She's Gone Country by Jane Porter

She's Gone Country Reviews

• 
  Erica Chaillot

  Sweet chemistry, sweet romance, and a wonderful backstory. I loved the characters and the setting. I definitely recommend it to others.
• 
  April

  SHE'S GONE COUNTRY by Jane Porter is a contemporary romance set in modern day Texas. It is well written with details and depth. It has romance, cowboys, ranch life, divorce, bullying, second chances, major life changes, adolescent issues and betrayal. The characters are strong, determined, likable and interesting. The heroine, Shey, is in the middle of a divorce, just learned her husband of years is in love with someone else, a male. She moves back home to Texas where she learns to reinvent herself, pick up the pieces of her broken life and her uncertain future for her and her sons. One son, is depressed, being bullied at school, one goes back to New York with her father and the other one is training with her ex-boyfriend for bull riding. The hero, Dane, is her ex, whom they loved each other but where separated by Shey's family.He is also a national bull-riding champ, has lost a child, and is newing his love for Shey. This story is a wonderful story of love lost and found again. Of starting over, forgiveness, it shows of one women's struggles to manage three teenage boys, find her hopes,dreams and deal with her overbearing mother, over protective brothers and manage a new life with the love of her life, a new baby, and a new career. I would recommend this book. It is a good ole country story with good ole country goals. This book was received for review from the publisher and details can be found at 5 Spot an imprint of Grand Central Publishing and My Book Addiction and More.
• 
  Cassie

  This was not a bad book, it just seemed to lack depth. There were so many little things going on in the main character, Shey's, life that none of them seemed to get the depth they deserved. It seemed like each little thing could have been touched on more. Each small sub-plot could have made the story more interesting if they had had the chance to develop instead of just scratching the surface. Cody's death. Why Blue and Brick blame Dane. Emily's drinking. Why Brick and Blue didn't want Shey with Dane as kids. Who broke into Shey's house. Why was her house broken into. Why didn't the boys ever notice a new door and alarm system. Delila's presence in Shey's life. Hank taking Traci on a date. What became of the girls that were tormenting Bo? It just seemed like there was so much that was introduced, but never followed through.
  
  Also at times, Shey kind of pissed me off. She seemed more like a sex crazed teenager than an adult woman with three grown kids. I liked her boys though, I wish they would have delved deeper into them, than just a surface explanation of them.
  
  All that said, I did like the book, but I could have liked it more.
• 
  Miss Kim

  4 1/2 stars
  
  What an emotional read. Shaye is an aging top model, is a mother of three teenage boys, her husband suddenly announces he is gay and leaving her for man after 17 years of marriage...she takes her boys and leaves NCY and moves back home to Texas.
  
  She finds she loves being home, and it's been hard with her sons adjusting the change in lifestyle. She crosses paths with the first love her life that her family kept her away from, and he eventually marries someone else.
  
  This short review doesn't do the book just. I highly recommend for anyone looking for an emotional read.
  
  It does deal with the seriousness of bullying, depression, divorce, and the death of a family member.
• 
  Jan

  Okay, let's be honest here. If you're anything like me, you don't read a book like this because it's a lyrical masterpiece or because you expect to get a lot out of it. You read it for entertainment, and because you like things that wrap up in nice boxes with happy endings. You read it because it's fun. Like candy for the brain.
  
  In this variety of brain candy, model Shey Lynne moves back to her small Texas town with her three sons after her husband announces that he is gay and wants a divorce. Other factors include a recently-deceased brother, an old flame, and (a little randomly) a hated housing development being built by another brother. I suppose that it's all a bit of a mess, but it's an enjoyable mess.
  
  Of course, it all turns out great in the end. Shey Lynne gets her groove back, so to speak, and gets her man. Like you were expecting anything different. But the predictability is all part of the fun. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Who doesn't love a conveniently perfect happy ending?
• 
  Kristi

  Jane Porter has written 5 novels focusing on a group of women friends who are all in their late-30's to just hitting 40, and she proves without a doubt that sometimes starting over when you're "middle-aged" is sometimes the best thing to happen.
  
  Shey Darcy has watched her friends rebuild their lives and find love over the past few years. Now she's in a situation where she too has to figure out where her life is headed now that she's reaching 40. Shey's husband of 17 years has revealed that not only has he cheated on her, but that he's realized he's gay. Shey gives up her NY modeling career and business partnership to take her boys back to her hometown in Texas. However, it's partly true that you can't always go home again. Shey has 3 teenage boys, her family is still dealing with the loss of one of Shey's brothers, and Shey's highschool love is living in their hometown again. As if she didn't have enough to deal with already.
  
