A Hard Day for a Hangover - Review

A Hard Day for a Hangover (Sunshine Vicram, # 3)

By: Darynda Jones

Publication: December 6, 2022

352 pages

Genre: Adult, Mystery, Humor

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Some people greet the day with open arms. Sheriff Sunshine Vicram would rather give it a hearty shove and get back into bed, because there’s just too much going on right now. There’s a series of women going missing, and Sunny feels powerless to stop it. There’s her persistent and awesomely-rebellious daughter Auri, who’s out to singlehandedly become Del Sol’s youngest and fiercest investigator. And then there’s drama with Levi Ravinder—the guy she’s loved and lusted after for years. The guy who might just be her one and only. The guy who comes from a family of disingenuous vipers looking to oust him—and Sunshine—for good.

Like we said, the new day can take a hike.

The previous bookA Good Day for Chardonnay left off with Sunshine telling Levi that he's Auri's father, and then he basically disappears. Cruz is recovering from being stabbed while saving Auri's life. The events between these two books seemingly pick up almost immediately and span a week or two if I remember correctly. That's always challenging for me. When two books each carry some extreme events, like Cruz getting stabbed, Auri almost getting killed, several mysteries solved, and now we're picking up almost immediately with another series of major events and more multiple mysteries to be solved. It's unbelievable that the characters can experience such dramatic events so frequently. But I don't necessarily read these books for believability.

Darynda Jones writes insanely likeable characters. I love all of them. Sunshine is similar to the other leading women she's written before, and I can't complain about it. I like her so much. Of course, Sunshine is extremely different from myself. Even though she often seems like she doesn't exactly have everything together, she's extremely smart, perceptive, and pulls so much together to solve all these puzzles.

If anyone annoys me out of the character set, it's Auri. Okay, okay, don't jump on me just yet. I love Auri. But sheesh, she can't seem to obey her mother for anything. I mean Sunshine doesn't really discourage her from her disobedience. But as a mother myself, this is a pet peeve. Sometimes we need to understand the why of our parent's instructions, and sometimes we need to obey for obedience's sake. But also, Auri is following in her mother's footsteps and learning the ropes of investigating. She has a knack for following the right strings. Finding out that Levi is Auri's father was a big revelation, and now Sunshine, Levi, and Auri have to work through the fallout of this information. Auri goes from believing that she's the product of an assault on her mother to finding out that a man she loves separately from her mother is actually her biological father. This makes my heart so happy for her.

Levi already had me. Granted, he's so stoic in the past two books that it's hard to read him at times. A Hard Day for a Hangover revealed more about where Levi's head is and what he wants for Sunshine, for himself, for Auri, for all of their futures. If Reyes didn't set the bar as high as he did in the Charley Davidson series, Levi would definitely rank up there right under Reyes. I have a special place reserved for him. Regardless, Levi is pretty stellar, and I can't wait to read more of their story in the upcoming books.

Auri and Cruz didn't have as much of a leading part of this story. They had moments enough to connect and keep us interested and wanting more, but the focus of this story was elsewhere. Auri did have such a large part in the entire book, but her relationship with Cruz just wasn't as present because of Cruz's recovery. He did have some progress, so he wasn't completely absent.

I never want to discuss the mysteries in too much detail because too much can be spoiled for the next reader. Darynda Jones never fails me. I don't usually figure everything out, even if I figure out pieces. There are too many pieces overall to know exactly what's going on.

Favorite quotes:

-Sadly, she didn't do nonchalant well. She was much more of a chalant.

-"And cowboys and vampires and there's this one series about a female grim reaper who's in love with the son of--"

-As the three of them sat eating her mother's famous lasagna, also known as Stouffer's,

A Hard Day for a Hangover is another book of exactly what Darynda Jones does best. I love the character building she does while solving multiple mysteries. All of the pieces of all the puzzles are moving forward at just the right pace. Sunshine and Levi were my favorite part of A Hard Day for a Hangover, but Auri really had a huge role in this book and overall story. There aren't many authors that end every book with me wanting more. I'm always dying to get my hands on the next book by Darynda Jones. A Hard Day for a Hangover gets 4.5 Stars. Have you read A Hard Day for a Hangover? What did you think? Let me know!

Can't Wait for A Hard Day for a Hangover

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. Find out more here.

