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.

2 stars
Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Let me be completely honest. I’m struggling with how to rate this. For 90% of the book, I was gritting my teeth, trying to power through. Why? Because Aemyra. I couldn’t stand her. She was everything I dislike in a character: childish, arrogant, and so full of herself. She acted like she was better than everyone else, constantly belittling everyone around her, acting almighty and edgy while making the dumbest decisions. How do you even root for a character like that? Her entire personality felt forced, and instead of coming across as powerful or compelling, she was just insufferable.
"Pitiful. These women have no strength."

That’s how she views other women while she, too, was in their position. Really? Absolute bitch energy. Absolute queen of the pick-me brigade. Sorry, but if you’re going to write a fiery, rage-fueled FMC, at least make her empowering. Women supporting women is a thing, and I can’t root for a character who thinks like this. Girl power above all, biss!
And Fiorean? He had no personality at all. Zero depth. The chemistry between them? Off. Just off.

On top of that, Aemyra’s character was so inconsistent. She’s all rage and edge at the start, but when she “finds out” (view spoiler) What does she do? Nothing. She doesn’t rebel, doesn’t fight back with everything she’s got. She just sits there, bitching about how much she hates all of them and talking about killing them if her magic comes back. With all her fiery attitude, I thought she’d at least try to gouge his eyes out or something. But nope. What happened to all the rage and fiery energy from the beginning? It just didn’t add up.

This book was so hard to get through. The fast pacing and constant name-dropping with no backstory made it impossible to follow or care about what was happening. I love complex fantasy and detailed world-building, but this wasn’t it. Instead of immersing me in the story, it left me feeling lost and frustrated. My brain wouldn’t even let me process the story because of the wreck that was Aemyra’s character. Her chaotic personality overshadowed everything, making it impossible to care about the plot or the world around her.

Oh, and the spice? Nope. No chemistry, nothing special. Just awkward.
To top it off, the dialogue had me cringing:
"So how can I be fire? If the only thing that makes me burn... is you."

I shuddered with disgust.

I didn’t give this 1 star because the dragon fights and the ending were "okay". I kind of guessed the ending but not entirely, so it was slightly redeeming. I initially thought about giving this 3 stars, but nah. After enduring 90% of this book, I can’t justify it.
I know some people will probably love this book, but it’s just not for me.

Aemyra is a young woman blessed with fire magic, who has been hiding in a city to prevent her true identify from being discovered. The city is full of religious zealots that discredit and destroy anything to do with magic and the Goddesses that give that magic. Aemyra challenges the current royalty and their religious fanatics to claim her birthright.

I really enjoyed specific parts of this book: Dragons, Enemies to Lovers and elemental magic. I also really appreciated that the author put trigger warnings at the front end of the book, because there are some doozies in there.

Because I loved the magic so much, I wanted a bit more out of the world building. I also struggled with the pacing as things went from super intense to slow to super intense without the build up for major events.

I am still very intrigued on where this story will go next after an action packed ending.

First off/ thank you NetGally for letting me be a ARC reader for this/
Thank you Random House Publishing!!
Special thanks to Hazel McBride for writing this

REVIEW TIME ✨🥹✨
The book started off a little slow, there was ALOT of world building. The FMC was very well captured and developed. I really enjoyed her seeing her grow to become the fearless Dragon rider she knew she deserved.
There was a little bit of everything for everyone in here, I was left wondering what MMC thought and insight was during the time away from FMC/ Once you get going my goodness YOU CANNOT STOP. I absolutely loved from pages 170-ending. It really picked up and characters really developed. Not to mention there might be a little secret twist in there going on with FMC?! very excited for book 2
✨SLOW BURN
✨DRAGONS
✨WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
✨ROMANTACY
✨ENEMIES-LOVERS-ENEMIES🔥🔥(slowly turning into my new favorite)
THE BOOK HAD IT ALL/

Dear Hazel McBride. I almost threw my ereader so many times reading this freaking (in a good way) book. A million thank yous for whoever at Random House Publishing Group for approving me here through Netgalley.

I was transfixed from page one and when I wasn't reading (curse you, responsibilities), I was thinking about the story at every moment. There was a point where I was so exhausted from the week and just wanted to read, but my eyes wouldn't stop closing and so I considered drinking an energy drink AT NIGHT so I could stay awake-- I HAVE LITTLE KIDS! I was choosing and craving this book more than life's necessities. The pacing was well-done and I found the world building to be VERY easy, but enjoyable whether you are newer to fantasy or you are someone who regularly reads high fantasy. The fact Aemyra is in her later twenties, PROPER enemies-to-lovers (actual swords / daggers to throats NUMEROUS times before lovers occur), with the political intrigue had my interest thoroughly at attention.... all these together was the perfect concoction of what I love for my escapism.


I have shared a review on Goodreads here : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7019377531
And closer to the publication date in May (about a week or two before), I'll share on my IG : https://www.instagram.com/thenightstandbook/

So much fun! Literally, so much fun!! It was beautiful, glorious and I think that it is definitely one of those thing that is just so much fun. I can’t wait for others to be able to enjoy this as well!

