The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels--A Love Story

Written by Ree Drummond

Narrated by Ree Drummond

Wildly popular award-winning blogger, accidental ranch wife, and #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Pioneer Woman Cooks, Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman) tells the true story of her storybook romance that led her from the Los Angeles glitter to a cattle ranch in rural Oklahoma, and into the arms of her real-life Marlboro Man.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Feb 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9780062027252

Ree Drummond

Ree Drummond is the author of seven #1 New York Times bestselling cookbooks in the Pioneer Woman Cooks series, the New York Times bestsellers Frontier Follies and The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, and many bestselling children’s books. Her award-winning website, The Pioneer Woman, was founded in 2006, and her top-rated cooking show, The Pioneer Woman, premiered on Food Network in 2011. In the years that followed, Ree launched The Pioneer Woman Magazine, a well-loved line of kitchen and home products at Walmart, and a restaurant, bakery, store, and other businesses in her hometown of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. She lives on a working ranch with her husband, Ladd, and has five adult kids who come home for family meals whenever they can!

Reviews for The Pioneer Woman

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Breaking up with her LA boyfriend, and feeling disenchanted with the city, Ree Drummond decides to move to Chicago. On her way she stops in to spend some time with her parents in Oklahoma. Just before she leaves, she meets her Marlboro Man, and although she is entirely smitten, does she want to drop her dream of the city for a life on a cattle ranch?Obviously she does and the book describes in hilarious detail all that she and he go through to be together. Ree has since gone on to become a well recognized blogger, and this book is the outcome of people wanting to know the story behind this city lover living on the Oklahoma plains with her cowboy. Included on the final pages are a number of recipes guaranteed to satisfy the cowboy in everyone.Breezy, funny, light and heart warming, I enjoyed this story, and although it is considered a non-fiction memoir, I suspect there might be a little glitz and gloss added here and there. Reads like a chick-lit novel, but entirely entertaining and enjoyable.

[kmajort · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun, Lite, Quick... where's my beach??
The blogger Pioneer Woman wrote her meeting/courtship/marriage of Marlboro Man as a serial blog on her website. This is the collection plus more meat to the story.
I've enjoyed her website for some time (and the book was given to me) so a no-lose situation.

[timbazzett · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Okay, I'm a little embarrassed to be caught reading this book, but I was also pleasantly surprised at how well-written, entertaining and funny Ree's book is. She tells you in her introduction that it started out as kind of a lark, writing in her blog about how she met her husband following a 4-year dead-end (for HER) relationship, and the whirlwind, steamy, every day courtship that ensued with her "Marlboro Man" cowboy suitor who would soon become her husband. She's also pretty honest about how she patterned her writing after Harlequin-style romance novels. And that is indeed how her story reads. (Yes, I have peeked into a few Harlequins - BLUSH!) I "know" Ree Drummond through her daily cooking shows on the Food Network, which my wife checks in on almost every day. I'm not a fan of the show, by the way. A bit too nasal, syrupy and cutesy for my taste - and who really cares about cooking anyway? (Not I.) But I bought Ree's memoir, PIONEER WOMAN: BLACK HEELS TO TRACTOR WHEELS, for my wife a few years ago, and just got around to trying it myself. And I made it through over 200 pages of it, before it finally got just a little too redundant - all that endless "Marlboro Man" stuff and how hot and sexy he was, etc. It was kinda surprising to find that she grew up very privileged and wealthy - the middle child of an Oklahoma physician, in a big suburban house on a golf course. And went to college and lived in California for a time, and had planned to go to law school in Chicago, until she met this guy, who quite literally swept her off her feet. And they are still married, twenty-some years and four children later. So I knew how their story ended - like a Harlequin romance, "happily ever after," I'm sure - so far so good, so to speak. Two-hundred plus pages was enough for me. I've got other books waiting. But Ree Drummond is actually a pretty bright woman, who writes engagingly and well, and I'm not surprised her memoir was a bestseller - women would REALLY love her story, I'm sure. Well, obviously they DO, because there are several thousand reader reviews on the book's Amazon page and elsewhere online, and most of them are very positive. And I liked her writing, up to a point. Highly recommended - especially to women, even those who do not number in her legions of fans for her cooking show. Good job, Ree.- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER

