This book took me a little while to get into, but when I did, it did not disappoint! I loved the rich Celtic-inspired history, the dragons, the magic system, and the fact our MMC is based on Aemond Targaryen from House of the Dragon. Speaking of which, this is perfect for you if you're a fan of Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon.

It has an amazing enemies to lovers romance (and lots of dagger to throat scenes!), political intrigue, and matriarchal lore. This book is also for you if you're an ATWTMVTVFTV fan and want to yell "fuck the patriarchy". Our FMC has the most beautiful arc, and she is so powerful and witty.

Overall, an amazing book for the girlies who love dragons, witty banter, slow burn, cocky MMCs, and forgotten heirs.

Enemies to lovers
Dragons
Powerful FMC
Magic
Political intrigue

I devoured this book in the space of a few days. The action starts in the first few pages and does not let up. I loved how the FMC was flawed as well as being strong and independent. She was learning and developing through out the book. I loved the dragons but want more of them in future books. The magic systems was interesting and its link to the four different areas. I was in tears at times and laughing at the banter at others.

The political machinations were complex and kept me guessing throughout.

A Fate Forged In Fire is a fantasy novel with Scottish roots and beautiful worldbuilding. The novel follows the Princess Aemyra, who rises from the shadows to fight for her rightful place on her clan’s throne. She faces opposition from the current ruling family, dragons, a complicated relationship with her father, and the threat of an oppressive religious order. I enjoyed the matriarchal nature of the clan; they worship Goddesses, and all of their most important historical figures were Queens. The religious order, the Chosen, have a disdain for the clan’s magic and believe that women ought to be subservient to their husbands. They team up with the ruling family to fight Aemyra, and commit horrific acts against her, but this only demonstrates the strength and dignity of our heroine. Her character development, with its romantic complications, takes the reader with her. The novel ends in a way that left me desperate for a sequel. All in all, this is a fantastic fantasy book, with a romantic edge that does not take away from its political intrigue.

🐉🔥 A Fate Forged in Fire ARC Review 🔥🐉

This was a debut? Wow! I was absolutely blown away by the writing as well as how easily it flowed. I sometimes struggle with character names in complex fantasies but each character was unique and interesting enough that I could follow it easily 👏🏻

The story was told in such a digestible way that when I put it down and came back to it the following day I could pick up where I left off without having to give myself a recap or go back a few pages. Overall I've given it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25 stars!

I really liked Fiorean, especially the "Get your filthy hands off my wife!" scene as I love a protective and possessive MMC! 🥵

Our FMC Aemyra was a strong badass character, although a little too trusting of her father straight away considering he wasn't in her life until recently in the book.

If you love tropes like arranged marriage, forced proximity, enemies to lovers and a medium burn romance then you will enjoy this one too. ⚔️

I'm so glad I ordered the Goldsboro special edition because this book deserves all the special editions. I can't wait to see what the next book has in store, I want more dragons, more tension and more feminine rage!

⚠️ I recommend reading the content warnings because there's a lot of things that happen, specifically one thing in the last third which could trigger some people. ⚠️

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc of this one 🫶🏻

I can definitely see this book being a hit with some people but unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me. I found the storyline very confusing and hard to follow at first. I found the fmc a bit unlikable from the start.

Right—someone hand me a blade and a dragon 'cause I’m ready to burn down the patriarchy with Aemyra at my side, okay? This book was a whole fever dream of fire, rage, and tension so thick I could barely breathe. It gave me Fourth Wing spice, House of the Dragon politics, and a heroine who would stab you and look hot doing it. ✨

We’ve got:
⚔️ Stabby, bi-furious blacksmith FMC
🐉 Dragon bonds and matriarchal lore
👑 Political chaos
💥 Enemies to lovers (the real dagger to throat kind)
🔥 And Fiorean. Just... Fiorean. That man is fire and frost.

Let’s start with Aemyra, who is my Roman Empire now. Like, she LIT UP every scene she was in—literally and figuratively. That mouth on her? She had the sharpest comebacks and zero time for men’s bullshit, especially the creepy priesthood. The way she takes down the patriarchy with a smirk on her lips and fire in her veins?? I was howling. Like when she said:
"Why should my womb be any concern of yours when that pendant around your neck has clearly replaced your cock?"
😭 I SCREAMED. BABE, SAVAGE.. That priest didn’t know whether to cry or combust. And she meant every word.

This world? Celtic myth-inspired magic, a deeply messed-up kingdom run by men obsessed with control, and dragons slowly fading away. But here comes Aemyra, BLESSED by the goddess Brigid, ready to reclaim what’s hers and set everything ablaze.
“We are the light.”
Ugh. Iconic.

