Epic Romance? I think not | Dark Angels: A Novel

Page turner near the end | Dark Angels: A Novel | Karleen Koen

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	• Dark Angels: A Novel Karleen Koen Three Rivers Press, 2007 - 544 pages average customer review:based on 49 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Good historical fiction

Not quite on par with the classics of this genre, however this earns a solid 4 stars. I enjoyed this novel very much.

Epic Romance? I think not

I loved Through a Glass Darkly and Now Face to Face, but Dark Angels left me feeling cheated. This book centers on the character of Alice Verney, who is Barbara Devane's grandmother in author's previous books. I was expecting all the wonderful details of Alice and Richard's epic romance, which the author mentioned over and over in the previous books, but this book sorely disappoints.

It seemed like Richard fell in love with Alice out of default. The woman he really loved, the beautiful Renee, broke his heart when she became King Charles II's mistress. When Richard couldn't have Renee, his love for Barbara sprang up out of no where. It seemed like an after thought to me. Same for Alice's love for Richard. All she talks about during the whole book is how she dreams of marrying the Duke of Balmoral. Suddenly, and I do mean suddenly, these two realize there is something between them.

As other reviewers have pointed out, where was Roger Devane in this novel? All we hear about in TADG is how close Richard and Roger were. Roger gets misty eyed at even the mention of Richard's name, and elderly Alice wonders if Richard loved Roger more than her. Yet, Roger was never once mentioned in this novel. What a disappointment. And why wasn't Diana's birth included in this book? I was convinced I would come across it at the end, but I was wrong. There are no mention of children at all. They get married and that's it. The book is over.

I wouldn't say the book was horrible, but it pales in comparison to the other two books. You could feel Barbara's love for Roger in the previous books.It was a reak tear jerker. This book reads more like a history book, with all the information about the murder of Princess Henriette, which is fine, but I'm still bummed about how Alice and Richard fell in love. Alice only started to notice her feelings for Richard towards the end of the book and vice versa. Alice spends the whole book holding a grudge against two old friends and playing pranks on the former mistress of the king. It's hard to believe this troublesome little girl grows up to the wonderful and wise Duchess of Tamworth.

This book was ok, just ok. If you really loved Through a Glass Darkly and Now Face to Face, you should read this book just to get a glimpse of a young Alice. However, don't go out of your way to buy it if you haven't read the other books.

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Page turner near the end

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.

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a good read

I thought this book was pretty good. Not the best, but very well written. It kept me occupied, but if you are only reading the book for the "romance" the summary talks about, don't be disapointed when the romance part doesn't really get anywhere until the last 50 pages or so of the book. It seemed rushed.

Dark Angles

I liked the book but it left a lot of holes to be filled. Possibly a sequel to the prequel? Will the bad guy strike again? Hopefully.

Alice Verney is a young woman intent on achieving her dreams. Having left Restoration England in the midst of a messy scandal, she has been living in Louis XIV?s Baroque, mannered France for two years. Now she is returning home to England and anxious to re-establish herself quickly. First, she will regain her former position as a maid of honor to Charles II?s queen. Then she will marry the most celebrated duke of the Restoration, putting herself in a position to attain power she?s only dreamed of. As a duchess, Alice will be able to make or break her friends and enemies at will.

But all is not as it seems in the rowdy, merry court of Charles II. Since the Restoration, old political alliances have frayed, and there are whispers that the king is moving to divorce his barren queen, who some wouldn?t mind seeing dead. But Alice, loyal only to a select few, is devoted to the queen, and so sets out to discover who might be making sinister plans, and if her own father is one of them. When a member of the royal family dies unexpectedly, and poison is suspected, the stakes are raised. Alice steps up her efforts to find out who is and isn?t true to the queen, learns of shocking betrayals throughout court, and meets a man that she may be falling in love with?and who will spoil all of her plans. With the suspected arrival of a known poison-maker, the atmosphere in the court electrifies, and suddenly the safety of the king himself seems uncertain. Secret plots are at play, and war is on the horizon?but will it be with the Dutch or the French? And has King Charles himself betrayed his country for greed?

The long-awaited prequel to Koen?s beloved Through a Glass Darkly, Dark Angels is a feast of a novel that sparkles with all the passion, extravagance, danger, and scandal of seventeenth-century England. Unforgettable in its dramatic force, here is a novel of love and politics, of romance and betrayal, of power and succession?and of a resourceful young woman who risks everything for pride and status in an era in which women were afforded little of either.

From the Hardcover edition.

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