When I first picked up *A Fate Forged in Fire*, I had no idea how much I’d get swept into Freya’s world. Told through her eyes, the story feels raw and intimate as she grapples with the unexpected turn her life takes. Freya’s voice is strong and relatable—she’s determined, flawed, and so easy to root for.

As the plot unfolds, I found myself completely invested in her journey. The mysterious Caelan adds so much tension and intrigue. Their interactions are charged with emotion and complexity, and watching their relationship evolve felt as unpredictable as it was rewarding. The world around them is vibrant and alive, with magic practically crackling off the pages.

At times, Freya’s inner monologue slows the pace, as she reflects deeply on her choices and struggles. But it also made her feel so human to me, and I appreciated her vulnerability. The story has its twists and turns, and while not all the secondary characters are as fleshed out as I’d like, they still brought depth to the conflicts Freya faced.

I loved the mix of action, magic, and emotion. By the end, I felt like I had been on Freya’s journey with her—through fire and all. It’s a story I’d recommend to anyone who loves first-person narratives full of heart and adventure.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 7%. A lesson not to accept so quickly when I receive a request to read a book. I tried? But also, I find Aemyra insufferable and am not interested in wasting my time with this one. I’m sure it’ll be for plenty, but it’s not for me!

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

I enjoyed A Fate Forged in Fire by Hazel McBride for its blend of strong, Celtic-inspired world-building and compelling characters. The story's protagonist, Aemyra, is both fierce and relatable, as she struggles with her destiny and battles systemic corruption. The slow-burn romance with the dragon-riding Prince Fiorean adds a satisfying layer of tension and complexity to the plot.

The themes of empowerment and resistance against oppressive traditions felt both timely and timeless, and the fiery action scenes were exciting. Some of the in-world terminology took a bit of adjustment, but it added depth to the setting. Overall, it’s a gripping fantasy with heart and heat, perfect for fans of magical intrigue and political drama.

What’s worse than starting an incomplete series? Starting a series that isn’t even OUT YET—and leaves you pacing the room, absolutely floored.

First off, a huge thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. This book has everything: a true enemies-to-lovers dynamic, a rich backstory, and vibrant world-building centered on a matriarchal society. Sign me up immediately. When I say enemies-to-lovers, I mean knives as literal foreplay, okay?

This might just be one of my favorite dragon books ever. The author has crafted an immersive universe packed with complex characters who’ll have you seething one moment and pitying them the next—well, except the religious zealots; they can 🔪.

What stood out the most to me was the emotional vulnerability of both the FMC and MMC. The MMC’s struggle to express his emotions felt so raw and relatable, and the way they navigated their feelings for each other was incredibly compelling. And the FMC? She’s so real. She’s not some poised, perfect queen who’s got it all figured out. She’s a young woman grappling with self-doubt, making mistakes, and learning the hard way. Watching her face her shortcomings and grow—flawed, broken, but constantly adapting—was refreshing in a genre that often leans toward idealized heroines.

And that ending? Absolutely brutal. The cliffhanger is cliffhanging, and my only regret is reading this six months before its release, knowing I’ll have to wait probably a year and a half for the sequel. Just kidding, no regrets. Mostly~

This was DNF.

Made it 25% of the way through and could not stand the main character..
*I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review*

I first fell in love with fantasy romance while in lockdown for COVID19. This genre is always a fall back when I get in a reading slump. At first, I didn't think I would enjoy the book as much as I did.. but that quickly changed. I do feel like it was a little slow to take off, but once it did I couldn't put it down!

wow, this romantasy was amazing! yes, of course some tropes and themes will be similar to other romantasy books but I LOVED this one. The writing was great and I enjoyed the FMC's personality. This one will definitely be popular this year!

I received an advance review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.

