Just My Luck by Andrea Bramhall
$9.99 / E-BOOK
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Description
After being stuck in a dead-end job, Genna Collins wins the biggest Euromillions jackpot on record. Everything changes…and not all for the best, in this down-to-earth, friends-to-lovers, lesbian romantic comedy.
When Abi Kitson fell in love she always knew it would be unrequited. The woman of her dreams, Genna, was so close yet seemingly untouchable for so many reasons.
There’s the fact they’re best friends, plus the big age gap, the fact Genna already has a girlfriend, and that Abi has a few issues of her own as a single mother to a daughter with a disability.
But when so many of those reasons crumble to dust, it seems luck just still isn’t on Abi’s side.
Her beautiful, larger-than-life friend winning the big one seems like it might be a wonderful stroke of luck for Genna. But is it?
What if money really can’t buy you everything you want? What if happiness is right in front of them? It’s a learning curve for them both…not to mention a huge risk. They just have to reach out—if they dare.
Additional information
| Publication Date | September 2016 |
|---|---|
| Formats | epub (for Kindle Reader/Kindle Apps, for iBooks, Nook etc.), mobi, and pdf |
| Length | 81,000 words |
| Language | English |
| ISBNs | 978-3-95533-703-2 (mobi), 978-3-95533-704-9 (epub), 978-3-95533-705-6 (pdf) |
| Publisher | Ylva Publishing |
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If you encounter any problems, please select “Contact Us” from the menubar, and we will get back to you as quickly as possible.10 reviews for Just My Luck by Andrea Bramhall
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jane shambler – :
I was asked to review this book by a publisher with a promise of an honest rating.
At first I honestly must say I was not sure. But as I got more into it my perception changed. The story is told by the two main characters of the book. It is extremely well written and the author has a decidedly wicked sense of humor. You start with just a smile but with each turn of the page your smile gets wider and then you find yourself laughing out loud. I think it is more to do with that you can relate to it. It is an excellent book, and very well written. If at the beginning you think hmmmm? continue your perseverance will be rewarded.
Karola – :
*free ARC for a review*
At first it took me a few pages to get into the flow with this book. The reading of it was a little bit like talking to myself. Right. I can do that. And more than once or twice I had to laugh out loud. Rosie, the girl with Down Syndrome, is really heart refreshing. God, these adults don’t understand a thing! People with wrinkles need ironing, like my clothes. Simple as that! All in all I really liked that book, it’s witty, very well written with two main characters, who are loveable and funny. Well done Andrea Bramhall!
Karen Mcintosh – :
When Genna wins the Euromillions lottery a lot of things change for her. She realises very slowly and not without a lot of prodding that she is a really great person, worthy of love. This was a really funny and at times heartbreaking story and I was with Genna all the way. She tries to do the right thing and sometimes people don’t appreciate it. Other people have always loved her but she has such low self esteem she can’t see that. She loved Abi and Abi and her daughter Rosie adored Genna. I wanted the women to be open but old habits die hard. Abi worried about the effect on her daughter with Down’s Syndrome and Genna was just too scared. Andrea Bramhall writes some amazingly accurate characters and Genna’s ‘shameless’ family were spot on. I found myself laughing out loud on several occasions at them and the ‘fat farm’ episode was hilarious. She also writes some scorchingly hot sex scenes that leave nothing to the imagination. This was a hit with me and well deserving of 5 stars.
rrrahming2020 – :
This book was a little challenging to get into because it reads like someone thinking in their head. I hope that makes sense to anyone reading this, it’s the best way to describe it. Basically, Genna is talking to us in the first person, narrating her own story, although we do get Abi’s point of view as well. I was very mixed with this one. The writing style, although I’ve come across it before, was just a little different. Suffice to say, that I could put myself in Britain somewhere right along with these characters because of that audacious, British wit that you either love or hate.
It turns out that I enjoyed it; it got better as it went along. I couldn’t see what the future would hold for Genna and Abi as the story unfolded, then more interesting things happened and it got much better. It was definitely funny! The humor was spot on, and I found myself saying that I would do things similarly as Genna did.
I won’t say too much to spoil it for the reader, but once you get pass a few awkward bits, things got more interesting. This story seems like something that could happen to someone in real life, the craziness and drama was totally realistic. I was not a big fan of some of Abi’s actions, they gave me pause and made me go “eh.”Otherwise, not a bad job by the author. I’d consider reading more from her.
