Olivia Rae

I loved how this story takes two very different people and put them together in an adventure that sweeps over sea and land. We explore a bit of history as Queen Elizabeth makes a grand appearance in this enchanting story.Thomas is determined to find out what happened to his mother and why he has been lied to all these years. The man he calls father is not really his father. He is out for revenge for something that happened to a special person in his life. We witness his downfall when he show more seems to be obsessed with jewels, gold and whatever makes him wealthy. He has no need to pray for he does not think it helps. When his life starts to unravel, he happens upon a young woman who may be what he needs to help him get rich. “Someday you will learn there are more precious things in this world besides gold and jewels.”

Anne is on the run from her stepfather who wants to force her to marry someone she does not love. Her stepfather is abusive to her and she seeks a place where she can be safe. I love her faith and how she continually prays over every situation. When she and Thomas run into each other she does question if he can be trusted. After all he is a thief and around his neck adorns a stolen cross necklace with jewels that make it very valuable. There are moments when their banter is funny and I loved how the author used this to let their guard down around each other.

As secrets are revealed we witness Thomas having a meltdown in front of everyone. He blames himself for all that has gone wrong at his home with his greed and bitterness. Will he come to understand that God can help him? Anne expresses her emotions with such heart wrenching words that Thomas begins to soften. I love this moment when Thomas begins to find strength to fight for his family and perhaps let the past go.

This story illustrates how greed, secrets and pride can fracture a family. We see before our eyes Thomas trying to sort out what has happened over the years to a family he once felt part of. As the story comes to an ending we witness that, “the truth shall set you free.”

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion. show less

What a wonderful conclusion to this series! Starting with a mesmerizing scoundrel, one who you certainly do not expect to reform. One might imagine a storm at sea would change a person - but you really will have to read to find out if it did. Secrets seem to be a part of his world, but will the truth ever be known? Is it possible for a heart of stone to become a heart of flesh?

Anne is a young widow, well treated as a young child, but thereafter had a life that was best left behind. What kind show more of secrets are hidden in her life? Fate throws them together - two orphans with very different goals in their lives. Follow along as they travel from Wales to Scotland to England, where even more secrets could be revealed.

This early copy of book 3 in the Secret of the Queens series was received through HopeKnight Press. These impressions are my own and were in no way solicited. show less

One of the most interesting questions to ponder is “What if?” After all, this query forms the basis of literary fiction. Adding in an element of truth serves to enhance the fascination, and thus the historical fiction genre exists. This is one of the many reasons that I love this genre and never become bored with it. While I favor the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, I enjoy reading and learning about other time periods as well, and this book is my first foray into the 1500s, at show more least for reviewing purposes. An era that has never particularly attracted my attention before, I must say that this was an excellent novel to pave the way!

Olivia Rae’s “A Life Renewed” kicks off her Secrets of the Queens series with a captivating tale of an alternative version of Lady Jane Grey. Instead of being beheaded, she escapes and ends up living as a peasant girl in a small German princedom, a simple life that she loves. However, Prince von Hoffbauer has other plans for her, intending to further his own cause, and English spy Asher Hayes is on an assigned mission to bring her head to Queen Mary in order to save his own family. With intrigue and romance, sixteenth-century Tudor England comes alive in this thrilling story, along with its turbulence and bloodshed. Of all the characters, I think that my favorite is Otto Werner; he wants to do God’s will but allows himself to be sidetracked, as happens to several other characters as well. As such, all of the characters feel genuine, because they each exhibit less-than-admirable qualities at times. Rae does include some Messianic imagery in the story, as when Asher says of Lady Jane, “She was either a lamb for the slaughter or a lion sent to tear all apart.”

The hatred and calculating animosity between the Catholics and Protestants calls to mind the current political landscape in America between the Democrats and the Republicans. If the seeds of division can be sown, they reap disastrous results for everyone. Author Olivia Rae does not appear to take sides when discussing the religious affiliations of those in “A Life Renewed,” and it is Lady Jane who gives the impassioned speech that so perfectly targets the heart of the issue, both then and now: “How can we profess to believe in Him if we curse one another? How can we profess to be His children if we are maiming and killing each other? How can we profess to believe in Him if we do not love our enemies as He has taught us?” How, indeed? We should come together in Christ and strive to demonstrate His love to everyone, seeking to live together in peace whenever possible. Having been given a renewed life in Jesus, we need to extend to others the same grace and mercy that we have received, a necessity for all time periods, Tudor and contemporary alike.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Celebrate Lit and was not required to post a favorable review. All opinions are my own. show less

More romance than historical novel

A lightweight novel, with a romantic view of medieval history. Modern attitudes are coupled with archaic speech, and the plot devices require you to swallow a substantial helping of disbelief.

Enjoy it as a clean romance, but don’t expect to learn anything about the times or - in this first book in the series - about the Templars. For me it was a disappointment.