Alice Verney, a maid of honor to Princess Henriette of France returns to England after her mistress's mysterious and horrible death, with the ambition to marry the elderly Duke of Balmoral. This ambition holds firm in spite of her attraction to Richard Saylor, an enterprising soldier who, while he appreciates Alice's wit and political savvy, is competing with the king himself for the affections of Renee DeKaroulle, a French beauty who cannot quite make up her mind whose affections she truly desires.

I was drawn to Alice the moment I started reading. Koen shapes the main character of the story to be someone who is cunning and daring, clawing her way up the totem pole for status and respect in a world where women were afforded little of either.

The historical England that Koen creates in “Dark Angels” is breathtaking. Her phrase and descriptions are truly believable and transport her readers directly into seventeenth century England and France. I was also drawn to Richard Saylor who I thought made a perfect leading man, and even though I knew it impossible throughout the entire book, wanted him and Alice to finally be together.

Despite its slow start, “Dark Angels” delivered for me. Towards the end the book became a page turner, but was somewhat of a let-down with its predictable ending, and sometimes tiring plot twists. Overall, it was a great historical fiction, and I will more than likely be coming back to Koen for more.

This was some interesting history, but I admit that the author's indiscriminate use of pronouns made it difficult to follow the conspiracies and plots brewing.

"Is he dead?"
"Certainly he is."

Who? Who are they talking about?!

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This was a very good read. Itis the second in a series and I enjoyed following the characters from London to Virginia and back. Highly recommended!

Dark Angels by Karleen Koen

Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

Dark Angels is a prequel to Through a Glass Darkly, and accordingly I read this first (but that was an accident. At the time I didn’t know there were other books by her). Set in the court of the licentious Charles II an amazing romance springs forth (what could be a better place to set a historical romance?). Alice Verney is the female protagonist – and an amazing heroine as well! She is a courtier to Queen Catherine of Braganza and plays the role of courtier well – sneaky, smart, well-connected. Her greatest goal in life is to marry the Duke of Balmoral – a very old man – she’s in it for the title and money of course. Yet somehow her attentions are turned by Richard Saylor, who is after Renee (Louise de Keroualle). Who will she choose and how will her ambitions play out?

Koen creates an amazing world and cast of characters who inhabit this word. She easily mixes real historical characters (Charles II, Queen Catherine, Duke of Balmoral etc) with characters of her imagination (Alice, Richard, etc) and even mixes a little of the real with imagination (Renee). I absolutely loved the character of Alice and she kept the story moving with many twists and turns – you are never really sure what she will do next!

I read this book quite a while ago – it was one of my early historical fiction reads. I must confess – I didn’t realize that the king in this book was Charles II while I was reading it. I am pretty sure I didn’t even know about Charles at that point – I think I would have enjoyed it even more had I read it recently (after reading The Merry Monarch’s Wife by Jean Plaidy).

Koen creates a vivid world and great characters that you can care about. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the antics of the court of Charles II or enjoys a great historical romance. I now have acquired her sequel (written before Dark Angels) Through a Glass Darkly and its sequel, Now Face to Face and am very excited to read both of them.

5 out of 5 stars!

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