Tir Teine, a territory once prosperous under the rule of Goddess blessed Queens, is now ruled by the males of the royal bloodline as there has not been a female born of royal blood in hundreds of years. The people suffer as the ruling royals are greatly influenced by the True Religion, religious zealots, who seek to eliminate Goddess worship and snuff out magic as well as those born with the power to wield it. With the reigning King close to his end, Aemyra, the first female born of royal blood in centuries and the true heir to the throne, is ready to step out of hiding and into her birthright to claim what has always been hers.

This story had so much potential; political scheming and intrigue, magic, enemies to lovers, slow burn, and dragons!! However, despite the promising potential of the story, this book was not for me. The word building was underdeveloped, the description of the magical system felt incomplete, there was a lack of character development, and the writing felt disjointed at times. Having said that, I have no doubt there are some who will enjoy this story. Ending on a cliffhanger and being the first in what is set to be a duology, the second book may be able to bridge these gaps and round the story out.

A Fate Forged in Fire is an exciting Celtic-inspired fantasy romance that combines political aspects, forbidden love, and a magical world.

The story follows Aemyra, a blacksmith with a hidden royal identity. Determined to reclaim her throne in the kingdom, she faces political corruption and her growing feelings for the dragon-riding Prince Fiorean.

I felt immediately attached to Aemyra’s character. Her strength and vulnerability is a rememberable theme. Fiorean provides a tense romantic dynamic. Fans of fiery MCs, slow-burn romance, and dragon-filled adventures will fall in love with this book!

A big thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing an eARC!

### Summary

A Fate Forged in Fire by Hazel McBride is about a clan that has been divided for a very long time. The religion of the old Celtic gods means that the country’s rule should always be passed down to the next woman, but no women have been born for generations, so the crown passed from male heir to male heir. Aemyra is the daughter of a branch of the clan that had been divided for generations. She is the first and only daughter born of the clan’s royal lineage in forever. As such, when the current king dies, her father has planned for them to claim her right to the throne. The proceeding power struggle is what takes up the remainder of the book.

### What did I like?

I think the concept is good. I think the author did a good job of layering in the religious conflict of the country with the power struggle.

I liked that she was bi and that it was brought up more than just once for cred.

I liked that the book made a point to say women deserve rights to their bodies, their vocations, and their lives.

I liked the dragons. I don’t read a lot of books with dragons.

The spice was alright.

### What did I dislike?

The pacing of this book was weird to me. I can’t get into much without spoiling anything, but I didn’t know if the story would be resolved at the end because of the pacing.

Aemyra is insufferable. I could not stand her as a character. It’s one thing to be a hot-headed character, but her actions make absolutely no sense to me.

The ending was really disappointing. I felt like it turned its back on those women’s rights ideals they had pushed throughout the novel.

I am all for other languages in books. But this felt like they threw Gaelic terms in there without any context. I had to stop to look up these words a lot in the beginning of the book because it just said things like, “He put the X on the table,” without anything that would indicate what it might be. The having to start and stop a lot for inconsequential words was frustrating.

The relationship building between Aemyra and her rival’s brother, Prince Fiorean, was non-existent one second, then suddenly they’re all in. There wasn’t a lot of build up once they kiss and it felt like they were just going at it after that. I thought it was strange she wasn’t more reluctant because he’s literally brothers with the enemy.

Please keep in mind that there is some awful things perpetrated against Aemyra during this book. I don’t even know what to call some of it, but we’ll say SA. I did feel like some of it was unnecessary and it did make me really uncomfortable.

### Rating

I gave this a 2.5, which according to my rating scale is average. I found myself enjoying parts, and not enjoying parts.

First of all, thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️4.5 🌶️2.5

It’s going to take me a while to recover from this one. I need to go take a walk.

“Weak men would rather guilt strong women than become strong themselves”

This is for the lovers of Fourth Wing, Throne of Glass, and Game of Thrones. Fans of TRUE enemies to lovers, this is also for you. I’m not talking the “I hate you” and loose threats enemies to lovers, but the holds a knife to your throat and “I’m going to feed you to my dragon” enemies to lovers.

