Blessed by Saint Brigid and other female goddesses, there are three known dragons left in existence. The premise is that Aemyra is the queen who was promised but has to take her throne by force.

This book was a bit infuriating and frustrating. It moves along at a typical pace. Not sure why this girl thinks she deserves to be queen just out of nowhere. Some obvious things happen to the main character since she is a woman - attempted rape, thinking she is weak. On the one hand we are supposed to think she is strong and well trained, but there is nothing to back this up. says she will burn them to the ground or kill them but then she does something stupid and puts herself in harms way and gets bested easily over and over.

That is most of the book - making wrong choices out of nowhere and it going badly. The book ends with the obvious and there will at least be a sequel. I did enjoy the fire goddess being so present in the book but that is the extent.

Thank you Random House for the arc!

DNF
I'm sorry but the fmc is insufferable and annoying. She spends most of her time either ranting or thinking about how amazing she is and how she deserves everything or she blabs out loud to others about how they suck.

And honestly, I'm over the whole "I'm a strong FMC because men underestimate me and think I'm weak".

I was so excited for this book and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT!! Oh my gosh, I knew it would be good but this checked every box for what I love in a book. I’m excited for the rest of the series and will continue to read more from Hazel.

The premise was promising.
I love a good dragon book but right off at the start I could see how restless and arrogant the main heroine was. She was herald as the queen and savior while she lives hidden with a blacksmith family.

When she fails to bond and has to flee she questions herself if she is ready to be queen. Along the journey, what starts out to be a strong start ends in convoluted mix emotions and quick trope pitfalls

The characters felt so flat and I did not feel like rooting for the main heroine. This story feels like it is riding the Fourth Wing/Romantasy Wave.

This was an interesting story. I love the empowerment of women and I hate what the True Religion stand for. Aemyra’s strength is admirable and I wish I could be like her in ways. She was the best character. I wish we got more or her brother.

I’m not too sure if it was the writing, editing or pacing, but a lot of the emotional moments did not get me. I felt bad for Aemyra, but I did not feel an emotional connection to these characters. Fiorian can choke on rocks for all I care.

I wish I could’ve connected more because I feel like this would have hit SO MUCH harder if I was connected.

Good story!

Thank you Random House Publishing for gifting me this e-arc. All opinions are my own genuine thoughts.

3.5 stars A Fate Forged in Fire is a Celtic-inspired romantasy filled with dragons, fire magic, and a ton of political intrigue. Overall, I had some mixed feelings about the story. I really liked the concept of a blacksmith-turned-queen in a world shaped by matriarchal legacy and male-driven corruption. It's such an intriguing premise! And the setting is rich with mythology and lore, which is great. However, some of the world-building was too much at once and bordered on info-dumping at times.

Aemyra is a determined and passionate heroine, and while she didn’t always make the smartest choices, her convictions were admirable. She's bold and cocky, and she has a sense of entitlement that is a bit off-putting, if understandable. I like how she grows and changes over the course of the story and how she is humbled a bit. Other characters were interesting and well-developed, and the dragons were a major highlight!

Though I enjoyed the plot, the pacing felt uneven to me. It was rushed in parts where I wanted more development, especially with character motivations and the romance. I enjoyed the love story between Aemyra and Fiorean, but their relationship could’ve been fleshed out a bit more. Sometimes, their conversations and the chemistry between them felt a bit forced, and other times, it was super swoon-worthy. That being said, it definitely has enemies-to-lovers, opposites attract vibes, which I loved.

I think readers who enjoy a strong heroine, a magical world in political unrest, and a slow-burning romance will enjoy this romantasy. It’s an interesting start to the Bonded to Beasts duology, and after that cliffhanger, I’m curious to see what happens next. Plus, the dragons!!! I'll stick to my belief that you can't go wrong with dragons. lol

I received a free copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Delacorte Press; all opinions expressed are exclusively my own.

A dark political fantasy with dragons and romance! I find the contrivance pushing the two main characters apart a little rough; it's essentially external events that it feels either one could have easily explained, but it's not unbelievable by any stretch. Definitely will need a sequel, though I found the place the story left off as not too much of a cliffhanger.

