Book #21: The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels

It seems as though everyone would know who Ree Drummond, alias The Pioneer Woman, is by now. She started out as a cattle rancher's wife turned mother turned blogger, but in recent years as her blog's popularity has expanded she's added author to her list of things she does. She first wrote a cookbook, and most recently she wrote a children's book. Somewhere in the middle, though, comes The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.

Black Heels is the story of how Drummond came to be the pioneer woman she is today. The story started out on her website where she began recounting how she and her husband met and got together, and the book develops and adds to that memoir account. It is a funny story; after all, Drummond was only meant to be stop briefly in her Oklahoma hometown en route to a new, chic life in Chicago when she met her man and, well, things changed. Funny things seem to happen to Dummond all the time as well; she apparently has impeccable memory for all of these mishaps.

I was afraid the story would have too much of a romance novel feel to it, but I can happily report that there are no heaving bosoms or ridiculously-worded sex scenes to be found anywhere in the book. Overall I found it quite genuine and, because everything does seem to happen to Drummond, I found it compelling to read as well. The book might not be quite as accessible to readers unfamiliar with Drummond's Pioneer Woman, since she doesn't develop her characters (mostly family members) particularly strongly (readers of her blog already know about her siblings, her brother-in-law, and all the other cast of characters). But it was a fun story, a quick read that would be great for the beach or a vacation. I'd suggest it to readers who enjoy true life love stories, memoirs centered on positive relationships (do people still write those?), and, of course, fans of the Pioneer Woman.