NOW FACE TO FACE

Literature & Fiction

Koen, Karleen

Contemporary

Kensington Pub. Corp

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.

Dark Angels: A Novel

United States

Crown

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. Alice Verney is a young woman intent on achieving her dreams. Returning to England after a messy scandal forced her to flee to Louis XIV’s France, Alice is anxious to re-establish herself by regaining her former position as a maid of honor to Charles II’s queen and marrying the most celebrated duke of the Restoration. 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. 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, the stakes are raised. As Alice steps up her efforts to find out who is—and isn’t—true to the queen, she learns of shocking betrayals throughout court, and meets a man who she may fall in love with—and who could 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? 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.

Dark Angels: A Novel (Tamworth Saga)

The unforgettable sequel to Karleen Koen’s beloved debut, Through a Glass Darkly A Book-of-the-Month Club main selection A bride at ﬁfteen, widowed at the tender age of twenty, Barbara, Countess Devane, embarks for colonial Virginia ﬁnancially ruined by the death of her husband in scandalous circumstances. Dressed in mourning as is proper for a woman, she is patronizingly described as a “fragile black butterfly,” but the fragility is deceiving. She makes a place for herself in the new world, takes lovers and friends across political divides, and questions the established traditions of slavery. Facing enemies she never suspected, she must return to England and deal face to face with the problems created by her husband, who haunts her even in death. Back in London, she quickly ﬁnds herself pulled into Jacobite plotting, and the treachery of powerful men suddenly threatens her family, her friends—and a new love. Now Face to Face sweeps readers from eighteenth-century America to London and brings both worlds to vivid life. It is a magniﬁcent evocation of an era, from the plantations of Virginia to Hanoverian England.

Now Face to Face: A Novel (Tamworth Saga)

Louis XIV is one of the best-known monarchs ever to grace the French throne. But what was he like as a young man—the man before Versailles? After the death of his prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin, twenty-two-year-old Louis steps into governing France. He’s still a young man, but one who, as king, willfully takes everything he can get—including his brother’s wife. As the love affair between Louis and Princess Henriette burns, it sets the kingdom on the road toward unmistakable scandal and conflict with the Vatican. Every woman wants him. He must face what he is willing to sacrifice for love. But there are other problems lurking outside the chateau of Fontainebleau: a boy in an iron mask has been seen in the woods, and the king’s finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet, has proven to be more powerful than Louis ever thought—a man who could make a great ally or become a dangerous foe . . . Meticulously researched and vividly brought to life by the gorgeous prose of Karleen Koen, Before Versailles dares to explore the forces that shaped an iconic king and determined the fate of an empire.

Before Versailles: A Novel of Louis XIV

A magnificent tapestry of a grand and glorious eraAs opulent and passionate as the 18th century it celebrates.Through a glass darkly kill sweep you away tothe splendors of a lost era. Like gone with the wind,it is rich with characters so vivid -- from aristocrats toscoundrels--they create their own immortality Here is thestory of a great family ruled by a dowager of extraordinarypower: of a young woman seeking low in a world of Englishluxury and French intrigue" and of a man haunted by asecret that could turn all their dreams to ashes...

Through a Glass Darkly

Genre Fiction

AVON.

Barbara Alderly's marriage to Roger Montgeoffrey--twenty-seven years her senior--seems a dream come true until his plans for building a magnificent estate with the proceeds of her dowry turn the marriage into a nightmare

Through A Glass Darkly

Random House]

The beloved heroine from Koen's bestselling Through a Glass Darkly returns in a passionate, unforgettable, romantic tapestry. A widow at age 20, emotionally devastated and financially ruined by the death of her husband in scandalous circumstances, Barbara Devane leaves colonial Virginia for London to confront her enemies and to pursue a deeply satisfying yet dangerous clandestine love.

Now Face to Face

The beloved heroine from Koen's bestselling Through a Glass Darkly returns in a passionate, unforgettable, romantic tapestry. A widow at age 20, emotionally devastated and financially ruined by the death of her husband in scandalous circumstances, Barbara Devane leaves colonial Virginia for London to confront her enemies and to pursue a deeply satisfying yet dangerous clandestine love.

Random House Value Publishing

Our Space is a collection of shorts and poetry from the Writespace community. Writespace is a Houston-based grassroots literary organization offering workshops, online workshops, write-ins, readings, open mics, author events, college application essay prep, and more. Visit www.writespacehouston.org for more information.

Our Space: Shorts & Poetry from the Houston Community

Preble, Joy

Barbosa, Andrea

Escamilla, Christina

McNeely, Thomas H.

Pagan, Patricia Flaherty

Bird, Kristen

Writespace

Al-Bedawi, Layla

Binder, Andreana

Bonilla, Kristin

Capelle, Jessica

Clake, Cassandra Rose

Darnell, Tyler

Forster, Christa M.

Haines, Emily Sketch

Hernandez, Carlos Herbert

Lowery, Janet

Rolater, Sara

Rusell, K. J.

Literary

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Books by Koen, Karleen