Lou Ann must put her life on hold to care for her aging mother and dealing with Alzheimer’s. This might be the first book by this author that I’ve read. It certainly won’t be the last! It was funny in parts, it made me laugh out loud. At times it was sad as her Alzheimer’s progresses.
Definitely recommend! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy

As a Geriatrician physician, I really appreciated this book. I see patients and families every day dealing with dementia. This book got the message across in and entertaining way but did not diminish the severity of the problem. It really brought home how difficulty and cruel the disease is. I enjoyed reading the book and felt very sad when it ended. I often will recommend books both fiction and nonfiction to patients and families in helping to deal with particular illnesses and this will definitely be one I recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy. Will be keeping my eye out for this author.

I laughed and cried while reading this book. It was heartfelt and funny. I loved the characters, and the relationship between the mother, daughter, and caregiver. It was an engrossing and fast-paced read, and I finished it in one sitting. The description of the family home and remembrance of things past as well as the heartache of living with Alzheimer made for a charming and heartbreaking read. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Lulu is pulled away from a tour when her mother is kicked out of another memory care center. Her mother asks LuLu to take her back to her family home in Louisiana to live out her last days. Lulu hires a home nurse who travels with them to Sutton Hall, where an interesting cast of swearing birds, construction workers help Lulu deal with the everyday realities of grieving a mother whose Alzheimer’s took her long before she will die.

There were a few places I was taken out of the story. Any book that reminisces about the Confederacy seems out of step with today. But the author handled it well, balancing the small-town setting in the Deep South and making sure the reader knew the South wasn’t being glorified. There could have been more conflict with Lulu, but the lack of it didn’t hold back the book.

I really enjoyed this women’s fiction mother-daughter story with light romance, interesting characters and a satisfying ending.

How Lulu Lost Her Mind by Rachel Gibson
Source: NetGalley and Gallery Books
Rating: 5 HUGE stars

**NOTE: Lest anyone think I am being sarcastic/insensitive/etc. throughout this review, please know, I lost my beloved grandmother to complications from Alzheimer’s Disease.**

Lou Ann Hunter has her hands full. She is the face/words/life behind Lulu the Love Guru, she travels the world supporting her brand, she is hands on as the head of her company, and she is constantly worried over her mother, Patricia, an Alzheimer’s patient living in a care facility. With a thousand things to do each day, Lulu doesn’t really have time for a bump in the road.

Then the phone call comes . . . .

Patricia still has a lot of moments of lucidity, but the other moments are the real problem. Patricia is on her third or fourth care facility and that facility is kicking her out. Apparently, Patricia and her passionate nature have gone one step too far and she’s being kicked to the curb and into the hands of her totally over-worked and under-prepared daughter, Lulu. Lulu has no idea how to properly care for her mother, but she does have a phone and considerable resources. First up, get her mother settled into her new room in Lulu’s elegant home. Second up, putting her upcoming tour dates on permanent hold. Third up, find an in-home nurse willing and capable of taking on Patricia. Fourth up and finally, try not to lose her mind.

It takes Lulu less than 24 hours to understand how out of her depth she really is and how desperately she needs help. As luck would have it, Lulu finds a young, capable nurse willing to pack her bags and move in with Lulu and Patricia. In Lulu’s mind, they will all muddle through in her luxury home, in Patricia’s mind, they will all pack their bags and move to her ancestral home, Sutton Hall, in Louisiana. It seems Lulu’s luck ran out finding the perfect nurse because within a week, the trio is packing their bags and heading to Louisiana.

If Lulu had ever tried to imagine her personal Hell, it would likely be Sutton Hall in Louisiana. From front to back, top to bottom, Sutton Hall is the very definition of a money pit. While Lulu sees nothing but dollar signs, her mother sees the place she has longed for and the place she intends to spend the remainder of her days. Ever the proactive being, Lulu sets about getting her mother comfortable and getting contractors and repairmen lined up to make Sutton Hall habitable. The task is a big one, but Lulu has made the decision to do whatever it takes to make her mother happy and whatever time she has left the best it can possibly be given her circumstances.

As the days pass by, Lulu, Patricia, and their trusty nurse fall into a routine that leaves Lulu exhausted and pulling further and further away from her company. She has determined to spend time with her mother and appreciate every second they have left together. Some days are wonderful with laughter, lucidity, and good times, while other days are filled with anger, hatred, and emotional upheavals. Those days, the really bad days remind Lulu of what she is losing and more importantly, what her mother is losing. Lulu cherishes her time with her mother even when she is being berated; the good times outweigh the bad and Lulu is stronger than even she knows.

The Bottom Line: I am absolutely dumbfounded by the Goodreads star rating for this book! Rachel Gibson has taken a topic, an illness that it utterly terrifying and humanized it in such a way that I was absolutely blown away. There are so many moments in this book that broke my heart, made me cry, and completely renewed my faith in humanity. There are moments that are laugh out loud funny, exhausting, tragic, ridiculous, and beautiful. That, dear reader, is the reality of Alzheimer’s and what it does to both the patient and the family. To say I loved this book is a weird thing, but I did, and I think it is because of my own family’s experience with this devastating illness. Gibson offers a story that is filled with compassion, sensitivity, sarcasm, humor, and love and I found it to be entirely engrossing.

#bookreview
How Lulu Lost Her Mind was a delightful read that was not only full of humor but that also contained several important messages. Lulu, AKA the "love guru," has a decision to make, what to do about Mama. I found the colloquial situations and vocabulary interesting. I was moved by Lulu's plight, one many readers will face, and by her eventual acceptance of what she must do. Once she accepted the inevitable she was able to see what a treasure she had in her mother. This a book about love in its many forms.

