A Fate Forged in Fire by Hazel McBride

 

I really wanted to like this one.  It had some fantastic fantasy elements.  I loved the world building and the dragons were a great touch. It was centered on a kingdom that was about female power.  The kingdom however, had been ruled by a long line of male rulers. A new religious group called the  Covenant, had come to the kingdom and were trying to stop all magic and women having power.  They thought men should have everything and women are there just to be subservient and have babies. Aemyra has been waiting to become the next queen. She has been in hiding with her family and plans to take over the kingdom as soon as the old king dies.  She just has to bond with his dragon.  Things go horribly wrong and now Aemyra has to fight not just to become queen but to save those she loves. 

 I loved the idea about reading about a kingdom where women actually had power, alas that was not the case in this novel. The more I read, the more frustrated I became because Aemyra even though she was supposed to have all this untapped power and was capable of amazing things constantly needed rescuing.  Just once I would have liked her to be the one to rescue herself.  This is a duology so the book unfortunately did not have a resolution because you have to wait for the second book.  There were definitely some steamy moments and I did like the romance until the end of the book.  Again, I was frustrated with so many of the characters and the outcomes of their choices.  I do want to know what happens so I will probably read the next novel.