Maisie Kentworth made a mistake, and the consequences just might kill her. Her overprotective family won’t let her go to town alone, and they’ve conspired together to keep her from having any adventures. While she doesn’t rightly trust herself after falling for a scoundrel with no morals, she wishes her kin would allow her a little diversion. After all, she’s a grown woman.

When she ventures onto the neighbor’s property one day, she decides to create her own adventure. And ends up discovering a great treasure in an abandoned mineshaft. When she runs out of the shaft to share her discovery, she smacks plumb into a man. A man she’s never met before. Not what her family had in mind when they sent her out to fix a fence.

Boone Bragg has a lot of problems. Most of them wear skirts and try to finagle an invitation from him for a brunch or an engagement. He has no interest in the empty-headed shenanigans of society women hunting for husbands. Keeping his mines operating and his miners employed weighs heavily on his mind. On the verge of selling one of his mines, he decides to look around one last time.

Boone never expects to find a crazy woman inside his mine shouting about her amazing discovery. Once he realizes she has no intentions of compromising him, he follows her back down the mineshaft. What he sees will change the course of his life.

What I Loved About This Book

Maisie Kentworth and the Kentworth clan remind me of the Sacketts from Louis L’Amour’s westerns—a series I read repeatedly. Maisie, while not refined and ladylike like some of her other cousins, has a charm of her own. She sprinkles her speech with down-home phrases, doesn’t shy from the truth, and knows her weaknesses.

Jennings has found the perfect match for Boone Brag—an upright man with no plans to marry, and Maisie—a wounded woman who wants people to accept her as she is. Readers will laugh, get carried away, and find themselves wondering which member of the Kentworth clan will make an appearance in Jennings’ next book. Maisie first appeared in Courting Misfortune, the first book in the Joplin Chronicles. Readers can enjoy either book as a standalone novel—but why not read them both?

Fans of Jen Turano and Karen Witemeyer will enjoy Proposing Mischief.

I really enjoyed this read, and yes, it is part of a series, but this can be read alone!

This is Maisie Kentworth's story, a girl who is not afraid to get her hands dirty, and it is also Boone Bragg's story, a man who comes from money, but is trying to establish his own fortune in the mines. Boone is also being pursued by all the local socialites, and is not interested. You are about to find the twist that happens in this delightful story!

We are also gifted, through the words of the author, of a beautiful crystal cave, and how it is found!

The antics between Maisie and Boon are delightful, "that's one", and made me want more!

There is some evil lurking here, and we are there as things unfold!

This is a read that will have you page turning, and in the end wanting more!

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Bethany House, I was not required to give a positive review.

Have you ever heard of a Crystal Cave? Proposing Mischief by Regina Jennings is a wonderful story about a crystal cavern found in Joplin MO.

Maisie Kentworth is pretty much a prisoner of her parents' home. After being led astray by the wrong man, she must stay within her parents home or be chaperoned by her protective family. Working on her family's farm, she wanders over to an abandoned mine where she makes an amazing discovery.

Boone Bragg just about gives up on the depleted mine, ready to sell it to Justina's father. Justina has her claws out to get Boone, but he makes a spontaneous decision to marry farm girl Maisie. It will solve her problem for freedom, and his to being taken. Things get pretty messy when Masie is introduced to the upper class Boone's family is related to.

Fun, hilarious and somewhat true, as there really was a crystal cave in the late 1800's. I loved how the romance bloomed as Maisie and Boone get to know each other but are restricted by their contract to marrying to protect each other.

I received a complimentary ebook copy from the publisher, through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is the second book in the delightful series by Regina Jennings highlighting the history of Joplin, MO. Of course it is a work of fiction, but it includes some facts about Joplin's history and gives you the feeling of Joplin around 1900. Maisie Kentworth, one of the Kentworth cousins we met in the last book, meets Boone Bragg, the owner of the mine skirting the Kentworth property. She is trespassing in his mine when he discovers her. She has just discovered a crystal cave. Boone is being pursued by women looking for a rich husband and Maisie is being pursued by a man of questionable character and she longs to be free to go about as she wishes. Her family is so set on protecting her from the man that she can't go anywhere. Boone and Maisie come to a contractual agreement whereby they get married to protect each other. You can imagine where that leads and I will leave it to your imagination. The actual story is hilarious and I highly recommend you search it out for yourself.

I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

A sweet, fun story from Regina Jennings! Proposing Mischief is a cute marriage of convenience story with unique elements that make Joplin’s history pop. I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I wished to, but I enjoyed the overall story. 3.5/5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Proposing Mischief was a fun read. It was clear from the beginning that Maisie didn't fit into Boone's world, and vice versa, but they needed each other. Boone was a stabilizing influence on Maisie and she brought light and joy into his world. It was a pleasure watching this couple learn about each other, and themselves, as they forged a partnership and a marriage.

Maisie's family was unconventional and you never knew what kind of hijinks they'd be up to which made for some laugh-out-loud funny moments.

Readers will be reminded that appearances aren't everything. The woman who stuck out and didn't fit into to the neat society was loyal, kind, and loving; the cave hidden beneath the surface contained a miracle that showcased God's glory; while those who appeared to be beautiful on the surface were greedy and unkind.

It's important for us to use discernment and not get fooled by what appears to be genuine but is only fool's gold.