  Shey, unfortunately, doesn't come across as strong and independent as Porter's earlier characters do. Understandably she's questioning herself and licking a few wounds while coping with all that life throws her way, but there's only so much that can be excused. The attribute Shey portrays that's the most unbelievable, or appalling, is her tendency to be so hands-off with her boys. One of them has been diagnosed with depression, yet Shey is willing to let him keep secrets, is willing to let her older brother speak to him without her demanding to know the extent of the conversation, and she doesn't develop a parenting backbone until her old highschool flame tells her that she must trust her parenting gut. Porter disappoints by presenting a female character with such a soft backbone as this, or at least one that seems to need men to take care of her.
  
  Thankfully, Porter does make Shey stronger as the story goes on, and Porter's writing ability does not disappoint. Even while irritated with Shey as a mother, the story continues to thrive. She does a phenomenal job of creating all the mixed emotions that come from being a parent, a sibling, a child, and a partner. She also doesn't spare the reader from suffering the pain that comes with the loss of a loved one. Porter's ability to stir up emotions in her readers is definitely a characteristic that makes her such a great writer.
  
  On a personal note: I've been in Shey's shoes as a single mom, and as a mom having to act as a single mom because my husband was deployed. I've never allowed someone else to "take over" with my kids, nor have I ever accepted the concept of "boys will be boys". I tell my children: "I'm sorry. It's my job as your mom to know what's going on in your life. You're going to have to talk to me, even if you don't want to."
• 
  Nely

  Shey Darcy, at 39, has lived the life many of us can only dream of. She is a former top model that has graced the covers of Vogue and Sport Illustrated, lives in New York City with her husband and three boys. Life is perfect, or at least it was, when her husband of 17 years decides to finally come out of the closet and confesses to liking men.
  
  Shey decides that moving back to her hometown of Parkfield, Texas is the best thing for her and her three boys. But packing up and heading back home to her family is not going to resolve any of her problems. On the other hand, she finds that she and the boys cannot stop fighting, and now she has her mother to worry about too. Then there is Dane. Dane Kelly, her childhood crush, the same boy who's now grown into a rough and tough, rugged, yet handsome cowboy. By rounding all these elements up, there is something for everyone in this story.
  
  Although this is my first Jane Porter book, I somehow knew I would enjoy her work. And sure enough, I was very pleased with She's Gone Country. I think Ms. Porter does a fine job of fleshing out her characters - giving them each their own set of problems to face. Whether it was Shey, Dane, one of her three kids, her mother or even one of her brothers, I think we truly grasp their feelings, their struggles and their flaws. You feel like a part of the family by the time you are through reading it.
  
  I really like the family dynamics in the story. I thought Ms. Porter perfectly described how divorce can affect a family. The boys all underwent major life changes, leaving behind their home, their friends, schools, etc. and I think she accurately describes the emotions kids their age might undergo. I also thought it was refreshing to read how both Shey and her ex-husband John, although not always seeing eye to eye, could form an alliance in order to deal with their children.
  
  All in all, She's Gone Country has something for everyone - romance, family drama and even a mystery to solve. It's got great characters that you will not only love, but who you will be able to relate to. I even learned a thing or two from it - what with Shey's modeling and Dane's professional bull riding. This is a great book to escape with. It is chick lit at its best and one that I can see becoming a fan favorite.
  
  This book was provided for review by BookSparks PR.
• 
  Christine

  After her husband of 16 years leaves her for a man, 39 year old former model Shey moves her 3 sons (ages 12, 14 and 15) from their comfortable NYC life to her childhood home in a small Texas town (population less than a 100 people). Shey struggles to understand the demise of her marriage and feelings for an old high school crush while mothering her children who are having trouble adjusting to the many changes in their lives.
  
  A quick, easy read, this book was okay. Shey's modeling background was incredibly unrealistic (she was discovered after college when she was 22 and started having kids at age 24...and within those 2 years she became the Sports Illustrated cover model twice and traveled around the world...doubt that would actually happen). Her financial situation wasn't exactly clear either-she and her estranged husband were paying $90k a year in private school tuition for their children and lived in Manhattan. Shey was working on an Oxygen show about modeling, wrote a book, and had a number of projects in the works. I guess she quit "everything" to move back home and had zero income coming in? Seems unrealistic. She also claims the public school in her hometown with a population of less than a 100 people was 'pretty good' which seems doubtful. I felt her decision to move her home, while good for her, was a selfish move on her kids behalf. NYC is a big place and she could have moved to a different area of the city, kept the kids near their father (whom she admits throughout the book was a great, hands on dad) and kept them in a top notch school.
  
