Country

by Danielle Steel

Life for Stephanie Adams is all about being a devoted mother. For years, she has kept her unhappy marriage a secret, intent on protecting her children from seeing their family break up. Then Stephanie’s husband dies suddenly, and she sees a chance for everything to be different.

Stephanie strives to balance her children’s grief with her desire to move on from the past – but after years of giving up her life for everyone else, what should she do next? A spur-of-the-moment road trip leads her to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and a chance meeting . . . and her whole life changes forever.

When Stephanie meets country music megastar Chase Taylor, he opens up his exciting world to her. In Nashville, the music is bittersweet and the lyrics true. Now, Stephanie is no longer the same woman. By seizing the day, she has found a way to be free and happy.

But can her family find it in their hearts to let her go?

Dancing between the past and present, Country is a moving story of one woman finding the power to seize the day, and finding herself along the way. Carpe diem.

Danielle Steel is famous for her inspirational stories about family, love and life. Her novels will be enjoyed by readers of Penny Vincenzi, Jodi Picoult and Diane Chamberlain.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Audiobook, Adult

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2015

About the author

Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world's bestselling authors, with almost a billion copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include All That Glitters, Royal, Daddy's Girls, The Wedding Dress, The Numbers Game, Moral Compass, Spy, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina's life and death; A Gift of Hope, a memoir of her work with the homeless; Expect a Miracle, a book of her favorite quotations for inspiration and comfort; Pure Joy, about the dogs she and her family have loved; and the children's books Pretty Minnie in Paris and Pretty Minnie in Hollywood.

Facebook.com/DanielleSteelOfficial
Instagram: @officialdaniellesteel

Reviews

[Flewts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Danielle Steel has interesting plots, but I get really annoyed at her style of writing. This happened. Then this happened. Then they did this. [Whew, background on this character done...] Meanwhile this person did this, then that, and got here. [Whew, two done...]

It plods quickly, if there is such a thing, but it's as if she wants to get the early chapters out of the way so she can get to the good stuff. It's almost as if she's dictating the book to a secretary, instead of writing flowing sentences that draw you into the book.

I didn't notice this in her earlier books (maybe it was always there and I didn't notice) but the last few books were like this. :-(

[Samantha Hodge · Rating 1 out of 5]

I haven't read a Danielle Steel novel since high school so I figured I'd try out this ridiculously popular title. I know that with Steel you get what you get... not great writing, but usually great storytelling. So it makes me sad, but I have to call DNF on this one. It's horrible. Positively horrible.

There is so much repetition in this book! I get that Stephanie's husband cheated on her. I get that her friends have weird marriages. I get that she thinks all men are bad and scary (I mean seriously, she thinks she's going to be raped everywhere she goes, by every man she meets). I get that she has neverever considered doing a single spontaneous thing in her life. For the love of all things holy, stop repeating yourself. And please, please, please stop writing sentences that begin with "and" and "but." It's fine once in a while, but multiple times in the same paragraph and too many to count in one page, every page, just starts getting annoying, especially when you don't even use it correctly.

I'm just going to go back and read Jewels or Palomino again. I'll pretend I'm in 7th grade, learning about all sorts of grown up things I shouldn't be learning about (Mom, where was all your parental supervision???).

[Anita Soni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually a 'better' novel by Danielle. I have read most of Danielle Steel's books and they all have the same style and mostly very expected ending. But her writing style makes each story unique and interesting.This one veered off from the predictable in an unpredictable way which made the 'country'a book I found that was hard to put back without finishing.

[Fluff Smut & Murder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Every time I pick up a Danielle Steel novel I end up hating myself a little for wasting time reading her novels, but I’m a sucker. I loved some of her novels so much (Family Album, Daddy) that I keep hoping that THIS will be the magical novel that takes me back to her writing style from so long ago that I loved and I’ll be happy. And each time I am just disappointed.

This is yet another tale of a beautiful, wealthy older woman who has an enviable life gets to be considered even more enviable by FINALLY finding her one true love (OTL) - who just also happens to be drop dead gorgeous and considerably wealthy in his own right. Of course her children are unhappy about this (aren’t they always?) but at least they are all adults and not living with her, so she doesn’t need to sacrifice her OTL. And then they ride off together into the sunset.

