A Fate Forged in Fire is thrilling, action packed and a complex enemies to lovers fantasy. I liked the lore, the world building and the eventual change of heart between Aemyra and Florian. Some scenes were difficult to read due to violence and fear, but, overall I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to see what happens next. Thank you to the author,, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this.

Hazel McBride delivers a fast-paced, action-packed fantasy in A Fate Forged in Fire, setting the stage for what could be an epic series. The story follows Aemyra, who has been raised with the certainty that she will be queen—a belief that has given her a sense of confidence, even arrogance. She fully expects a fairytale ending, assuming she’ll effortlessly restore the matriarchy to power, only to face the harsh reality that it won’t be so simple. While she’s clearly a strong FMC, her true test is still to come in the next book.

The novel is packed with action from start to finish—there isn’t a dull moment. I particularly enjoyed the enemies-to-lovers romance, which brings all the tension, chemistry, and banter you could ask for. And speaking of banter, Aemyra’s one-liners had me actually laughing out loud. Her sharp wit and sarcasm make her even more fun to follow, especially in the more intense moments. My only complaint? We need more dragons!

The use of Scottish Gaelic adds depth to the world-building, though I’ll admit that some words were tricky at first. I found myself flipping back to the pronunciation guide a lot, but I’d encourage readers to stick with it—it gets easier. I also think a family tree at the start of the book would have been helpful, as keeping track of all the family relationships was confusing at times.

Overall, I’d rate A Fate Forged in Fire 4 out of 5 stars. It’s a strong start, but there’s still room for character growth and development. I’m excited to see how Aemyra evolves and where the story goes next.

Fire, goddesses, dragons and a matriarchy. This book was very fun to read!

We follow bratty and mouthy Aemyra as she is more than just a healer and a blacksmith. Did I say she's bratty? She sure is and it took me a bit to dial into it instead of getting annoyed by it. It's female rage and the fact I found her annoying at first actually shows the ingrained misogyny in me. This might be a thing that will stop others from reading but I highly recommend you keep going. If only for one of the hottest and most swoon worthy declarations of love. I was clutching my proverbial pearls in absolute admiration when I read that part. Enjoyed how ingrained the goddesses were in the story. With simple quick prayers but also signs of which goddess was being represented. Felt very natural.

Really enjoyed the ending of the book and that very nice last line of the book, gorgeous!

Personally I'd like a big more world building and more political intrigue, but I know this is not the hook the writer went for. So I turned off that part of my brain and just went with the flow. I'd love to know more about the other parts of the world but I understood the writer is working on the next duology set in another territory of Erisocia. So I am looking forward to the second part of this duology and the next duologies Hazel McBride has planned!
Loved that a map was added, I kept going back to it to see here we were. Loved the fact there was a name and pronunciation list added, but can highly recommend keeping a Scottish Gealic translator nearby for the first few words you encounter.

For those wanting more fantasy and dragons but feel like Game of Thrones itself is too daunting, enjoyed Throne of Glass, or Fourth Wing this book is for you (Personally I'd really disliked Fourth Wing and would definitely recommend A Fate Forged in Fire to my friends.)

Do mind the trigger warnings as they are not to be taken lightly!!

Wow this book is amazing! The dragons, the magic, the insane chemistry between the MCs, I was completely hooked right from page one and could not read fast enough. The cliffhanger ending was insane and I have no idea how I will contain my excitement as we wait for the sequel

I DNF'd this book about 60% in.

Unfortunately I did not find any of the characters appealing and the sheer level of info dumping about the world left me feeling like somone was toting facts from a wiki page rather than reading a novel.

The men were vile, the abuse seemed unnecissarily harsh and I can see why fans of GOT would like this as it left me with the same bad taste in my mouth. If you are a fan of GOT or Furyborn, then this may be for you, but for me I just could not get past how revolting I found nearly every character, and the FMC was just an empty vehicle to abuse to further the story in my opinion.

I like the concept but I just cannot deal with the way it is written.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for approving me to read this, I’m rating it 5 stars.

