Just My Luck

The one thing Tina had in common with her mother, Antoinette, was that they were both victims of other people's choices. And, as they each discovered, choices-no matter what or why-have consequences. At sixteen, in the blink of an eye, Antoinette (Twanie) went from promising, super student-with a brilliant future-to assault victim, single mother, and high school dropout. Disowned by her parents, it took Antoinette years to put together the shattered pieces before she could reclaim Tina, the six-year-old daughter she'd left, as a baby, with an aging aunt. Years later, the unimaginable happened. Antoinette disappeared, leaving thirteen-year-old Tina alone, desperate, and vulnerable-in one of the roughest neighborhoods of Richmond. If not for sympathetic strangers coming to her rescue, Tina might not have survived adolescence. But, even with her protectors watching over her, Tina saw and experienced things that she wished she could forget. Then, as she attempted to move forward and live a simple drama free existence, a co-worker's murder and secrets from her past put her in jeopardy, worse than any she'd experienced before. And neither her friends, her newfound love, nor her determination for justice could keep her from becoming the target of some very dangerous people.
"Just My Luck" is a unique urban coming of age story set in Richmond, Virginia. It is a gritty tale of adversity, resilience, love, murder, and hope. Not necessarily in that order. Everything might have been different, if Tina had spoken up before her mother - who should've learned from previous experience not to trust too good to be true men - left on her ill-fated weekend trip. Even at thirteen, Tina didn't buy into the miracle that the sleazy Mr. Franks would make all their dreams come true, and would be the solution to all their problems. But considering all the unhappiness and trauma in her mother's past-including the circumstances of her daughter's birth-Tina didn't have the heart to speak up and burst Antoinette's bubble. Besides, neither of them could have anticipated that, instead of getting her happily-ever-after, Antoinette would disappear. Abandoned in one of Richmond's roughest neighborhoods, by eighteen, Tina experiences nightmarish things she wishes she could forget. If not for sympathetic strangers coming to her rescue, she might not have survived adolescence. Then, just as she feels she can finally put all the drama of her past behind her, things again get complicated. She<