A Rip-Roaring Good Read

If you're in the mood to read a great love story, I recommend Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, by Ree Drummond.

A few months before I started this blog, I read about Drummond in Ladies' Home Journal, and at the bottom of the article it mentioned that she also had a blog, http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/. I thought she sounded interesting and I liked her style--witty, wry, self-deprecating; I was intrigued, so I checked out her blog and was instantly hooked. Before I went on the Pioneer Woman website, I had only read one blog in my entire life--my daughter-in-law's; now, suddenly, I was a follower of not one blog, but two! (The computer was no longer my enemy and I was coming into the 21st century, finally.)

Ree Drummond started her award-winning blog in 2006. On it, she posts stories about her family and daily life on their cattle ranch, she shares awesome recipes (that use lots of butter!), and she showcases samples of her photography. When she talks about the goings-on at the ranch with her husband and four kids, she can be so hilarious that I have found myself sitting at my computer, all alone but laughing out loud (LOL, as the young whippersnappers are saying these days). Ree Drummond's website has a huge following, and she's become quite famous; she's appeared on television shows and published not only this book, but a cookbook and a children's book as well.

Black Heels to Tractor Wheels is the true story of how Drummond met and fell in love with her husband, whom she refers to as "Marlboro Man." She says she woke up one day with writer's block and had no idea what to post on her blog, so she decided to tell the story of the night she (an avowed city girl) met her future husband (a cowboy/rancher) in a bar. Although an unlikely match, sparks flew! Her followers loved it so much that they clamored for more, and she continued to write about their funny, passion-filled (but PG-rated, I assure you) courtship in installments until she had the makings of a book, which just came out this year.

This is one of the most enjoyable reads I've had in a while! Ree Drummond calls her love story "a romance novel, an old Broadway musical, and a John Wayne western rolled into one." She is such a wonderful writer, I could hardly put her book down once I'd started it.

On the back of the book jacket, one reader gave it this tribute: "The best romance since Gone with the Wind." Another said, "One word: swoon." Drummond herself, in her typical humorous fashion, describes it thus: "It's the story of a cowboy. And Wranglers. And chaps. And the girl who fell in love with them."

So grab a cup of coffee and your favorite bookmark (the one in the picture is courtesy of my youngest son, a precious Mother's Day gift that he made for me with his own two little hands in 1st grade in 2000), curl up on the couch, and dive into Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. I think you'll enjoy the ride!