kill her assailant and looking on with pride?! SWOON. I would've absolutely adored a bonus chapter from his POV, because we learn there is so much more to him than what we see through Aemyra's POV. He is fiercely loyal to his family, but doesn't agree with their politics/religion, but walks a very narrow line trying to do what he feels is right, and essentially plays for both sides a bit. I really enjoyed their dynamic and banter and especially seeing their marriage become one on paper to something more!

Lastly in regards to McBride's writing, I would never have known this was a DEBUT fantasy! I thought the writing was very intentional. The worldbuilding was just the right amount that you understood the gist and weren't too bored or confused for a zillion chapters. Gave enough hints that you could see some of the twists coming but I was also completely blindsided by some. Everything was very detailed and played out like a movie in my head! Congrats Hazel, now I'm suffering while waiting for my physical copy because this book did just in fact become a new personality! Bravo!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for providing me a digital arc! All opinions are my own.

I would say this is a story for new adult instead of marketing as romantasy. I didn’t love it, I got to about 50% and lost interest. The story doesn’t flow it’s very choppy and I don’t understand the end goal. The plot is interesting I just don’t see where this is suppose to be going and there’s a really weird sexual tension with a cousin, I am not a fan of that trope.

Thank you for the e-arc NetGalley.
Aemyra is the first woman born since in the royal line so she is technically the heir according to an old religion. Her family decides to take over and put her on the throne when the crazy king dies. It doesn’t really work out as well as they’d hope resulting in the deaths of almost everyone aemyra cares about.
The story is good but could use some more tension. The feminine rage is mostly just toxic masculinity in a woman character. Aemyra slams tables when she gets upset, says she wants to punch her twin brother in the face and likes to wipe her face after eating onto her sleeve. Aemyra also makes hasty decisions without thinking of the bigger picture.
Overall if you like a masculine character who doesn’t put up with anything you will probably like this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC.

The Fate Forged in Fire is the first book in a duology that follows Aemyra, the secret female heir to Tir Tiene, a once-matriarchal society where women ruled. However, after a century of male heirs, the society has shifted away from revering its goddesses. The rise of the True Religion has seized this opportunity, gradually stripping women of their power and suppressing them at every turn.

This Celtic-inspired high fantasy novel boasts extensive world-building that’s detailed without being overwhelming. While the abundance of unfamiliar terms made the beginning a bit slow, everything eventually clicked into place. The writing was solid, and the plot had potential, though some conflicts were resolved a little too quickly. The female main character (FMC) wasn’t my favorite—her arrogance could be grating at times. Additionally, her relationship with the male main character (MMC) felt a bit rushed; there was intense tension between them early on, but their shift from enemies to lovers happened too abruptly.

This book is a mix of romantic tension, secret royalty, and mythical creatures. It ends on a heart-wrenching cliffhanger and we will see how the author will wrap up the story.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This book was great! The world building was just the right amount. And I really loved the dragons in this book!

Oh man, I kept looking at the amount of book I had left to read and KNEW something was about to hit the fan and IT DID!

This book follows Aemyra who is the rightful queen of Tir Teine. She has hidden in the shadows (or really the forges) for a long while before she is finally allowed to come out of hiding and claim her throne. Of course, things go awry and she is captured. Prince Fiorean (second son of the mad king and the one who is sitting on Aemyra's rightful throne) is the fiercest fire wielder in the kingdom and eventually falls in love with Aemyra (as she does the same). There is yearning, steamy scenes, dragons, heartbreak, and betrayal - everything that makes a good fantasy!

I've seen some of the other reviews that have said they were annoyed with how the author doesn't explain the magic and, honestly, I don't really care. It's not needed and I kind of liked that a fantasy book didn't delve into every little bit of magic and exhaust me.

Tropes:
- enemies to lovers (and even more...)
- strong familial bonds (FMC has a twin brother and their relationship is incredible)
- dragons
- strong FMC and a story based on the matriarchy (which I LOVE!)
- big cliffhanger!

The only reason I'm giving this book 4 stars is because it was a little predictable (which might be good for some folks) but also it's link to Scottish Gaelic lore/history. I'm so beyond exhausted seeing authors use Scottish language to make up names and base their magic/lore in their world off of it. I think authors should bring just an ounce of creativity and you wouldn't have to use the Scottish language.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (4.5 stars)
If you’re a fan of House of the Dragon, buckle up—this fantasy romance packs all the drama, betrayal, and dragons you could hope for! Knowing the author mentioned its origins as House of the Dragon fanfic (with a nod to Aemond Targaryen) should’ve been my first clue about the cliffhanger ending, but wow, was I still caught off guard!
Our FMC is fiery, sassy, and unapologetically stabby, delivering biting one-liners like, “Calm down”… “I assure you that no woman has ever calmed down after hearing those words.” Her dynamic with the MMC—brooding, intense, and harboring secrets—makes their enemies-to-lovers arc both electric and emotionally charged. The slow-burn tension builds beautifully, with some spice sprinkled in for those who like their fantasy romance a little steamy.
Dragons, betrayal, and a shocking twist at the end kept me hooked until the final page, though the cliffhanger left me desperate for the next installment. While the twist was a game-changer, some moments felt slightly predictable, but the well-crafted characters and high-stakes world more than made up for it.
A must-read for fans of epic fantasy romance with a side of danger, drama, and dragons!