What I loved: I think my favorite character ends up being the dog Stephanie adopts in the end. But of course, a regular mutt isn’t good enough for our heroine – she has to find a rare Chinese Hairless Crested!

What I didn’t love: Do you have 10 minutes so I can vent? From the holier-than-thou “friends” Stephanie has to her ungrateful children, to the fact that the paparazzi doesn’t bother to haunt her outside of L.A., and that she can sneak some dog into a Las Vegas concert on New Year’s Eve – this is not the kind of fluff I was looking to read.

What I learned: That I get stupider with every Danielle Steel novel I read because I never learn that she will never break her formula like she used to.

Overall Grade: C-

[Suzzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read about life changing in a split second and how it can change you. I enjoyed reading Stephanie’s story and the chances she takes in her changing life. I found it inspiring and honestly just a satisfying, quick read. Enjoyed it a lot.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🎼🎼🎼🎼🎤🎧🎹🎸🪕🎰🎰🎰🎰

[Debra K · Rating 4 out of 5]

It must have been years since I last read a Danielle Steel novel and I can't for the life of me remember why I haven't! I had almost forgotten how good they are and how relaxing they can be! Danielle Steel is one of those authors who you know pretty much what you are getting into before you get into it. An easy style romance with a few twists and turns and possibly a few laughs along the way also. This was just what I was looking for that this moment.

The main character in this story is Stephanie who is not happy in her relationship. She is married to Bill who had had an affair and they were dealing with the aftermath of that, having agreed to have Bill come back to live with them, their kids having grown and left the nest already. Stephanie, Bill and a few of their close friends go away on their usual skiing trip When there, Bill suffers a heart attack while skiing and dies. From that, Stephanie accidentally takes a road trip that leads her to many places and into meeting a potential new love (which is not too far fetched when you discover more about the relationship between her and her late husband) in the form of a country music star, Chase Taylor.

This book was so relaxing and fun to read, perfect for an easy relaxing day.


For more reviews, please check out the link below:
Debra's Book Cafe

Debs :-)

[Kasia (kasikowykurz) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kiedy pierwszy raz sięgnęłam po książkę Danielle Steel oczekiwałam bardzo niewiele, a zostałam rozszarpana na kawałki i zastanawiałam się, kiedy ostatnio tak bardzo płakałam na książce. I chciałam tego znowu, bo tamta książka wryła się w moją pamięć. I kurde, nie dostałam nic z tego, bo choć wiem, jaki jest cel tej historii i że mogłaby się podobać, to niestety dla mnie to festiwal irytacji i męczarni. Przez wzgląd na tą poprzednią cały czas czekałam na jakieś wow, na coś, co mnie zaskoczy, rozbawi, wzruszy, ale niestety nic.

Pióro jest spoko, bohaterowie spoko, chociaż się nie przywiązałam, ale całość wypada blado, jest nudno i w sumie nieciekawie.

[Desere · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reads tells of Stephanie Adams, as any good mother will do she hides her unhappy marriage from her family in order to spare her children from seeing their family spit. But it's not easy being the devoted mother,life is hard and unkind.

But then life offers an escape, her husband suddenly passes away and it's her chance to alter her life for the better. The better life comes in the form of country music megastar Chase Taylor.

He shows her passion, teaches her there is more to life then just being a mother and ultimately Stephanie sees her life becoming what she has always wanted it to me. But can her family find it in their hearts to let her go and allow her to really live her life for the first time in forever?

CountryThis was one of the prettiest DS reads ever! It had depth, emotion, passion and a story so beautiful it brought me to tears. But sadly the book did also have it's annoying features such as this happens , then that happens then this person does that and this one does this , which is all normal in any read but not if keeps getting repeated over and over. Non the less the plot was interesting enough to keep me interested and therefore I kept going and in the end I can honestly say this was one of DS's better reads.

