Customer Reviews

She's Gone Country

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Though I enjoyed this book more than Easy on the Eyes, I found that it did not live up to Mrs. Perfect.

I really did not enjoy Easy on the Eyes, I felt that the main character spent much of her time complaining and whining about her looks (I actually could not finish it, it was too grating on the nerves) I really enjoyed Mrs. Perfect. I liked the way the main character grew with her problems and learned to overcome them.

The main character of She's Gone Country seemed to get the easy way out. All of her problems disappeared. Lulu magically got another boyfriend, the intruder left and never returned and her son was cured. Eventually Shey's life became simplified by her getting pregnant, married and living happily ever after.

I would really like to go back to Bellevue and meet up with Marta and Taylor again. I felt that both Odd Mom Out and Mrs. Perfect delt with real life situations of women who live and work in suburbia. I hope that Jane brings us back there soon.

I loved this book. For many reasons. Some being that it's a great chic book, it's about a single mom with teenage boys (though mine are teenagers YET, I can relate being a single mom of two boys), it's funny, and probably most importantly, it's about being country. I'm a country girl at heart. While I don't wear wranglers and boots, I do have a love for country. Country music. Country shows. Good ol' Southern Sweet Tea. So, through Jane Porter's words and characters, I was completely captivated by this awesome book!

Porter's characters are AWESOME. Down home, southern hospitality at it's best as the characters welcome back Shey Darcy, the single mom who's husband doesn't love her anymore (he's actually gay!). In comes hot ex boyfriend Dane. Now THAT is a character I wish could be in EVERY book I read. (Can I insert a *purr* here?) Throw in Shey's over powering Southern Baptist mama and this is one book that I am super glad that I got to read!!

So, in my review conclusion, DEFINITELY worth HIGH recommendation and 5 star praises. It's upbeat, yet funny, yet deals with lots of issues that woman deal with today. Not to mention it's a very enlightening read for us fellow single mama's out there! So, grab your boots, your wranglers, a mason jar of sweet tea and a copy of Porter's book. If you're not already, you'll be going country right along side Shey Darcy!

*This book provided for review by Crazy Book Tours*

This is just the kind of book you read when you need to be uplifted. The main character returns to her home roots on the ranch after her husband leaves her for another man.

After dealing with that situation, Shey works on adjusting her life and rekindling her old love. This is a romance novel. Don't expect total realism and unhappy endings. This is a book you read when you want to escape and have everything end happily ever after. Sometimes when times get tough that is what people want--some great escapism and this is it!!

It's fun to read about a fashion model who is still getting great jobs at 39, who has problems with her siblings (that get worked out) and that gets back together with her handsome first love.

If you want unhappy endings and dysfunctional families there are plenty of novels out there. This is not one of them.

She's Gone Country by Jane Porter is a wonderful, engaging novel. Porter is so skillful at making the reader care about her characters. I have read nearly all of her novels and love how she takes a supporting character from a previous novel and takes us into their world. Shey Darcy, the lead in "She's Gone Country" is a character I already cared about from "Odd Mom Out" and "Easy on the Eyes" but couldn't wait to learn more. Porter delivered with this wonderful novel but the great part is even if you haven't read her other books this is a stand alone novel as well. AS a mother myself, I am in awe of how well Porter portrays the struggles we go through everyday. She writes so realistically and moves me to tears at times. This book has it all~ heartbreak and loss, family-ties and betrayal, romance and love, future and hope and so, so much more. It really is a must read!

This book was a mix of humor and frustration for me. Shey's interaction with Dane and her mother provide the bulk of the bright spots of the book. Her romance with Dane seemed to get off to a somewhat slow start, but once it did, it progressed at light speed. Shey's relationship with her mom seemed a little strained, but it provided the comedic outlet.

What kept me from really liking Shey more, was how she seemed to let her children treat her. Her two oldest children, Hank and Bo, seemed to talk to her and behave with her any way they pleased. With me being raised by a Southern mother, I seen their behavior as very disrespectful and she did nothing to correct it. When it came to her boys, I have to agree with her brother Brick, in the fact that she was babying them. Shey kept saying how she used to be this strong woman, but I never seen her as such. She came off as more passive than strong.