  Overall-even with the unrealistic scenarios mentioned above, I still enjoyed this.
• 
  Elizabeth (Thoughts From an Evil Overlord)

  Every summer Jane Porter brings us a funny, relevant contemporary romance, and this year's She's Gone Country is no exception. The story of former model Shey Darcy's return to her Texas ranching routes gives readers glimpses into both the worlds of professional ranching and bull riding, as well as high-fashion modeling. Shey's seventeen year marriage has fallen apart, and she has returned to her hometown with her three teenage boys, who are having trouble adjusting from their fast-paced New York prep school lifestyle. In addition to dealing with motherhood dilemmas, Shey's Southern Baptist mother is making her disapproval of Shey's parenting known. Throw gorgeous, world-famous professional bull rider Dane Kelly, Shey's childhood crush, into the mix and you've got a story with something for everyone. Each of Shey's sons is a distinct personality with specific issues which with she must work with her ex-husband John to do what is best for that boy. It's nice to read about a divorce where the parents don't always agree, but can put their child's needs first.
  I really enjoyed learning about the Professional Bull Riders Association, which was created in 1992. The training of the athletes, and the care taken in breeding the best bulls was very interesting and was presented nicely through the character of Dane, a fictional founder of the PBR, teaching Shey's youngest son how to be a cowboy.
  Also included in the story are brief visits from Shey's two best friends, Tiana, who we met in Easy on the Eyes and Marta from Odd Mom Out.
• 
  Andrea Guy

  A lot of readers will recognize Jane's name from the many Harlequin Presents novels she's written over the years. That's why I was a bit wary of reading She's Gone Country at first. It didn't take long for me to change my way of thinking.
  
  Jane's character's are grown up, have "real life troubles" and are for the most part, are people you'd like to call a friend. I can't say that I can relate to a former supermodel with a gay ex-husband, but she felt real, and it was easy to empathize with her and her struggles, even when you want to smack her, when she can only eat 2 fajitas!
  
  Only two!
  
  This book was more a story about life than it was a romance, though Jane does focus on the short teenage relationship with Dane Kelly, but it isn't quite what the story is about, and there sure aren't any real hot and heavy sex scenes here. Though you will be excited for her finally sorting out that old relationship, what the reader really cares about here is her relationships with her 3 sons, Hank, Bo, and Cooper, all of which have issues of their own to deal with.
  
  Shey felt more like a mom in this story than a supermodel. The only thing that I had any issue with was the financial problems that Shey and her ex had, because there really wasn't much of an explanation for them.
  
  Other than that, Jane's She's Gone Country was a perfect example of chicklit for the slightly older chicks.
  
  
• 
  Cheryl

  Shey Darcy has just become a single mother of three boys. Her husband of seventeen years has decided to quit beating around the bush and finally declare that he likes men. Shey packs up her and her three sons and moves back to Parkfield, Texas. Population sixty seven. As if Shey doesn’t have enough to worry about trying to raise her sons, she now has to deal with her mother. Plus, Shey is constantly arguing with her sons.
  
  Like they always say…trouble usually comes in threes. Don’t know what that really says about Dane Kelly. Dane is an ex champion bull rider and the guy Shey used to be in love with. Will second chances for Dane and Shey spell happy ending or heartache?
  
  She’s Gone Country is a one seat read. She’s Gone Country will have you two stepping to the nearest book store for more Jane Porter. I like that Shey was an independent woman. She could have just threw up her hands and been defeated but she didn’t. She makes a new life for her sons and herself. This was hard to do with her meddling mother and brothers. The town of Parkfield may be fictional but the people there made me want to visit it. I could see why Shey fell in love with Dane. He is good looking and the type of guy I picture when I think bull riding. She’s Gone Country is just what I needed to escape a rainy afternoon.
  
• 
  Leah Braemel

  She's Gone Country by Jane Porter is firmly entrenched on my keeper shelf. I liked that the heroine, Shey, is in her late 30s (I'm tiring of heroines who are my children's ages. It's me, it's not them, but early 20 somethings still have so much to experience before they turn into the wise-souls some authors make them. .
  
  Shey's dealing with the aftermath of a divorce after her husband has come out of the closet. She's taken her three sons back to her hometown in Texas and is struggling to provide for them. One of her boys decides he wants to be a rodeo star and Shey introduces him to a former high school crush and former rodeo champ, Dane. Dane, of course, is dealing with his own issues and the two dance around each other, and their problems, as they explore the relationship they didn't have in high school while dealing with all the problems of small town life, and interfering family. That checked a whole bunch of "I can relate" boxes. I love the gradual build-up of sexual tension, the conflicts both characters face realistically -- for Shay getting back into a relationship and juggling it with parenthood, her career and new/old home.
  
  It's up on my keeper shelf and I'll pull it down as a comfort read in the future.
• 
  Destina

  This is the second book I've read by this author. The first one, was Flirting with Forty, which I stumbled upon by accident while browsing through our condo's small common library. This author is my first foray into the chick lit genre. Normally, I prefer the straight up contemporary romance novels with the long love scenes that happen very early on in the book.
  
