Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book. A gorgeous 4 star read book from me. What an exciting plot, vivid storytelling and relatable, rich characters. I could put this book down – absolutely loved it.

A Fate Forged in Fire had me gripped from the opening line. This book is incredible. Exciting, tense and tender in perfect harmony and lyrically written. The spice is so well written and enhances the plot. The characters are engaging, complex and multifaceted. The relationships between characters feels real, and the friendships Aemyra has have you rooting for her all the more. Of course the dragons are a huge selling point for me and I love the way bonds between magic user and magical creature is depicted in this book.
Potential readers should be aware of scenes of sexual assault and child loss.

This is a very generic fantasy romance with dragon riders.

The FMC was insufferable and times and the MMC lacked personality.

I liked the world the author built and love how it centred a Scottish inspired world.

4.5⭐️.
“We are all villains in somebody’s story”

I’ve had mixed luck with fantasy romance recently but I loved this book!!

We follow Aemyra, a young woman living in an historically matriarchal society, despite not having had a true queen to rule them in the last century, which is being threatened by a group called the True Religion, who are looking to subjugate women and those with magic.

“No wonder so many like him, mostly men with no magic of their own, had eagerly converted to the True Religion. It was the only way they could exact control over others, and it was no secret that they despised powerful women.”

I really liked Aemyra as a main character. She is strong willed and passionate, at times a little reckless, but not in the over the top, irritating way that I find some romantasy FMCs are. She’s in her mid twenties, still finding her way and making some mistakes as she goes, but she also shows maturity, particularly as the book progresses, and comes across as someone who is genuinely trying to do the right thing for the right reasons.

“My true inheritance is a quick temper, the ability to forge steel and cure minor ailments. Beyond that, I keep nothing of what I have been give .”

I really liked her relationship with her twin brother, Adarian, as well as her relationship with Fiorean, the MMC. They had great chemistry and banter but it also felt like it went beyond surface level.

“When I met you, I suddenly realised I wasn’t fire at all. I was ice. Decades of living within this court had me crafting an unyielding, impenetrable facade that only your infuriating and downright excruciating presence has been able to crack.”

I wasn’t shocked by the ending but it was dramatic and I can’t wait for book 2!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc of this book.

Tropes

- Forced proximity
- Enemies to lovers
- Bonded dragons
- Dagger to throat
- Touch her and die

Summary

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

Spicy rating: 🌶️🌶️ 2/5

I’ve been waiting for this book for what feels like forever and when I finally had it I was scared I’d hyped it up too much in my head. I was right to be scared but for an entirely different reason… this book consumed me in the best way and took over my every waking thought. I loved it from the very first line!

It’s an unbelievable fantasy romance debut. McBride has a really immersive, theatrical and atmospheric writing style that made me forget I was reading (chapter 15 gave me literal chills!). There’s intricate and clever world building without the feeling of a massive info dump but also room to explore more in the coming books. I loved the Celtic inspired world and mythology.

The enemies to lovers romances was GIVING 👏 with edible banter and a slow burn to leave you longing and whilst the romance is more of the sub plot it is not lacking in the slightest. The main plot of Aemyra trying to reclaim her birth right in a crumbling matriarchy, that she’s been groomed and manipulated for her entire life was so intriguing and very Game of Thrones- esque (and by that I mean absolutely no one is safe!) and the twists kept me on my toes until 4am when I finished the book.

As well as the main romance relationship the other characters and relationships felt fleshed out and well rounded. In particular Aemyra and her twin brother Adarian, their relationship felt so real right down to the sibling squabble we get to see. Aemyra is a beautifully flawed FMC making her relatable in so many ways and I adore that she is openly Bi/Queer. She’s stubborn, obstinate and full of rage and watching her learn the art of war and court politics was really endearing!

There’s powerful messages of classism and feminism and honestly the feminist tones of this book made me proud to be a woman in so many ways. Including the awesome midwifery representation 🙌 (given that it’s my profession I was so glad to see it!!)

If my review hasn’t convinced you to read this book then also there’ badass freaking dragons 🐉 and bonding with mythical beasts. What more could you want?!

it was pretty good, but I was expecting more. I wanted the story to flow better, the pacing to be more consistent and the characters better fleshed out. while I’m a big fan of HOTD, this book draws too much inspiration from that world. you don’t even have to squint to figure out which character is the mirror of which character from HOTD.

first things first, the world-building is quite confusing. there is a ton of information being thrown at the reader right from the start, and it was difficult to keep up - especially since so many words are inspired from Scottish Gaelic. while the book does provide a helpful pronunciation guide, I think a glossary would have been deeply appreciated, too. the truth is the constant information that I had to keep up with in the beginning took me out of the story many times. however, it really is a beautiful, complex world.

next, let’s talk about the characters. the main character, Aemyra (Rhaenyra who?) simply doesn’t act like a 26-year-old woman. her immaturity and disrespect and lack of rational thought made her read like a 16-year-old. because of that, I found it really hard to agree with her inner justifications that she is “the rightful queen” and “the only one who can save her people”. she needed to step up more instead of allowing her father to make all of the important decisions. also, she was constantly contradicting herself - one second preaching about wanting women to be free from oppression, free to choose what they want, and the next judging women that weren’t warriors.

on the other hand, Fiorean fell kind of flat, except for a couple of moments when he actually showed basic decency and was immediately attacked by Aemyra (there’s a scene where he apologies to her for his brother’s atrocious behaviour, and she just lashes out at him, which was a very odd reaction to have. very superficial “hate” for the sake of marketing this as enemies-to-lovers). basically, Fiorean needed more room to grow as a character.

all in all, there was a lot of potential here, but once I started seeing all the similarities with HOTD, I couldn’t enjoy this book as much.

4.5 stars. Full review pending! Loved it. Thank you for the opportunity to read this ahead of release!