Maggie's Mistake

Oklahoma Land Rush #3

by Carolyn Brown

Maggie vowed to never marry a man who can’t laugh or dance, but when she and the dull new doctor in town, Everett Dulanis, wind up spending the night together in an abandoned dugout house, all that changes. Her father is the best man and his shotgun is the bridesmaid at the wedding where a union has been made, but there’s certainly no unity.

Everett was engaged to Carolina Prescott, a southern lady in Atlanta, Georgia. But that, too, comes to an end when he awakes with nothing but a blanket around him and the cold barrel of a shotgun pressed against his forehead. Maggie, simple-minded and fun-loving, is as far removed from what he wants and needs in a wife as a hog straight from the wallow. Even though he keeps protesting that nothing happened in that dugout shack, he has no choice but to marry the woman.

Somewhere in the middle of undoing the knot that had been tied by mistake, Maggie and Everett find they’ve fallen in love and don’t want to end their marriage. But will either of them ever admit it?

Genres: Romance, Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Historical Romance, Audiobook, Westerns

197 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2002

About the author

Hi! I'm twenty five years old and movie star gorgeous. The camera added thirty plus years and a few wrinkles. Can't trust those cameras or mirrors either. Along with bathroom scales they are notorious liars! Honestly, I am the mother of three fantastic grown children who've made me laugh and given me more story ideas than I could ever write. My husband, Charles, is my strongest supporter and my best friend. He's even willing to eat fast food and help with the laundry while I finish one more chapter! Life is good and I am blessed!

Reading has been a passion since I was five years old and figured out those were words on book pages. As soon as my chubby little fingers found they could put words on a Big Chief tablet with a fat pencil, I was on my way. Writing joined reading in my list of passions. I will read anything from the back of the Cheerio's box to Faulkner and love every bit of it. In addition to reading I enjoy cooking, my family and the ocean. I love the Florida beaches. Listening to the ocean waves puts my writing brain into high gear.

I love writing romance because it's about emotions and relationships. Human nature hasn't changed a bit since Eve coveted the fruit in the Garden of Eden. Settings change. Plots change. Names change. Times change. But love is love and men and women have been falling in and out of it forever. Romance is about emotions: love, hate, anger, laughter... all of it. If I can make you laugh until your sides ache or grab a tissue then I've touched your emotions and accomplished what every writer sets out to do.

I got serious about writing when my third child was born and had her days and nights mixed up. I had to stay up all night anyway and it was very quiet so I invested in a spiral back notebook and sharpened a few pencils. The story that emerged has never sold but it's brought in enough rejection slips to put the Redwood Forest on the endangered list. In 1997 Kensington bought two books for their Precious Gems line. Two years and six books later the line died with only four of those books seeing publication. But by then Avalon had bought a book and another, and another. Ten years later the list has grown to thirty nine. Last year Sourcebooks bought the Lucky Series which is in the bookstores now. They've also bought The Honky Tonk Series which will debut with I LOVE THIS BAR in June and will be followed by HELL, YEAH, MY GIVE A DAMN'S BUSTED, and HONKY TONK CHRISTMAS.

Folks ask me where I get my ideas. Three kids, fifteen grandchildren, two great grandchildren. Note: I was a very young grandmother! Life is a zoo around here when they all come home. In one Sunday afternoon there's enough ideas to keep me writing for years and years. Seriously, ideas pop up at the craziest times. When one sinks its roots into my mind, I have no choice but to write the story. And while I'm writing the characters peek over my shoulder and make sure I'm telling it right and not exaggerating too much. Pesky little devils, they are!

I have a wonderful agent, Erin Niumata, who continues to work magic and sell my work. I'm very lucky to have her and my editors who continue to believe in me.

Happy reading!

Reviews

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggie's Mistake was a charming clean romance. Quite a simple story with only a few characters, but that made it really easy to listen to. Ideal for when you've overdone it on tense reads and want something easy to read or listen to with pleasant characters.

I definitely recommend this to those who love romance.

I borrowed this in audiobook format through Amazon Kindle Unlimited.

[babyfishmouth · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book with so many irritating characters. They are all wildly inconsistent and one-dimensional. Head hopping abounds and even the house-cat gets to share his thoughts. Lucky me! The two main characters, Maggie and Everett, ping-pong all over the place when comes to their thoughts and emotions. One minute he thinks she’s stupid and the next minute he’s changed his mind and considers her as “wise as the sages.”

