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A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones
Sunny’s got a bar fight gone bad, a teenage daughter hunting a serial killer and, oh yes, the still unresolved mystery of her own abduction years prior. How can she get it all solved?? Tune in to:
Title: A Good Day for Chardonnay
Author: Darynda Jones
Series: Sunshine Vicram #2
Publish Date: July 27, 2021
Source: reviewer received from NetGalley
Publisher’s Description: Running a small-town police force in the mountains of New Mexico should be a smooth, carefree kind of job. Sadly, full-time Sheriff–and even fuller-time coffee guzzler–Sunshine Vicram, didn’t get that memo.
All Sunshine really wants is one easy-going day. You know, the kind that starts with coffee and a donut (or three) and ends with take-out pizza and a glass of chardonnay (or seven). Turns out, that’s about as easy as switching to decaf. (What kind of people do that? And who hurt them?)
Before she can say iced mocha latte, Sunny’s got a bar fight gone bad, a teenage daughter hunting a serial killer and, oh yes, the still unresolved mystery of her own abduction years prior. All evidence points to a local distiller, a dangerous bad boy named Levi Ravinder, but Sun knows he’s not the villain of her story. Still, perhaps beneath it all, he possesses the keys to her disappearance. At the very least, beneath it all, he possesses a serious set of abs. She’s seen it. Once. Accidentally.
Between policing a town her hunky chief deputy calls four cents short of a nickel, that pesky crush she has on Levi which seems to grow exponentially every day, and an irascible raccoon that just doesn’t know when to quit, Sunny’s life is about to rocket to a whole new level of crazy.
Yep, definitely a good day for chardonnay.
Nervous Nellie’s nervousness necessitates knowledge of the novel. In other words …SPOILERS. *BEWARE*
Nervous Nellie says…
Book #2 in Sunshine Vicrum’s series does not disappoint. You’ve got blood, stabbings, murder, mystery AND mayhem! Oh, and we can’t forget the hunky “book boyfriends” that are all running rampant through the book. Oh, yeah – those guys that are watching out and protecting and looking gorgeous while doing it.
I loved this book. It was a bit slow at first which had me down, but the ending was fantastic. The writing style is similar to Charley Davidson, but the premise is not. No supernatural or paranormal. Just plain police work and romance mixed in. Don’t miss it.
Like I said, the first half of the book was a bit slow – not bad, just a bit.
So, Sun is still trying to remember and solve her kidnapping case and subsequently gets Wynn Ravinder to talk about it, since Kubrick Ravinder is the one who kidnapped her. She finds out some more information AFTER she remembers more bits and pieces. Man, that was a ride!
Sun is also handling a case of a stabbing in her town where Levi happens to get hit (run over) with a car. Levi is mad at what happened to his friend and will BY GOLLY find out what’s going on. Levi should be an investigator too, since not much gets past him. They finally figure out the whole mess, but it incorporates a different kidnapping that happened years ago, where Sun was the head on the case.
On the back burner, Sun has to figure out the Dangerous Daughters before she’s fired for not being an effective Sheriff. Whoever heard of a bunch of people who run a city so it’s not taken over by corruption? I guess Del Sol has!
Auri is conducting her own investigation regarding the Del Sol serial killer. This is one of the most dangerous investigations she’s ever conducted. She is a trouper and keeps plugging away until she figures it all out. The problem is that she isn’t a seasoned investigator and trouble keeps popping up.
It’s a great book. Give it a read after you’ve read book #1. This is a good series, so far, and I hope Sun has many cases yet to come.
Here’s the review I’ve done for book #1
A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones
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Abandoned in Death by J.D. Robb
Homicide detective Eve Dallas must untangle a twisted family history while a hostage’s life hangs in the balance.
Title: Abandoned in Death
Author: J.D. Robb
Series: In Death #54
Publish Date: February 8, 2022
Source: purchased by reviewer
Publisher’s Description: Homicide detective Eve Dallas must untangle a twisted family history while a hostage’s life hangs in the balance—in the new In Death novel by #1 New York Times bestselling J. D. Robb.
The woman’s body was found on a bench in a New York City playground. She was clean, her hair neatly arranged, her makeup carefully applied. But other things were very wrong—like the tattoo and piercings, clearly new. The clothes, decades out of date. The fatal wound hidden beneath a ribbon around her neck. And the note: Bad Mommy, written in crayon as if by a child.
