Who could resist a book with this title? Apparently, not me. An interesting stroll through European history with a focus on kings who were forced, for dynastic reasons, to marry women with whom they often did not have a romantic relationship. Then they found a woman or a series of women to serve as their mistress. Eleanor Herman points out that a royal mistress could become immensely wealthy, but their lives were stressful and they could be replaced at the whim of the monarch. The typical royal mistress had to be available for sex at any time, provide witty conversation, emotional support, and often wise counsel to the king who could be as fickle and as self-absorbed as he wished. Oh, and did I mention that the royal mistress was often wildly unpopular both at court and in the general population. Not a dream job, to be sure. But I guess that someone has to do it.