I especially love this paragraph:

Everything about dumb Maggie continued to amaze him. From the way she could cook, iron his shirts to perfection, sew her own dresses, hold down a rambuctious toddler for stitches, and help deliver a baby. How could anyone ever tag her as anything less than super intelligent? It amazed him.

I am also amazed! Clearly Everett doesn’t understand the definition of super intelligent. Last I checked, none of the items on his above list requires a high IQ to accomplish. Happily, Maggie has equally ridiculous thoughts about him. They are perfect for each but perhaps not in the way the author intended.

This is the first book I’ve read by Carolyn Brown and it was originally published in 2002. Some of her more recent books are on my TBR shelf and I’m very hopeful she’s improved her storytelling skills since then.

I’m giving this two stars: one for the book being relatively short and one for the low price I paid to read it.

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wondergul

I loved this book about a shotgun marriage between a doctor and a country girl and was so very sweet. Maggie was wonderful from the beginning. Everett not so much. He was pretty cruel to her because he thought he was so much an over her. He even called her dumb. But she wasnt. She was honest , hardworking, and had a truly good soul. People were so mean to her. He was engaged to a city girl and was supposed to be married in a few weeks but he gave a ride to Maggie after a barn dance when she was left behind. A bad storm rattled his horse and the buggy turned over and the horse ran off. So they found shelter and were waiting out the storm. They fell asleep and he woke up with a shotgun between his eyes. From then on it was an incredibly sweet story about them planning for an annulment but falling in love. There is no sex and may be two or three kisses but I found it romantic and wholesome. Kind of reminded me of Simple Jess and I loved that story too. It is a Cinderella story for sure and one I truly enjoyed.

[Dorcas · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

This is my 14th Carolyn Brown. Her historicals pretty much follow a simple formula which can be wrapped up the following scenario: "Girl meets boy. Girl hates boy. Boy hates girl. Boy and girl are thrown into each others company against their will. They fall in love but neither will admit it til the very end. They do, and live happily ever after".

So you'd think that by now I'd be sick of her stories and its true I cant read them one after another like I used to, but every now and then when I'm between books and am in the mood for pure brain candy, it satisfies me. And so I keep reading them because, darn it, they're fun.

CONTENT: Clean, just kissing

[Dosha (Bluestocking7) Beard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a nice clean romance about a forced marriage. It was nice to read another short book that kept my interest and had me wondering how it would all come out to a nice happy ending. Easy, very easy reading.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those of you familiar with my reading tastes might be scratching your head here; this is an Avalon Historical Romance and I gave it 3 stars because I liked it. You are not seeing things. A friend recommended this, and once in a while I do read these sorts of forced marriage or marriage of convenience plots. They are predictable, of course, but it’s part of the fun when I read them.

Maggie and Everett wake up to Maggie’s dad’s blunderbuss pointed at them, even though they are innocent of any wrongdoing. That very morning they are married with a shotgun as the maid of honour, but not to worry, Everett will have it annulled and they can go on with their lives. After all, he is a serious doctor and she’s a country hick with a reputation for not being the brightest bulb in the box—wait, that’s an anachronistic analogy, but you get the drift. Naturally, these plans are foiled because they spend that night in the same house, albeit in different rooms, so now they have to work on a divorce. Maggie, however, turns out to be one of the brightest bulbs in the box, and although she is totally clueless due to lack of mirrors, absolutely beautiful. What else would you expect from an Avalon Historical Romance???

[Jenni Hallin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was truly horrible. It was free on my kindle and I still feel ripped off.

[Melissa]

DNF writing was off

[I Renner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mistake

This book started off strong then sort of fizzled out into a boring, predictable pattern.
Maybe the next one will be better.

[Zubee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light and fast paced story ... Lovable characters ... Loved the h .. she had a spine of steel and was seriously badass ... I liked the way she told the OW off whenever they met ... She also told the H off when he was being an idiot ... H was an idiot at times but he transitioned into a person with a sense of humor ... Only thing I missed was knowing what happened to Scrapper at the end ...

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going through all the CB novels right now, I haven't found one yet that I don't like! On to the next..

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and easy romance. Clean read. Simple.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite of the series so far. Just loved Maggie!

