This book is sappy and silly; a romance written about a superficial city girl and a mostly silent cowboy. The main character is obsessed with her spiky black boots and her wavy auburn hair; the boy gets his way in a slightly domineering manner that she just loves. But despite all this, I really enjoyed the real life love story of the Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond) and her husband, whom she always refers to as “Marlboro Man”. I think that even though it’s a silly book, Ree’s writing and tone is just very likable. It’s obvious in her recipes on her website (which I love), and it’s obvious here as well.
“My head rested on his shoulder, my heart rested entirely in his hands And in a whisper, my words escaped: “I love you.” He probably hadn’t heard them. He was too focused on the movie. But he heard me; I could tell. His arms enveloped me even further; his embrace tightened. He breathed in and sighed, and his hand played with my hair. “Good,” he said softly, and his gentle lips found mine.”
The whole book is written like that. Like a cheesy romance novel. But it’s a true story, and she throws in enough really embarrassing moments (she falls down a lot, and she basically spends their whole honeymoon vomiting) to offset the goop. And the goopy bits are sweet. There’s also nothing beyond some passionate smooching in here — she makes it pretty clear that they waited until marriage — but the smooching is pretty hot nonetheless. I think my favorite part, however, is reconciling her lovey-dovey descriptions of the man with a Google image search of what he actually looks like: a totally normal looking dude with a goatee and a cowboy hat. But in every picture of the two of them together (and she’s gorgeous — great hair, cute dimples), she just looks like she’s still over the moon about it. It’s adorable.
The other aspect to the book, beyond the romance of meeting her cowboy, is Ree’s adaptation to his ranch — learning how to help with the cattle, to cook, to get up at 5am and not apply a pound of makeup before getting out the door. I think that experience is an excellent argument for living with someone before committing to not only them, but also their rather unique lifestyle, but these two make it work. Overall, this book is a sweet read that you can finish in the bathtub, and the recipes at the end are a nice touch.