Aemyra was an incredible FMC, her feminine rage was everything. Aemyra was not a perfect character, she showed a lot of growth during this story, she appeared quite headstrong at first but along the way learned when to hold fire and when to go all guns blazing.

This story will hurt, the corruption of religion used to support the hierarchy of men above women is atrocious. Check your trigger warnings as the story has abuse, violence and other dark contents.

My heart broke many a time during this book, magic and dragons mixed with romance and political intrigue created an environment for betrayal, violence and loss.

The MMC in this book almost had me and now quite frankly I wouldn’t be mad if Aemyra followed through on her promises. There is some spice in this book and romance, this is true enemies to lovers and is done very well. I’m not sure what book 2 will hold for our FMC and MMC but as long as she makes him beg then I’m here for it.

Can’t wait to continue this series, I’m captivated.

Hazel McBride does a fantastic job building a world that feels immersive, with Celtic-inspired magic, dragons, and political intrigue. Aemyra is a strong protagonist, and I loved her fire magic and determination to reclaim her throne. The dynamic between her and Fiorean kept me hooked—starting as enemies and slowly shifting into something more complex.

That said, the pacing was a little uneven for me. The beginning had a lot of world-building, which, while interesting, felt a bit heavy at times. Also, Aemyra’s impulsiveness frustrated me on occasion. But by the end, I was completely invested, and that cliffhanger? I need the next book ASAP!

If you enjoy strong heroines, slow-burn romances, and dragons, this one’s definitely worth reading!

Thankyou NetGalley & Dialogue Books for this arc copy for my honest review.

I gave this book 3 stars purely for the dragons and the minor world building, the fast pace at the start & throughout had me slightly confused on the character development and the main bulk of the book. The FMC is a strong female character however I felt it lacked personality at some parts and proven her to be self absorbed. I would have liked for depth of the characters in the book and to have more input of the dragons and their mating. It is fast paced book

I absolutely adored this book. It was a little slow to start with but as soon as it got going, I ATE it up!
The book gives Game Of Thrones/House Of Dragon and is just an overall perfect enemies to lovers, romantasy read.
I loved Aemyra. She’s everything you need in a FMC.
There’s a lot to take in with the world building and magic system but I found myself completely immersed. The Celtic lore added in was perfection and kept me hooked from cover to cover.

I highly recommend this book and cannot wait for the second!

Thank you to NetGalley & Dialogue books for the Arc ✨

Review to be posted to Fable, Instagram & Amazon.

I should have loved this book, it has everything I like in a book but I feel like there's just something missing. The storyline is great, slightly predictable at times, but really good. I felt like the characters needed more work? They would be set up to be one thing but almost seemed to break from it regularly. The world building was just okay. I would have liked some more background story, things seemed to be mentioned but not explained. It sounds like I didn't like it, but I did! I just wanted more from it.

Tropes include:
- Enemies to lovers
- Forced marriage/ proximity
- Dragons
- Badass FMC
- Feminine rage

And most of the above were just okay, not particularly great which is a shame because they are some great tropes for a romantasy. The enemies to lovers felt forced, the dragons were good but I wanted more of them. Our FMC was a badass, but she definitely made some questionable decisions. The feminine rage was good and appreciated. I liked the women in power aspect. The forced marriage was quick but enjoyable. The forced proximity is always my favourite thing but the characters seemed to switch pretty quickly to actually liking each other.

Huge thank you to Netgalley, Dialogue Books and Hazel McBride for the e-ARC. I really appreciate the opportunity to read this before publication.

I liked the premise of this one. But for me, it felt a bit too slow. I started to enjoy the book from around the 60% mark but found myself wondering whether I should just DNF at many points before I started to enjoy it.

I liked the dragons and the idea that bonding with them and other fire creatures could help to increase the magic of the dùileach. And the celtic language and pronunciations really added to this story even though I probably pronounced most of it wrong!

I would read the next instalment in the series to see where this story leads and look forward to seeing where Aemyra's story will go.

Thanks to the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book via Netgalley.

