Lone Star Café

Rating:
Summary: intriguing look at the rat race meets small town Texas
Review: A fifteen year career in editing magazines may be in the balance for Laura Draper sent by her bosses from Richmond, Virginia to Austin, Texas to insure that the launch of Texcetera occurs on schedule. Murphy seems optimistic to Laura as even nature and the interstate has played havoc with her timeline and her significant other and her father have nuked her personal life in her absence. With a key bridge down and a hail storm terrorizing her, Laura sits in Crossroads, Texas thinking her former lover Dale is on to Rio for his next assignment and her father is missing without picking up his life saving blood thinner at the pharmacy.

Senior welcoming duo Hasselene and Mernelene observe Laura sitting in her car until they decide to meet her and persuade her to relax at the LONE STAR CAFÉ. There she finds an incredible old fashioned home style TEXAS COOKING and a hunk of a cowboy Graham making her reconsider her lifestyle. She realizes she is at the crossroads of glamorous publishing success, but at the cost of her personal needs or if she stops to help her dad, really make Texcetera work, drink the coffee and kiss the stud perhaps have it all.

This is an intriguing look at the rat race meets small town Texas with the winner being readers. The story line is amusing and warm, but contains a serious undertone involving relationships and success. Laura is a terrific star of the tale surrounded by a solid somewhat eccentric cast not just in Crossroads. Fans of contemporary tales will enjoy feast on Lisa Wingate's delicious repast.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: Life at the Crossroads
Review: After the death of her mother, high powered magazine executive Laura Draper finds herself working in Austin on a start up/revamp of a Texas publication as well as dealing with a grief impaired father. When a freeway is closed and a detour is mandated, Laura literally falls through a rabbit hole and into the world of the Lone Star Cafe. The author gives us wonderfully sketched characters, with a lovely sense of place, and some thought provoking peeks into the inner values of her characters. It's a nice little romance, one you could share with your mother or your daughter.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Sweet Romance!
Review: This is the first time I've ever read Ms. Wingate and I found her story to be not only entertaining but sweet. Ms. Wingate's latest is the second in her "Texas Hill Country" series and since I've not read the first in the series I was pleased to find that this was a strong stand alone read, and that I missed nothing (except perhaps for a good read with the first of the books)and highly enjoyed myself during the process of reading this story.

Laura Draper is a magazine editor on temporary duty in Texas. She is on her way to a photo shoot that promises to make the first edition of "Texcetra" a smash hit. Well, you can't always plan for everything and in the space of less then thirty minutes a hail storm, tornado threat, and Laura's personal relationship crashes down on her (over a cell phone call thank you very much) and make what should have been a red letter day, a red eye day from crying. She closes her eyes for just a minute in what looks to be an abandoned parking lot in "crossroads". She has no idea that this stop will change her life...for the better. Here she meets two zany elderly twins and one strong but sweet man (our hero Graham Keeton) and finds herself laughing more then she had in a very long while.

This story was great and I loved how it brought "small town life" to life! This book made me laugh (the bat scene is great) and cry which, in my opinion is always a sign of a good book. The romance between Laura and Graham is wonderful. The chemistry is not steaming by any means but I think that's what makes it so much better and special. Laura grows personally during the course of this read, and the secondary characters, such as her father, her zany assistant Kristi, and her other friends all make this a worth while read. I highly recommend Ms. Wingate's "Lone Star Cafe" for a wonderful way to spend an evening.

Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com