Enter Fiorean, the emotionally constipated dragon prince who hides all his feelings behind layers of icy arrogance. That man BROODED so hard I thought he was going to melt from the inside out. But whew—when the tension snapped, it SNAPPED.
"You are flame given flesh, Aemyra."
"You are mine."
I was feral. FERAL. These two went from loathing to longing in the slowest burn known to man, and when it finally ignited?
“Fuck gentle.”
OH. Okay then. 👀

And don’t get me started on the “touch her and die” energy Fiorean brought to the table:
"Unhand my wife, or lose it."
"If anyone else here dares to lay even a finger on my wife, you will also lose your hand."
"When my wife is wounded, I will care for her."
Like HELLOOOO possessive husband trope, I missed you 😭💍
The marriage of convenience setup? Sizzling. The cupboard scene? Legendary...

💣 THE SCENE THAT BROKE ME:
IYKYK...It was horrifying, gut-wrenching, and brilliantly written. When Fiorean storms in screaming:
"Get your filthy hands off my wife!"
and then later:
"They will all die for what they have done to my wife."
I was SOBBING. Screaming. Cheering. All at once. That protective rage? That deep respect?? That partnership between them?? I was feral.

And Aemyra, bloodstained but unbowed, whispering:
"I am the light. I will shine."
Absolute goddess energy. I need a moment.

✨Her arc from rage to resilience was EVERYTHING.✨
________________________________________
Why it’s not a full 5 stars:

Look, I devoured this, but one little thing held me back:
• The fact I had to Google every second word at the beginning to try to figure out how it was pronounced. This really detracted from the entire reading experience, especially as some of the words were merely derived from Scottish Gaelic, so weren’t to be found in the online dictionary. I realise this is a "me" problem;. I just hate getting things wrong, and I want to know I'm pronouncing things correctly.

BUT that didn’t stop me from highlighting like 50 quotes and screaming “YESSSSSS QUEEN” every time Aemyra put some misogynist in his place 😌🔥
"There is only one room in which I take orders from you, dear husband, and it is not this one."
MOTHER.

✨ FAVOURITE SASSY MOMENTS ✨
• "Not into knife play. Noted."

• "Although if that was an indication of how you fuck, perhaps I’ve changed my mind."

• "You're wrong."
"What?"
"You definitely know how to ride." (Fiorean, you cheeky bastard)
________________________________________
✨ Final thoughts:

This was a bold, sexy, rage-fuelled ride full of girl power, magic, and dragons. If you're here for slow burn, badass women, and enemies-to-lovers that actually hurt in the best way, A Fate Forged in Fire will set your soul alight. Aemyra is one of the best female leads I’ve read in a WHILE, and Fiorean grew on me like ivy on stone. And that ending?? 👀 No spoilers but let’s just say... dragons aren’t the only ones capable of burning things down. I need book 2 like I need air.

Thank you so much to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was just fine. A solid 3 stars, nothing extraordinary though.

It certainly started off strong! I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know how the coup would go. The characters were intriguing, I liked the setting and the world, the dragons too - the idea of bonding was great, and I found this pretty exciting.

But truly, the more I kept reading, the less fun I had. The reasoning and motivations behind some plot points and decisions were so incredibly weak and pointless.

I don't understand how and why the royal family decided to let the Chosen priests in. It makes zero sense to align themselves with with those who hate them for their power. I genuinely cannot comprehend the reasoning behind this plot point.

Now, about Aemyra. She's certainly entitled, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but she was constantly hammering on about how she's the rightful Queen by birth, whilst doing nothing productive to achieve taking the throne. The series of questionable decisions made had me genuinely flabbergasted. I imagine that the idea here was to create a strong, no nonsense character, but I can't say it had the desired effect overall.

But.
The romance was good.
The enemies to lovers dynamic was spot on, there were so many incredible moments between between the main characters, including slowly developing reluctant banter, one stitching up the wounds of the other, a few gorgeous "my wife" moments too, including an "unhand my wife or you will lose your hand" situation. I probably could have done without the spice here though, I wasn't really the biggest fan of the way this was written.

I'm not really sure what to say about the ending. It was very rushed, and not exactly surprising. The set up for the next book is so obvious, it's clear what's going to happen, especially with the dragons.

PLEASE check out the trigger warnings though. This book is so heavy on misogyny, religion and generally treating women like lesser beings (the main character obviously doesn't like this). There is a scene towards the end, about 80% in, which features an attempt at forced sterilisation. I think it's important to be aware of this.