The perfectly executed enemies to lovers featuring dragons, battle of wits and for the throne. Hazel McBride has written a fantastic fantasy book with a brilliant plot, likeable characters and a morally grey fire daddy (with a hint of shadows). I was entranced from page one and I enjoyed every single step of the way to the end. That ending though? Really?! Book 2 better be in the works for a release soon!!

I went into this book relatively blind and it paid off. I kept coming back to it, wanting to read more. I think I read it in a day and a half and I work full time, which is a testament to how compelling this book was. AFFIF felt very GOT/House of the Dragon vibes to me and then I read somewhere that it started as a fanfic? Not sure if that’s true but definitely makes sense! GOT mixed with the forced marriage aspects of Serpent and Dove? “My wife”? Ahhh gimme.

One thing about this book that stalled me at points was that I felt like there should be more going on with the MC worrying about what’s happening with her family rather than just waiting for release or escape about the court, but those elements were still there. I am still confused about why a certain character did what they did, but I’m sure this’ll wrap up in the sequel.

I loved the representation in this novel, from honoring the Gaelic language to the Scottish-folklore inspired elements and also bi rep were spot on. Definitely an easy sell and for good reason. Can’t wait for the sequel!

4.25

Female rage with dragons and enemies to lovers. Need I say more???

Honestly though my favourite part about this book was the female rage element. It hit so close to home with what’s going on in the world right now and I was almost shaking with anger along with her throughout the book at the injustice of it all. The romance plot was a little too rushed for me and the ending of the book I saw coming from a mile off but I don’t know if that’s just because I’ve read too many romantasies!

Overall a really good book and can definitely see it being the next big thing

This book is fast paced with a lot of attention into the characters and the development of them. The FMC is a queen in the making with a lot of tension.

Loved this one and look forward for what comes next

DNF at 20%.

I was so excited about this after seeing it on so many peoples' anticipated 2025 romantasy releases however, I just couldn't get through it. Initially, I was aware of the House of the Dragon inspiration (especially when it came to the love interest), but it felt like there were many scenes in the first 20% that were in the show and I couldn't help but make the comparisons. In terms of the world building, the info dump was SO MUCH (I don't think I've ever read a book with that much heavy info dumping right at the start), which I normally would not mind but it felt as if we were not getting any context as to what was actually happening. Nor could we get to know any of the characters because the constant descriptions were solely on the 'lore', of the world.

Unfortunately, that make me want to DNF due to the constant confusion and 'tell don't show'. Perhaps I will try and read this again closer to its release but it unfortunately just didn't work for me.

This was a captivating romantasy and was an incredible start to what I believe will be an amazing series!

Took a little while to get through the world building at the beginning (which was fantastic - Celtic lore ) but once I got into it I loved it. Enemies to lovers (actual ENEMIES to lovers), politics, magic, dragons and bi FMC, just 👌🏻

The inner torment that Aemyra goes through - this part of her that wants to be a great queen to her people, one who doesn’t rule with fear and doesn’t want to kill anyone, but then another part that is all things angsty and stabby.

Fiorean - Loved the development of their relationship, the slow(ish) burn, the tension, 100% here for the enemies to lovers trope every.single.damn.time… but that twist?! Excuse me Hazel? 😭

Absolutely loved the magic, elemental - fire, earth, air and water. Not a magic system that is often used.

I loved this book! The scene with Aemyra helping Fiorean with the bond 🥹🥹

Will definitely be eagerly awaiting the next one and I cannot wait to see how it continues after that ending!! 🗡️ 🩸 👋🏻

P.S - Definitely giving Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon vibes! 🐉

This book has dragon, romance and a complying female main character. It wasn’t the best world building book I’ve ever read but the storyline was altering enough to keep me interested and fit me the characters just worked so well. I was routing for the FMC the whole way through- one of my favourite reads so far this year

Thank you to NetGalley and Dialouge Books for this advanced copy. I always like to finish my arcs but I had to DNF this at 30%. I don’t think I can power through this.

The tropes drew me in but I found it really difficult to connect with the characters and I started to really lose interest in this story. It’s quite unfortunate, because I did like the overall idea.

I do think it has a beautiful cover and other romantasy readers might appreciate this book more.