Overall it's worth the read, but in the end I would have liked to seen what happened with the young girl Shey befriended who was having family issues at home. Or more about how Dane and Brick's friendship was progressing. Or not progressing. I just felt like I was left with a lot of unanswered questions.

The first two books in this loosely related series about four friends and their relationships were fantastic. Odd Mom Out and the Perfect Wife spoke for every suburban mom out there. You recognized yourself even when you didn't want to. The third book was a huge letdown. This fourth book She's Gone Country was a little better but it doesn't have the witty social commentary the first two had. Also, she seems to be floating aimlessly, a victim of her own life until the man of her dreams makes the world right again for her. This was kind of Harliquinish.
(Is that even a word?)

Jane knocks it out of the park with this one. I could really tell this is another written straight from her heart. This is Shey's story. Her life has been turned upside-down by her husband of 15+ years and she retreats to her home state of Texas to be surrounded by what's familiar and safe to regroup and revive herself. Shey is left to deal with three boys who have been betrayed by their father while trying to fit in back home and make a life for herself. Her husband's betrayal has left her doubting herself in every way as no woman should: is she attractive and desirable? is she good enough and smart enough to make it without him? is she too old to have "it" again?

She deals with most conflicts head-on (with her mother, brothers, sons and even her ex). One exception being running into her first true love (or crush as she feels it might be); she's afraid to face what might or might not still be there in her romance with the sexy, stable and safe cowboy Dane.

Shey's story will keep you turning pages until you get til the very end. You won't be disappointed. Jane writes from her heart, she writes for women and she writes easy to read (and love) stories. This story even deals with very relevant and timely topics that affect her boys (don't want to spoil anything here). Jane really hits the mark with all of it.

Thank you Jane for another wonderful story to enjoy over and over. Keep them coming!!

This is the second book I have read by Jane Porter, the first being Easy on The Eyes, last year.

What I Can Tell You:
From the very first page, you will find yourself relating to and loving Shey! She is every woman who has to start a new chapter of her life with her boys now that her husband has found another.

Everytime I look at the cover, I hear Alan Jackson singing:
She's gone country, look at them boots
She's gone country, back to her roots
She's gone country, a new kind of suit
She's gone country, here she comes
I loved her relationship with her mother and her boys. The flow of the dialogue creates a beautiful visual of the characters playing out a scene. I can hear the water running, see the sun "pooling" on the floor and the curtains blowing in the breeze.

This is a chick lit book if you like that kind of thing and as a mom of two these are great for being able to put down and pick up when I need to. You don't have to dive too far in each time you pick it up and it was easy to read with the kids talking. Usually it is hard for me to filter them out so I do my reading after their bedtime. This was great because I could filter them out and if I couldn't I didn't mind rereading the passage.

Shey is described as being smart, strong and sassy but what I felt was that she was an authentic woman who was trying the best she could to raise her boys in the insecure future she found herself in.

You will love Dane who is described as a golden haired, green eyed, big bullriding, cowboy. Umm... wonder who would play him in a movie. After reading some other reviews that talked about Shey being a bit over the top in her desire for Dane. I felt she was a woman whose heart was crushed by the husband she still loved and to have her ex crush back in her life, really helped her self esteem and made her feel like a desirable woman again which is exactly what she needed.

I feel this book was very disappointing. I have liked all of Jane's books, and think she is a good writer. This book has the same light tone of the others, except I found myself surprised by the lack of gravity in which she treats topics she writes into this story. She sets up a potentially interesting but serious situation where her teenage sons have learned there father is gay, yet it hardly seems to matter at all.. and certainly doesn't merit more than fleeting mention when she considers why her children are struggling. Worse, her son tells her he's suicidal, and they take to a visit with psychologist, then assume he's fine and move on to how soon can she get with the guy. I think if you want to write this book and keep it fun and light, great. But I can't imagine a serious character not dealing in a more significant way with the very situations the book creates.

I was a little leery about picking up this book, even though I like Jane Porter books. But I don't usually like country-esque settings. But this book made the setting like-able, and I loved how the romance was written to keep me hanging on until the end.