Nadine – :
When i first read the summary of the book I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t even sure if the story is about to different woman and their love life. It is but it’s also their way to find together.
I love that lots of aspects of the story many lesbian out there can identify with, probably everyone had a big unrequired crush on their best friend, maybe also the much older best friend.
The book gave me the feeling – hey I’m not the only one who still isn’t over their first unrequired love 😉
Right from the beginning the way Bramhall wrote the book gave me the feeling I know Genna for years. She has all the “problems” regular people have, she sometimes hates her reflection in the mirror, she thinks she is too chubby and uncertain of herself and what she could offer to another person.
The author used alternating chapters with Abis point of view or Gennas, so we get swapped into both of their thoughts, fears and feelings.
Abi is in her mid 30 has a child with disability and has also lots of doubts if she should try to date again, her daughter comes first. Always trying to hide her feelings for Genna and talking herself out of it – who doesn’t know how that feels!?
While they both figure it all out lots of crazy stuff happens. It starts with family drama over the lottery win and ends with kooky way when off how they confess their love.
At some point during reading the book I had the feeling “come on you can’t throw all the bad thinks to one poor couple” – it felt a little overdone but maybe it was after the fortune just bad luck?
The ending might have wrapped things up a little too fast for me. I would have loved a little more about their life together after the focus in the beginning was very strong on the facts why they can’t be together.
All in all the story is amazing, very well written, fun, little smut and very exiting – I couldn’t stop so I read it in 2 evenings – and I love that probably everyone can find some points where they can identify themselves with either Genna or Abi.
I recived an advanced copy of the book for a hones review.
Kim – :
When I first started reading the book, it took a little while to get used to the way the story was presented. The two main characters tell the story, with a lot of “dialogue” taking place inside their respective heads. Once I got used to the style, I found my self loving the story. The two main characters each have their own fears, hang-ups as well as wonderfully positive characteristics. I found myself engaged in the story, enjoying it’s twists and turns, while constantly rooting for Genna and Abi. I enjoyed reading about the various supporting characters including Abi’s daughter Rosie, as well as Genna’s assortment of family members and friends. Overall, this was a wonderful book and I look forward to other works by this author.
Received a free ARC from the publisher for an honest review
Millie Ireland – :
3.5 Stars – Read this to Learn How to Make your own Luck
My mother always told me that we make our own luck. If that includes purchasing a lottery ticket that nets you the largest Euro millions win ever, then Genna, the lead protagonist of this novel, aces on luck-making very early on in this pacey novel. That is good, as there is a lot of back luck for Genna to balance out – her Dad absconded very early on, her extended family is extensively dysfunctional and she’s just seen her long term girlfriend from a new and unwelcome perspective. Oh – and she has a long-held, impossible unrequited (or so she thinks) love for Abi, her much older best friend. Under these circumstances, a girl needs all the luck she can make.
Just My Luck is a really fun read, despite the bad luck / good luck traumas and tribulations. In fact, head-snappingly rapid transitions are a feature of this novel. You are reading along happily and then – bang! – something REALLY BIG happens and shifts the playing field. It is exhilarating.
There are many good reasons to read Bramhall’s most recent novel. There are wonderful characters. Abi has a delightful daughter, Rosie, who has Downs Syndrome. Whenever people are getting impossibly foolish, Rosie is able to bring some clear thinking to the frame. Then there is Genna’s wicked witch of a grandmother, who at first seems to be quite reasonable. You’ll soon change your mind. For those who enjoy experimentation with form, Bramhall’s approach to presenting the points of view of the two protagonists will appeal. Also, there is the pleasure of seeing Genna use her new wealth to genuinely do good. If you have ever imagined how it would be to be bountiful with your millions, Genna shows us how to do it with real style and grace.
Just My Luck is presented as a romantic comedy, so the “Is it funny?” lens was my first. Yes, this is a very funny book. For me, the funniest scenes are found when Genna checks into a health farm. I want to go to one now just to see if it would be as hilarious as Bramhall paints it. But the novel has enough angst to not be a laugh-out-loud, roll-off-the-couch novel of the type Robin Alexander delivered earlier in 2016 with Dear Me. That novel was unambiguously funny – while funny is just one of many things Bramhall does in this book.