[Ellen Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggie's Mistake

A very enjoyable story. After being caught together in a storm Maggie and Everett are forced into a shotgun wedding.

[Darbella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maggie and Everett. I liked it.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 3rd book in the Oklahoma Land Rush series. The first was "Emma's Folly," the 2nd, "Violet's Wish." If at all possible, I recommend reading the first 2 in order as each book builds on or includes the one before it.
Maggie loves to dance. She works hard but she feels like it's a bit easier to work hard if you can dance once in a while and have a good laugh, so she wants a husband who can dance well and has a sense of humor. In "Violet's Wish," when Violet was around Maggie a little longer, she realized that, although many people thought Maggie was a bit slow intellectually, she had surprising depth that made Vioalet think they had all misjudged her.
Now, it's Maggie's turn for a story about her. Let's list her family. She lost the oldest sister, of childbirth complications, when the baby was too big to birth after 2 days of labor. These days, she would be alive because they'd have taken her in for a Cesarean section and taken the baby, and both would have lived. Maggie loved her big sister, who looked like her mom and waa overtly intelligent where Maggie seemed slow and had something I suffer from - foot in mouth itis - and when the funeral was over, she overheard her mother saying she wished Maggie had died instead of her sister, who showed much more promise. Maggie never told them she had overheard that. Maggie became the eldest then. Her mother was a midwife and began training Maggie solely because she was the only one old enough and knew how to help. Elenor and Maggie were close, and Maggie was 2 yr older than Elenor and 4 years older than the youngest, Grace. Her dad taught them all to shoot, but Maggie had a knack for it.
The family attended the last barn dance of the season, with friends and family in 2 wagons. Maggie went back to retrieve her hat, which someone mean had thrown up high in the barn where the dance was held, and it took her a while to get to it. By the time she exited the barn, both wagons were gone. The only one still anywhere near the place had been the new doctor, Emma's uncle by her father's remarriage, who had decided he wanted a small practice in the country. Everyone had pulled together to build him an office, and once again, the cabin where Emma and Jed had lived when Emma first came, and where Violet and Orrin had stayed while Orrin finished their house and after the bandits had burned down Violet's house, was pressed into service as the doctor's residence until he could build his own place.
As Everett was taking Maggie home, a bolt of lightning and the ensuing crack of thunder spooked the horse, which reared and bolted, overturning Everett's wagon and dumping them on the ground. Rain was pouring down, the horse had gotten loose when the wagon overturned, and the wagon was too heavy to right with just 2 people. Most people who had gone to the land rush lived in tents and immediately started planting, and most made and lived initially in dugouts, places dug into a hill and finished with sod blocks cut out of the earth, temporary houses that sheltered them as they worked their land and preserved food for the winter. Generally, after spring plowing, if they had the money and time, they'd build a 1 or 2 room cabin, abandoning the dugout. Maggie remembered one such place and they headed there. There were 2 blankets there, so they turned their backs to each other, got out of their wet clothes, and wrapped up in the blankets to wait out the storm in relative warmth, and dry their clothes at least a little. Wiped out from the exertions of work followed by dancing followed by running through pelting rain, both fell asleep, only to wake up to Maggie's dad Ben pointing a shotgun in Everett's face, saying that even if they hadn't done anything wrong, it looked bad, and Maggie would be ruined if they didn't marry. So Ben forced the preacher to marry them bright and early and took them to Jed's cabin, where Everett took the loft and gave the bed to Maggie, and he bathed while she made them a late breakfast, then Maggie demanded a clean pair of old men's clothes until her sister brought her things to the cabin so she could put dey clothes on after her bath. Neither of them can stand eaxh other, and Everett is besotted by a woman named Carolina, a high society type who has never turned a hand to work in her life. Everett has a lawyer friend named James who he says can help them have the marriage annulled, and says he will telegraph James for help as soon as the telegraoh office opens, which is fine with Maggie.
Of course, things like that took time, and Everett soon doscovers Maggie is a great cook, keeps a clean house, does the laundry to perfection, and that she has unexpected depths. She helps him with Anne Marie's spoiled toddler when he cuts his foot and his mother throws up at the sight of blood (I wonder how she managed her monthly cycles?), she sets something up Everett can use to help with kids, and when a neighbor with a 1 and a 2 year old boy starts having more pain than usual and labors a lot longer than normal, Maggie goes along, bringing food, supplies, and a calming manner that helps Everett turn the breech baby and deliver her safely...she helps clean her and her sheets up, and she initially got the little boys to sleep under the stars just outside the door so they wouldn't be scared or in the way.
Along the way, Carolina stops for a brief visit, Maggie finds out Everett can laugh and he only knows
city dances, the 2 are getting a bit closer, and neither one will admit how they feel. What will it take to get them together - will that even be possible?
Once again, the characters are engaging. I just loved what Maggie did during the stage ride...she was awesome! I also like the way she handles herself, and this character proves that there is often way more to a person than meets the eye. It is lovely to see Violet's observations about her in the 2nd book confirmed in the 3rd. Foot in mouth itis doesn't equal stupidity. I think of it as being a verbal klutz. As each character's background is revealed a bit at a time, it is almost like they become family during the reading of the book.
There are more colloquialisms used in this book than in the 2nd (the 1st book rarely uses them except as quotes), including some Cajun. As always, the author's prose flows effortlessly and there are no errors in the text.
I recommend this series so far, and am about to read the next book in the series, which I expect will have the same great writing, and as with the first 3 books, avoids pornographic descriptions completely...a relief as so many romance books that have no warnings, and are nothing more than pornography strung together with a threadbare plot (I page past the porno so I can really see the flimsy plots). Thanks to Carolyn Brown for focusing on romance, not sex.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