4.5 stars rounded up. The beginning of this book is a struggle, but if you can past the weak exposition, the book rapidly picks up pace and intensity and by the end I loved it.

A Fate Forged in Fire is the first book in a romance duology starring Aemyra, the rightful heir to a historically matriarchal kingdom that has lost its way. Yet while the Goddesses and priestesses support her claim, the current rulers have lost their way, corrupted by a heretical religion that is harmful to women and those with magic. In order to claim the throne and save her people, Aemyra must find a way to take what is hers - but there are a lot of obstacles in the way.

I was constantly surprised by the plot of this book. While I knew it would be a fight to the throne, the type of fight kept changing in a way that kept me on my toes. It was intense and the stakes were always very high. While there are a couple moments that felt a little forced (Two characters sword fight twice and for no reason, the outcome of the second fight is wildly different, even though the person who won the first fight should've been even better prepared for the second), I genuinely enjoyed reading this book. I also think the ending sets the stage for a very interesting and intense sequel.

Character wise this book is also very strong. I loved Aemyra's personality. She is very head strong and really does care for her people, but it also very easy to see that she still has a lot to learn about consequences and strategy. It's clear where she needs to grow before she can be a good Queen which makes the journey there all the more interesting. I also love the way her personality fits alongside that of her twin (restrained, cautious) and the love interest.

And the romance! I personally think this is up there as one of the best done enemies-to-lovers I've read in a while. I get a bit annoyed when characters claim to hate someone but also can't stop going on about how attractive they are. This book does not have that issue, Aemyra genuinely hated this guy at the beginning of the book (to the point that I wasn't even sure he was the love-interest) and it takes concerted effort on both of their parts to build a relationship. Again, I loved their relationship and the mutual trust it was built upon and can't wait to see where it goes in the next book.

While I did come to love this book, it does have some flaws. Personally, I thought that the first 10-15% of the book was honestly pretty bad. It starts out very slow and it takes ages for anything really interesting to happen. This is compounded by the sheer amount of exposition packed into the first few chapters. My biggest grievance is the way the history of the kingdom is explained clumsily in a public play that the Aemyra just happens to stay and watch

And while I loved the chance to read a Celtic-inspired fantasy and learn more about the culture, I struggled with the level of explanation for many of aspects of Scottish culture that were incorporated. I was repeatedly confused by new words and it was often difficult to tell if it was a real Celtic word that I hadn't heard of before or a made-up magic word. If I had been reading a paper copy, instead of a digital one where it was easy to pull up definitions and wikipedia articles, I think this would have been even more annoying. That said, this was mostly a problem early in the book and becomes less of an issue as you get used to the fantasy words.

However, this does lead into another problem. There are way too many peoples and places and not nearly enough explanation to keep them straight. I think this book would benefit from a list of the important kingdoms and the clans and their beathachs (and the cities they call home). Small adjustments like repeating why a city was important, or who it belonged to, or why a person was important would have greatly improved this.

I highly recommend this book to fans of fantasy romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an eARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Holy crap. I LOVED this book.
Extremely interesting world-building.
Masterful storytelling.
The magic system and the dragons 👌🏼
And that ending....
I cannot wait to see where the author takes this!

A Fate Forged in Fire is the first part of a Celtic-inspired fantasy duology that had me hooked after the first paragraph.

The plot moved at a fairly quick pace, which I prefer, and we watch as Aemyra grows into the Queen she was always meant to be. Unfortunately her crown is not so easily attainable, and she continues to have to fight for her family and her life to the very last page.

Thank you for the opportunity of an eARC, and I am eagerly pre-ordering a physical copy to reread whenever I want!

The story centers on a fascinating premise: a world where women rule from the throne while their male counterparts serve beside them. Our FMC embarks on a quest to claim her birthright by unseating not one, but two mad kings. However, while the concept was strong, the execution felt incomplete at times.

The romance was a highlight for me. Enemies-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and McBride delivered on the tension and slow-burn. Unfortunately, the side characters left much to be desired. I struggled to feel connected to them, which detracted from the overall emotional impact. For a book centered on dragons, I also found myself wishing they played a larger role in the story. While the worldbuilding hinted at fascinating lore, it felt underdeveloped, leaving me yearning for a richer, more immersive setting.

Overall, A Fate Forged in Fire shines in its central romance and ambitious ideas but falters slightly in worldbuilding and character depth. If you’re a fan of strong female protagonists, enemies-to-lovers romance, and political drama, this book might just spark your interest.

I had the best time reading a fate forged in blood. I haven’t had this good of a time reading a romantasy like this in awhile. The romance in this book was really well done and I really enjoyed how the dragons were written. Something I really loved about this book and wish we saw more was the kingdom was built on matriarchal rules. In this story line though men have taken over as rulers and we follow Aemyra who is the rightful ruler and her journey of trying to take back the throne. In this sense I can definitely see where the author pulled storylines from game of thrones. I’m giving this book four stars though because even though I really loved it there were a few problems. One problem I had with this and what I feel like I have with a lot of romantasy is something just feels off about the writing, it’s like I can’t tell if the writing isn’t good or it’s just not my style of writing if that makes sense. And then sometimes the plot just goes in directions where I’m like okay this doesn’t make that much sense. For example in this one half way through the book I feel like we were set up really good for a plot like ‘that I created’ in my head but then it took a totally different route which is obviously fine. it’s definitely worth picking up and I can’t wait to see where the author takes this series especially from the ending of this book.

