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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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A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones
Sheriff Sunshine Vicram finds her cup o’ joe more than half full when the small village of Del Sol, New Mexico, becomes the center of national attention for a kidnapper on the loose.
Title: A Bad Day for Sunshine
Author: Darynda Jones
Series: Sunshine Vicrum #1
Publish Date: April 7, 2020
Source: Netgalley – all opinions are my own – no incentive given
Publisher’s Description: Sheriff Sunshine Vicram finds her cup o’ joe more than half full when the small village of Del Sol, New Mexico, becomes the center of national attention for a kidnapper on the loose.
Del Sol, New Mexico is known for three things: its fry-an-egg-on-the-cement summers, its strong cups of coffee—and a nationwide manhunt? Del Sol native Sunshine Vicram has returned to town as the elected sheriff—an election her adorably meddlesome parents entered her in—and she expects her biggest crime wave to involve an elderly flasher named Doug. But a teenage girl is missing, a kidnapper is on the loose, and all of it’s reminding Sunny why she left Del Sol in the first place. Add to that trouble at her daughter’s new school and a kidnapped prized rooster named Puff Daddy, and Sunshine has her hands full.
Enter sexy almost-old-flame Levi Ravinder and a hunky US Marshall, both elevens on a scale of one to blazing inferno, and the normally savvy sheriff is quickly in over her head. Now it’s up to Sunshine to juggle a few good hunky men, a not-so-nice kidnapping miscreant, and Doug the ever-pesky flasher. And they said coming home would be drama-free.
Nervous Nellie’s nervousness necessitates knowledge of the novel. In other words …SPOILERS. *BEWARE*
Nervous Nellie says…
It was good read Darynda Jones again. She has her trademark style from Charlie and incorporates it into Sunshine. There are the hilarious quotes that start the chapter and the snarky responses that are full on Charlie except are now being used as marquee signs about the town.
This story has a little paranormal in it but it could amp up throughout the series, just like with Charlie. There is a smoldering love interest, a quirky best friend, funny parents and a daughter. All the elements that can be mirrored from the Charlie Davidson series. There isn’t any sex in this story, but it is alluded to in conversation. There is no gore, but there is a murder. It’s a long ago murder that needs to be solved, but it’s one that isn’t hard to guess at the conclusion, HOWEVER, I am sure that it won’t be as cut and dried as I think, which is a thrill.
I felt the story was chaotic and popping up with new characters every other page. That could be because it’s a new series and the foundation has to be laid. I enjoyed the back stories to the people of the town and their idiosyncrasies. Every small town has those citizens that are strange and weird. Each small town has those cases that just make you want to shake your head and ask, “Seriously?” Being the Sheriff, Sunshine would know them all. Darynda Jones knows how to make loveable characters. I like the way the daughter has got more of a focus, but I also think there is something about her that will bring the paranormal to the forefront. The book is wrapped around a town with key players waiting in the wings for their que.
I am somewhat on fence with this book. I don’t want to disrespect this title or the author, but it’s hard for me to not make comparisons to her other work. There are a lot of reviews raving about this story, and I don’t debate that it’s good, but the cast has been cast before. It could be that the mix of characters that Darynda uses is her secret recipe and Sunshine Vicrum series will take on a life of it’s own. Here’s to hoping it’ll become it’s own singular style.
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