a very light read, the information is presented with little to no analysis and can get extremely repetitive. herman tries with some interesting topic groupings but some nuance would’ve been appreciated. the book was so poorly organised that i lost track about who was who. a chronological detailing of specific mistresses wouldve suited much better. it did alter how i see royal mistresses in that i’m maybe more lenient on them, but ultimately this book lead me to the realisation that i just don’t care. saying that, one medieval king wanted his bastard children legitimised so much he dug his dead mistress up and crowned her skeleton, so that’s a plus.