As I said definitely the prettiest because it was so nice , sometimes too nice, but when I say nice I mean nice where it certainly had to be, but on some scenes the niceness was a little too much and it felt a little overdone.

Now let's forget about the over sugar coated and nasty repeating business and let me tell you what made this book worth the read., simply put it's the message!

A message of just when you think " This is my life, I am in a loveless marriage, or I will always be a single mom " , whatever the issue is there is beauty in tragedy. For that message alone I will reread this book over and over , because the author reminded me that there is always hope, there is always guidance we simply need to keep the faith.

Recommended for all DS fans!

5/5 star review
" Country takes her breath away but will it be able to have her heart too? "

Copy provided by Penguin Random House in exchange for a honest review

[Lorena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah so good.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I say this a lot about books but that was the best book I've ever read! it started off as a rough patch but by the end of the book it had me laughing and and strong power to continue reading and not wanting the book to end! :)

[Anca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a nice, basic, feel good novel, I liked it.

[Marcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual Rating: **!/2

Every now and then, I just have to given in and read the latest from Danielle Steel. This was truly a Lifetime movie story extended to 300+ pages with constant repeats of the same phrases and facts. But I enjoyed the hero and heroine, so kept reading to the very last predictable page.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great, easy read from Danielle Steel. Stephanie learns how to seize each moment of each day with the help of Chase. I love Chase and his adoptive daughter. I also love Stephanie and her son Michael. I can get her daughters point of view but it does not make them likeable to me. I was rooting for Stephanie and Chase. I love his songs and gigs. Great read 4.5 stars

[Deity World · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readable interesting story just wasn’t one of her best

[Mary Taitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Stephanie Adams suddenly and unexpectedly loses her husband, her life is thrown into grief and dismay. She's been a stay-at-home Mom and wife for years, but the marriage has been empty and sterile ever since her busy lawyer husband had an affair. Suddenly, she's the odd man out with all her married friends. When she takes a wrong turn and ends up in Vegas and then goes on to the Grand Canyon, she meets a friendly man who turns out to be a famous country-Western singer, Chase Taylor. He gives her complimentary tickets to his gig in Vegan and the ball starts rolling in a whole new direction. Of course, her kids object.

I kind of liked the story, and it gets better near the end. At first, I was absolutely infuriated with myself for bringing home another Danielle Steele book. I hated the beginning of the book, it was so full of cliches and platitudes I could hardly keep from barfing. As I have complained about in her previous books, I HATE certain things she continues to insist on saying, such as, "she had no other choice," when there was, in fact, a multitude of other choices. Also, she did a lot of telling and very little showing. Plus, she repeats herself over and over and over, like she thinks her reader is too stupid to remember anything unless she pounds it into them. It did, however, improve somewhat, I ended up liking the ending, even though it was pretty predictable. I decided that that is why, from time to time, I pick up the books. I need a rest from terrible, sad agonizing distressing books, I need something with a predictably happy ending.I was only going to give it a 1 or a 2, but I guess I'll give a three, with reservations. Definitely not high literature! But good for a light read if you need a break from something heavy and like a cheery love story.

Personally, I'd like to write stories with happy ending, and not have them be predictable or full of cliches and platitudes. Seems to me that that could be accomplished by stopping at a happy point in the tale.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me start by saying that I think Steel is a wonderful storyteller. I loved the whole idea of this book and I loved the story she told. Unfortunately I was only able to give it 2 stars on GoodReads because it was very slow for me. it was slow to the point to where I was starting to get bored with it. I even read a different book halfway through this one because I needed a break form it. I was determined to see it to the end and I made that happen. It was strange because the book initially didn't start off slow. In fact- I believe the first chapter or two itself was full of information in regards to the characters that I thought it was going to be an evenly paced book.
While it was slow, I also found it rather competitive. The main characters were always repeating themselves and they were basically doing all the same things. Now, I said earlier that I though Steel was a great storyteller, and yes she is; but if this book was more thought out and maybe written in a different genre I feel it would have been a million times better.

I fell for this story because I am from a small town in Michigan that is very country oriented. I wanted to really love this book but it just didn't do it for me.

