I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. Rachel Gibson did a great job of writing in a way that captures the readers attention, and makes you not want to put it down until you're finished! I would highly recommend it!

Lou Ann Hunter, known widely as Lulu the Love Guru, has built her career on preaching relationship advice to the women of America. Her experience comes mainly from not following her mother Patricia's example - married five times previously and has been caught in compromising positions with male residents in three elderly care facilities. After being asked to leave another facility, Patricia asks that Lou Ann bring her home to Sutton Hall, her family’s decrepit plantation home in Louisiana. Knowing her time with her mother is precious, due to Patricia having Alzheimer’s, Lou Ann decides to take time away from the empire she has built to heed her mother's wishes. Lou Ann quickly finds out that life with her mother is not as easy as she thought it would be.

I forgot to write this review long ago, but I still remember everything about the story, which is a testament to the book itself. Lou Ann faces decisions about her mother that can be very difficult, especially when dealing with a person who has some memory deficits. I like how the author did not wrap everything up neatly with an epilogue, which is definitely more realistic given how much Lou Ann's life suddenly changes. I do think that Lou Ann's background could be a little more fleshed out, especially given that her success is what enables the ability to take care of her mother and the aging house. I am not sure that the side plots regarding the grandfather are needed, as they do nothing to help move the main story along.

Overall, How Lulu Lost Her Mind was a good read and one I would recommend to others. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

This book took me awhile to get through. Not because I didn't like it but because I saw too many things in this mother-daughter relationship that were familiar enough to hit me harder than I expected. As caregiver for my own mother, I completely understand the frustrations. I'm also familiar with the tears and frustration that go along with this role reversal. I'm still caring for my mother, but we're in a place where I could get through the more emotional parts of this book without falling completely apart, although I did shed quite a few tears. So did my mother since we read it together. We laughed, we cried, and we grew even closer through Rachel Gibson's wonderful storytelling. Whether you're looking at a similar situation or not, this is a book I highly recommend.

This one was charming despite the heavy subject matter. A great setting, some romance and some family drama made for a fun read.

This book ended up being too "rich white people problems" for me and not in a fun way. I wasn't able to enjoy it.

Lou Ann (aka Lulu the Love Guru) steps away from her online writing career to take care of her mother who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. Lou Ann, her mom, and a live-in nurse move to the family’s decrepit plantation in Louisiana. I listened to this, and I think I may have dozed off during part of it. Not much happened, but it was still It was one of those book where not much happened, but the story moved. I’m pretty neutral on it.

Thanks to @NetGalley and Gallery Books for my ARC!

Thank you for the ARC!

Wow. This was a tough read - a hard topic for some readers.
I enjoyed most of it but there were parts that just did not hit for me.

LouAnn works as Lulu the Love Guru giving romance advice to America. She knows that her mother Patricia has Alzheimer’s, but now she needs a full time caretaker. Lulu gives up her work to move and take care of her mom. It’s extremely difficult and every day is a reminder of how sick Patricia really is.

I liked this book. It was funny in parts and very touching in others. My mother lived with my family for 10 years, and altered she didn’t have Alzheimer’s, old age and its ailments was catching up with her. It’s a huge emotional change to go from daughter to being the mother to your mother, and this book reflects that. 4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

I just could not get into this. I read about 70% and just gave it up. I don’t know why. I didn’t relate to the characters much which doesn’t usually bother me but I just couldn’t get along with this one.

Rachel Gibson is a good writer who has taken her usual craft is a different direction. This story is primarily a mother-daughter relationship. While it may be difficult for some, it is a beautiful read about a hard topic (the mother has Alzheimer's).

This book by a new-to-me author had me hooked from page one! I thought it was such a fun and delightful read that made me both laugh and cry! I loved LuLu and could really relate with this character. I am looking forward to reading other books by this author in the future.

What a delightful read! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this book made me laugh and cry. Thank you fir the opportunity to read it!

Rachel Gibson wrote a hilarious and endearing tale with this one. You’ll fall in love with Lulu. And May recognize some of your life in the process.

This book hooked me at the mother/daughter conflict. This is something that I am intimately connected to. I also have personal experiences with relatives dealing with Alzheimer's so this book connected with me on many levels. Rachel Gibson was able to write a realistic portrayal of families dealing with this devastating disease but also manages to find humor and a hint of romance.

Overall, a delightful book and I think many readers will enjoy this one.

DNF - Did not finish. I tried to read this one but did not connect with the writing style. Thank you publisher and netgalley for the early copy.

Every mother and daughter relationship has its ups and downs. However, add an Alzheimer’s diagnosis and things become quite unpredictable. Rachel Gibson writes a funny and heart warming story of a mother and daughters relationship during the last year of her mother’s life while battling Alzheimer’s. ‘How Lulu Lost Her Mind”, takes place in the 200 plus year old family estate in Louisiana. It combines family drama, romance and a pregnancy for an entertaining and easy to read story. I highly recommend Ms. Gibsons book.

Lou Ann's' mother is suffering though advancing stages of Alzheimer's disease. She is getting kicked out of one care facility after another, and the most recent dismissal causes Lou Ann to re-evaluate her priorities. Lou Ann is "Lulu the Love Guru" and runs a renown organization dispensing love and relationship advice (even though she is not and does not want to be in a relationship due to the horrible, embarrassing break-up with her fiancé.) Lou Ann's mother wants to return to her family's ancestral home in Louisiana to live out the rest of her years and eventually her buried in the family cemetery. Lou Ann realizes she has one opportunity to make the right choice, and steps aside from the spotlight in her business and moves her mother and a young, pregnant home health nurse to Louisiana. They make a home in the crumbling family mansion, and Lou Ann comes to terms with events from her childhood, her mother's past choices, her family's eccentricities, and the possibility of a new romantic relationship for herself.

Alzheimer's is such an ugly and painful disease that not only affects the sufferer, but the caregiver's as well This story contained many heartbreaking and realistic scenes of the mother's confusion, and the angry fits that come from her frustrations of memory loss. It also shows the sheer exhaustion caretakers go through in caring for the sufferer's unpredictable behavior.

Lou Ann had the benefit of wealth and the comforts it can afford, and she had a level of snobbery that went along with that. I liked how Lou Ann was forced to face the hard parts in life - the parts that money can't fix - in a realistic manner. Lou Ann is a likable character and it is also gratifying that while she does fall for the hot guy, she maintains her own strength and independence.

Gibson’s first women’s fiction is a bit disappointing. While I understand the focus on Lulu, her lack of grace for her mother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s fell flat. YMMV

As someone who happened to be the caretaker for a grandmother with dementia, this book took me by surprise. I didn't think I'd want to read about the disease, but Rachel Gibson was able to make the bad melt away. She masterfully showed just how painful dementia and Alzheimer's can be, but still showed the good days, the good memories, that can appear when you least expect it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Gallery books, and Rachel Gibson for the ARC. I must admit I’ve read this author before but didn’t care for the one book I read, but at that time I was reading mostly psychological thrillers. So when this book came along, like I always do, I will give an author a second shot. I’m glad I did. I found this book to be insightful, funny, very true life for me, and I think if the author keeps writing books like this I will definitely become a big fan. I read a review that said they didn’t like the book because it wasn’t romantic, but that’s the one reason I DID like this book ! I’m not one for romance books, I prefer a good story. This one fit the bill. My reviews can be seen in Goodreads, Amazon, Twitter, Facebook book clubs , and recommendations to my local book club, book store, and library personnel.