Love a good dragon based fantasy book. It’s hard for me to resonate with the bisexual FMC, as I am not bisexual myself. Enemies to lovers is by far my favorite trope, so I was hooked by that alone. Hate a cliffhanger that I won’t get the answer to immediately though… can’t wait for the next book!

Riveting story. It's a great addition to the world of dragon fantasy books. A strong fmc is trying to save her people from the tyranny of a patriarchal regime being driven but an oppressive religion. Magic is also a big focus. A lot of a spice and a heavy emphasis on the enemies to lovers trope. There is some graphic SA so check trigger warnings. Overall it was a good read with a cliffhanger.

I gave this book an honest shot because it really sounds like something I would enjoy but it fell really flat and I was very underwhelmed. Alot happens in the first 30% of the book but to the point of feeling very disjointed and theres not a whole lot of explanation regarding the magic system and dragon bonding etc. I'm left believing all the secondary characters have interesting qualities because the never get any real attention. I also can't feel the enemies to lovers, its nothing but whiplash every few conversations. Which brings me to my biggest peeve and it was just how immature and out of character the FMC was at times. She had quite a few tantrums and outbursts that just felt out of place but she was pretty accepting about a forced marriage?? While I didn't hate reading this book, I'm on the fence about continuing the series. I think with better world building and some serious personal growth with the FMC, it has potential.

I’m not sure really what to rate this book so I gave it 3 stars. There were some parts I liked, but there were also a lot of things I didn’t like.

For starters, we get next to no information about the magic in this world. There are people who can do magic and those who can’t, and within the ones who can are different kinds of magic. Main character Aemyra has fire magic so that’s really all we see in the book, with just random asides about how her guards can do other kinds. But no info on why some people have magic and others don’t, no background on how that affects the ruling of their land. (The current ruling family is made up mostly of magic users but no info on whether or not the rulers have always had magic and how that affects the people in town who don’t have it. There’s a clear power divide but the author fails to delve into how that affects the characters.)

Actually, the only power divide the author really goes into is the one between people of different religions and men vs women (which, given one of the religions, are tied together). The whole religious aspect was a little odd but I can’t put my finger on exactly how. But I did find it weird and contradictory that Aemyra’s people, who swear by the goddess and revere women above all, seemed to have remarkably little faith in her abilities to lead them.** Her father, who supposedly wants her on the throne, is basically leading everyone like he’s the king and even their female general is a bit dismissive to Aemyra towards the end.

**As contradictory as the above all was, Aemyra does actually make a lot of stupid decisions in this book that do sort of prove she’s not ready to be Queen yet. What’s disappointing in that is that we’re told multiple times how her father gave her so many lessons on sword fighting and history and being a Queen… and yet she doesn’t seem to put any of that to use (except sword fighting but still).

I actually would have liked to see her getting those lessons as a child, something to show her actually learning instead of the reader just being told all the time that she knows this stuff. Instead, the beginning of the book is spent being coy about why Aemyra has to wear a scarf to cover her hair. It literally makes no sense being all secretive about hiding who she is when the summary of the book tells you right away that she’s supposed to be the Queen.

The beginning of the book also felt like the author was trying too hard, in a way. The writing style felt almost unnatural, like she was using how other authors write in their books with kickass female leads so she’s going to do the same thing so you understand just how cool and kickass Aemyra is. I mean, the first line of the book is,
“As Aemyra crouched in front of the laboring mother, she came to the sudden realization that she only enjoyed having her face between a woman’s legs when she was screaming out in pleasure, not in pain.”
As funny as some might think that line, I just found it an odd tone to start the book off on. I also didn’t like that once her old flame Sorcha was rescued, all she did was make snide quips about Aemyra being with someone else. You guys weren’t even an official couple! I just thought that was a weird thing to do with the only other bi (or possibly lesbian character) in the book. (I think there’s a line that mentions a guy and his husband, and there is one nonbinary character, but I believe that’s it as far as representation goes. Which also makes the whole women vs men/religion debate odd. You’re fine with non-heterosexual people but I’m supposed to believe a religion that thinks men are the best and that women are there solely to have their husbands’ kids is gaining huge popularity without being detrimental to said non-hetero folks??

Honestly, the book didn’t even get super interesting to me until around 60/65%, which is a lot of blah to put up with. But I enjoyed the parts where Aemyra was being kept in the castle, partly because some interesting plot lines were being developed here that I thought had potential. And then Aemyra escaped the castle and those threads were cut off in rather lame and predictable ways. :/ The romance was ok, but could’ve been better if it hadn’t been so rushed, though I do appreciate the enemies to lovers still being enemies at the end of the book. Super predictable given everything that was happening but appreciated.