So, a solid romantasy, but mostly the sort where you don't engage your brain too much and don't question the reasons behind pretty much everything, otherwise it all unravels considerably.

4⭐

Thank you Hazel McBride and Ballantine Books for the ARC.

𝑻𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒂 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒖𝒑𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎—𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏-𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔—𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒛𝒛𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑪𝒆𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒄-𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒖𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚.

A Fate Forged in Fire is set in an immersive Celtic-Inspired world where purity culture is trying to overtake the Matriarchal society. The world-building is immersive and descriptive.

The depiction of feminine rage had me hooked to continue reading. I am not a fan of the love interest at all. I find him unconventional and vehemently dislike him and his action which made feel almost unaffected by that ending.

The FMC, Aemyra, is not everyone's cup of tea but I relate to her actions and decisions. She's arrogant and not docile and doable, which made me like her more. She's willing to risk her life to provide a safe place for her people.

The familial ties, grief and complex religious overtaking is explored very well. I felt that the pacing was a bit off --- fast in some places but nevertheless, it was a very engaging read. The complexity of family ties was very well shown and her relationship with her father made me cry at times with the complexity of the situation.

The True Religion trying to take over felt like history repeating itself in the form of a fictional story. I was deeply infuriated with the actions of this 'religion' which was born out of spite and hate, its end goal was eradicating Matriarchy and remotely any power women held.

Overall, I would recommend this to readers who love fire-wielding magic users, enemies to lovers, dragons, and female empowerment. I would love to read the next installment!

3.75 stars.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book before release date.
This is for the fans of games of thrones and house of dragon. Lots of drama, politics and dragons. Took me a while to get hooked but loved the romance aspect. Cliffhanger ending need to know more

4.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the early copy of this wonderful fantasy book of a new series!! I love reading authors debut novels and this one was gripping from the very first page. I loved the characters in this book and I can't wait to see what happens in the next one when it gets released!

Thank you to Netgalley and Dialogue Publishing (Renegade Books) for an ARC of 🔥 A Fate Forged by Fire by Hazel McBride 🔥

My honest rating: 3.75 ⭐️

Let me start this review by asking you a question... WHO RUN THE WORLD? GIRLS 🙋🏼‍♀️

AFFIF is set in the world of Erisocia, a society that was once built to be ruled by the matriarchy, however there hasn't been a female heir in centuries. I instantly loved this concept and the way the story drew inspiration/translations from Gaelic culture. I will say that it did take me a minute to get into, it wasn't until the 30%-40% mark where I started to feel captivated, so bare with the world-building in the beginning as it is a lot of information to take in (it's worth it!)

Going into this blind, I was pleasantly surprised, we have a fiery, stabby and fierce FMC Aemyra, plenty of (true) enemies to lovers, forced proximity (and marriage - my favourite) and DRAGONS!! 🐉 although I wish we had more. As soon as we were introduced to our MMC, Prince ''my wife'' Fiorean I was sold - plenty of dagger at throat scenes, angst and tension. And a particular dagger 🌶️ scene which was 😮‍💨😮‍💨

The reason why I haven't rated this higher is simply because I wish it was longer!! I needed more of Fiorean and Aemyra, more of Adarian, more dragons. To add just a tad bit more depth to the character development and overall plot. At times, it also felt slightly frustrating that Aemyra's plans just kept getting sabotaged and nothing seemed to be going right for her. And the cliffhanger, that HURT.

Please check trigger warnings as this book does explore important topics that some may find triggering!

I will definitely be returning to this series and I'm eagerly anticipating book 2 🐉🔥🗡️

I enjoyed this book. The stoy really captured my attention, I loved the dragons and the tension between the two main characters was off the charts. I highly recommend this story!

A Fate Forged in Fire is an immersive and engaging read. I absolutely loved the Celtic lore, political intrigue and magic system. I also loved the dragons, how they are bonded and the sheer powerhouses they are. Another powerhouse is the FMC, she is strong minded and doesn’t shy away at all. The world-building is vivid and transporting. The plot is interesting, there is plenty of action! The romantic plot is very well woven in, doesn’t take from the main plot and is a great enemies to lovers. If you like high stakes, dragons and politics then this is a fantasy for you. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

2.5
“A Fate Forged in Fire” has a very strong opening line and a fine enough last 20%.
To get to the (more or less) good part, you do have to work through all the rest before and, to be honest, I don’t even know if it’s worth it.

