Tag Archives: Darynda Jones

July 21, 2021 · 3:56 pm

A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram, #2) by Darynda Jones

A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Title: A Good Day for Chardonnay
Author: Darynda Jones
Series: Sunshine Vicram, #2
Pages: 416
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Date: July 27, 2021

Summary:

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.

Review:

Read the first book! Do not read this book without reading the first book! Believe me. Take my word for it. READ THE FIRST BOOK!

Oh, yes, the first book? The title is A Bad Day for Sunshine. It leads right into book two: A Good Day for Chardonnay. I can guarantee that you will have no clue what is going on if you do not read the first book.

Are we all clear now? You do understand you have to read the first book first, right?

Now that that is out of the way.

I never thought Darynda Jones could top her Charley Davidson series, but she has definitely done it with the Sunshine books. These books are straight contemporary with a mystery and (will you get on with it?) a romance. Actually, they don’t have a mystery, they have multiple mysteries.

Who abducted Sunshine when she was a teenager?

Who is the father of her daughter?

Who is her Chief Deputy in love with?

Has Randy (the raccoon) been officially deputized?

And a new mystery involving one of Levi’s uncles . . . is he in prison unjustly?

And the thing about Darynda Jones, she can make you feel any of these mysteries are just as important as another.

This book does clear up some of the mysteries, but it definitely introduces more mysteries and problems. The plot is wonderful, but my favorite parts are the one liners.

For example, there is one scene where Sunshine has to climb a ridge. She thinks to herself that she needs more cardio and less Oreo. That could be me talking. No, I mean really. That could be me.

And of course, my absolute favorite parts of the books are her chapter headings. I’ll leave you with my favorite one.

“Donate blood today! Please note: it must be your own blood.”

This book was sent to me by NetGalley in return for an honest review.

View all my reviews

A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram, #1) by Darynda Jones

A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Title: A Bad Day for Sunshine
Author: Darynda Jones
Series: Sunshine Vicram, #1
Pages: 400
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Date: April 7, 2020

Summary:

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.

Review:

I love the Charlie Davidson books and I never thought the author would be able to write anything that I would enjoy as much.

I was wrong. I know. Shocker, right?

These books are so funny. They are set in a normal, not paranormal, world, but I use the term normal loosely. Del Sol, is a weird town. Even, no especially, the sheriff knows that it is weird. Sheriff Sunshine Vicram was raised in Del Sol, but left home when she was a teenager. Now in her thirties, she has returned to raise her daughter in the town she loved as a child. Let the drama ensue.

I love Sunshine’s snark. It really reminds me of Charlie. And I love how she has entire conversations in her head. I love how no one in the town seems completely normal, but they are all pretty much accepted anyway. I think I would like to live in Del Sol, but only if I could be friends with Sunshine. She is definitely a woman you want on your side.

My only problem right now is I received this book several months before publication. I have already read it twice and cannot wait for the sequel. There is not a cliffhanger (hate, hate, hate cliffhangers), but there is definitely more of the story to be told.

Just like the Charlie Davidson books, the Sunshine Vicram series is on autobuy.

This book was sent to me by NetGalley in return for an honest review.

View all my reviews

Quote-tastic Monday: Eleventh Grave in Moonlight by Darynda Jones

I have been in love with this series since I first discovered it. Although the story line is wonderful, it is the humor that makes the books. Charlie absolutely cracks me up.

Eleventh Grave in Moonlight is the eleventh in the series and there is no sign of the books slowing down. As much as I enjoyed this book though, I have one problem . . . cliffhanger endings. The last three books have had terrible cliffhangers and I am tired of it. Not just with this series, but any series. I resent being left hanging at the end of a book. I am a fan. I am going to buy the next book in the series. I do not need something to keep me coming back. If anything, cliffhangers make me want to drop a series simply because I am ticked.

No, I am not dropping Charlie Davidson. I love the books, but I am tired of being jerked around.

Okay, off my soapbox and on to the quotes. Both of these are from Charlie and in both, she is talking about her husband (aka, the Son of Satan) Reyes.

It was an order, plain and simple. And the fact that he actually thought I’d follow it was comical.

Like Charlie ever followed anyone’s orders. However, Reyes just never learns. I am not going to tell you what this next quote is in reference to because of spoilers, but I love it anyway.

” . . . That’s logic for you. Of the penis-wielding variety.”

Again, this is a great series and if you are just starting it, you don’t have to worry about cliffhangers. Eleven books are out already, so enjoy!

“Quote-Tastic Monday” is a meme hosted every Monday on Herding Cats & Burning Soup. Head on over there to see what everyone else is posting about this week.