[Vannessa Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephanie Adams, wife, mother, chauffer to her kids and caretaker to her family. This was how she identified herself. After her cheating husband died, she realized that her identity had not included self. Stephanie stayed with her cheating husband because she believed she had no skills that would enable her to become self-sufficient. On her way home from an annual retreat with her friends where her cheating husband died, she makes a wrong turn and ends up in Las Vegas then decides to visit the Grand Canyon where she meets country western star Chase Taylor who teachers her what love looks like. While Stephanie embraces self-discovery, she has to contend with her grown children who want things to remain the same.

Country is a great read for women who have traded their identities to become who their husbands and children want them to be. Dan John Miller was a very good storyteller.

[Sarah Nessler · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing story. Couldn't help being a fan of this book for starters I love country music, but the story line regarding finding true love and Carpe Diem really hits home. Seizing opportunities in life is very important as Stephanie finally figures out in the end. If someone does not value you as a person then walk away that is another lesson that was learned. There were so many life lessons throughout this book and I can see the same struggles in our day to day world. Danielle Steel remains in my eyes as a wonderful storyteller, it is amazing to me that she has been able to create as much as she has in her lifetime. I hope she never stops!

[Helen Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was another one of Danielle Steels good books, it reminds us of the power of love and how families worked through everything good and bad, it also was very good from beginning to end and it was how two people met by chance due to a tragedy, grew apart for a time and then in end came back to each other and never looked back, the families overcame everything to be closer then they were, i recommend it to anyone who looks as Danielle Steel writes alot of love stories

[Natalie M · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars...exactly average!

Good premise, posed with great promise but a bit like being in a car with a learner driver. You keep thinking it’s going to get better but it stays stuck in 2nd gear.

Steele is a masterful storyteller and for romance-lovers I’m sure you’ll get up to 5th gear. However, for me, it even felt like it was going in reverse at times.

Resolution is as you’d anticipate for the genre.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephanie's husband dies unexpectedly and she falls in love with a huge country music star. Think Keith Urban. Her kids are mad, her friend thinks she's moving on too soon, etc etc. I still liked it even though it was standard fare.

[HappyRuth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautiful love story about a woman whose husband dies, she meets a country singer, and falls in love for the first time in her life. This is a talking book and can be found on the bard sight
The order miner is D.b. 82291

[Brad Jae · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of favorite books of 2015 !!!

[Cathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll never stop reading DS! This one was much better written then the last few.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just loved this book. When you think you life is ok, something happens to change it. How two people, totally different find each other, by a chance encounter. Nothing will ever be the same again.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Country by Danielle Steel is one of her better novels. I did like most of the characters and the ending was very Hallmark movie perfect. This is an easy, summer beach read. 3.5 stars

[piorunochron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Znacie ten moment, gdy ktoś Wam opowiada 639161 raz tą samą historię i nie wiecie jak zareagować? Country to „uksiążkowienie” tego momentu.

Treść wygląda tak, jakby autorce płacili od strony, a ona bardzo potrzebowała pieniędzy. Jednocześnie zakładam, że nie miała za bardzo pomysłu na długą powieść i odetchnęła z ulgą, gdy udało jej się dociągnąć do tych 350 stron. Co jest w sumie nie lada wyczynem, ponieważ rzeczywistej fabuły było może na 50.

Autorka w kółko powtarza te same informacje, jedynie lekko je parafrazując. Widocznie na wypadek, gdyby osoba czytająca miała pięciominutową pamięć i ogarniała jedynie poprzednie kilka stron. W efekcie czytanie Country jest bardzo mozolne i wymaga dużej mobilizacji. Także polecam jedynie dla najbardziej wytrwałych!!

Sama fabuła jest bardzo sztampowa i opowiada o wdowie, która po śmierci męża postanawia odważyć się żyć po swojemu.

~spoiler~

Autorka tak buduje narrację, że podczas czytania zaczyna się czekać na przemianę głównej bohaterki. Stephanie co jakiś czas wspomina, że nie chce być już krążyć wokół mężczyzny jak satelita, że nie chce poświęcać swojego ja dla związku i dać się znowu stłamsić, że chce odnaleźć prawdziwą siebie. Tylko to nigdy nie nadchodzi.

