The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels–a Love Story

Fascinating look at a real life person
Ree Drummond is well known for her successful cooking program on the Food Network, for her wonderfully practical and delicious cookbooks, her fascinating and useful blog, her talent as a photographer, her work in homeschooling and, at least in my view, for her incredibly handsome and attractive husband. Now we get to read the true story of how Ree met and married “Marlboro Man” her real life, oh-so-sexy husband.This very enjoyable book is a quick read because you can’t put it down. I found myself reading late into the night wanting to find out what would happen on the sometimes rocky road to the altar. Ree is open and honest but charmingly discreet about their dating and about the family crisis that threatens to blow up all her well made plans for a lovely wedding. While we know there are problems in her parents marriage (they eventually divorce), we don’t know what the root of the problems is. Her discrete handling of this difficult family tragedy is respectful and tasteful. In this day of Hollywood journalism and way too much information about almost everyone, it is refreshing to be able to read a story that respects the real life characters and their intimate lives. We truly feel the pain of the individuals involved without having to intrude upon their private lives.While Ree does not discuss her religious beliefs it is clear that she is grounded in “good, old-fashioned values” and that those values have held her in good stead through out her many career and life changes. Originally planning to only stay in Oklahoma for a short time before starting law school in Chicago, Ree shares her self doubt and worry and the challenges of breaking up with a long time boyfriend back in Los Angeles and then quickly deciding to marry her cowboy and live on a ranch. We can see her grow in confidence (sometimes) and maturity as she faces and deals with the changes that life in small town Oklahoma presents.This book was a joy to read the whole way through. I have to admit that I wanted to know more about Ree and Marlboro Man (she never tell us his name but it is easy to find on the internet). Buying one of her cookbooks (I now have both) lead me to this charming autobiography and now I hope she will combine her many blog posts and continue her story in more books about her life with the VERY handsome Marlboro Man and their four children.

Entertaining, casual, and well-written
I very much enjoyed reading Ree’s story. I watch her TV show regularly and, as a city dweller, find her life on a ranch fascinating and her family charming. I do not read her blog regularly so I had no insight into how she’d met her husband or ended up on a ranch. The insight was welcome and the story very well told. The book takes you from her college graduation and breakup with her college boyfriend to her heartfelt acceptance of and adaptation to ranch life one year and one baby after her marriage.As much as I enjoyed it and it was a fast read, I’m still baffled by some aspects of her life as shown on her TV show, which was the reason I got the book. The whole “lodge” idea throws me. She lives in a house somewhere else on the ranch, but cooks in a separate building which seems to be miles away and takes the food back to her house or wherever else the family is at the time. I guess I’m not very familiar with ranch life and all this wasn’t in place at the time the book ended. She was still living in a temporary cabin-like building near what could, someday, be her house. Presumably, they were eventually able to move into the yellow brick house?Recipes are provided for the recipes mentioned in the book but this is an autobiography not a cookbook.

The book was for myself. I’ve been watching pioneer woman from the beginning. Their love story is lovely to read and also follow on tv

This book is a great read. I love Ree Drummond. She is so honest and refreshing. I would recommend this book 100%