I received an advanced reader's copy from the publisher through NetGalley; a positive review was not required.

Regina Jennings writes her historical novels with a touch of humor to keep the reader engaged. In this second book of her Joplin, Missouri, series, she relates the story of Boone Bragg and Maisie Kentworth. Maisie is quite a handful at best and an absolute calamity waiting to happen at worst. Because of an unfortunate entanglement with an unscrupulous man, Maisie is pretty much exiled to her family ranch in order to stay out of trouble. After fixing a fence one day, she decides to go exploring in the mine that is near her family's land holdings. She breaks into the mine, takes a pickaxe with her, and takes her frustrations out on the mine walls. What she doesn't expect is to find a cavern full of crystals behind the mine. She comes back out to find Boone Bragg at the mouth of the mine and takes him down to see the cavern. That she is trespassing never crosses her mind, she's just exploring.
Boone has problems of his own--as Maisie describes it, single women all over town are covering themselves with flypaper trying to attach themselves to him. He wants nothing to do with them, he wants nothing to do with social climbers, and he wants nothing to do with women in general. When Maisie shows up at his business's board meeting, he sees a way out of his "women dilemma." He offers Maisie a marriage contract. It offers her freedom, and it keeps him out of the marriage market.

This plot is like a train wreck, you know what's going to happen, but you can't look away. The calamities and events that move through the plot are almost constant, like moving from the frying pan, to the fire, and hopping back and forth while trying to stay ahead of the game. (Sorry, I mixed a few metaphors there.) Yes, the book is entertaining, yes, the characters are relatable, and by gum, the settings are unbelievably magnificent. Many of the characters are the same ones that populated the first book in this series, Courting Misfortune, and play pivotal roles in this offering. Four stars.

Bethany House and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

The second in the Joplin series (third if you count the novella that started it all), we are already familiar with our heroine's family. She is a strong female character and I like her non dramatic attitude to problems.

This book is a romance and a mystery books. There are elements of comedy through the book as well which made it an enjoyable read. While it is a series, I feel that this could be easily read without reading the other books. However, I feel that you'd be missing out if you don't. I'm really looking forward to future books.

I got this in an exchange for an honest review. I'm happy to recommend it to others - I liked it and I brought it for my library so I can't offer a higher recommendation in my book!

A HUMDINGER OF GOOD, CLEAN FUN!
Set in Joplin, Missouri late 1800s ***
19-year-old Maisie Kentworth and her brother Amos were a hoot in the last book so I was excited to have them in the forefront here. “Maisie wasn’t a troublemaker, but she needed adventure like a cornfield needed sunlight.” “Just outside her family’s ranch was enough excitement to flip a corpse. Joplin had it all – society, music, and wealth.” ***
24-year-old Boone Bragg was an interesting character. He gets stuck in his head problem solving, often when he should be paying attention to people or the time. He comes up with a crazy solution involving Maisie after she makes an amazing discovery in his mine.
“Unless God saw fit to drop a man from the sky and land him on the Kentworth ranch, Maisie wasn’t going to have any luck at all.” ***
TEA QUOTE: The chair was uncomfortable, the tea weak, and he had work to do. “It’s a nice – Boone looked above him – building." ***
FAITH QUOTE: “There were times you prayed for God’s guidance, prayed for His wisdom, and then you had to act without knowing for sure that you were doing the right thing.” ***
LAUGH-OUT-LOUD: “Stop with the hogwash,” said Amos. Get to the point, you no-account, fragrant man-swine.” Amos’s vocabulary in the language of insults was quite extensive. ***
I loved the Secret Tree and how it played into parts of the story! I laughed out loud several times EXCELLENT READ. ***
This story was gifted to me via NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are mine alone without expectation or compensation. ***
5 stars ***
SERIES:
0.5 INTRIGUE A LA MODE (eBook or within Serving Up Love novella collection) ***
1 COURTING MISFORTUNE ***
2 PROPOSING MISCHIEF ***

REVIEWS POSTED TO: My Blog, My IG, Amazon pending for 12/7, Barnes and Noble, BooksAMillion, Goodreads, Kobo pending for 12/7, Google Play Books, Pinterest,

MEME created

As we read about Maisie Kentworth and Boone Bragg’s unusual relationship in PROPOSING MISCHIEF by REGINA JENNINGS, we find ourselves in the middle of an extremely amusing story. In fact there were times that I could not help laughing out loud, especially at Maisie’s antics.
Because of her indiscretions with Silas Marsh, Maisie is kept as a virtual prisoner on her family’s farm. One day when she is exploring the Curious Bear Mine on their boundary, she finds an extraordinary cave. Boone comes across her down the mine and is amazed at what she has found.
Boone sees the beautiful cave as an incredible gift from God, showing the wonders of His creation, and wants as many people as possible to see it.
Boone’s proposal that they get married in order to keep him safe from designing females that are after his money whilst keeping Maisie safe from unwanted attention from Silas, seems foolproof, but will it really work? First of all how will Maisie’s family react to this secret marriage: and then how will Maisie cope with her mother-in-law’s determination to make a lady out of her?
Add to all this a plot to destroy the mine and the crystal cave, the romanticising by the press of their sudden marriage for advertising purposes, and the fact that things are not always as they seem, and you have a really great story and one I highly recmmend.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bethany House Publishers. The opinions in this review are completely my own.