For sensitive readers, this story has a list of content warnings in the beginning that are well described, but for those who want an idea ahead of time: graphic violence, death, trauma, betrayal, loss mental faculties/individual autonomy, parental abuse/neglect, attempted forced sterilization, romance, and sexuality.

I loved it! the world building was a little hard at first but you get the hang of it! the fmc is very stubborn but stays true to herself! the mmc and enemy to lovers trope was 10/10! also obsessed with the dragons! can’t wait to see more of this world!

3.5⭐️ rounded up to 4⭐️

Dragons, magic, hidden queen, fantasy, romance and more! There is so much going on in this book that you can get easily lost. The choice of words for some descriptions seems like they were selected from a thesaurus, which made it hard to follow the story vs words we use in our natural language. Oftentimes characters were name dropped with no descriptions, it took a good quarter of the book to figure out who some of the main characters were and their importance. There almost seemed to be too many characters. I did enjoy how strong the fmc was when faced with difficult times that worked again women, even if she came off winey and child-like at times. I do which there was a little more tension and build up in the romance, it almost felt Stockholm syndrome like. I am extremely interested to see what happens next!

Definitely one to add to your TBR! This was fabulous tale of treachery, danger and romance that weaves into your soul and won't let go. It was impossible to put down and I was thrilled entirely throughout!

Let me just start this by saying, I loved Aemyra, I loved her anger, her rage and every bitter part about her.
I’m Nesta’s biggest fan, so I love me a woman who is angry with the world. ♥️🔥

This book felt like game of thrones x house of the dragon for me and I’ve not felt that vibe in a book before, it was fantastic. The Celtic lore made it very unique still!

The world building of this was a little hard for me to get into for a while, simply because I felt like there should’ve been a prequel about Aemyra’s up bringing, I have a lot of questions and there’s stuff id have loved to have read about, especially with her family and how she was trained etc. I still really enjoyed the world building, it felt very complex and I felt like the magic system was explained well and I LOVED the fire magic so much.

There were parts of this book that were really difficult to read, the ‘faith’ that are trying to take over and turn the people against the magic welders/bonded who worship the goddess to their awful, deeply misogynistic and cruel faith. They think women shouldn’t rule and treat women as wombs and like they should have less rights than men. This makes Aemyra seethe every time she comes across them, rightly so. I advise checking the trigger warnings because there was some awful violence in this book, I was speed reading a few of the scenes because it was hard to swallow, a little like the handmaids tail. But that’s not me saying it was bad writing, it was brilliant, but raw and painful.

The enemies to lovers is TRUE enemies to lovers, I really don’t know if I even like the MMC and certainly only did for a short while. In my opinion, he needed to get a clue sooner, I’m hoping we get some world ending romance in the next book in the duology because the snippets that were in this book were beautiful, I just needed a little more on that side of things. The spice was actually very hot but I wanted more romance. This man does cry though, a few times, and god that made me weaker for him.

So how can I be fire? If the only thing that makes me burn… is you’
‘You are a flame given flesh aemyra’

The fast pace and sense of dire need to right the wrongs of men afraid of power had me flying through this book. I greatly appreciated the portrayal of the age old consequences of men allowing fear of magic and female power to turn them into oppressive tyrants willing to do despicable things to innocent people in the name of ‘the one true God’. An age old story of the evils of men against women, Hazel McBride did a good job with the politics and power plays in this world facing religious zealotry. However, it did seem that the bond between rider and dragon was not adequately explored and to the great detriment of connecting with character and mission. It was as though an important part of the story was edited out and the character development suffered as a result. I do plan to read book two in the hopes that it will deepen the world and bring something more to the table.

A Fate Forged in Fire by Hazel McBride is a Celtic-inspired romantic fantasy full of political intrigue, war, elemental magic, and dragons. Overall a gripping story, however the first part of the book is confusing until the world-building develops. I found myself becoming more invested as the story progressed and do plan to read the second in the duology when it comes out. This book leans more towards fantasy readers rather than romantasy.

"I couldn’t put this book down! The story was gripping, the characters felt real, and every chapter pulled me deeper. Totally worth the read!"