It did take me a bit to really get into this book, I didn’t reach the point of needing to finish it more than I needed food or sleep until probably 50% through. But once it ensnared me, wow was I hooked. Like reading on my phone while out with friends hooked.

However, I was constantly flipping to the pronunciation guide. Half the time I felt like I was just making it up because I got tired of looking.

Aemyra: Bisexual, stabby, feminist. Need I say more. I will admit she had her faults and for the first part of the book she felt a bit like an Aelin knockoff. I was also annoyed that Aemyra was kind of rude and sometimes downright mean to her brother when he clearly was just looking out for her. She also seemed to have no sense of self preservation or common sense.

Fiorean: Fire daddy. The number of things Fiorean said or did that made me look up and gasp was insane. I love Fiorean. I love that he is vulnerable, admits his faults, lets tears fall, supports Aemyra, etc.

The parallels between the True Religion and what is going on in the US right now was unsettling. I kept reading the actions and words of the followers of the True Religion and having to take a deep breath for how closely they resembled the words/actions of SOME people who call themselves religious.

THE END. OH MY THE END. I HAD TO PUT MY KINDLE DOWN A PACE AROUND THE ROOM.

Read this book. The end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for my first ARC opportunity. Below is my honest review.


The kingdom of Tir Tiene has historically been a Matriarchal Society, where the land and its people thrived under the rule of a Queen and her bonded Dragon. For many decades, however, only males infants were born, creating an imbalance. The Kings became corrupted by a hunger for supremacy and their power, and might in magic, only grew once they bonded with what remained of the ancient dragons in the land. For generations, these male rulers were slowly led astray from their polytheistic roots of worshiping the Goddesses, and they fell victim to the exploitation of a new, misogynistic "True Religion" that seeks to dominate society by condemning magic, oppress women, and instill fear of the dragons.

Strong-willed Aemyra has hidden her fire magic and her true identity for most of her 20-something years. Living under the guise as a meager, yet talented blacksmith, along with her twin brother and their adoptive family. She has bided her time, training in secret, until the day came where she would meet her fate as the rightful heir to the throne. For as foretold, she is Goddess-Blessed as the first female born unto a legacy of rightful heirs to the throne. When the current King lay upon his death bed, plans which were put into action long before her birth are set in motion. She will either triumph and take her place on the throne as the long-awaited Queen, or will perish as Tir Tiene’s last hope for peace and prosperity.

Likes: The world building and politics were done well and certainly set the stage for what I expect will become a popular Fantasy Series. I also enjoyed the pacing of the story, with action scenes that kept me alert and eager for the next page. I loved that the Dragons were a integral part of the plot; having enough personality to be believed as sentient, while still upholding the animalistic ferocity of an ancient beast that would sooner reign fire upon you if they feel the land and its people are threatened. My favorite character in the book was actually Aemyra’s twin brother, Adarian, and I wish he’d held a more prevalent role in the story. Instead, he seemed more like a side-kick who didn’t have much of a life other than to be faithful to his sister once she became Queen.

Dislikes: Aemyra came across as an arrogant, self-absorbed, entitled brat for the first ¾ of the book. I repeatedly wanted to give her a chance to grow up, given how hard her childhood seemed to be, yet by about the half-way point, my hope was dashed due to her immaturity and impulsivity that won over logic and reason placing her and everyone she “cared” about in danger. It is hard to cheer for a heroine who claimed to be training her entire life to become a queen for the people, all the while screaming inside as she made repeatedly reckless decisions and a upholding blatant refusal to be reasoned. I NEED a heroine to possess more compassion, to accept advice with serious consideration, to have a willingness to consider the implications of her actions for the greater good, and overall – just more humility. Sadly, I just didn’t get that.

