Thornbrook Park By Sherri Browning (Guest Post, Review, and Giveaway)

Friday, June 6, 2014
Today it is my absolute pleasure to welcome Sherri Browning Erwin, best known for her critically acclaimed classic mash-ups Jane Slayre and Grave Expectations, she also writes paranormal romance and historical romance as Sherri Browning. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Sherri has lived in Massachusetts and Michigan, but is now settled with her family in Simsbury, Connecticut. Watch for her return to historical romance with the upcoming Thornbrook Park series.

Her books have been mentioned in People magazine, USA Today, Seventeen, the Huffington Post, the Wall Street Journal blog, UK’s Telegraph and Argus, and once, as the subject of a New York Times cartoon. She remains a diehard Patriots fan, a proud member of Red Sox Nation, an adventurous eater, avid traveler, and a frequent visitor to Walt Disney World.

Guest Post:
Edwardian Romance vs. Regency Romance

Thanks in large part to Jane Austen, the Regency period is very familiar to most romance readers. The Edwardian era is just gaining some steam, with credit to Downton Abbey for bringing it to our attention. I’ve written Regency romance (the Oxford Rogues series, The Scoundrel’s Vow and Once Wicked, recently re-released as ebooks) and now, I’ve moved to the Edwardian era with Thornbrook Park.

What differences did I find in switching from Regency to Edwardian romance?

The Rulers
The Regency era (between 1811 and 1820, when the Prince of Wales took over for his ailing father George III to rule in proxy as the Prince Regent) and the Edwardian era (1901 to 1914, when Edward VII took over following his mother Victoria’s death) were both times of great political, social, and economic change. George IV and Edward VII were both interested in the arts and architecture following their more austere and sheltered parents.

Technology
In the Regency, steam ushered in the new era of technological advancements, with steam-powered locomotives and steam printing increasing production capabilities at

The Times
In Edwardian England, automobiles and telephones were becoming more common. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded. Einstein was doing some of his best work, and the Wright brothers were experimenting with flight.

Social Changes
In the Regency, the squalor of poverty stood in stark contrast with the glittering world of the Upper Class, where poverty was best treated as a dark secret, barely considered.

The Edwardians embraced social change and shed light on the plight of the poor. It became fashionable for the upper class to take on a cause and help where they could, though of course there was still a very rigid class system and a great divide between the classes.

Social Pursuits
At a Regency ball, the dancing is more structured, but less intimate, with line dances requiring technical arrangements and frequent partner changes. Women kept dance cards to keep track of partners. For a writer, it takes some tricks of choreography to try to keep couples together.

At an Edwardian ball, dancing is more intimate. The waltz, introduced late in the Regency, became popular and women didn’t even keep dance cards. It was considered bad form to keep one partner engaged for longer than a dance or two, but a writer can take advantage of a dance or two to bring a couple closer together, or push them apart.

Women in the Regency knit purses, stitched embroidery, occasionally discussed novels, and sometimes were daring enough to talk politics. If a female character worked for a living, she was most often a domestic servant, governess, or a daring courtesan. And in the end, she married and her status relied on her husband’s position.

Edwardian women played sports, freely talked about politics and social reforms, and even began to demand the right to vote. Female Edwardian characters are freer to speak their minds or do for themselves what a Regency woman would require help from a man to accomplish, realistically.

Edwardian women were joining the work force in large numbers, working in industry and medicine, scientific research, journalism… an Edwardian heroine could do just about anything. Though the difference between the domestic help and the upstairs family tends to be a topic of fascination, the Downton Abbey effect.

Fashion
Regency fashion favored the loose empire silhouette, a revival from Greco-Roman art popularized by Napolean’s empress Josephine.

Edwardian fashions were based on a slim look with a narrow, corseted waist. But that began to give way to looser lines and shorter sleeves and hemlines once women became more active with sports and work.

Regency romances are usually character-driven comedies of manners, marked by witty retorts and intelligent, fast-paced dialogue. Edwardian romances are… yet to be defined.

Have you ever read an Edwardian romance? I hope you give Thornbrook Park a try!
~ Sherri Browning
Author Connections:

Book Information

Genre: Historical Romance
Release Date: June 3, 2014
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca  
ISBN-10: 1402295863
Thornbrook Park
Summary:
Fans of Downton Abbey will adore this brand-new Edwardian-period romance series set at the grand estate of Thornbrook Park, seat of the Earl of Averford.

 In a world poised for epic change... 

Disowned for marrying beneath her, Eve Kendal has returned to England destitute after her husband's death and the mysterious disappearance of their savings. She's looking for survival, not romance. But from London to the Yorkshire countryside to the elegant estate of Thornbrook Park, Eve's path seems destined to cross that of the dashing but violent Captain Marcus Thorne.

Anything can happen... 

 For Marcus, a return home means facing the demons that drove him to war in the first place. As he and Eve begin a steamy affair, tensions that had been simmering just beneath the surface threaten to explode and shake the very foundations of Thornbrook Park.

My Thoughts:
Set against the backdrop of 1906 England, Thornbrook Park is a captivating and well-researched Edwardian Romance that will quickly sweep readers back in time!  Captain Marcus Thorne and Eve Kendal are not the usual characters found between the pages of a historical romance and this alone provides for a refreshing, unique twist to a beloved genre. Author, Sherri Browning, has certainly proven herself to be a very gifted and talented storyteller and one who has done her research quite thoroughly as well.  The unexpected twists and turns throughout, and the charming characters of Thornbrook Park, left me anticipating each new page.  As an avid fan of the PBS series, Downton Abbey, I was delighted with this first installment and anxiously await more from this talented author!  Well-developed characters, a captivating plot, and rich historical details makes this a wonderful read and one that I would highly recommend to fans of historical romance....FOUR stars!

Purchase Links: 
Amazon * Barnes & Noble * iTunes

Giveaway Details: 
I am pleased to announce that the author has made it possible for me to giveaway a copy of Thornbrook Park to one lucky follower here on my blog...Thank you Sherri!  This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada.  To enter, simply leave a comment here on this post.  (You must be a follower of my blog and I gladly welcome any and all new followers!)  I'll announce the winner here on June 17th.

4 comments:

  1. I love Downton Abbey and all the kooky cast. I love historical romances because I can escape my disabled world. Eve and Marcus sound like their heal one another! I already put this on my Goodreads list. Thanks for adding her new voice to Historical Romance, Sherri. So what was the hardest character for you during this journey? I also want to say that I love your simple, but visual beautiful site, Kimberly! I so signed up for it!

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  2. I am a big fan of Downton Abbey and Edwardian era historical fiction! I can't wait to read this one!! Thanks for the giveaway. :)

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  3. As the other commenters, I'm a big fan of Downton Abbey. I'm looking forward to reading Thornbrook Park. I'm a new email subscriber.

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  4. I love downton abbey! This looks good! GFC follower!

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