Absolutely loved it! ( )

I enjoyed this book but it wasn't as enjoyable as Sex With Kings.

I'm sure it has much to do with how tragic and depressing many of the stories are, as well as the hypocrisy in regards to infidelity on the part of the Queen vs. the King.
After awhile it just started to wear me down to read one depressing story after another and she seemed to dwell a lot on the really tragic ones and give the happier or less so less time.

I can't really tell how accurate her stories are, but she gives enough detail to make the stories engaging and interesting, to make the people talked about come alive and seem real. ( )

A history of European queens and their lovers, this is a very worthy companion to Herman's other book, Sex with Kings, a history of European kings and their mistresses. It was engagingly written, well-researched and full of titillating details. Even people who normally don't go for history will enjoy this. I highly recommend! ( )

http://wanderingcoyote.blogspot.com/2... ( )

I enjoyed this book. The only reason I gave it four stars is because I was not sure how accurate her facts were. ( )

This book provides an interesting hook to tell 900 years of European aristocratic history. Adultery with queens was far more sensational than the routine indiscretions of kings. It came in several different forms, from powerful ruling queens who openly took several lovers at a time to consorts who were beheaded for one (falsified) indiscretion. Over all, a worthy peek into a side of history that you don't often learn in high school. Eleanor Herman has a knack for catchy and imaginative depictions, though I was a little disappointed that all of the affairs covered were heterosexual.

A fascinating look at a woman's role throughout history as royalty. Women were treated as political pawns and often married to horrible men that cheated on them as well. Queens took pleasure where they could and it often cost them everything. Absolutely fascinating. ( )

Having read Herman's Sex with the King, I had high hopes for this book. In reality, it was a disappointingly voyeuristic look at the extra-marital affairs of queens regnant. Since the king was a personage who wielded power and authority, those having affairs with the king were in a position to influence. People having sex with the queen only had power and authority only if the king allowed it, or if the queen ruled in her own right and permitted it, like Catherine the Great. The vast majority of queens fell into the "powerless" group, rather than the "powerful" group, and as a result, the book quickly became tedious. A disappointment, except for the section on Catherine the Great, which was titillating. ( )

Companion to Sex with Kings, Sex with the Queen examines the other side of the royal marriage bed. This work has a tighter structure than Sex with Kings and benefits from that over the earlier work. It is a very good overview of how the Queen, often ignored, frequently stuck with a husband of no great distinction (aside from a crown), made due and met her own needs, and sometimes paid the price. ( )

Eleanor Herman's latest proves that being a Queen is more than just swanning about in amazing gowns with a tiara on your head before adoring crowds. Being a queen or royal consort usually meant marrying for power (sometimes to a close family member-hello Haspburg dynasty!), horrid in-laws (for example, the Electress Sophia, mother of the future King George I of Great Britain), fighting with your husband's mistress (such as Madame Pompadour) , being a political scapegoat (Czarina Alexandra; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor) and having to ensure the royal bloodline above all else to gain even a little respect from the Court (Catherine the Great of Russia; Marie Antoinette). Read this along with Ms. Herman's "Sex with Kings" and Karl Shaw "Royal Babylon" for even more eye opening royal truths.

A fun read about queens, their affairs, and their consequences. More fun than Sex with Kings. ( )

Herman's second book about the royal love affairs in Europe and Russia was much better then the first. An amazing collection of letters, quotes, and historical evidence show the infidelty of past queens. ( )