It seems clear the killer’s childhood was traumatic—a situation Eve is all too familiar with herself. Yet the clues point to a perpetrator who’d be around sixty, and there are no records of old crimes with a similar MO. What was the trigger that apparently reopened such an old wound and sent someone over the edge? When Eve learns that other young women have recently vanished, the case grows even more urgent—and to solve it she’ll need to find her way into a hidden place of dim light and concrete, into the distant past, and into the depths of a shattered mind.
Nervous Nellie’s nervousness necessitates knowledge of the novel. In other words …SPOILERS. *BEWARE*
Nervous Nellie says…
You know I love me a good story with Eve and Roarke. I waited and waited for this book because…well…you know, Eve and Roarke. This story starts out a bit differently than some of the other books with the spotlight on the killer as a child. A creepy little brat of a kid. The mom is at the end of her rope and that’s where the mom and kid’s lives take a turn.
I saw the core group in the story plus Mavis, Bella, Leonardo, Nadine and special appearances by Quilla, Morris and Jamie. I enjoyed spending time with them but I have to tell you that I wasn’t all that glued to my seat. I could really see the “bones” of the book as I read. Eve getting called on to investigate, rattling Dickhead’s cage, Roarke working e-man, Roarke giving the same look when Eve asks if he could find out something, Roarke picking the locks, the gratuitous sex scene and then the breakdown in the box with people watching in observation. I’m not saying that it was a bad story – it was ok but it lacked the usual edge of my seat anticipation. I’ll read it again, maybe I’ll change my mind.
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Before It’s Too Late by Sara Driscoll
Title: Before It’s Too Late
Author: Sara Driscoll
Series: FBI K-9 #2
Publish Date: September 25, 2018
Source: reviewer bough from Audible.com
Publisher’s Description: Somewhere in the Washington, D.C. area, a woman lies helpless in a box. Barely breathing. Buried alive. In Quantico, the FBI receives a coded message from the woman’s abductor. He wants to play a game: decipher the clues, save the girl. The FBI’s top cryptanalysts crack the code and Special Agent Meg Jennings and her K-9 partner, Hawk, scramble to the scene of the crime—too late. But the killer’s game is far from over . . .
Another message, another victim. The deadly pattern is repeated—again and again. As the body count mounts, Meg decides to break protocol and bring in her brilliant sister, Cara, a genius at word games, to decipher the kidnapper’s twisted clues. Meg knows she’s risking her career to do it, but she’s determined not to let one more person die under her and Hawk’s watch. If the plan fails, it could bite them in the end. And if it leads to the killer, it could bury them forever . . .
Nervous Nellie’s nervousness necessitates knowledge of the novel. In other words …SPOILERS. *BEWARE*
Nervous Nellie says…
This story is ENTIRELY different than the first book. This isn’t a cookie cutter mystery series, for sure! The premise is very disturbing as the killer is asphyxiates his victims in a myriad of different ways but each victim has a remarkable resemblance to Meg. If I remember correctly, only one of several victims die thanks to Meg’s sister and Clay McCord. Meg’s sister Kara is incredible with puzzles and all the notes the killer leaves are encrypted PLUS McCord is a whiz at civil war history. Those two work together amazingly well so therein starts the romance. Todd Webb makes his move on Meg, but all of this romance is not the center of the book. The center of these books (that I’ve discovered so far) deal with the mystery and the chase of the killer. This book did not disappoint me in the least as it was the same fast paced and a great storyline.
Again, there was no sex, some foul language, a lot of close calls of death and a crazy twist at the end for the killer. I thought I had it figured out, but in the end I was close but sadly no cigar for me. Oh, and those of you who are like me and HATE cliffhangers? There is none. So far, each book finishes the case but the character building keeps evolving. Also, the narrator Angela Dawe was incredible as in the first book.
Our reviews in this series…
- Lone Wolf by Sara Driscoll
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Lone Wolf by Sara Driscoll
I picked up this book on Kindle Unlimited quite awhile ago. Surely can’t figure out why I waited so long to read it!
Title: Loan Wolf
Author: Sara Driscoll
Series: FBI K-9 #1
Publish Date: August 29, 2017
Source: Kindle Unlimited @ Amazon
Publisher’s Description: Meg and Hawk are part of the FBI’s elite K-9 unit. Hawk can sniff out bodies anywhere—living or dead. When a bomb rips apart a government building in Washington D.C., it takes all of the team’s extensive search-and-rescue training to locate and save the workers and visitors buried beneath the rubble.