I really enjoyed this book. While it did start off a bit slow, which is fairly typical for a fantasy series, once the initial world building was set, I found that the political intrigue really drew me in. I liked watching Aemyra mature and grow from an overconfident girl into the beginning of a great ruler. The romance was a true enemies to lovers, slow burn and I'll be interested to see how things progress in the next book. The dragons are, of course, the cherry on top. Overall, it was a very good read and I'll definitely continue with the series.

It was a slow and confusing start with the world building but once I started to understand the world I just couldn’t put it down. I love the mfc and her journey. I also LOVED the enemies to lovers trope and how the author developed it. I definitely did not see the ending coming and can’t wait for the next book in this story!

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

I’m torn on how I feel about this one. While I was excited to dive into a story with dragons, magic, and the FMC’s journey to claim her throne, a few things kept it from being a 5-star read for me.

Aemyra, the FMC, had great potential as a fire-wielding badass, but her rash decisions often felt out of character, and it was frustrating to see her constantly falling into traps. Also, the romance could’ve been stronger. There was some spice, but I was hoping for a more emotional connection, which I think was affected by the pacing. The pace was fine for world-building, but the enemies-to-lovers slow burn between Aemyra and Fiorean felt rushed, making it hard to fully feel the tension.

That being said, I still enjoyed the banter and some of the moments between the fmc and mmc, particularly after one of the more heavier scenes toward the end (please check CWs). I also loved the Celtic-inspired setting—learning about the goddesses and the world was a highlight for me. And of course, I can’t forget about the dragons!

Overall, despite the critiques, I was hooked by the political intrigue and can’t wait to see what happens with Aemyra, Fiorean, and the people of Tìr Teine.

What to Expect:
✅ bi rep 🏳️‍🌈
✅ enemies to lovers
✅ elemental magic
✅ dragons 🐉
✅ a bit of 🔪 play

A huge thank you to the author, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest and independent review.

I've read about three dragon-related book in a row now, and I think A FATE FORGED IN FIRE might be the best of them. A refreshingly adept read from the get-go, McBride displays a good command of storytelling that held me captive until the end. I also loved the Celtic twist on dragons that felt more authentic and interesting that some iterations of Celtic mythos I've read. Chock-full of tropes I like, I felt they were interwoven into the story in a manner that was natural instead of ticking marketing boxes (which, if I'm being honest, is every second book billed as Romantasy.) The story follows Aemyra, a whip-smart protagonist I enjoyed. A slow-burn and a romance to remember, I recommend this book for anyone looking for a solid romantasy.

This story straight-up owns my soul now. I went in expecting a fun fantasy escape and came out emotionally wrecked (in the best way). From page one, the energy was unhinged in the best way — court politics, betrayal, sexual tension so thick you could slice it, and two main characters who radiate “touch her and die” energy without ever saying it out loud.

The FMC Aemyra is fierce without being obnoxious, smart without being perfect, and I loved watching her take back power piece by piece. And don’t even get me started on Fiorean— he’s morally grey, sharp-tongued, secretly soft, and just the right amount of dangerous. Their chemistry? Top tier slow burn with just enough angst to ruin your sleep schedule.

Also, the writing? Sharp. The pacing? Zero drag. The plot? Had me on edge every time I thought I had it figured out. And the ending?? Ma’am. That was a declaration of war on my sanity. I need the sequel like yesterday. If you’re into power struggles, spicy tension, and characters who are beautifully, gloriously messy — read this immediately.

A Fate Forged in Fire by Hazel McBride is out May 27th, 2025! A big thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for this advanced digital copy!

Rating: 4⭐️ 1.5🌶️
Tropes: Elemental Magic, Matriarchal, Enemies to Lovers, Dragons, Oppressive Rule/Religion, Forced Proximity, War, Hidden Identity.

Thoughts 💭: The book dove right in. Aemyra is a headstrong FMC living under a mad king’s rule, fighting against an intense religious organization, and will do whatever it takes to reach her lifelong goals. We learn very early on that there’s more to her than there seems, and a wild and emotional adventure ensues. This book was an absolute rollercoaster, and after that ending… I can’t wait for book two in the duology.