Punktem wyjścia jest moment w którym Stephanie stwierdza, że dusiła się w roli żony i matki, utraciła swoją osobowość i stała się „niepełnym człowiekiem”. I że nie pozwoli na to ponownie.

Następnie poznaje muzyka country i najpierw się z nim zaprzyjaźnia, a potem zaczyna spotykać. W międzyczasie robi szalone rzeczy, czyli np. jedzie na kilka koncertów ze wspomnianym muzykiem czy odwiedza syna. Z przerwami na zastanawianie się nad opiniami innych na swój temat („co gdyby się dowiedzieli, co robię?”). Jednak trzyma się swoich decyzji. Niby w głowie ma wątpliwości, ale się nie waha.

W pewnym momencie - pod koniec powieści - stwierdza, że potrzebuje odnaleźć siebie i postawia ograniczyć relację z muzykiem. Jednak znowu nie ma tu żadnego rozwoju postaci. Stephanie tylko spędza sama wieczory, adoptuje psa i regularnie rozmawia z partnerem. Gdy terapeutka jej mówi, żeby przestała się karać za związek z mężem, ta doznaje olśnienia i znajduje „brakujący puzzel”. W efekcie czuje się gotowa na nowe życie, więc leci do partnera i mamy happy end.

Fabuła wygląda tak, jakby bohaterka wspomniała o kompletnie innej osobie lub jakby nagle przełączył jej się przełącznik. Nie zachowuje się jak osoba, która dopiero odkrywa swoją niezależność i dawno pogrzebaną osobowość. Przez to nie można tu mówić o żadnym rozwoju czy podróży bohaterki. Czytając ma się wrażenie, że to jakiś godzinny odcinek sitcomu, który można sobie puścić do sprzątania. Co jest ogromnym rozczarowaniem.

[Natasha Skinner · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was ok. Solid 3 stars.

Stephanie(Stevie) is used to things a certain way. She is married has grown children, has her friend group. He life is good but she’s been through some things. With her husband having an affair, with giving her all to raise her children etc. A ski trip with her friends leave her in a place she didn’t expect after her husband dies suddenly of a heart attack.

Now she’s adrift and trying to figure out what to do with life and who she is now. A wrong turn on a road trip takes her on a road to self discovery. She runs into a nice guy on a hike. A little put off at first but she warms to him quickly. They have a great time and he invites her to see him at a concert. He leaves in his tour bus and it’s not until she looks at the card he leaves that she realizes He is a famous country music star.

I thought this book was very mature. Both characters had been through lots of life experience that brought them to where they were. So a lot of their choices and moves were logical. I felt because of that the book was lacking some in passion between the 2 characters.

I didn’t love that Stevie was basically trying to get her son to cheat on his current girlfriend because she thought she was wrong for him.

The beginning had sooo much dialogue about the friend group that I almost gave up. ai would have preferred to experience how they were that hear about it in like a chapter long summary.

the narrator did a good job.

[Imke · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Danielle Steel book! I really enjoyed it, but I think that's mostly because I read way too many Jill Mansell books lately so the bars weren't set too high, and because I love reading stories where the normal, average woman falls in love with a famous rockstar (I'm very easy to please).
The writing style was pretty dull though, and I think a lot of more events could've happened in this story. But overall I really liked it.

[Ashton Noel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt alot like many other DS books I have read. Unfaithful spouse, trapped in marriage, death of a spouse, moving on and dating, ungrateful, bratty and entitled kids that need a good @$$ whoopin. This felt alot like the movies Country Strong or A Star is Born which was kind of different. I did enjoy it but again the same tropes book to book and the same writing style does get a bit monotonous at times. The first 2 or 3 chapters of any DS book reads the same: boring outline of character backstory that reads extremely boring and repetitive and then the set up and explanation of some tragedy that will set the story in motion. I did give this 4 stars because it wasn't a bad read compared to others I have read by her.