This is a heartwarming story about a daughter and her mother who has Alzheimer’s. I love when a book can make me laugh, cry, and rejoice, and this was one of those books. Loved it!

What a fun and interesting read. It would be the perfect vacation read. It hit on some pretty timely issues and it was just a good laugh at many points.

I love a mother/daughter storyline and this one did not disappoint. It covers an important topic, having to put your life on hold to care for a parent with Alzheimers . It is entertaining and funny with a little bit of romance.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Lou Ann (Lulu) is an successful businesswoman in Seattle. An internet influencer known for her advice on romance and relationships. She barely has time to breathe, let alone find a partner of her own or spend quality time with her mother who is suffering the memory loss of Alzheimer's. When Lulu's mother is evicted from yet another memory care facility, Lulu takes her home temporarily. But her mother's dying wish is to spend the last few lucid months in the southern plantation home of her ancestors.

Although the overall storyline is fairly predictable, there are a few plot twists that I did not see coming, Witnessing the changing relationship between Lulu & her mother is emotionally engrossing. There is plenty of humor, a reasonable amount of frustration, and heartbreaking sadness. This is, at its heart, a touching look at mother/daughter relationships and the effect a debilitating illness can have on everyone. I haven't read Rachel Gibson before, but will definitely look for more books by this author.

How Lulu Lost Her Mind is poignant with laugh out loud humor. The book explores Lulu becoming a caregiver to her ailing mother. The author provides colorful descriptions of the various situations and struggles they face as they travel this new reality. It will make you laugh and touch your heart with sadness at the same time. A fast moving story with interesting characters and full of emotion. Thank you to the publisher.

I really enjoyed the story but felt the ending just fell short and left me wanting a bit more to wrap it all up. It felt lacking or rushed. Outside of the ending (which is pretty important), the book had good flow. The characters were developed each with very distinguishable personalities. But that ending was disappointing.

The publisher asked me to read and review this book based on my previous reviews of Southern Fiction. As a Jersey girl, I was surprised that once again, I LOVED a book from this genre. The main character is a celebrity of sorts, balancing building her brand and empire, with caring for her mother who has Alzheimer’s. The characters are well developed, the story lines are believable and relatable, and the book is downright funny. I will absolutely continue to read books by this author in the future, and I highly recommend this book to others, especially those taking care of a parent.

I received an ebook copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I was drawn to this book because it takes place in the south and the premise of the story sounded interesting. However I found it difficult to fall in love with any of the characters.

How Lulu Lost Her Mind is a book that plays on the emotions of the reader especially if you are the age of Lulu''s mother and have experienced a mother with the same problems of Lulu''s mother. However, having empathy for Lulu while she tries to please her mother's every whim is so realistic in the midst of a 200 year old house 're s rotation.. I laughed and commiserate d with her. The characters are realistic with just enough romance to keep the plot interesting.. The Book is priceless.

For all that this novel covers such a dark and tragic disease - Alzheimer’s - and how an adult daughter deals with the deterioration of her mother, the book was fun to read. Lou Ann’s love for her mother and desire to spend her mother’s last time making pleasant memories together was quite inspirational.

However, it was hard to buy the complete transformation of her character. She goes from resenting having to spend time sorting out her mother’s behavior and resenting being forced to care for her to deciding to basically put her professional life on hold and move across country to a decaying Louisiana mansion. She then sinks vast sums of money into renovating the place. And the romance with the hunky Cajun “building doctor” just seems a bit too serendipitous. There doesn’t seem any real reason why he would fall for her other than the author needed some romance to balance out the heavy dose of estrogen from all the other characters in the novel. I enjoyed having the romance in there, but I didn’t buy it.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

I wish these was part of the original description I read "she wants to spend her remaining months or years surrounded by memories at her family’s decrepit old plantation in Louisiana with her only daughter." because I do not want to read some story taking place in a family's beloved plantation. That's gross. I'm sorry I read this, not only was the plot weak and the characters trite, the plantation setting was distasteful. There was a part played for laughs were the mom sexually assaulted another character. What a mess/

I. Loved. This. Book. Both hilarious and heartwarming, sweet and crass, sexy but clean. This is the story of the very successful queen of a love advice empire who puts everything on the back burner to traipse off to Louisiana to care for her over-the-top mother who has Alzheimer's. I laughed *and* cried. Definitely recommend.

Thank you to #NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this lovely book in exchange for my opinions. #HowLuluLostHerMind

Lou Ann Hunter has been called (again) to take her mother out of the care facility - that's 3, so far - because she has been caught 'spooning' another patient. Alzheimers hasn't slowed down Patricia's 'passionate nature', but she is nearing her end and wants only to be brought back to her family home in Louisiana. When they get there, they find a building sorely in need of repair and upkeep.

Thank goodness for Simon, the handyman who watched over Patricia's uncle toward the end of his life. Simon's work doesn't come cheap, but he is honest, kind, and loyal to the family. Did I mention he's also handsome and that Lou Ann is none other that Lulu the Love Guru who has published books and keeps a blog offering advice on love and life? Now Lou Ann has put her career on the back burner so she can be with her mother full-time.

There is humor and love in this book, but Patricia's illness and the need to make end-of-life plans make it heart-breaking at times. The characters are likable. Patricia is larger than life and contrasts with Lou Ann's more careful nature. Simon is a joy. And the care-giver they hire for Patricia is just the right amount of quirky.

My thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a clean, deep thrust into my heart It is for mother’s and daughters, and nothing can be taken for granted. Richly emotional.
Many thanks to Gallery Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.