Read This Book: Jane Porter's SHE'S GONE COUNTRY by Megan Crane

I'm just back from a couple of days celebrating the release of Jane Porter's new book, SHE'S GONE COUNTRY.  Jane doesn't do anything halfway.  That's why we all had cocktails on a little terrace overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Laguna Beach, while Jane charmed readers and friends.  It looked like this:

Can you think of anything better than talking books (and Shonda Rhimes television shows, and the over-consumption of delicious nachos) in a place like this?  I certainly can't.  We then made our way to lovely Laguna Beach Books, where Jane read from her new book and had her usual lively question and answer period with the crowd.  

Going to see Jane speak and read is always a delight, because she's so funny and so honest.  But it can also be a life-changing experience.  Jane believes that all women deserve to be happy--to find happiness in their lives and live with hope.  Yes, you.  And me.  And your best friend who's going through such a tough time and doesn't know what to do.  We deserve to write the story of our own lives, and that story deserves a happy ending.  That's a simple message, but also a powerfully moving one.  

So... what about the book, you're asking?  Well.  It's fantastic.  Every Jane Porter book is better than the one before.  Every one of them sucks you in and keeps you completely immersed in the world she creates until the very last page.  I had the pleasure of reading SHE'S GONE COUNTRY long ago, when she'd just finished writing it.  I couldn't stop reading.  I sat at my desk and gulped it all down on my computer screen, absolutely riveted to the screen, frozen in place until I reached the end.  I think you'll find you can't put this book down, and when you do, you'll feel a bit like this:

But don't take my word for it.  Here's a little summary:

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.

I loved this book.  LOVED IT.  You can rush right out and buy it here.  I think you should.  

And if you can catch Jane on tour somewhere, (details here) you should probably do that, too.  You'll never regret it, I promise.

~Megan