But even as the duo are hailed as heroes, a bomber remains at large, striking terror in a widening spiral of unpredictability. As more bombs are detonated and the body count escalates, Meg and Hawk are assigned to a task force dedicated to stopping the unseen killer. It will come down to a battle of wits and survival skills between Meg, Hawk, and the bomber they’re tracking to rescue a nation from the brink of chaos.
Nervous Nellie’s nervousness necessitates knowledge of the novel. In other words …SPOILERS. *BEWARE*
Nervous Nellie says…
I love animals and it just so happens on my summer reading bingo card, one of the squares is to read a book with an animal in it. I figured I’d start the book and if I didn’t like it, I wasn’t out anything. Oh, MAN! I would have spent full price for this book! It was a page turner and I loved it!
Meg is a K-9 handler for the FBI and Hawk is a black lab rescue that she’s taught search and rescue. I gotta tell ya that I’d LOVE to have that training skill. Anyway, this story is about a homegrown terrorist bombing public buildings. Meg meets Todd Web and Clay McCord. Clay McCord is instrumental in helping to solve the case even though tensions are high with him being a reporter for the Washington Post.
The story was sad as much as satisfying in the end. The end didn’t change all the people who died, but at least the guy got caught and Hawk took a bite out of him. There was no sex, there is some foul language and a lot of death, but the bright light shown on those who survived.
It was a great book – very mystery/thriller but not as thriller-ish as a psychological thriller (those books are INTENSE). Oh and the narrator? Angela Dawe was magnificent! I sunk so far into the story with her narrating, I didn’t even notice her narrating – that’s how good she was!
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The Face of Deception by Iris Johansen
Out of Nell’s comfort zone challenge! I tried a new to me genre. I’m not much into thrillers, but I’m glad I started with this one!
Title: The Face of Deception
Author: Iris Johansen
Series: Eve Duncan #1
Publish Date: 1999
Source: reviewer borrowed from library
Publisher’s Description: An unidentified skull…
A trail of terrifying secrets…
And a woman whose talented hands could reveal the shocking truth…
As a forensic sculptor, Eve Duncan helps identify the dead from their skulls. Her own daughter murdered and her body never found, the job is Eve’s way of coming to terms with her personal nightmare. But more terror lies ahead when she accepts work from billionaire John Logan. Beneath her gifted hands a face emerges from the skull he has given her to reconstruct—a face no one was ever meant to see. Now Eve is trapped in a frightening web of murder and deceit. Powerful enemies are determined to cover up the truth, and they will make certain that truth goes to the grave…even if Eve gets buried with it.
Nervous Nellie’s nervousness necessitates knowledge of the novel. In other words …SPOILERS. *BEWARE*
Nervous Nellie says…
This was a VERY good read. I finished it in 2 days and that’s practically a miracle for me anymore. Ruby Lee and I were disappointed that the library didn’t have it’s annual book bingo game this year so we made our own. The first challenge I had was to read a book that she has already read. I picked this one. I was not sorry. This book has action all the way through. The heroine is a bit um…nieve is the word I think I want to use. She had a hard childhood, she was a mother at 16, she had a mother on drugs but yet she can’t accept that her friend that was a Navy SEAL and is now a cop killed anybody? Mmmm…that one is a bit hard to swallow. She’s also very strong willed and a take control kind of woman who lost her child to a murderer, but she doesn’t want to believe a side to her friend that we all know exists? And this friend of hers who I KNOW FOR A FACT thinks himself more than a friend but doesn’t show it? What the hell? And then he married a different woman who he didn’t love instead? What’s up with that? I don’t get that at all. That relationship is messed up.
Anyway, the story was action packed, like I said. I mean page turning action packed. Yes, there was murder – multiples. The author didn’t pull any punches when she lets you get to know a character and then kills him off. Brutal that was…geez. So, the premise is kind of politically directed and the end intent of the master villain was sort of noble, but they went far too far with their secret. Of course, I didn’t find out about this until towards the end. That part was kind of a whaaaa? kind of moment. There was no sex, there was no swearing if any at all. I read a couple of reviews where the reader didn’t want any kind of romance in the book, but I didn’t actually feel much romance. The two heroes of the book would like to keep the heroine for themselves, but the one lost his chance when he married and this new guy kinda screwed it up by nearly getting her killed. I thought there was the right amount of romance for a thriller. It was a good book. I’d give it 5 stars for keeping me entertained.
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