[jenreidreads · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm not a regular reader of her blog, but I love her cookbook (those cinnamon rolls are TO DIE FOR!). So when her memoir came out, I had to read it. And it was super cute, funny and romantic. Yes, it's fluff, and far from literary, but reading it felt like chatting with a close girlfriend. Ree and I are VERY different - she's really girly, always fretting about looking and dressing just right. Of course, this provides greater comic effect next to her cowboy. This book is SO ROMANTIC. Almost to the point of disbelief - they rarely fight or argue - is any relationship that idyllic? Ree is VERY physically attracted to her cowboy husband, and the descriptions get a bit tiresome. But seriously - such a romantic book. I had a great time reading it.

[satyridae · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked this much better than I thought I would. I've read bits and pieces of Drummond's wholesome website. Her love story is equally wholesome, with a heaping side of fashion advice and unironic self-absorption. She strikes me as fairly ingenuous, and her story has the timeless appeal of a person being swept into an entirely new life by overwhelming love.

[Allison TerBorch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved this book. I’m a huge Ree Drummond fan and now even more so!

[jenneb_2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It was kiiiind of terrible...but also kind of charming. I have to love the Pioneer Woman. But the writing here is pretty ridiculous.

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ms. Drummond tells the story of meeting, falling in love with, and marrying her Oklahoma cowboy in prose that is exaggerated just enough to provide humor without obscuring the things she learned during the process. I loved the way she talked about her (now) husband - how he was perfect for her and how he taught her to take emotional risks, just by being the kind of person he was. I haven't read Ms. Drummond's blog up to this point, but now I'm curious!

[ifnotforbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am one of the 2 million people that read Ree's blog so I knew I would like the book. This book will not win the National Book Award for excellence in literature but that is not why I picked it up. Ree's style of writing is folksy, warm, fuzzy, HILARIOUS, romantic (and I don't even like romance novels). It is just like a conversation with your best friend and that is why so many of us love Ree and her famiy. If you want a "feel good" book this is it.

[thehistorychic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Read from February 03 to 04, 2012Received for ReviewOverall Rating 3.50Story Rating 3.50Character Rating 3.50First thought after finishing: It must be exhausting to be Ree Drummond, she does a whole bunch of over thinking (I mean that in a good way as it makes for entertaining reading)!What I Loved: It is hard not to love a real love story! It was very sweet how she and Marlboro Man courted, got married, and survived a very hard first year of marriage (though that part of the book was rushed--especially since that was the new stuff).What I Liked: Ree, herself, is a hot mess but fun to read. I will admit I don't watch her show, don't visit her website (though I did to look at pictures--very cute family), and didn't know she was on food network. My sister is a fan so I had "heard" about her but didn't know much. The book made me smile at the end so that is all that is important.Last thought: Fans of Ree's website will love this book (I think) but non-fans will find it a cute true love story.

[ginger72_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I can't believe I'm going to say this.... but I actually liked this wholesome, icky sweet, feel good, humorous, romantic memoir. I've seen Ree Drummond on tv several times and checked out her blog due to the controversy surronding her. I agree, she doesn't live a life like most ranchers(contrary to what she thinks) and comes across as very materialistic. I can't count the number of times she mentions the name brands of the clothing shes wearing. BUT I still liked her and this story. Except in the beginning with the incident in regards to her dog. Give me a break ! Your so traumatized by the event that your glued to your bed UNTIL a handsome cowboy comes along, then everythings o.k. Uummm, I don't think so. Once I got passed that fiasco I found myself enjoying the story and even chuckling out loud several times. I loved her sense of humor and think it shined thru in several parts of the story. I will definitely be on the look out for a sequel !

