Spicy, male female, 3rd person single point of view, fantasy romance. I'm a sucker for dragons and really loved the worldbuilding here. There is drama and this is a duology so expect a cliffhanger. I can't wait to read the next book!

I really wanted to love this. A secret queen trying to take back her throne. Enemies to lovers. Dragons. Female rage and commentary on weaponized religion. So many interesting elements but it felt like it was trying to do too much. The whole book felt forced. The commentary was heavy handed and a lot of the book felt like it was telling and not showing.

Some of the language also took a second to get used to but overall was good. The FMC felt clueless and reckless for the majority of the time and she seems to put up almost no protest in her arraigned marriage. I was 0% surprised when Florian seemingly betrayed her at the end. Which I guess does show that even those with good intentions can be controlled and manipulated.

Overall had some elements I was interested in but fell flat. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Wow, wow, wow. This was scrumptious. If you love a dragon fantasy with political intrigue and a true enemies-to-lovers storyline, I highly recommend picking this up. I can’t wait to the next book!

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this so much!!!

A bit overwhelmed at first with the world building but then it was full speed ahead, fast-paced battle, politics, betrayal, and so much more!

There is SO MUCH packed into this book and it really keeps things moving forward at a great pace and kept me invested and on the edge of my seat! I loved Aemyra, our often bratty, but also so deeply caring, bi queen battle warrior FMC! The balance of a world tilting on the precipice of religious war and matriarchy vs patriarchy was such a refreshing and emotional read! It pulled at all of my heart strings and religious trauma, leaving me at times sick while also full of pride for everything Aemyra was fighting for!

And can we talk about the DRAGONS?? We all know dragons are popular right now but this was so well done, fresh, and compelling!!!

I can’t wait for the sequel!

Only writing a review for this because I have to. I really love books with dragons and books with pretty covers but this one was so bad like I tried to like it. I really did. Even when it was not hitting I blamed my slump and put it down for a while and not once did I feel like picking it up but later on I finally picked it up, out of obligation not because I wanted too. I want to say that It's been too long since I read this book to remember anything but truth be told the hour after I finished it, I forgot everything. I just remember it being horrible.

I’ve dipped into A Fate Forged in Fire, and while the premise is intriguing, I’m finding the prose a bit dense and wordy so far. It’s clear the author has a rich world in mind, but I am struggling to stay in the story. I plan to keep this book on my radar and come back to it at another time.

Thank you to the publisher Random House - Ballantine and the author Hazel McBride for the arc copy

Idk what Hazel put in this book but I ate it up. Finally a dragon romantasy that had such a great plot. The romance didn’t make you forget what that characters are fighting for. Reading this gave me the same feeling I feel when watch a House of Dragon episode. It’s had similar vibes but the story is truly its own. Some might not like the mmc and how he’s related to the fmc. But if u watch HOD/GOT than you will understand what I’m saying. I need more from this world and I can’t wait for the next book. I will say I wish the world and the dragon bonds were expanded more and we got the mmcs point of view

Fantasy is my safe place when reading books and I read a lot of different types of fantasy, but this one just didn’t make me want to read it. While I did finish it and there were some good parts to it, it was just hard to get through. Maybe the names were hard to follow in my brain and the characters seemed very one dimensional and I could predict everything that happened from the get go. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

3.7

Fate Forged in Fire increasingly fascinated me. Feminist forward world, where it’s been a century since a true female heir has been born. Only to find out one has been hiding for the past twenty six years. After the King’s death, she reveals herself to the royal family aware war is looming.

Slowly things began to piece together after the first 20%. Political intrigue, forced corrupt religion, betrayal, romance, dragons, violence, mental illness, a murder mystery. There are vast components that flow smoothly here. At the same time, I am not completely astounded by this book. There is a bit of predictability. With that in mind as well, it’s an easy read. The writing is not super complex or overly plain. World building and plot construction were well executed. I appreciate the well researched influence of Scottish mythology.

Aemyra has a tremendous amount to learn still. At the same time, there is much I did love about her. The passion she has for the well being of her people and even at times her enemies is astonishing. She holds loyalty near and dear to her heart. Her chemistry with Fiorean was not ground breaking but satisfying.

I look forward to seeing some more secrets revealed, character growth and how all the madness settles in the second installment.

Thank you to Hazel McBride, Random House - Ballantine, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

To summarize my review:

I struggled to get into this book initially. I always struggle with Gaelic or Celtic rooted languages so this made engaging with the story and following the world building challenging. I don’t know if there is a guide if some kind in the physical book, if not, there should be. On top of that, I struggled to connect with our main character. I found her a bit brash and entitled but there were glimpses of good so I wanted to stick with it and see if she grew into a character I loved.

The audiobook massively helped! Once I wrapped my head around the world building and language I was able to connect with the story better. I started to get into it around the 40% mark (which is late for someone who had no problem DNFing). Once the dragons came into play and the romance kicked in, I really enjoyed the story and ultimately I am very glad I stuck with it. I grew to love our MC and her romance with the MMC. The twist at the end shocked me and I am definitely continuing with the story!

I’ve been trying to get into this one. But at 36% I’m listing this one as a DNF. I thought that it would be for me because I love this genre. But I didn’t like the main character at all and all the characters just seemed very one dimensional.

I can see why a lot of romantasy readers would like this one. It has dragons and magic, the FMC is very no-nonsense feisty FMC, and an enemies to lover's romance. Unfortunately, I think this sort of fantasy just isn't for me. I'm growing tired of tropey fantasy books, especially these particular tropes. The FMC was insufferable to me. Also, with romantasy you'd normally find that the world building is easier to grasp, since the romance is the main focus. But I found with this story the world building and terminologies were a lot, and I was unable to fully grasp what I was reading.