I either got this for free or purchased it for a very low price. It had been sitting around on my Kindle for a while and I finally got around to it when I was looking for a lighter read. Light it was. Entertaining it was not. It is incredibly repetitive. Most of the story is inside the character's head, hating each other through the first half of the book and worried about what to do once they fell in love the second half. "He hates me". "She hates me". Very little else happens. Except for the unrealistic travel and circumstances of the historical setting, which makes the already unbelievable story completely absurd. Taking liberties when writing is one thing, but completely disregarding history is another. Trains did not run from middle of no where, not yet a state Oklahoma to Georgia on daily basis, but in this drivel of a book, it runs multiple times. And that is only one glaring example. The real mistake here is reading this book. Even as a free book, it isn't worth it.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this story. It was a warm hearted and amusing HEA romantic story. The heroine Maggie was strong and giving, who knew what she wanted in a man and it was not our hero Dr. Everett Dulanis. He did not see want a shotgun bride who just wanted a man for his dancing abilities and his sense of humour.
The road to love for these two takes them on a journey from Oklahoma, Atlanta and New Orleans. It's a bumpy road but what a ride.

[Sometime · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for free on Kindle Unlimited. I wanted to like this book. I even liked many of the characters. But the endless back and forth "he/she couldn't love me, I'm too dull,stupid,plain etc" on and on and on ad nauseam. Without all that internal dialogue there wouldn't have been a book.

I wish I could find higher quality books in the Kindle Unlimited program.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maggie vowed to never marry a man who can't laugh or dance, but when she and the dull new doctor in town, Everett Dulanis, wind up spending the night together in an abandoned dugout house, all that changes. Her father is the best man and his shotgun is the bridesmaid at the wedding where a union has been made, but there's certainly no unity.

Everett was engaged to Carolina Prescott, a southern lady in Atlanta, Georgia. But that, too, comes to an end when he awakes with nothing but a blanket around him and the cold barrel of a shotgun pressed against his forehead. Maggie, simple-minded and fun-loving, is as far removed from what he wants and needs in a wife as a hog straight from the wallow. Even though he keeps protesting that nothing happened in that dugout shack, he has no choice but to marry the woman.

Somewhere in the middle of undoing the knot that had been tied by mistake, Maggie and Everett find they've fallen in love and don't want to end their marriage. But will either of them ever admit it?

[Raquel M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

Very interesting.
Great voice narration.

I will admit I didn't realize this was a period piece when I started it , which made the whole thing funnier.
.it's also written from ever POV without pauses or indication... even the cats POV. Ut takes a few chapters to get used to. But it'd done perfectly and really puts you in the middle of this weet story... as we all love and expect from Carolyn Brown.

Everett and Maggie mouse and mouse the entire story... not liking each other and running away and the liking each other but continuing to run away from their feelings. Normally I would find this annoying, but Carolyn has brought so much into this story that you don't even notice. The full cast is engaging and needed for this otherwise simple story of fate knowing best.

