Customer Reviews

Lone Star Cafe (Texas Hill Country, Book 2)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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

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.

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

Laura Draper, the main character in this story is having an awful day, and bad time in her life period. Her job as editor for Texcetera is in question, her boyfriend Dale is giving her nothing but a bad time on the verge of a break-up, and then to top it all off her mother passed away recently, and it has really been tough for her, and her ailing father. Her father is a burden, as all he wants to do is sit in the corner of the house, and is into a bad depression all the time.

Not knowing where else to turn, she is driving along in the hailstorm to get to her job, when she reaches a crossroads in Nowhere Texas. She parks by the Lone Star Cafe, and falls sound asleep in her car and brings to attention two ladies who are twin sisters-Mernalene and Hasselene. They have owned this little restaurant for years, and they approach Laura, inviting her in for refreshment. This is the turning point for Laura, as there she meets the man she saw in the truck driving ahead of her along the way, Graham Keeton.

She and Graham have an immediate connection it seems, and begin getting to know each other. Graham has issues of his own grief though and has only begun to recover from it. He can't tell Laura what it is that ails his heart, and Laura feels bad that she feels he can't trust her enough to tell him. Later in the book, she finds out what it is that happened-and it makes Graham very angry for some time.

The next important event in the book that happens is that Laura gets a job offer to California to become the publisher of a big magazine. But with everything else going on in her life, and having had many other events transpire in Nowhere Texas, along with her ailing father, she does not feel she can leave her current position and home. Not only that, but she truly has fallen for Graham and wants to make up to him. But since the job in California offers so much-it will be hard to turn it down.

This book also brings in characters from the previous book in this trilogy, Texas Cooking, where Colleen Collins marries True, and now has a baby girl.

This was the first book i read from lisa wingate. it was excellent! it was one of those kinds of books that hits the spot and just makes you feel good. its really sweet and i felt like i could connect with the characters. i was really sad when it was over.

I BOUGHT THIS BOOK (USED WAS THE ONLY AVAILABLE COPIES) FOR 3 OF MY DEAREST FRIENDS FOR CHRISTMAS. HOPE THEY LIKE THE SERIES AS MUCH AS I DID. I ALSO AM VERY FOND OF THIS AUTHOR'S "TENDING ROSES" SERIES.

Lisa Wingate is a wonderful writer and I have enjoyed all her books.
If you want a moralistic book that doesn't read that way, this is for you. Loved it.