The tension between Aemyra and Fiorian was awkward from their first interaction. At first, I attributed this to Aemyra preferring women to men, or that perhaps she was ruffled by having to suffer someone above her imposed station. Once they are forced to ‘cooperate’ with one another, it was difficult to tell if it was a genuine ‘enemies to lovers’ trope, or if our heroine was merely being easily manipulated? Their hatred for one another was palpable and easy enough to understand, but once they are forced into a situation where they have to work together, their relationship dynamic felt rushed and not enough of a slow-burn to be believable, ultimately feeling that both parties were disingenuous.

For all my personal views on pro-feminism, this book has left me with a conundrum. By the end of the book, I am left with more questions than answers. I was truly unsure of who, in Aemyra's life, is actually trustworthy. I am uncertain as to whether she or anyone (sans maybe Adarian) is the best suited to be the new ruler. I would like to know more about the history of the Goddesses, how magic came to be gifted to some and why some people do not possess magic, and also how the bonding of dragons came to be in the first place? I cannot fathom where Fiorian stands in all of this - that whole situation was just super messy. And finally, I wonder why the dragons don’t just destroy the entire kingdom and wait for better humans to come along?

I want to believe that the multiple forms of betrayal that Aemyra endures, and all these unanswered questions, will be explained and ironed out in future books.

Themes:
Strong Family Bonds
Politics & Anarchy
Hidden Royalty
Celtic Lore
Enemies to Lovers?
Sword & Scorcery
Dragon Bondings
LGBTQ+ Representation

TW: Sexual Assault, Male Dominance/Misogyny, Religious similarities to Paganism vs Christianity/Judaism/Islam

A Fate Forged in Fire is a fast-paced fantasy romance filled with magic, DRAGONS, and political intrigue. Aemyra, the fierce and sassy FMC and she is on a mission to claim her place in this world, while dealing with the oppressive True Religion and her slow-burn romance with the equally arrogant Prince Fiorean. Their chemistry is electric, and the tension between them is perfect. The world-building is rich and immersive, with a strong focus on patriarchy, magic, and social hierarchies. At first, I found entering the world to be challenging due to the heavy reliance on in-universe vocabulary inspired by Scottish Gaelic. The themes of power, gender, and autonomy are deeply impactful. The addition of bonded DRAGONS and a unique magic system adds even more depth to the story and really hooks the reader in. It is an emotional and intense, A Fate Forged in Fire is a must-read for fans of Game of Thrones and/or House of the Dragon. The book tackles heavy themes, including sexual assault, so be mindful of the trigger warning.

I could not put this book down! This story follows our FMC Aemyra who is the first female heir to the throne of Tir Tiene in centuries. She has been hiding in plain sight of the kingdom because her existence is a threat to the male heirs who has assumed the throne due to the lack of female heirs.

Finally, at 26, it is her time to overthrow the male heirs and stage a coup to take back her throne. However, she encounters extreme defiance from the male heirs and the Covenanters who have infiltrated Tir Tiene with the oppressive ideologies and religion.

She is pulled into a war on all fronts- fighting for both her throne and the rights of her people, especially women, who would face extreme oppression under the current King who bows to the Covenanters.

This book has so much amazing content in it! Dragons, romance, high-stakes, betrayal, and powerful abilities. This story does not give you a moment to catch your breath with the constantly evolving plot and fast-paced story.

Our FMC is powerful, resilient, and stead-fast in her goals. The themes of religious intolerance, oppression, and sexism are interwoven throughout this story to support a very impactful narrative.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for their next high-stakes fantasy read with a defiant and powerful female lead! I enjoyed every minute of this compelling and captivating story that I will be thinking about until the second books is released!

Gave me chills at one point. I couldn’t put it down it was an unstoppable ride. If you love fantasy then grab this book and enter a world created by a mastermind.