The theme of “what would you do if you won uncountable millions” provides another category for evaluating Just My Luck. Bramhall does a brilliant job of putting Genna into the shrewd decision-maker role. She has the lucky break of dreams, and she does a great job with it. But Bramhall is not content to stay focussed on the millions and their distribution. The plot takes us off in other directions and for a while, you can (almost) forget that Genna is now fabulously wealthy, and for a large part of the latter end of the novel, her family and the way she is supporting them drops out of the storyline. And curiously (for me), acquiring millions seems to have little impact on the relationship between Genna and Abi. If the person I was besotted with suddenly became a multi-millionaire, I imagine it might impact on how I related to them. That is not the case with Abi and how she feels about Genna. Their relationship remains admirably above the money. In this way, and in the development of multiple plotlines, Just My Luck contrasts strongly with another lesfic novel featuring the winning of impossible wealth. Susan X Meagher’s Almost Heaven deals with what at first seems a very similar theme – girl in bad situation with massive needy extended family wins huge in the lottery. But in Meagher’s work, the story stays physically and topically close to the opening issues, and the relationship between Cody Keaton and her love interest, Maddie Osborne, is inextricably intertwined with the bundles of cash.
I enjoyed this novel very much and would recommend it for its comedy and tragedy, pacing and variety. I had previously read Bramhall’s Clean Slate and while I did not enjoy this novel quite as much, it is certainly one of my favoured lesfic reads for 2016. Indeed, I feel very lucky to have read it.
Review of an Advance Reader Copy from Ylva
velvetlounger – :
Anybody who has read Andrea Bramhall’s previous books already knows she has a wide ranging and somewhat unusual imagination. From light traditional adventure romances to fairly dark thrillers and murder mystery, her works so far have crossed many lines. Always with a lesbian angle, they have each mixed up several genres and been hard to categorise.
This latest is another example of a trans-genre tale, and even more odd-ball than the others. It’s a lesbian romance, it’s a comedy, and at the same time there is a very British down to earth pathos mixed in.
Genna Colllins has a dead end life, job and relationship. A loving mum and an absentee father. Even her BFF has withdrawn because she doesn’t approve of Genna’s girlfriend. Winning the biggest Euromillions jackpot is about to change all that, in a whole range of ways.
Underlying all of this Genna has been in love with her non-related aunt for years, which introduces Abi and her adorable Down’s daughter Rosie, literally the light of Genna’s life. Unbeknownst to Genna, her love is secretly returned. and so the romantic opportunity is set.
The style is unusual, with both main characters getting first person POV, and talking directly too the reader in very much a “Reader, I married him” style. Bramhall manages this very well, but it does take some getting used to.
The plot is a very British comedy; how to spring on your council flat family you have won £156million, including a fatherly lawyer with hidden camera and NDA’s to prevent publicity. There are comic scenes throughout including a ridiculous trip to the ‘fat farm’ and through it all a wicked sense of humour and timing.
The pathos is real as well. The family dynamics are harsh, the history realistic and the hurt palpable. There were laugh out loud moments, and occasions where the past pain bring poignant realism to what is otherwise virtually farcical.
Overall an entertaining and unusual read. I enjoyed it, but it’s not my favourite by Ms Bramhall. I personally thought the ending was rushed, or perhaps forced is a better description, another chapter or two and a little less panic would have left a better feeling. But as usual Andrea Bramhall brings something different to the table and with her excellent writing style and vivid imagination that is always a good thing.
(publisher review copy received)
pat iserman – :
I stopped reading this book after the first chapter.It took me awhile to get back to it.
I am glad I continued on because there was an unexpected turn that I found fascinating.If you have read other reviews you already know the main points of the story.The only thing I found difficult to enjoy was the constant inner turmoil ,each character overthinking every little thing.I enjoy more dialogue.”Rosie” was right on top of everything and knew just what to say in all circumstances.She was very straight forward and a joy to follow.I think she needs a story just about her.
melanie_czarnik – :
I really enjoyed reading (and re-reading) this book. Story and character are a lot of fun and so vividly written, that I couldn’t put it away. Gennas family at times reminded me of the family in “Shameless” (US Version) – had a bit of a laugh because of that.
I especially liked that the author included the character, who has trisomy 21, and embedded her in such a charming and realistic way. That is the kind of inclusion I would love to read (and watch) more.