My favorite show is back! Not The Walking Dead (though I do love that one, too), Downton Abbey. They make us wait so long between seasons, and then there’s the inevitable struggle to avoid spoilers because it airs so much earlier in the UK. But here we are at last, a new season of Downton Abbey upon us, and coinciding with the release of my latest Edwardian romance, AN AFFAIR DOWNSTAIRS—as if I needed more reasons to throw a party. In case you’re planning your own Downton Abbey Viewing Party, allow me to share some proper Edwardian party tips. -A good Edwardian hostess sends invitations three to six weeks prior to the event. If you’re planning a party with a few close friends in your own area, though, I think you can manage with less advance notice. -Ask your friends to come early so that you can serve snacks and have everyone gathered and settled in time for the start of the show. No one appreciates a late arrival interrupting the action. -Perhaps you can encourage someone to play butler and announce each guest on arrival, or do the honors yourself and take care to introduce everyone. -For snacks, consider…

Like the first season of the popular TV show Downton Abbey, my new release THORNBROOK PARK is set in the Edwardian era, a time of great change in England, most especially for women. The ladies in my novel all respond differently to the progressive climate of the time. Sophia, Countess of Averford, is slow to embrace change. She’s content to read the fashion and gossip pages in the London Times and rely on her husband for political news. She isn’t exactly sure how she feels about women voting. The 1908 Summer Olympic Games in London brought an interest in outdoor sports like tennis, archery, and yachting to Edwardian women, but Sophia prefers garden parties and leisurely afternoons. Sophia maintains Victorian sensibilities in her Edwardian world. The novel’s central heroine, Eve Kendal, a recently widowed visitor at Thornbrook Park, is temporarily dependent on the charity of her friend Sophia. Eager to manage her own affairs, Eve turns down the Earl of Averford’s offer to let his solicitor look into her investments. She is not afraid to stand up for herself, and to take matters into her own hands regarding the romantic advances of Captain Marcus Thorne. Eve plays tennis, and she…