I don’t know. I should probably rate this 2 or 2.5 stars instead. All in all, it felt like the author was trying too hard to write a book about a kickass woman and was writing things how she thought they were supposed to be written (very trope-y) instead of taking her time and exploring this world and giving the characters and plot beats the depth they deserved and needed to be what could’ve been a decently good book.

I will always be interested in reading a book involving dragons! While that wasn't the entire focus of this story, I enjoyed every moment of this book. As it started getting heavier politically and religiously, I thought that it was going to lose my interest, but it didn't. The author put so many details and thought into every aspect of this book and it is so well written.

Aemyra is one of the strongest FMC that I have probably ever read about. She endured some terrible things done to her by the enemies. Despite everything, she still stays strong and continues to fight for her throne as the Queen of Tìr Teine.

Prince Fiorean... I don't even know where I want to start with him. He is easily the better option between the two princes, but he also has his flaws. I went from hating him, to liking him, to hating him again. He is a mastermind of manipulation and the lengths that he went to achieve some goals is quite shocking.

I don't know how I am going to be able to wait for the sequel, because WHAT?! That cliffhanger was brutal, my mouth was wide open reading the last 30 or so pages. The emotions that I felt is one of the many reasons why this book deserves 5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Hazel McBride for an Arc of this book. This review is my own honest opinion.

A Fate Forged in Fire by Hazel McBride is about a woman attempting to claim her throne as queen. Overall, I gave this book 3 stars because of the action, world, characters, and dragons; however, the storyline was incredibly predictable. The twists were not really twists because from the first few chapters I predicted exactly what was going to happened and I was right. The tropes progressed exactly as you thought, which made the book less exciting. For example, the FMC changed from hating the MMC to loving him, all while the MMC went from hating the FMC to pretending to love her, all while plotting against her. Further, the father who acts like a teacher, is vulnerable for one chapter and FMC believes his softer side, all while he is also plotting against the FMC’s wishes.
The political tones of this book were clear: body autonomy, sterilization, women’s choice, equality, religious persecution and cult behavior, brainwashing, and others.
Strengths of the book:
- Strong FMC who does not back down
- Storyline focusing on a matriarchy
- Strong family dynamics FMC has with brother and adoptive family
- Bonded dragons and detail about how the bond develops
- A lot of action throughout the book
- The fire magic was different
- Cliffhanger at the end

Areas I did not love:
- Super predictable (which may be a good thing for some readers)
- I am not a fan of enemies to lovers to enemies, especially because the transition is so sudden with such little detail at the end (see next bullet point for context). It felts rushed and did not make the most sense to me.
- There are some parts of the book where there is a transition and it was done so quickly I missed it. I had to go back and re-read, sometimes getting and sometimes still confused. More detail regarding shifts from one part of the story to the next would have been helpful.
o Example: she is out walking, her father finds her, and suddenly they are in a church and she is being sworn in as queen. It was so sudden and I could not figure out how we got here so fast.
o She just happens to land, find a dragon, and bond, immediately after not bonding with another dragon. I did not get how she could just mysteriously and easily find her dragon that has been hiding for a long time from everyone.
- The multiple failed attempts by the FMC for whatever the task was, was repetitive and, again, played into the predictability.

My head is all over the place with this one. I’m going to try and coherently explain how I feel but honestly my brain is jumbled.

The first half of the book was tedious and I considered DNFing but holy moly the second half was magical. The stage was set and the story took off!

I liked the FMC, Aemyra, but I anticipate the feelings most people have for her being all over the board. She’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea but I truly enjoyed her. Yes she was arrogant but you know what, I LIKE MY FMCs ARROGANT! That’s a good thing to me… female characters don’t need to be docile. I like when they let it rip just like the men do. Which leads me to another high point, the freaking feminism was DIVINE. Female empowerment to the maxxxx. I ate it up.

The story was a true enemies to lovers which I realized I’ve been missing out on. This was no little misunderstanding, this was genuine hate mixed with lust. Honestly 5 stars in that department. I FELT their hatred but I also felt their connection. Extremely well done.

Now to the ending, it ripped open my heart and stomped all over it. I saw it coming but it didn’t soften the blow. Up until the end I felt like the book was a solid 4 stars, but the ending made me so upset that I considered dropping it to 3. But I’m gonna stick with 4 because the quality was high and I don’t want to punish the story for making me care too much. But honestly, brutal. I’m going to read book 2 but there’s going to have to be some serious reveals and/or groveling to make this right.

In summary, 4 stars. All hail Aemyra. Hazel McBride you hurt me.

I think Thai book has a lot of potential to be a great read! I really just could not get into it and ended up DNFing at around 20%. The FMC just annoyed me and I didn’t really understand what was going on half the time. The pronunciation of characters and towns was really difficult and made me have to slow down a lot.

My full review is on Goodreads (linked below) but I wanted to say thank you for the opportunity to receive the ARC!

A Fate Forged in Fire met all of my wildest expectations and then some. It is beautifully written, perfectly paced, and the Scottish folklore and worldbuilding woven throughout really added a unique element that truly sets it apart from similar novels in this genre. I truly cannot wait for the second book in the duology, and will be happily adding this to my physical library collection when it releases in 2025!