3.5/5

Dragons. Need I say more. No, I don't think so. But I shall.

Something about this writing style and characterization didn't mesh well with me and the styles of writing and character exploration that I prefer. And that's a really difficult thing to explain. I think the best way I can explain it is that you're thrown right into the story (which I don't have a problem with), but when you do that, you need to explain things properly along the way so that it's a seamless reading experience. I felt like I still didn't know what things were even as they were happening/being explained. I think the pacing of the story also didn't help this issue that I had.

Hidden powers, anti-magic regime. FMC captured by the enemy and used by said enemy. All incredibly fun things to read about (especially when dragons and political drama is involved).

Overall, I did think this was enjoyable and I do think many other readers will love this book. There were just some stylistic choices that just aren't my favorite. Maybe, since this is the first in the series, those issues will be sorted out when the world opens up with sequels.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

Sooo amazing! I really enjoyed it, it was very interesting and I would definitely read more by this author! Such a good book, yall wont regret if u read it!

If you enjoyed books like Quicksilver and When the Moon Hatched you'll love this book. It's very on trend with what's been coming out in romantasy these past few years. Unfortunately this book was't quite hitting it for me. I didn't connect with our fmc, Aemyra, at all. But I know this book will be loved. Honestly this is a fantastic debut novel.
Thank you Netgalley and Random House for letting me read this book.

This started off great. But I slowly lost interest about halfway through the book.

I love that the FMC, Aemyra, is so unapologetically her. She knows what she wants and she's not afraid to go after it.

Is there a word that would mean a lot worse than misogyny? Because that is the world of A Fate Forged in Fire. It hurt to read. It was brutal. It was unforgiving. And I would rally behind Aemyra anytime.

I wasn't particularly a fan of the romance. I can't believe I'm saying this but I would have been fine without it.

I don't have any strong feelings for this book. I don't exactly love it but I can't say I hate it either.

I've read tons of fantasy books with the same premise as this one. I guess that's why I'm giving this an average rating because nothing really stood out to me.

I don't think I've ever gotten so angry while reading and if I have, it's been a while. A Fate Forged in Fire drove me crazy. Initially the plot moved a bit too slowly for me but once I was in the thick of it, everything was just in constant motion. There's quite literally a bit of everything in this story: dragons, magic, religion, war, political intrigue, romance, betrayal, gorgeous world building, and so much more!

The amount of feminine rage in this story incited my own rage to the point that I had to stop and take breaks while reading except, those breaks didn't last very long. The story is so beautifully forged carefully crafted that I had to keep going. This is a story that consumes you and if you're not careful, you just might get burned. It is a must read and I cannot wait for everyone to read it when it becomes available on May 27, 2025!

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publish Group - Ballantine Delacorte Press for gifting me the opportunity to read this ARC! All opinions are my own

3.5 stars

This was a quick read and did a nice job with world building. There is a lot of death and violence and the misogyny runs DEEP with the enemy of the story. And the author is not afraid to sacrifice beloved characters (and kids) to keep the story moving and let you know the stakes.

I'm still trying to figure out where the true alliances are bc the story does just enough to question what is going on. I'm sure we will find out what ails are queen in the next installment.

It took me a while to fully get into the book. I think the world building and the difficult names made it a bit confusing in the beginning. But once I get into it, I couldn't put it down. I loved that the enemies to lovers trope felt actually like real enemies and was a slow burn. And the ending! I can't wait to see what happens.

Aemyra might seem like a simple healer and blacksmith, but she is hiding a secret... She is the first princess born to her people in centuries and so intended to be queen...if she can defeat the current royal family.

The book is incredibly fast paced, and Aemyra is an incredibly well rounded character, with strength and weaknesses. The connection she has with Prince Fiorean often feels like a sexually charged cat and mouse, and I really enjoyed the exploration of her friendships with the other female characters. I hope we will get to see more of Queen Katherine and Princess Margaret in the next book, to get more of a sense of their perspectives.

I really enjoyed the enemies to lovers dynamic, as well as Aemyra's coming of age experience and the influence of Scottish culture, and I plan to purchase the next book to finish the duology.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This one took me a while to get through, it picked up in the latter half but it dragggged in the first part. There were parts of this that I really loved, but for the majority unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. I didn’t love the fmc, some of the decisions she made drove me crazyyyy. The romance between her and the mmc lacked a lot for me. Some of the world building was a little hard for me to follow as well. I did enjoy the sibling relationship between Andarian and Aemyra a lot, loved that dynamic! And I’m always a fan of dragons. Although this wasn’t my favorite personally, I still am intrigued to see where it could go for future books.