[Bookwurm637 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished this book a few days ago and I had to take some time because it left me with a lot of thoughts.

Nothing extraordinary about the story in itself. The basic forced marriage, slow burn, enemies-to-lovers trope.

But I ran into some personal issues when Everett brought Maggie home to his family's home on the "plantation".
Now, I know that the people of that time and place owned slaves and have some idea of what went on and how these people were treated. But none of this was ever brought up in the storyline. And I understand that this is a romance and most readers don't want to deal with all of this, but my mind just got stuck in that mode of WTF! Y'all just ain't gonna deal at all?!?

Sigh 😕

So, it was an okay story. Nothing special. A pleasant 2 1/2 🌟 experience. Rounded down because of my personal experience.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shotgun Wedding

A case of mad daddy who refused to what really happened led Maggie and Everett to the altar before they could blink twice. The two did not care for each other one little bit, but they lived in a charade of a marriage to keep her daddy from shooting him. Life in Oklahoma Territory was rough around the edges, but it showed great promise. Everett’s snooty Atlanta fiancée wanted no part of it and left him with a broken heart and a feisty wife that he wanted no part of. Maggie’s stubbornness and determination attracted her to him until the inevitable happened, but neither would admit they had fallen for the other. Carolyn Brown continues to write unique romance novels that keep the pages turning.

[Lynn Bremer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Opposites do fall in love

I love this third story best. Maggie has been described as loving to dance and laugh but not very smart in this and previous books. We learn that she's smarter, especially in common sense than most women in this time period. Back in the day, propriety is more important than common sense. Thus, Maggie and Everett end up having a shot gun wedding because they didn't let themselves come down with pneumonia to preserve propriety. They despise each other and yet they do begin to care and understand each other. Carolyn Brown's wit is top notch in Maggie. I love her ballsy female characters! It's a good read.

[Jean Malherbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL

I actually read this book way back in 2016. I loved it so much, I can't think why I never reviewed it before. This is, indeed one of those unforgettable stories that I still think about often, even after all this time.

Ms Brown has managed to capture the "scandalous" incident as exactly what it would have been in this historical era, but with such hilarious tongue in cheek humour, that each moment of this read will have you grinning, giggling or laughing out loud.
(also, I always wondered where the term "shotgun wedding" originated. Lol
Well, now we know.)

An absolute gem!

[Kathy Downey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is proof that a father's impressions might have forced a shotgun wedding, but love came through in the end. Often we don't see what is really inside us as well as our outward appearance thinking we are just not worthy. Our personality can override if we are true to ourselves. Even the good doctor had to have a reality check to see where he really belonged! Carolyn Brown never disappoints with a happy ending just like a Hallmark movie!

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Carolyn Brown's books. Her stories rarely disappoint. Maggie lives in Oklahoma and gets left behind after a dance by her father. She catches a ride with the new town doctor. While on their way back to her home a thunderstorm hits. The Thunder frightens his horse and the horse breaks free from his buggy leaving Maggie and himself to run for shelter in the rain. They are found in the morning and forced to get married with a shotgun.

[PepperP0t · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s rotten luck that new to town Dr. Everett Dulanis and local Maggie Listen ended up leaving the dance just as a storm starts. They’ve got no choice but to take their clothes off to dry and fall asleep. Next thing they know, her father has a shotgun at his head. As soon as the two get dressed they’re escorted to the preacher. The plan is to get a divorce but circumstances and well-meaning friends see what Everett and Maggie don’t seem to be able to see.
Rating: 4.25stars

[Bruce Dinsman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was the title mislabeled or was the whole thing with Maggie going back to the barn dance for a hat and getting left behind by her father so the good doctor would be a gentleman and take her home, but the weather intervened and a shotgun wedding resulted. Why did her father bring 4 witnesses when he was looking for his daughter? Could it be that he needed her married so his younger daughter could pursue a husband? I thoroughly enjoyed this one, looking for more from the author

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful little book! I was surprised by how quickly the author pulled me into the story. Yes once the story begins, the reader can almost predict what will happen. The story occurs during the days of horse and buggies. There's lots of excitement in the book. A couple is found in an unfortunate place and the results are overwhelming. Take a step back into history when there was right and wrong and people were made to be honest.