Lone Star Cafe (Texas Hill Country, Book 2) [Mass Market Paperback]

Lisa Wingate (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 2004

The national bestselling author of Texas Cooking serves up another treat

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The second book in Wingate's Texas trilogy (after Texas Cooking) serves up a charmingly nostalgic treat. Virginia-based publishing executive Laura Draper goes to Texas to face-lift a newly acquired magazine. Reeling from the project's endless snags, a sudden breakup with her boyfriend and her widowed dad's depression, Laura is in crisis when a detour leads her to a tiny rural spot called the Crossroads, where two elderly sisters run an old-fashioned café. She is powerfully drawn to the timeless values the Crossroads represents—reminders of her own abandoned dreams and her late mother's wisdom—as well as to local Graham Keeton, a former military pilot shadowed by a mysterious grief. Amid barbeque cookoffs, gentle kisses and plentiful buttermilk pie, Laura finds renewal, but then a fast-track promotion opportunity beckons. Ultimately, she discovers that while she cannot have it all, she can still achieve the dreams that matter most. Wingate handles the book's strong spiritual element deftly, creating a novel that is sweetly inspirational but not saccharine. Though never fully credible as a fast-lane publishing whiz, Laura (ably evoked in spirited first-person narration) is winning as an ordinary woman faced with conflicting options. Appealingly eccentric secondary characters and beautifully evoked Texas settings further enrich this warm-hearted read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Former Army brat turned journalist Laura Draper, who sent her friend on assignment in Texas in Texas Cooking [BKL S 15 03], is now there herself to oversee a recently acquired magazine. A true workaholic, the 36-year-old is in denial about her life until she receives a breakup call from her boyfriend and then has a minibreakdown outside the Lone Star Cafe, overwhelmed by her mother's death, her father's depression, and her rapidly ticking biological clock. Inside, elderly twins offer her coffee with a secret ingredient and old-fashioned buttermilk pie, but the real attraction is their nephew, Graham. A former soldier, he is facing demons of his own, but the two do discover joy. But Laura believes that she'd be crazy to give up her fast-track lifestyle for a man she only met a few days ago, even though she has discovered more about herself in this interlude than ever before. Wingate reprises a mythical, healing Texas in her latest novel and offers another stellar story about love and connection. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 306 pages
• Publisher: Onyx (September 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451411447
• ISBN-13: 978-0451411440
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #481,093 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lisa Wingate is a magazine columnist, inspirational speaker, and the author of a host of mainstream fiction novels, including the national bestseller, Tending Roses, which is currently in its fourteenth reprint. Her books have been featured selections for Doubleday and Literary Guild book clubs, selected for The Reader's Club of America, and have garnered LORIES Best Fiction and Reader's Choice Awards, and been nominated for the ACFW Book of the Year Award. Recently, the group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with Bill Ford, Camille Cosby, and six others, as recipients of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. Lisa loves sharing with readers via Facebook, Youtube, and her website. More information about Lisa's novels can be found at www.Lisawingate.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Sweet Romance!, September 3, 2004

By 

Kristi Ahlers (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lone Star Cafe (Texas Hill Country, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

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

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A simple tale to warm your heartstrings!, March 7, 2005

By 

Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Lone Star Cafe (Texas Hill Country, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

I will admit unabashedly that I am a Lisa Wingate Fan. When I looked for this book at my local library ~~ I had hoped to have it before my surgery so I could enjoy my recovery period reading this book. Even after it arrived three days later ~~ it still helped me pass away recovery time reading this sweet little book! (I did read Texas Cooking first!)

This book is the second in the trilogy of Wingate's contemporary romance novels. This one focuses on Laura Draper, a young successful woman high up on the publishing world ~~ sent to Texas for a month to revive a magazine there and get it sent off to the publishers on time. During a horrid day ~~ tornadoes landing in other parts of Texas, a freeway found to be unfit for travel ~~ Laura was stuck in backcountry Texas trying to find her way to the office when a hail storm hit. While sitting in the storm ~~ Laura receives some bad news ~~ the second in several months. So instead of escaping the car for shelter, Laura just simply collapses in her car and wait out the storm. After the storm passes, she notices that she is near an old Cafe ~~ where they serve up buttermilk pies and the most wonderful cup of coffee. Turns out the two women who own the cafe have a nephew that is just a good-looking cowboy with secrets of his own.

And that is just the beginning of a fun and wonderful romance that is set among barbecues and country singing, cranky fathers who forget to take their medicines and all that fun stuff. It does tug at your heartstrings and make you believe in the magic of love!

If you're looking for a quick and wonderful read ~~ don't hesitate to pick this one and Texas Cooking up! It's perfect for those summery days as well as those wintery days when the weather can't make up its mind!

3-7-05

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Life at the Crossroads, November 24, 2004

By 

Mamalinde "mamalinde" (Dallas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lone Star Cafe (Texas Hill Country, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.