The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond

Before the days of the Food Network and Pioneer Woman Cooks, there was a college grad on a pit-stop to her hometown in Oklahoma who met a handsome cowboy. And the rest is an entertaining, lighthearted account of how love hits you smack-dab in the face when you least expect it.

Ree Drummond returns home from USC to temporarily get her life together before she departs for Chicago. Leaving behind her California-cool boyfriend, she's ready to start her life fresh closer to her midwestern home.

Then one night, from across the bar, she spots him. While they have a brief conversation that night in the smoky bar, his smile lingers on her mind long past that night. For months she thinks about him, and then one night the phone rings and on the other end is the deep voice of Marlboro Man.

This homegrown-country boy in his Wrangler jeans and cowboy boots is about to knock her off her straight off of her high-heeled feet.

Thus follows the kind of courtship that all wanna-be cowgirls dream of; long rides in the passenger seat of a pick-up truck, watching old westerns on the couch, working the ranch, and learning the lay of the land side-by-side.

Soon Chicago is out the window and cows are moo-ing in the yard. Ree is swept off her feet and infatuated with this "Marlboro Man." It's a lesson in opposites attract and in love conquering all.

Their whirlwind romance is a bit exaggerated (or is that the cold New Englander in me?), but it is a light and fun romance novel sans Fabio gracing the cover. While the story takes small twists and turns, it is,  at it's core, a hopeful type of romances that warms up a frigid winter day.

The only thing that seems to be missing is how she got famous, or really, how she learned to cook (there's not much evidence of successful meal-making in her courtship). But then again, I am sure that's a story for another time.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/