A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2) by Darynda Jones #bookreview #mystery #suspense #romance

Title: A Good Day for Chardonnay

Author: Darynda Jones

Publisher:  St. Martin’s Press

Publication Date: July 27, 2021

Page Count:  416

My rating: 4 1 /2 stars

About the book:

From the New York Times bestselling author Darynda Jones comes the second novel in her laugh-out-loud Sunshine Vicram mystery series, A Good Day for Chardonnay.

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.

A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones is the second book in the Sunshine Vicram series. This series is a mix of genres as it’s somewhat like a romantic suspense but it also has the feel of a humorous cozy mystery. Regardless of what you want to label it the books are certainly a lot of fun to read.

The Sunshine Vicram series has introduced readers to a new protagonist in Sunshine Vicram. Years ago Sunshine had left her small town of Del Sol, New Mexico with no real plans of returning after a traumatic experience she had kept quiet. Now that she has returned though her sneaky parents somehow got her name on the ballots to be elected the next Sheriff of the town. As much as Sunshine didn’t want the job she still wants to do the job well now that she has the title.

The second book of the series still has Sunshine chasing ghosts with trying to solve her own abduction that occured before she left Del Sol. In the meantime the small town is not without crime yet again even though all Sunshine wants is one easy day on the job. With everything else going on Sunshine also has to deal with her daughter sneaking out to investigate a local who she thinks is a serial killer and a pesky raccoon that just thinks he owns the town.

One of the reasons it’s hard to nail down where to classify this series is that it has so much going on. The series has continued parts of the storyline from the first book which is abnormal in romantic suspense and cozy mysteries so I’d warn that it’s best to start from the beginning. There is a ton of action and adventure within each book that flows well all at a wonderfully quick pace which I love and I’m still chuckling at some of the humor in the story. Just one thing held this back from a full five stars for me and that was the sexy parts, I would have probably toned that back a bit even though it is normal in romantic suspense but this series has so much more to offer and could fit a wider audience. Anyway, four and a half stars is still amazing and I’ll definitely be back for more.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

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