Book of the Week: Cupid and the King: Five Royal Paramours

Princess Michael of Kent's winning piece Cupid and the King: Five Royal Paramours gives us a riveting tale of five of the historically-renowned royal mistresses: Nell Gwyn, Madame Pompadour, Maria Walewska, Lola Montez and Lillie Langtry. A natural successor to Crowned in a Faraway Country, Princess Michael's biography of eight princesses, Cupid and the King focuses on the women whom the mighty ruler, the richest and most powerful man the kingdom, chose to love.

The names mentioned in this book are already well-known among history-enthusiasts, but their lives are often shrouded in so much fantasy and falsehood that the only attribute which is never denied them the mystique attached to a woman who won, and held, the heart of a king. Their backgrounds differed dramatically, yet each became the beloved paramour of a monarch. It is a study of female ambition and motivation, of greed and also selflessness, of love and hate, passion and devotion as well as self-destruction. Amazon, $15.30 (Payperback)