[Brittany Turner · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was already a fan of Ree’s show, so reading her love story was purely out of curiosity and wanting to know a little bit more about her the characters we’d often see make appearances (ie her husband and kids). This story, as a personal anecdote, was so well written. Ree is hysterical. I don’t even think she was trying to be. Her use of humor, allegory and exaggeration were so beautifully done as she kept it honest with us—there was no doubt that she was CRAZY about “Marlboro Man”. Read for good laughs, occasional smiles, a few blushes but overall a great ride down her memory lane. Liken it almost to a “coming of age” story, only as an adult. Enjoy!

[cherybear · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

More a book of humor than an autobiography or anything else. I had lots of "criticisms" (not literary) while I was reading it: Is Oklahoma really considered the Midwest? How is it possible to live one hour from this man's ranch and make it sound like it was practically another country, a totally different way of life? What was she doing with her days and her life at her parent's house--she simply quit her job in California and moved home for an extended period of time. No job, no money, never did anything all day (until she met Marlboro Man). She WAS going to move to Chicago, but had no job lined up there, either. Very strange. But the exaggerated humor was entertaining, at least. She's not the best writer. I think she's better suited to short pieces (I've read short magazine pieces, and explored her blog.) An easy enough, somewhat pleasant read, but no great shakes.

[Belle Fabien · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have watched Rhee for many years on Food Network and enjoyed her interaction with her family and friends, this book showed a different side of her. I love her so much that sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a friend like her. I love her voice.

[pussreboots · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I adore the blog but this memoir is nothing like the blog.

[garypaulson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My wife reads The Pioneer Woman blog and is always talking about her “man in chaps” so when I saw the audio CDs of her new book at the library I decided it might be an interesting book. It was interesting but at times I got tired of listening to the author portraying herself as such a ditz. I understand that the author led a sheltered life of the country club set but I wonder how she planned to live in Chicago on her own. And, of course, if I wasn’t so sure about my own manhood, then the way she describes her Marlboro Man would be real hard on the ego.

[mmadamslibrarian · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This read more like a "beach book" than a work of nonfiction. The author, a city girl, is home in OK, in between jobs in LA and Chicago. She goes out one night with friends, and falls in love with a mysterious rancher. The rest of the book is a lot of "making out," and her encounters with ranch life. It was OK, but I'm not sure I would recommend it as a pioneer story- more as a true romance.

[kburne1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Delightful story!

[rdra1962 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Stumbled on Ree's (Pioneer Woman, plus other offshoots) blog by accident and enjoyed it for a while, until I got sick of seeing 9K photos of her ugly dogs. Her story of city-girl winds up on a ranch could have been really entertaining and insightful, but it is not. Drummond really needs an editor to teach her to avoid endless repetition, unnecessary details and off-topic tangents. One can only read about "marlboro man's" biceps so many times. She leaves out so much, yet repeats herself so often. Her writing is light and breezy, fluffy. I will stick to her blogs, but will press delete whenever I see those dogs...

[nancypantslady · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Pioneer Woman has done it again. She's done what most of us married gals try to keep from happening at any cost: made women everywhere fall in love with her husband. But the acknowledgments make explicitly clear that this piece of Oklahoma is her Territory, "To Marlboro Man, because you're mine." The simple, ironic and sometimes gut-bustingly hilarious love story of a confused twenty-something city girl, while seemingly fanciful is at the same time completely believable. Maybe it's that Ree takes pains to ensure that her readers know that true love, while it may very well be a sweep-you-off-your feet kind of affair, also has its moments where it is less of a sweeping sensation and more of a catching one when you are just about to fall flat on your face, whether figuratively or literally. Drummond captures these too-real-for-the-movies moments, making the reader laugh out loud during an otherwise warm moment. She also sheds light on the real possibility of this thing every woman wants, a good and decent man who loves and does right by her not just in spite of her foibles but at least in part precisely because of them. Ree conveys the simple and beautiful fact that love sometimes surprises you in both the who and the how it comes about, through laughter, "flop sweat," manure and tears. And what an endearing surprise it is when it comes, just like this book.

