I finished reading "Sex with Kings: Five Hundred Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge" by Eleanor Herman. This book is a breakdown of what it meant to be the mistress of the king or crown prince throughout history. Herman starts broad and does a fantastic job describing the desirable and undesirable attributes of the king's maiteisse en titre. Then as the book continues she gets more and more specific about the different roles the mistress had and the great lengths she went to to maintain her stature at court.
Throughout each section Herman describes some of the most well known, and not so well known royal mistresses. Each tale is specific to the chapter theme, and it sometimes feels like you are jumping from person to person and it can become a bit disjointed. But once you get used to the rhythm of the book it makes sense. Herman's goal isn't to give a thorough biography of each mistress but to use them as examples for each situation a mistress of the king may come across.
I really recommend this book to history fans and romance fans alike. If you are interested in reading Eleanor Herman's "Sex with Kings: Five Hundred Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge" you can find it at your local library or at Barnes and Noble.
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