📚☕️ “For the little girls who were told to put their fires out. Burn them all to the fking ground.”☕️📚

A Fate Forged in Fire by Hazel McBride – A Celtic-inspired fantasy romance that truly has it all. The ending will tear your heart out and leave you scrambling to check when book two is dropping. I’m calling it now: this is the next big fantasy series. Think House of the Dragon but with a gripping romantic plotline woven through. It’s the perfect mix of fantasy and high fantasy, beautifully crafted without being overly complicated.

Meet Aemyra, a 26-year-old blacksmith blessed with the power of fire by the goddess Brigid at birth. Hidden away for most of her life, she waits for the moment to rise and reclaim her place as the rightful queen of the Fire Kingdom of Erisosha—a land crumbling under centuries of corrupt kings and the suffocating grip of the true religion. Thrust into the deadly dance of court politics, Aemyra forms a fragile alliance with the cunning Prince Fiorean, a man whose motives are as dangerous as they are enticing. Together, they must navigate betrayal, ambition, and sacrifice as Aemyra fights to restore her kingdom to its former glory. Will she burn away the decay—or be consumed by the flames?

✅ Dragon Bonding 🐉
✅ A badass FMC with all the female rage 💪🏽
✅ Enemies to Lovers with a love interest inspired by Aemond Targaryen 😈😍that will have you SCREAMING & crying
✅ Political Intrigue
✅ Slow burn 🥵

From the author, “⚠️ BOOKS ARE POLITICAL ⚠️ When I say I wrote female rage - I don’t just mean I wrote about a woman who uses a sword. I mean I wrote a book about a woman attempting to repair a crumbling matriarchy from the oppression of a corrupt patriarchal religion. I wrote about a society where queerness was celebrated and women were revered for their ability to create life. Aemyra actively fights for the RIGHTS of her people against the men trying to take them away.”

You’re going to want to add this one to your list. It is available for preorder. 😍

A Fate Forged in Fire is a journey I never want to go on again. The story is at once predictable and thematically heavy-handed. Generally, when the main character is dragged through glass to advance the story, we want to see that character succeed. Aemyra inspires no such warm feelings—she, and just about every other character, for that matter, is wholly unlikable, with an insipid "growth" arc that left me cold. Her brief romance, if we can call it that, felt forced, and it was hard not to roll my eyes during the sex scenes.

If you're interested in a crude facsimile of House of the Dragons with Celtic window dressing, this may be for you.

4.5 ⭐️

Omg this was soooooo good! I’m actually upset to have received the ARC so early because who knows how long I’ll have to wait for book 2!!!! I was absolutely captivated. That ending ????? Can totally see this being a top book for 2025!!

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I did not like characters or their personalities. I did enjoy some of the world building. This is the most difficult time I’ve had rating a book on here. I think the synopsis does not do a good job at telling you what you’re in for. Some people are enjoying this but unfortunately I did not. However, thank you for the opportunity to read and share my honest opinion.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC.

I really wanted to fully enjoy this, and there were some aspects that were great fun. I think the magic system is well thought-out and interesting, and it's always great to see representation of Gàidhlig and Celtic mythology in the publishing world. The main character has a good balance of virtues and flaws, which makes her more relatable than many fantasy characters circulating today. However, this was so glaringly Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon fanfiction that it was hard to see this novel as its own entity, and the similarities made me laugh out loud at times, which I don't think is the intended reaction, if any. Like, there are only a few characters in this book who are wholly original, and the rest are watered-down GOT copies.

The style of writing is just okay. Nothing to really write home about, and I think this book could've used a little more editing and polishing. I almost wish the language was a little more flowery, a little more introspective. But again, this reads like an AO3 fic, so maybe that's a long shot. I'll say this book is well paced at best. If you enjoy smutty romantasy with nothing really innovative going on or adding to the genre and just need some old-fashioned entertainment, then this may be for you. I don't know what I was really expecting, but maybe a little more effort into characterization and originality would be nice. I'd be interested to see if the second book makes more of this effort.