[szbrooks1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really liked it. I think it's sort of hard to mess up writing a book about something that happened to YOU in your own life. It was entertaining and I came away happy that the authors life turned out the way it did for her and her family

[emma_mc_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Maybe it's because I'm from Kansas; maybe it's because I, too, could never see myself living on a ranch; maybe it's because I also recently moved home and felt aimless and found myself in a relationship I didn't see coming... but I got sucked into this book! I'm not typically a romance reader but I found this sweet (although sometimes cloyingly). At times, Ree's preoccupation with her vanity and self-deprecation became irksome. Overall, though, it was a cute story that I enjoyed.

[marcal-15 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Funny and charming memoir written by "The Pioneer Woman," Ree Drummond. Chronicles her city-girl courtship and early marriage to a cowboy from Oklahoma.

[tfs93 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I normally am not a fan of love stories. This one is SO GOOD!! It made me long for the cowboy that got away. It also made me laugh out loud. The best book I have read lately!

[dreamydress48 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Nothing is more delicious than picking up the absolute best book to match your mood at the right moment! I was in a bit of a book funk, and it seemed like most of the books I’d recently read were either depressing or super gritty. Oddly enough, I wasn’t in the mood for something cheerful or light, though…just different. I pulled this off the shelf, read the first page and was instantly drawn in; it was nothing like I’d expected it to be! When I initially picked up The Pioneer Woman in a used book haul a few months ago, I shelved it on my “To-Be-Read-Sooner-Than-Later” shelf thinking that it was a foodie memoir. It’s not at all! Essentially, it is a true love story—Ree chronicles meeting her cowboy husband in her mid-20s, and the whirlwind romance that ensues. He quite literally sweeps her off her feet. I like Drummond’s cooking show, and I even follow her blog, but I’m not a diehard fan. In the handful of episodes where Ree’s husband has made an appearance, he didn’t really do it for me. He seemed quiet, distant and “built Ford tough.” After reading this book however, I feel completely different about him! Maybe I need a sensitive cowboy in my life, too! Can I have one? For someone that isn’t too big on the romance genre, I expected to be rolling my eyes and skipping pages due to redundancy and skepticism, but that never happened. Drummond’s easy writing style and self-deprecating tone ensured that I was never bored, and that I laughed a lot! I looked forward to picking up where I left off each day, and she always managed to end a chapter on a cliff hanger. Between issues with her family, deciding what career path to take, and this unexpected romance, her story was very believable, and far from story bookish, which I appreciated. Her descriptions of rural Oklahoma life were also awesome. All in all, this was a great read. It’s hard for me to dole out a 5 star rating, but in the end, if I’d happily reread this in 6 months’ time, then I definitely loved it. So 5 stars it is!

[patiencefortitude · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Requested this as a review copy, ages ago, because I was familiar with Ree Drummond's story from her blog. I like her recipes, and her photographs of a prairie life. Looks kind of alien to this city girl. So I was curious.

But reading about her going gaga with love at first sight and melting for the Marlboro Man, was a bit much for me. It felt smug and simpering to read.
I like reading recipes and seeing her photography better than being inside her head about her relationship.
I think this wasn't a bad book, just not a good fit for me.

[nelliemc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I must admit to being a little defensive about giving this book four stars — it's not great literature, it's not great writing, it's probably not entirely true, and it's not sophisticated. But it's just fun. If you've read Ree Drummond's enormously successful blog, you know the style (aw shucks, fish out of water city girl on large cattle ranch) and, in fact, have probably read much of the book; about 2/3 has been published on her blog. But Drummond has an enormous readership (over 2 million a month) because of the qualities in this book that are relatively rare. She's unabashedly in love with her husband (who has to be less perfect than she portrays him in the book), has a innate sense of humor and irony that comes out frequently, has a tremendous respect for the men and women who live tough ranching lives and live and die by uncontrollable factors such as weather, avoids politics and preaching, and believes that sex and lust should be tied up with emotion. So, if you're looking for an old-fashioned book that will make you feel warm and cozy, and aren't afraid of indulging in a little unsophisticated country life, this is a warming book.