A Hard Day for a Hangover (Sunshine Vicram, # 3)

By: Darynda Jones

Expected Publication: December 6, 2022

352 pages

Genre: Adult, Mystery, Humor

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Some people greet the day with open arms. Sheriff Sunshine Vicram would rather give it a hearty shove and get back into bed, because there’s just too much going on right now. There’s a series of women going missing, and Sunny feels powerless to stop it. There’s her persistent and awesomely-rebellious daughter Auri, who’s out to singlehandedly become Del Sol’s youngest and fiercest investigator. And then there’s drama with Levi Ravinder—the guy she’s loved and lusted after for years. The guy who might just be her one and only. The guy who comes from a family of disingenuous vipers looking to oust him—and Sunshine—for good.

Like we said, the new day can take a hike.

What are you guys waiting on this week? Let me know!

A Good Day for Chardonnay - Review

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

By: Darynda Jones

Expected Publication: July 27th 2021 by St. Martin's Press

400 pages

Genre: Adult, Mystery, Fantasy, Humor

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--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 was one of my most anticipated reads for 2021. Darynda Jones does a great job writing quirky female leads. I can't lie. Sunshine and Levi are the reason I was anticipating this book so much. Would they be able to work through some of their history and tension to make progress or move forward? I needed to know. I also had several theories concerning Sunshine's abduction, rescue, and Auri's parentage that I wanted to see if I was right about. (Spoiler alert: I was.)

As usual there are multiple mysteries going on within one book. There's the main mystery, Keith Seabright getting stabbed. Who did it? And how does it relate to Sunshine's first unsolved case of her detective career. There's also the ongoing search for the Dangerous Daughters rumored to run the town. Sunshine still doesn't know the details of her abduction and rescue due to retrograde amnesia. And then also Auri begins researching a series of missing persons cases that she believes points straight to Mrs. Fairborn. Darynda Jones wraps all of these mysteries together in just the right way.

One of this author's talents is bringing her characters to life. Every single character comes off the page no matter how little of a part they have in the story. Sunshine, Levi, Quincy, Auri, Cruz, Sybil, Poetry, Zee, Mrs. Fairborn, Sunshine's parents, Wynn, Jimmy, even Keith Seabright who technically never even had a scene but was only mentioned feels like a complete character.

I really feel like I should have much more to say about A Good Day for Chardonnay, but I don't want to spoil anything. I've had little time to read since Baby Boy was born in January, and I devoured this book. I even sacrificed sleep (okay okay just a potential nap) in order to finish. The next book will also be on my most anticipated list for next year. A Good Day for Chardonnay gets 4.5 Stars. I can't wait for more. Have you read A Good Day for Chardonnay? What did you think? Let me know!

Top Ten Most Anticipated Books of Q1/Q2 2021

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week's topic is Top Ten Most Anticipated Books of Q1/Q2 2021.

1. A Court of Silve Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, # 4) by Sarah J Maas
2. A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram, # 2) by Darynda Jones
3. Beguiled (Betwixt & Between, # 3) by Darynda Jones
4. The Dating Plan by Sara Desai
5. Sword of Rage (Reigning Kingdoms, # 1) by Jennifer Anne Davis
6. Winning the Gentleman (Hearts of the Heath, # 2) by Kristi Ann Hunter
7. Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle
8. Sunkissed by Kasie West
9. A Proper Scoundrel by Esther Hatch
10. The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and Ash, # 3) by Jennifer L Armentrout

Which books are you most looking forward to in the first half of 2021? Let me know!

Top Ten Books I Read in 2020

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week's topic is Top Ten Books I Read in 2020.

1. Midnight Sun (Twilight, # 5) by Stephenie Meyer
2. A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram, # 1) by Darynda Jones
3. The Marriage Game by Sara Desai
4. You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
5. The Trouble With Hating You by Sajni Patel
6. Lakeshire Park by Megan Walker
7. A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, # 2) by Sarah J Maas (re-read)
8. A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses, # 3) by Sarah J Maas (re-read)
9. A Portrait of Loyalty (The Codebreakers, # 3) by Roseanna M White
10. From Blood and Ash (Blood and Ash, # 1) by Jennifer L Armentrout

Which books are your favroites reads from 2020? Let me know!

Can't Wait for A Good Day for Chardonnay

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. Find out more here.

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

By: Darynda Jones

Expected Publication: July 27th 2021 by St. Martin's Press

400 pages

Genre: Adult, Mystery, Fantasy, Humor

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--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.

What are you guys waiting on this week? Let me know!

A Bad Day for Sunshine - Review & Giveaway

A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram, # 1)

By: Darynda Jones

Expected Publication: April 7th 2020 by St. Martin's Press

400 pages

Genre: Adult, Mystery

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--New York Times bestselling author Darynda Jones is back with the brand-new snarky, sassy, wickedly fun Sunshine Vicram series!

