Talk of the Town

Title: TALK OF THE TOWN
Author: Lisa Wingate
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
February 2008
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0490-6
Genre: Inspirational/contemporary women’s fiction

Mandalay Florentino was supposed to be planning her wedding, not traveling off to Daily, Texas to have a surprise “reunion concert for the American Megastar, Amber Anderson—only everyone in Daily seems to know that Amber is a finalist, even though it was supposed to be a secret.

Plus, this gorgeous cowboy seems to be everywhere Mandalay goes. He appears to be a simple country boy visiting the area. But he could be paparazzi. Or a record producer. To make matters worse, Mandalay’s boss is demanding absolute perfection in an impossible situation. Could anything possibly go right in this Tumbleweed Town?

TALK OF THE TOWN started slow. Very slow. Which disappointed me because I was looking forward to reading this book. However, I forced myself to keep going, and it soon picked up. By the time I reached the middle of the book I’d laughed out loud several times, and even shared tidbits with anyone within hearing range.

Mandalay is an interesting character, a real fish out of water in the unique small town of Daily. The other main character, Imagene is about as real as she could get, full of southernisms and charm. I totally loved her. The conversation is a bit hard to read at times, since it was written in the way it sounds, and imagine Texan written the way a Californian would hear it. At times I almost had to read the conversation out loud to understand it, even though I live in the south. It did draw me out of the story.

By the time I finished the book, Ms Wingate had a new fan. This is the first book of hers I’ve read, but I am definitely hoping to read more. TALK OF THE TOWN is an amazing story full of small town charm. Discussion questions are included at the end of the book. $13.99. 359 pages.