Tuesday, December 3, 2019

"Hidden Rebel" by Michelle Janene Blog Tour (Review) & GIVEAWAY!

About the Book

Book: Hidden Rebel

Author: Michelle Janene

Genre: Christian medieval fantasy

Release Date: August 17, 2017

A disguised warrior on a mission to save a dying kingdom,

but God has more planned.

Aria has left home with one goal. Find the weapon used to defeat the horde of the Black Knight and save what remains of her kingdom.

But things are not going as planned.

Disguised as a male knight, she saves the young prince of the neighboring kingdom, and tales of her fighting prowess spread like a raging fire. Now, within the castle walls of a foreign kingdom, a young girl masquerading as her page serves as her only confidant. But the widower king and his enemies are taking notice of her. The legendary weapon, however, is nowhere to be found.

What is God doing?

Aria needs to save her home without losing her heart.

Click here to get your copy!

My Review

“Hidden Rebel” by Michelle Janene is the third book in the “Changed Hearts” series, but it can easily be read as a standalone.

“Hidden Rebel” has a kick-butt, strong female heroine named Aria. Aria disguises herself as a male in order to fight for her kingdom and find the weapon used to defeat the evil encroaching upon her kingdom. I love the way she fights. She fights better than most of the men. Her fighting seems like a combination of martial arts and the normal fighting of the medieval time period.

Aria learns a lot of lessons along her jouney. At one point, Aria longs to fight, but she must remember that the battle is the Lord’s and she must trust Him. He calls her to train and prepare. I love the lesson that God fights for us and we just need to trust in Him.

There is a lot of spiritual content in “Hidden Rebel.” I would caution those who are wary of reading about spiritual warfare. It does talk about that a lot and about evil and its presence. The story also felt slow to me at times, although I did enjoy it. Ms. Janene has obviously done her research, which shows in her writing.

Overall, the book has a great main character and a lot of great lessons and spiritual content, although the pacing seemed slow to me at times. I would recommend it to those who love the medieval time period and a book packed with spiritual content.

Content: I would give this book a PG-13 rating. Some examples of the content are: men drink alcohol; there are some descriptions of battle scenes with blood; a man curses but the words aren’t actually written; it is implied that a man intends to rape a girl, but it doesn’t end up happening.

Rating: I give this book 3 stars.

I want to thank Michelle Janene and Celebrate Lit for the complimentary copy of this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I express in this review are my own. This is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR 16, Part 255.

About the Author

Michelle Janene lives and works in Northern California, though most days she blissfully exists in the medieval creations of her mind. She is a devoted teacher, a dysfunctional housekeeper, and a dedicated writer. She released her first novella Mission: Mistaken Identity in the fall of 2015, God’s Rebel in 2016, Rebel’s Son in 2017, and has been published in several anthologies. She leads two critique groups and is the founder of Strong Tower Press—Indie solutions for indie authors.

More from Michelle

The main character of Hidden Rebel is a princess who is also a warrior. She needed to move between court and the battlefield with minimal issues. Aria also took the verse that women should not dress as men seriously. I wrote about a fighting skirt for her.

It appeared to be a pleated skirt with several long panels. Those panels weren’t sewn together other than at her hips. When Aria moved it was clear the skirt panels where over tight trousers and tall boots.

I thought about the skirt so much I created my own. I have worn it to local Renaissance Faires.