"The story line is amusing and warm, but contains a serious undertone"

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 feasting on Lisa Wingate's delicious repast.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted August 26, 2004

Laura Draper is having the worst day of her life. Suddenly, her career as a magazine editor, her relationship with a well-known photo journalist, and her sanity are all in doubt. She finds herself marooned at a crossroads in Nowhere, Texas, wondering which way to turn. What's a girl to do on a day like that? Certainly not allow herself to be lured into the ramshackle LONE STAR CAFE by two crazy old ladies who claim to make magical coffee, definitely not come back again and again, and under no circumstances fall for the laid-back moves of a guitar-picking local boy. Absolutely not...or... maybe so...

LONE STAR CAFE received a September TOP PICK and 4 1/2 Gold Medal review from RT BOOKCLUB, which hailed the Texas Hill Country (Beginning with TEXAS COOKING) series as "Phenomenal". According to PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY, LONE STAR CAFE "Serves up a charmingly nostalgic treat" with "Appealingly eccentric secondary characters and beautifully evoked Texas settings [which] further enrich this warm-hearted read."

Summary

Stuck at a crossroads, waiting out a storm, Laura Draper finds her path leading to the Lone Star Café, where elderly twin sisters Wandelene and Hasselene dish out their famous coffee and homemade biscuits. But the real attraction at the Lone Star is a laid-back local named Graham Keeton, who will make Laura think twice about rushing home to her high-pressure city life.