This ambition holds firm in spite of her attraction to Richard Saylor, a not-so-rich but enterprising soldier who, while he appreciates Alice's wit and political savvy, is competing with the king himself for the affections of a French beauty with sheep's eyes and a brain to match ( Louise de Keroualle, one of Charles' actual mistresses).Īlice is a great character, vivid and three-dimensional, constantly seething with plots, ploys and pride. The chief strength of Koen's novel is her thorough understanding of the era and its people, and her skill in briefly explaining complex historical circumstances while telling a good story.Īlice Verney, a maid of honor to Princess Henriette of France (the king of England's sister), returns to England after her mistress's mysterious and horrible death (a real event), with the ambition of marrying the elderly, wily (and really rich) Duke of Balmoral. The Restoration was a time of slippery politics and fascinatingly shifty characters.

At Cromwell's death, however, no successor proved able to hold the country together, and the late monarch's son was invited to return as King Charles II. In the mid-17th century, Charles I was beheaded, and England became a protectorate under Oliver Cromwell. While telling a love story, the Houston-based Koen focuses most of her effort on recounting historical events of the period, and a fascinating period it is, too. It tells the story of the early life of Alice Verney, seen briefly in the previous books as an elderly duchess, and her involvement in a life-or-death plot against the king of England. Set in the England and France of 1670, this new novel is a prequel to Koen's best-selling Through a Glass Darkly and its sequel, Now Face to Face.

What you see in Dark Angels is what you get - an old-fashioned historical romance, a page-turning read full of love, betrayals, political intrigues and cool clothes.

Dark angels by karleen koen