She's Gone Country by Jane Porter

Book Description:
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.

My Thoughts:
I was hooked from page one! Shey's world has turned upside down and she's moved back to her hometown to right it. Her husband of seventeen years has announced he is gay, her brother has died, and nothing seems to be going right in her life. The ranch seems like a good idea at the time, but she's taken on more than she realizes the longer she stays the more she finds herself. Her mother pushes, her brothers are protective, her husband is annoyingly sorry, and her sons are driving her crazy. When Dane walks back into her life, that is just the icing on the cake and she wonders if she can make her life happy again, and maybe with him!
This book was completely realistic. Shey's family isn't perfect, in fact far from it and I think that is what is so good about this book. Her mother and she don't agree on much of anything except the fact that they love each other and their family. Her brothers team up against her 'for her own good'. Her sons can't get along for anything. It is all wonderfully REAL! I loved reading and watching how Shey rediscovered herself through her country roots. The ups and downs of parenting and add in a new/old romance that is far from perfect but what was meant to be even if the timing is not good.
I love how close the extended family is through the whole book, they have arguments but in the end, they are family and there for each other. The author also does a wonderful job of showing how difficult raising teenagers is and that there are many different parenting styles, some more effective than others but all need to be tailored to the child. Also, the romance in it isn't over the top. It is real and Dane is a family friend but has always been a love interest of Shey's and it is a fun relationship to watch develop.
This book is a 4.5/5. It is a good realistic read that will engross you from the beginning.
Thank you to Hachette Book Group for the review copy of this book. I was given this book in exchange for an honest review and the opinions stated above are 100% mine.