[magnolia2_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of the blogger, the pioneer woman, and her romance with "Marlboro Man" the cowboy from Oklahoma she fell in love with and married. It is a good narrative and if you enjoy her blogsite it is fun to read the story of her romance with Marlboro Man.

[tahleen · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Loved learning about Ree's personal life and how she became the Pioneer Woman. It might only be for fans of her blog and/or cookbooks though.

[whitreidtan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

If you have never tried a recipe of Ree Drummond's (aka The Pioneer Woman), let me heartily recommend pretty much anything but especially her cinnamon rolls. My family has been enjoying them ever since she posted them on her blog years ago. Drummond is a phenomenal cook and an entertaining blogger. I enjoy my hops by her place on the internet when I find the time and I generally print out a recipe or two to try but I'm not a daily, devoted reader so having the chance to read about how she fell in love with her husband and went from being a big city loving, suburban kind of girl to living on a cattle ranch in the middle of Oklahoma without being chained to my computer sounded very appealing. And her love story is definitely sweet.Leaving Los Angeles and a relationship that wasn't right for her, Ree decided to move to Chicago with a few months at home in Oklahoma to recharge. She moved back in with her parents and set about readying herself for life in the Windy City. One night out at a bar with her friends, she spots a cowboy across the room and is immediately drawn to him with his Wranglers, his prematurely grey hair, and his cowboy boots. Meeting the Marlboro Man that night forever changed her life in ways she never expected. Several months later and mere weeks before her planned move to Chicago, he called her and they went out on their first date. Ree chronicles their budding love affair even as her parents' marriage is crumbling and the tension at home is enough to make her question the reality of lasting love. She also describes the culture shock she faces as she becomes more and more involved in life on a working cattle ranch.It is clear that the bulk of the book was written as short blog posts. There is a lot of repetition both in her descriptions of Marlboro Man physically and in what they do (lots and lots and lots of kissing and cuddling, mixed in with more kissing and cuddling). There was no doubt from the first kiss that he made her toes curl and her ovaries jump for joy and while the constant repetition made it clear how attracted they were to each other, it was a little much at times. The courtship phase of their relationship was definitely more elaborate than the first year of their marriage. In fairness, as Ree suffered from serious, debilitating morning sickness for many of the first months, there probably wasn't a whole lot to tell from that portion of time but it felt a little as if the marriage got short shift compared to the dating.As happy as she and Marlboro Man were (are), sadness and stress did invade their seemingly charmed world but much of it was downplayed and dropped nearly immediately. When Ree runs over her beloved dog Puggy Sue, she is devastated but goes on her date that night anyway. She agonizes over her parents' failing marriage but mainly drops it in the rosy glow of her own love. And when Marlboro Man's aunt dies of breast cancer not long after their wedding, Ree feels out of place and saddened by the family's grief but moves on to other tales almost immediately. Even when their finances take a terrible hit while she and Marlboro Man are on their honeymoon, she glosses over the anxiety and stress that must have dogged them across Australia.Despite the sometimes immature, superficial feel to the emotion, this is still a sweet story about an abiding love and the radical adjustments a person is willing to make for "The One." Ree is funny and just as willing to show herself at her worst as she is at her best. She can laugh at herself, her misconceptions, and the almost unbelievable situations in which she finds herself. Fans of her blog will definitely see the Ree they know and love in this memoir and those who don't know her yet will appreciate her cheerful, girl next door accessibility even if by the end they might yearn for a little less sweet and a little more depth.