RIVAL TO THE QUEEN begins during the bloody reign of Queen Mary I. Lettice Knollys and her family must leave England when the fervent Catholic queen begins executing Protestants. But when Mary's sister, Elizabeth, ascends the throne, Lettice and her family return to England. Lettice's father quickly arranges marriage for both of his daughters. Lettice and her sister, Cecilia, are honored as cousins of the queen by receiving posts of maids of honor at court. However, Lettice finds little to admire in the cranky and paranoid queen. The danger has passed for Protestant Elizabeth, but her reign confronts her with a new challenge: She must marry, but the man she loves is the only man she can never have. Although Lettice is a married woman, she is soon repulsed by her husband and begins to find comfort in the arms of the queen's favorite, Robert Dudley.

Once Queen Mary is dead, the war against Protestants is over. But England faces a new danger -- King Philip of Spain. Philip's ambitions have turned to England. Threatened by the possibility of invading Spanish forces, Elizabeth is urged to marry and produce an heir. The queen, however, only has eyes for her handsome Master of the Horse, Robert Dudley. When Lettice accidentally discovers the queen's diary, she discovers that the queen and Dudley are lovers. When Dudley's wife is found dead, rumors begin to circulate that her death was orchestrated by Robert Dudley in order to marry the queen and have himself crowned king.

The rumors about Robert's involvement in his wife's death leave little chance that he can marry the queen. But the queen will not have any other man besides Robert Dudley. She will also not allow any other woman to have him either. Lettice's unhappy marriage leads to daydreams about the royal favorite. Much to Lettice's surprise she soon discovers that she has caught Robert Dudley's eye. When Lettice's husband dies and Robert professes his love for her, the queen discovers that she has found a dangerous rival in her own cousin.

RIVAL TO THE QUEEN presents Elizabeth at her most powerful. The author did an excellent job at writing Elizabeth as a warrior queen ready to defend her kingdom from the Spanish. Elizabeth's relationship with Robert Dudley, however, strayed from historical facts. Carolly Erickson exaggerated the intensity of the well known quarrels between the queen and Dudley. While Elizabeth Tudor often did display the violent Tudor temper inherited from her father, King Henry VIII, I felt Erickson wrote Elizabeth too harshly, especially after the deaths of Robert Dudley and his stepson, the Earl of Essex. It is well known that Elizabeth was inconsolable after their deaths. But Elizabeth displays no emotion upon hearing of their deaths in the novel. I loved how Elizabeth's devotion to protecting England from Spain was written and how the author treated the death of Amy Dudley, but the queen's relationship with Robert Dudley and Robert Devereux were far from accurate.