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.

I was worried how much I would enjoy the Sunshine Vicram series because chances were slim that it could live up to how much I enjoyed the Charley Davidson series. But you guys, Darynda Jones started the Sunshine Vicram series off with a bang. Darynda Jones has written these characters and this story in a similar enough way to the Charley Davidson series to follow it's success yet distinct enough to be able to stand on its own.

I need to spend a little time breaking down the similarities and differences between these two series so far and then I'll circle back to some general thoughts about this book alone.

Sunshine has snark and wit but in a different way than Charley. She's a sheriff, so she's in law enforcement and solves crimes, which is similar to Charley. But Charley wasn't limited to the red tape as a PI. And she also had that advantage of being able to see and talk to the dead to help her. Sunshine simply has to follow the evidence.

Auri is similar to Amber. She's a little older. And she's more involved. She's a problem solver and almost seems like she can't help discovering secrets and putting pieces together that others would keep from her. At times, I liked Auri's story and pieces better than Sunshine's. (But not always.) And unlike Amber, Auri is also a narrator whereas we only had Charley's POV in the other series.

Quincy would be Sunshine's Cookie. Best friend extraordinaire. Partner in crime-solving. Unlike Cookie and Charley, Sunshine and Quincy go back to elementary school. Quincy also envelopes some Garrett-like qualities. I pretty much loved everything about him.

Levi would be the equivalent of Reyes in this story. Reyes started out not only in prison but also in a coma. Levi is very much awake, moving around, and involved in this installment, but the reader isn't supposed to feel 100% sure where he stands. Is he good or bad? Savior or attacker? Very similar to the Reyes set up, but his character is still different even if there are many similarities.

And again, similar to the Charley Davidson series Sunshine has multiple mysteries to solve within one book. Some take a bigger role than others. Some are only hinted at in an attempt to set up for the future of the series. And her multitasking was on point with Charley's.

And now that I've utterly compared the two series, I have to say that my desire for a Beep spin-off is so strong that I was trying my hardest to twist this series into that. I was searching each clue, in the beginning, to find out if this would end up being just that or if the two series would cross at any point. And I'm happy to report that there was definitely a nod to Charley at one point which means that the two series potentially exist within the same world. And if this is true, then I NEED Charley to make a cameo at some point within the future books of this series.

Now other bits...

Sunshine has an intense history and I feel like we were exposed to a good portion of it within this first book. I feel like I know her quite well already which says a lot about Darynda Jones' writing skills. Past, present, and future potential were all addressed. I'm so excited about the potential of the books in this series. (Does anyone know how many there will be?)

Auri and Cruz filled the biggest romantic relationship of this book even though there's both history and future potential with Sunshine and Levi. I just love Cruz (maybe more than sweet Quinton of Charley Davidson). He can handle himself. He doesn't scare easily or flinch at the things going on in Auri's life. At times, Auri was a bit much for me both in her emotions and in her involvement in the actual case that Sunshine was working. However, I'm stretching to complain about this.

My one legit complaint is that at times the information was coming at me too quickly that I felt like information was missing or not spelled out enough. I had moments (multiple but each quickly resolved) where I thought "wait, what just happened?" Or "did I skip a page?" Maybe I was so caught up in what was happening that I misread but when I re-read each time I didn't miss anything, I just had to keep reading and put the context clues together. The narration switch was also something that I kept having to back up and figure out if we'd swapped narrators because the switch wasn't always obvious. Granted, maybe this is on purpose since the narration does merge in one small part.

Ultimately, I absolutely loved the first installment of the Sunshine Vicram series. Because of my history reading Darynda Jones'other work, I feel confident in the excitement for the upcoming books, whereas someone who might be new to Darynda Jones might need more (future books in the series) to be able to feel the same level of excitement. Either way, I'm dying for the next book, and I am so thankful that I was able to binge the Charley Davidson series. I hope this series will be longer than 3 books but not quite 13 books long. Darynda Jones took all of the successful parts of the Charley Davidson series and used them in a similar but different enough way to feel like a unique entity as it should. A Bad Day for Sunshine gets 4.5 Stars. Have you read A Bad Day for Sunshine? What did you think? Let me know!

I actually won a copy of A Bad Day for Sunshine from Goodreads at the same time I received my approval for my review request. I will be giving away the paperback copy that Goodreads sent me. Just enter the giveaway form below to participate.

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