Ngl, the urge to DNF was strong and very early on in the book (and I’m talking like 50 pages in). But I kept going, because looking at the mostly very positive reviews, I was hoping something would catch my attention and I would find myself invested. That moment never came.
There was one scene & the aftermath of it at almost the end of the book, which I thought was really great! But this is as far as my excitement for the book goes.

“Dragons & dragon bonding, fire magic, matrichary, enemies to lovers, scottish mythology, feminine rage” are only a couple of tropes the book is marketed with and it does sound very fun. It’s not that you can’t find any of those things in the book, but I also can’t say that the author delivered these tropes/plot lines to their full potential.
For example the matriarchy part. The kingdom used to be a matriarchy but over the course of this book (and the 100 years before) it’s not and Aemyra telling everyone she’s the queen doesn't really count as matriarchy in my opinion, though this might be something that will get further explored in the sequel and other books in the series.

I didn’t really care about any of the characters. The only noticeable personality trait of Aemyra was that she certainly never got tired of telling herself, the people around her, the reader and really anyone who would listen, that she *is* the queen and what she will do once she is the one sitting on the throne. Good for her! Oh, and her red hair.

The romance was whatever. The chemistry between Aemyra and Fiorean? Wasn’t there, couldn’t see it.
They did have some good arguments though, can’t deny that.

The writing itself was fine, I guess. I think my main issue was that a lot of the world, people and pacing and naturally the book itself felt really chaotic in every sense of the word.
There were suddenly a lot of names and I felt like I was supposed to know who they were but I didn’t? Who is part of what clan, who is fighting whom? No idea.
Some of the scenes, mainly in the first half, were choppy and unclear. In one moment Aemyra was a blacksmith’s daughter and in the next there was a dead king, war and she tried to claim her throne? How exactly did we get here? Who knows.
In another scene she was mid-fight seeing the ship she was supposed to be on sailing away but then in the next chapter she is very much on that ship discussing strategies?

There is a map and a pronunciation guide in the very beginning and I do think both, but probably the guide more than the map, should be kept on hand while reading.

I can see people enjoying this, though. The dragons were somewhat fun.
I don’t see myself reading the sequel, but I’ll maybe try the duology after this one/next door kingdom.

Love love loved the concept, however for it felt lacking and the writing just did not draw me in the way I wanted it to.

While this book has a really interesting concept and great characters, unfortunately this did not hit the mark for me. While I am positive this book will be such an excellent read for many people, i found the world-building quite hard to get into as well as the overall plot. Most likely a consequence of me reading a lot of heavy fantasy books back to back, I’m hoping I can pick this one back up later!

SPOILERS!!!

What I loved: the Scottish/Celtic undertones running through the book. Being Scottish myself, this was one of the reasons I requested this book, and it didn't disappoint. I loved how strong and non-bullshit Aemyra is, although watching her torture was tough (I would have killed Nairn myself!). Terrea is also a favourite, I enjoy their sense of bonding in comparison to other dragon/rider representations. The spice was very enjoyable too 🔥❤️

What I didn't love: the cliffhanger, but that's to be expected!! Not sure how Fiorean is ever going to redeem himself (although I really hope he does!).

Do you ever want a book to just continue forever because you’re not ready for it to end?
This is A Fate Forged In Fire.
It was everything I wanted it to be and more.

When Hazel described the MMC as Aemond coded she did not lie. I was absolutely obsessed with Fiorean’s character. The slow unraveling, the burning passion, the sassy remarks, the family loyalty. All of it was 10/10. I NEED to be inside his head so badly. I especially loved that he followed through on his “touch her and lose a hand” threats.

Aemyra was everything. The rage was written so well. I was ready to burn the world down with her. I especially loved the bonding moment. The fact she has to sacrifice so much to eventually, hopefully, gain more. I especially loved that she was trained in swordsmanship and languages but still had vulnerable moments and wasn’t an impossible heroine. She had to fight, kicking, screaming and clawing at eyes to gain an inch in the war.

I loved the pacing of the story so much. It genuinely could have gone on forever and I wouldn’t have cared. There was subtle sprinklings of world building rather than an information dump which make it so incredibly digestible in a way some fantasy novels can only hope to achieve.

I’ve already preordered copies for myself and my friends so I have someone to talk to about this as soon as possible.

Thank you so much to Dialogue publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. This is my honest opinion

This was a compelling mix of heat and heart. The chemistry between the lead characters is intense, and the fast-paced plot keeps you engaged from start to finish. I think a few scenes could have used a bit more depth but the overall story is gripping and emotionally satisfying.

Fantastic gripping read full of magic. A great enemies to lovers fantasy. Love the strong fmc. Look forward to more.