In the end, I found myself struggling to want to pick this up, and it was putting me in a slump, so I had to DNF.

I honestly am not sure how i felt about this one. It was fine I guess. I didn't feel one way or the other. I didn't connect with any of the characters and found myself a little irritated with the fmc at times. The end also just felt so weird. All that build up and trust building after being such chaotic enemies for so long wasn't the twist the author wanted it to be.

I guess a positive is that I finished the book at all. It was an easy read. Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review

Dragons! I very much anticipated to enjoy this book since I like dragons but it dragged on. It was so hard to power through especially at the beginning. The story just kept going. I dont know that I liked Aemyra. Although I did like that she was not your average straight FMC.

Unfortunately I will not be finishing this book! I read through 10% and I could not get into the story or connect with the characters at all. I didn’t find myself wanting to pick it up.

I love the idea of the book, the representation, and dragons but perhaps it was the writing that just made it not for me.

An heir to the throne raised in secret, Aemyra is now poised to take what is rightfully hers and become queen. But as she fights against the royal family, and more importantly, against her feelings for one specific member of that royal family - Prince Fiorean, she'll realize that everything she was raised to believe may not be quite what it seems. Once she is able to bond with a dragon and show her royal status, she may need to find allies in unlikely places to discover what the right path is now.

I really enjoyed the dragon portion of this, as this is an increasingly desired aspect of fantasy right now. The chemistry between Aemyra and Fiorean was well written, and the other characters had individual traits that helped keep them all straight. I especially felt that the magic system was well developed for this world and will be a key portion of the story for the future installments.

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own. In full transparency I did end up listening to the audiobook via my Spotify subscription, which I pay for myself as I wanted to get this reviewed as close to release date as possible.

This is the first book in an adult romantasy duology. There are several spicy scenes in this but the fantasy and political plotlines far out shadow the romance. This is definitely adult as there are several triggering scenes and quite a few adult topics covered. This talks about body autonomy when it comes to women and motherhood, there is a particularly gruesome scene where the main character is almost brutally sterilized by one of the priests of the opposing religion. There are quite a few detailed fight scenes, so if gory details and blood aren't your cup of tea you may want to skip this one.

This leans into Celtic lore and Ameyra our main character is the true born queen according to the laws of the kingdom. She has been hidden away to protect her identity and now she and those loyal to her are making a play to retake the thrown and kingdom. The reigning king has just died and his son is poised to take the throne. He is supported by an opposing religion that claims Amerya and those like her blessed by the goddesses with magic are demons. The road to the throne is not going to be easy as her people are starving and dying under the oppressive rule of their new King, and she is not able to seize power as easily has she had hoped. Her forces must go to war but at what cost?

I thought the world building and fantasy elements were really well done. The plot was well constructed and I loved the female based power structure. Amerya on the other hand is supposed to be one of the most powerful magic wielders and trained to become queen, yet she makes some really poor decisions when it comes to her actions. She is not the female leader that her people need and at every turn she is often thwarted by the opposition and by her own advisors. I hope in the next book we see more character development from her and she grows into the queen she needs to be, not the damsel in distress she often was in this first book.

I'm looking forward to the next book to find out how our characters grow and what happens now that the two sides are truly at war.

Aemyra lives a seemingly mundane life working as a blacksmith’s assistant, alongside her twin brother Adarian at their stepfather’s forge. Her gift of manipulating fire, courtesy of the goddess Brigid, is second to none who are not Bonded to a companion creature, and she dreams of Bonding to a dragon. One problem—the only remaining dragons in Tir Teine are in the hands of the royal family, and a Bond can only be broken by death.

That’s where Aemyra’s real secret comes in. She’s a member of an exiled branch of the royal family, and the first daughter born into the royal line in hundreds of years. After her father’s first failed rebellion, he was banished, but his children have been living in hiding in Tir Teine, right under the king’s nose (even providing blacksmithing services to the court). When the old king dies, it’s time for her to step up and return the power of the matriarchy that had previously ruled the land. All she has to do is find the king’s mourning dragon and bond with him before his son manages to do so… Then, no one in Tir Teine will be able to deny her claim to the throne. No big deal, right? Except that the king’s other son, Prince Fiorean, will do whatever it takes to stop her from taking his brother’s place. With his bonded dragon, Fiorean’s fire magic is second to none, and Aemyra

A Fate Forged in Fire is a decently clever twist on a lot of the expected tropes of a modern romantic fantasy, and while it was definitely a slower start for me than some similar titles, I’m glad I stuck with it. It was published on 5/27/25, and is worth checking out if you like the genre, as well as Celtic-inspired fantasy. Hazel McBride has a promising beginning here. My utmost thanks for NetGalley and Random House for an eARC in exchange for a fair review.

I'm so sorry, I think I am just so fatigued by fantasy romance that I stopped reading early on. I don't want to rate this with a star rating because I don't think that's fair, but from what I read, it seems like a regurgitation of other current books in the genre. I do think this is also a case of the timing, and I want to give the book a fair review, but I'm having a hard time getting invested. I'm just over

This unfortunately wasn't for me. Aemyra was a bit too arrogant for my liking, so I was unable to connect to her character, and without character connection it's difficult for me to become invested in a story. The story itself was also difficult to follow, with names being mentioned without explanation and little to no world building, it felt like we were just dropped into the world and expected to know it all. The dragons were my favorite part of this. I'll still recommend this to mutuals as I know this is a story that many people will be able to enjoy and connect with, it just wasn't a hit for me.