An Affair Downstairs by Sherri Browning
Release Date: January 6The attraction of the forbidden cannot be suppressed…
Lady Alice Emerson is entirely unsatisfied with the endless stream of boring suitors her family finds appropriate. She wants something more. Something daring. Something real. Each tiresome new suitor only serves to further inflame Lady Alice’s combustible attraction to Thornbrook Park’s rugged, manly estate manager, Logan Winthrop. Despite Logan’s stubborn attempts to avoid her, Lady Alice is irresistible, and so is the forbidden desire exploding between them…
If you’re a fan of Downton Abbey, don’t miss the fascinating Edwardian world of Thornbrook Park.
First book in the Thornbrook Park series:
What is your favorite thing about writing during the Edwardian era?
One of the best things about writing Edwardian romance is that it’s new for readers, a fresh time period to explore. Only recently, with the popularity of Downton Abbey, are publishers and readers willing to stray from their tried and true favorite settings to try something new, historical romance set after 1900.
As a writer, it’s refreshing to explore new territory. My characters can use dialogue that rings more familiar to modern ears, words and phrases that we know from our more recent times. Though, I can’t get carried away. Sometimes I get a little too caught up in modern thought and my editor has to remind me not to use anachronisms. Thank goodness for good editors.
It’s fun to imagine my characters in their glamorous Edwardian setting, with all of their class distinctions and inspiring fashions, but surrounded by modern conveniences. They have indoor plumbing, automobiles, and telephones. Their newfangled inventions occasionally make my writing life easier. Suppose I need to separate characters, but keep them in quick communication? Authors of Regency romance have to find a way to get that information to the character efficiently, but I can have the butler announce they’ve just had a telephone call.
The changing times make for some compelling plotlines unique to Edwardian fiction. Lady Alice in An Affair Downstairs takes an interest in women’s rights and living life on her own terms, possibly without a husband. A Regency or Victorian woman could only be considered a success through her husband’s rank and position, making marriage to the right man crucial.
Female Edwardian characters speak their minds and do for themselves what a Regency woman would require help from a man to accomplish. As a writer, I’m more able to create realistic, strong, independent women. When Edwardian women marry, it is more likely that they have truly fallen in love and not just grasped at their best possible chance for advancement. Writing in the Edwardian era allows me to put romance first, ahead of social position and rank. As a romance writer, developing that romantic relationship between my characters is my main goal, what I love to do most. I hope you’re tempted to give Edwardian romance a try!
About the Author
Sherri Browning writes historical and contemporary romance fiction, sometimes with a paranormal twist. She is the author of critically acclaimed classic mash-ups Jane Slayre and Grave Expectations. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Sherri has lived in western Massachusetts and Greater Detroit Michigan, but is now settled with her family in Simsbury, Connecticut. Find her online at www.sherribrowningerwin.com.
Additional Buy Links: BAM | Chapters | Indiebound
I love books in this time period. Thanks for another great giveaway.
I enjoy reading books from the Regency period. I love the sound of this one too with its appealing characters and simmering romance. Thanks for the giveaway!
Thanks for sharing the distinctions between the two time periods. I’m more familiar with the Regency period: the fancy balls, the aristocracy, the women fighting their boundaries for independence, the carriage rides, the restrictions…
I do like intelligent heroines who go after what they want no matter what the time period is. I will check out your books featuring the Edwardian time period. The time of my grandparents. They were born in the 1870 and 1881. My maternal grandparents were born in 1905 and 1906.
II’ve read tons of Regency Period books, which I loved. I haven’t read too many Edwardian books. I really liked Thornbrook Park, and would love to read “An Affair Downstairs”.