  But I have to say that I enjoyed this book. I developed an appreciation for the delayed gratification and subtle pleasures of milder, briefer love scenes that leave most to the reader's imagination.
  
  In both books I've read by Jane Porter, the common elements include heroines who are both around forty, have children and are undergoing or have undergone a divorce. I was doubtful at first that such a book would satisfy my craving for a strong romantic slant. But haven't been disappointed yet. I'll definitely be getting more books by Porter.
• 
  Gail

  Heroine has moved back home in the midst of a rough divorce with her 3 teenaged sons, back to Texas (Mineral Wells/Weatherford area) from New York. Her soon-to-be ex has just realized/admitted he's gay and has moved in with a lover. Heroine goes back to ranch to lick her wounds. She grew up on the ranch with her brothers, but has been in New York City for years, living the sophisticate life.
  
  Then her high school heartthrob shows up. And he's a little battered, physically, from the bull-riding (champ, of course) and from his divorce. Revelations open slowly, as we learn more about the years between meetings, about her marriage and divorce and her family. She's struggling with raising her sons, who are not cooperative at all. And through the story, she's busy returning to her roots, and rediscovering the country girl she's always been at heart.
  
  I enjoyed this book a lot.
• 
  Teryl

  I loved this book. Porter does such a good job of writing human emotion. She had my stomach doing flip flops, crying, and feeling like my heart was being ripped out. I loved watching Shey regain her old self. The feelings she went through from dealing with the divorce and everything that entails to dealing with her teenage boys. The parental emotions were pretty strong for me since my boys are the same age as 2 of Shey's. At one point when working through something one of the boys was going through I had to put the book down because it was hard to read.
  
  I loved her brothers (Brick and Blue, don't you just love their names?) and Dane. Dane, he was so sweet. It was great how both Shey and Dane needed each other and how they helped one another heal.
• 
  Lindsey VanDevander

  I've been in a bit of a "book funk" lately. I, for some reason, have not been able to finish a book in a few months. So I saw this book at Wal-Mart and the cover caught my eye. I thought I'd read something light hearted and quick to get me out of my funk and it worked. AND, I surprisingly really liked the book. It's a little on the predictable side but there were a LOT of themes in it that I totally can identify with. Not to mention the extraordinarily hot cowboy, Dane Kelly. Whew! He alone was worth the read!
• 
  Donnajo

  NL's book crawl for TX. Great book I gave it a 10 rating. Started out I thought I wouldn't like it but it grabbed me right away after the first few pages. I'm looking forward to trying her other books. One of her books was made into a lifetime movie and it's one of my favorite. Flirting with Forty. Also have that book which I haven't read yet.
  This is a story about a ex model whose husband suddenly tell her after 17 years together that he's gay. So she moves back to her family ranch in TX closer to her brother's and their families with her 3 sons.
  
  
• 
  Tia

  The book was good and likable but at the same time debatable and the ending was so rushed it wasn't even funny. The book had some over the top fucked up moments that made me wanna dive under the covers for the rest of my adult life. The ends were NOT all tied in a neatly wrapped bow, which pissed me off to no end but other than that, the book was readable and even likable on some parts.
• 
  Karen

  I really enjoyed this book. The characters and storyline was very relatable and Dane is my favorite Jane Porter male character. I love how she introduced familiar characters in this book. Worth reading
• 
  Laura Kaye

  This book hooked me so hard I ended up missing sessions of the RWA Nationals conference to read it! I loved the voice, the characters, the realness of it. I'm a Jane Porter fan after this!
• 
  Anne Lee

  Another great read by Jane Porter.
• 
  Emily

  I enjoyed this book for the most part until the end because who wants to read about a romance that basically starts with a pregnancy before the relationship actually began? Dumb. As a mother I could relate to and appreciate some of the situations Shey had to deal with but at other times she didn’t bother to call her ex husband out on some important matters nor did she fight hard enough with or for her various sons. The author seemed too distracted by taking Shey too many different directions to focus on some of these issues. Whatever. It was a mostly peaceful book. Definitely not the worst I’ve read but also definitely not the best.
• 
  Donna Seger kilroy

  Another awesome story
  
  This was a great book. About troubles with family life. How things can be difficult, but also how they work themselves out. It's about love of family, and how family is there to help out each other during hard times and also when things are not so hard. This book was a great read and I'm so glad I read it..
• 
  Jill

  This was a perfect beach vacation read. It was just enough romance with a sweet story going on to keep it interesting. This was not just a "return to first love" story, but also one of a woman approaching a new phase in her life while dealing with the aftermath from the last phase.
• 
  Amy

  Meh. Of the four books in this series I liked this the least. Characters felt stale, story was uninspiring, no surprises at all. You knew exactly where this one was going in the first 30 pages.