I’ve always been told that when you’re looking for a good book to read look for a well-worn cover. I went to our local library and got books to read for the first time in ages. As I walked through the bookshelves, I noticed TONS of well-worn erotic book covers, but I wasn’t seeking that kind of book. I wanted a book that would be full of true reading substance yet would take me away from everything because life has been stressful. Then my eyes landed on the simple, but yet elegant book cover of Lulu’s Café by T.I. Lowe. Since it was a book with the SC setting, I couldn’t resist reading it.

About Lulu’s Café

When a damaged young woman is given a chance to reclaim her life in a small South Carolina town, she must reckon with the dark secrets she left behind in order to accept the love she deserves.

On the run from a violent past, Leah Allen arrived in tiny Rivertown, South Carolina, battered and broken, but ready to reinvent herself. By a stroke of fate, Leah is drawn to the Southern hospitality of a small café, looking for a warm meal but finding so much more. Lulu, the owner, offers her a job, a place to stay and a new lease on life. Through Lulu’s tenacious warmth and generosity, Leah quickly finds herself embraced by the quaint community as she tries to put herself back together. Given she’s accustomed to cruelty, the kindness is overwhelming.

Soon Leah meets Crowley Mason, the most eligible bachelor in town. A lawyer and friend of Lulu’s, Crowley is wary of Leah’s sudden, mysterious arrival. Despite his reserve, something sparks between them that can’t be denied. But after all she’s been through, can Leah allow herself to truly love and be loved, especially when her first urge is to run?

Exploring the resiliency of both the heart and the spirit, Lulu’s Café gorgeously illustrates how old scars can finally heal no matter how deep they seem.

My Lulu’s Cafe Book Review

This book made me cry, laugh, and connected with me on so many personal levels. I truly wasn’t expecting that when I picked this book from the library. Yet, my hands couldn’t resist getting it. It was like I was destined to read this book!

When my mom married her THIRD husband (NOT my dad or my wonderful first step-father!!), I knew my life was about to become a living hell long before she said I do. I begged her to break things off with him, but she ignored all of my pleas. We moved to SC into a remote little town where your closest neighbor was miles apart. The closest town that had anything worthwhile in it was over 40 minutes away. My mom took up a job working the second shift, and she was hardly ever home when I was.

He started to sexually abuse me and my friends in her absence. I’m not sure if he felt some kind of guilt for that or not, but his anger towards my mother became fierce! He started to physically beat her and threaten to kill her if I said anything.

One day one of my friends reported him to DSS, and since I was scared of him at the time (after all I was 12 years old and weighed all of 90 lbs if I was lucky (since I was anorexic because of the drama in my life)), I denied what he was doing at the time. However, my mom must have known I was lying because she started making arrangements to leave him shortly after that.

On the night before we were set to move out, he beat her to within the inch of her life, and I honestly believe he would have killed her had I not pulled the 22 rifle out and pointed it at him. (Ironically, he’s the one who taught me how to shoot it with complete accuracy! I can hit cans without skipping a beat with perfect shots.)

To this day, I live with mixed emotions about that night because I did take him to court over what he did to me, and he walked Scott free. As a result, I wish I had pulled the trigger on him. The Christian part of me knows I shouldn’t feel that way, and I know God states he will get my revenge for me. Yet, I know if I knew then what I know now, I would have killed him and not thought twice about it. He severely hurt my mom, several other people, and me in our time with him.

I could relate with the character in Lulu’s Café with so much intensity I felt like I was her. The author did a stand-up job of conveying just how hard it is to walk away from an abusive situation, and how a person who has been abused abuses themselves at times too.

Throughout the years, I have also used eating as a way to bury my emotions or to make darn certain I keep enough weight on me to keep the men from looking at me twice. When I do start to lose vast amounts of weight and turn heads again, it makes me extremely uncomfortable. I literally RUN to my husband’s side when it happens.

It took 16 long hardcore years (and two divorces from ME) before I fully trusted and accepted the love my husband wanted to shower me with. I made TONS of terrible decisions in that 16 year period. But our love survived!

If you’re looking for an inspirational book to read that will keep you entertained, this book is it for sure. If you are in an abusive relationship please don’t wait to reach out for help!! I’m an email away!! You are more than a stat to me, you are a real live person who I am hoping my posts help!!

I’m eager to see what other books T.I. Lowe has written because her writing is well done, and I believe she uses her gifts to help people too.