She's Gone Country

by Jane Porter

Overview

Shey Darcy, a 39-year-old former top model for Vogue and Sports Illustrated led a charmed life in New York City with a handsome photographer husband until the day he announced he'd fallen in love with someone else. Left to pick up the pieces of her once happy world, Shey decides to move back home to Texas with her three teenage sons.

Life on the family ranch, however, brings with it a whole new host of dramas starting with differences of opinion with her staunch Southern Baptist mother, her rugged but overprotective brothers, and daily battles with her three sons who are also struggling to find themselves. Add to the mix Shey's ex-crush, Dane Kelly, a national bullriding champ and she's got her hands full. It doesn't take long before Shey realizes that in order to reinvent herself, she must let go of an uncertain future and a broken past, to find happiness--and maybe love--in the present.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446509411
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	08/23/2010
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Jane Porter lives in Seattle, Washington, with her two children. You can find out more about her at www.janeporter.com.

Editorial Reviews

Porter (Easy on the Eyes) injects some western flavor in this story of starting over and romance in the over-30 set. After ex-supermodel Shey Darcy's husband leaves her for another man, she packs up her three teenage sons and moves from New York City to the Texas ranch where she grew up, and while Shey easily finds work as a catalogue model and reconnects with her two older brothers, the divorce weighs on her mind and two of her boys can't make the transition, particularly 14-year-old Bo, who suffers from depression. Naturally, Shey's return to her old stomping grounds prompts the inevitable reunion with an old flame, former pro bull rider Dane Kelly. Porter's depiction of small town Texas is convincing, but her protagonists are too flawless to be believable, and their happy ending comes after too little conflict. It's a nice diversion that could use a bit more complexity. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"She's Gone Country is a richly rewarding story about the importance of love, family, and friendship, and Porter writes with genuine warmth and quiet grace about the everyday problems all women face - and conquer - in their own lives."--Chicago Tribune

"After her husband leaves her for a man, Shey Darcy, a 39-year-old model, takes their three sons to her family's ranch in Texas to mourn the end of her marriage and decide what her next step is. Though Shey is pretty sure she wants to stay in Texas, her three teenage sons have mixed feelings. Her oldest, Hank, misses his fancy New York prep school. Middle son Bo is mercilessly picked on by his new classmates. But Cooper, the youngest, embraces country life and decides he wants to learn to be a rodeo cowboy. And the man Cooper hopes will teach him to ride is none other than Dane Kelly, a rodeo champ Shey fell hopelessly in love with at 16 and has never quite gotten over. Dane is divorced, but as remote from Shey as ever, and estranged from her two older brothers, who used to be his best friends. Narrated in Shey's appealing, warm voice, a great favorite among chick-lit and women's fiction fans, Porter's latest offers a compelling romance and likable characters, who will appeal to big city and country girls alike."--Booklist

"Strongly plotted, with heroines who are vulnerable yet resilient... All these elements are neatly tied up - with a few twists - in an engaging, if idealized, romance."--Seattle Times

From the Publisher

"After her husband leaves her for a man, Shey Darcy, a 39-year-old model, takes their three sons to her family's ranch in Texas to mourn the end of her marriage and decide what her next step is. Though Shey is pretty sure she wants to stay in Texas, her three teenage sons have mixed feelings. Her oldest, Hank, misses his fancy New York prep school. Middle son Bo is mercilessly picked on by his new classmates. But Cooper, the youngest, embraces country life and decides he wants to learn to be a rodeo cowboy. And the man Cooper hopes will teach him to ride is none other than Dane Kelly, a rodeo champ Shey fell hopelessly in love with at 16 and has never quite gotten over. Dane is divorced, but as remote from Shey as ever, and estranged from her two older brothers, who used to be his best friends. Narrated in Shey's appealing, warm voice, a great favorite among chick-lit and women's fiction fans, Porter's latest offers a compelling romance and likable characters, who will appeal to big city and country girls alike."

Booklist

"Strongly plotted, with heroines who are vulnerable yet resilient... All these elements are neatly tied up - with a few twists - in an engaging, if idealized, romance."

Seattle Times

"She's Gone Country is a richly rewarding story about the importance of love, family, and friendship, and Porter writes with genuine warmth and quiet grace about the everyday problems all women face - and conquer - in their own lives."

Chicago Tribune