Dark Angels: A Novel (Tamworth Saga)

Since I purchased and read all three books in chronological order, this one was first. I am writing the review after finishing all three books, so it is difficult to see them as individual books as they do flow together well.I can only give it 4 stars because I found the writing style difficult to follow at times. The story is a great story, but I found myself having to reread pages to figure out who was talking. The story was worth the effort to read it, despite the trouble I had at times, and I would recommend the book. Sometimes the nicknames of characters were used and it was confusing, especially since there several chapters between the appearance of the character, and sometimes, the nickname was used, and sometimes their formal name was used. I found myself continuing to read, despite the question of who this was, and I would eventually find a tidbit clarifying the character. This caused some backtracking to make sure I kept abreast of the story.Since writing style is subjective, the story itself is worth reading, I just had trouble with the layout and multiple characters.

. . . from exile, his sister Henriette, married to France’s King Louis’ brother, returns to England to visit her brother. Accompanying her is her English maid of honor Alice Verney, daughter of Sir Thomas Verney, both exceedingly ambitious and somewhat unscrupulous by American egalitarian standards. Yet we must judge them by the values of the time. Alice is pretty. Vivacious. Witty. And practical. Yet her heart betrays her practicality when as she conspires to have Lord Balmoral fall in love with her, she falls in love herself with the lover of her best French friend, the stunningly beautiful Renee de Keroualle, who King Charles chooses for mistress. Conspiracies. Surprises. Betrayals. A merry, tragic, touching romance, and we are in sustained suspense throughout.

Is there a more fascinating time or place than the court of King Charles II? I cannot think of one, and Karleen Koen lends her pen to bring it alive in "Dark Angels".Koen has a knack for hooking the reader early on with hints and promises, and interesting characters. She writes romantic heroes, heroines and villains extremely well, as readers of "Through a Glass Darkly" know. I flew through the pages and loved the characters, costumes and themes centering on the struggles between love and greed or jealousy, forgiveness and revenge, and strategic scheming and surprise. Koen transports you to the decadent Courts of the Sun King (Louis XIV of France & creator of Versailles) and Charles II of England, and drapes you in damask, jewels and lace, and on the next page sends you to seedy brothels and privy court chambers for some debauchery, drunkeness and gambling. Regicide, religious wars, royal gossip and exploits, romance and gold digging rule the day. It is delicious fun!The real story of "Dark Angles" introduces us to Alice Verney who is first a young Maid of Honor to Princess Henrietta Anne of France (sister to Charles II of England) and then a not-so-young Maid of Honor to the shunned Queen Catherine in England. She's had her heart broken in love and loyalty through the betrayals of a friend and lover, and the murder of Madame, Princess Henrietta. Alice puts up a condescending, stand-offish front in an attempt to protect herself and others, and finds that such a barrier isolates us from those we love, rather than keep them close. She is sassy, spoiled, scheming and sophisticated, and yet disillusioned by life at court. We see an early glimpse of the life lessons that shaped the loving, accepting and wise grandmother we met in "Through a Glass Darkly".Koen brings alive the sexual charge of the time through accurate presentations of its rogues from the well documented exploits of Kings Charles II of England and Louis XIV of France to the English Earl of Rochester and Sir John Sedely who drunkenly bumble and grope their way through the background of this book. It was a drunken, decadent time of debauchery and hedonism, and great fun to re-live through books such as this, "The King's Touch", "The Perfect Royal Mistress", "Duchess: A novel of Sarah Churchill" or even "Forever Amber" (I am not a huge fan, but many others are).I gave this book a "4 star" rating because it is just simply an intriguing, fast, fun escape read, but it does have its flaws. The main draw back is that Koen seems confused as to whether she wanted to write a "whodunnit?", a romance or a fantastic period novel. She delivers pieces of all three, and that leaves fans with genre preferences feeling disappointed. The good news is that this novel seems ripe for a sequel (or two!) to fill the time between its end and the beginning of her stellar debut, Through A Glass Darkly. I love the promise of more to come... I only hope the wait is short!

This author is just terrific. I had read her other books in the series and thought they were well written. She plots well, develops her characters and doesn't try to make the characters go out of character just to finish out a plot line. Her attention to detail is good but not overwhelming where your reading speed drops done and you feel like the plot stops, but instead she allows you to read like a movie is playing in your head. Absolutely delightful writer. I wish she would continue the series somehow.

I loved this book. It's a prequel to Through a Glass Darkly, and set against the court of Charles II.

It was great to get the book as I had already read the second book some time ago

Not as good a read as the previous 2 but I am determined to carry on reading it

Enjoyed the read.

Personal use, very good condition, looks almost new