A Hard Day for a Hangover (Sunshine Vicram 3) by Darynda Jones-dual review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 6, 2022

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.

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Sandy’s Review:

A HARD DAY FOR A HANGOVER is the third and final instalment in Darynda Jones’ contemporary, adult SUNSHINE VICRAM romantic suspense series focusing on small town Sheriff Sunshine Vicram, her daughter Auri aka Aurora, and Del Sol’s eclectic group of mad men, thieves, murderers, mean girls and amateur investigators. A HARD DAY FOR A HANGOVER should not be read as a stand alone as there is an ongoing theme and premise throughout, and picks up immediately after the events of book two A GOOD DAY FOR CHARDONNAY.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Sunshine and Auri) following several intersecting pathways, A HARD DAY FOR A HANGOVER follows the investigation into the discovery of a badly injured young woman who may or may not be a victim of a serial abuser. Sunshine and her team are called to the cliffs outside of Del Sol where a barely recognizable Jane Doe is struggling to survive. With her daughter Auri on the hunt for clues, Sunshine finds herself investigating the possibility of one of their own targeting innocent young woman. Meanwhile, the love of Sunshine’s life, distillery owner Levi Ravinder must contend with his dysfunctional family, a war ‘brewing’ for ownership of the business, and a secret that is about to change the direction of this life. From the town’s ‘tiny boy band’ breaking into local homes, to another orphan discovering his is no longer alone, Del Sol is the proverbial small town ‘Peyton Place’ and ‘Knot’s Landing’ where secrets reveal decades of lies, buried sins, and years of abnormal social behavior culminating in vengeance and obsession.

A HARD DAY FOR A HANGOVER is a story of family, relationships, friendships, and love with a little bit of Darynda Jones’ requisite humor thrown in for release; jealousy and greed, betrayal, vengeance, and murder. The premise is intriguing, captivating and thrilling but the ‘guilty party’ is too easily deduced; the romance between Sunshine and Levi is heartwarming and emotional; the characters are numerous, energetic and dynamic.

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Barb’s Review:
A Hard Day for a Hangover by Darynda Jones is the 3^rd book in her Sunshine Vicram series. Refresher: Sunshine (Sunny) Vicram, our heroine, is the newly elected sheriff in her home town of Del Sol, New Mexico.  Sunny recently returned home, having left town years before, at the age of 17; after she suffered a trauma, having been kidnapped and then pregnant. Sunny is a tough, independent, smart, funny heroine, which you couldn’t help but love.  Her relationship with her now 15 year old daughter, Auri was wonderful, as I loved how close they were; while Auri was slowly learning to be like her mother in helping solve crimes. 

Sunny has built her own team, as sheriff, with Deputy Quincy her right hand, not to mention best friend.  Seems things never slow down in Del Sol, and Sunny is called to the scene of a young girl found over the edge of the cliff, brutally beaten, but still alive and unconscious.   Sunny begins to suspect that this is another case of women being missing. Is this the work of a serial killer?

Auri, who likes to do sleuthing on her own, questioning others at school, much to the dismay of her mom. Despite the danger, Auri is too headstrong to listen, but she is very good in technical things, as well as finding some clues. 

Levi Ravinder, the man Sunny has always loved, has his own problems, with his ruthless members of his family.  Levi, who also cares about Sunny, will learn some secrets that will escalate their relationship.  Levi runs the family distillery, and is determined to make it successful; but he knows other evil members of this family are threatening his life, as well as others. 

The first half of the book was hilarious, funny, snarky that made us laugh often, especially with Quincy and her team; but the investigation still stood in front.  I loved how Levi and Sunny came together, and the love Auri had for both of them. The second half of the book was so exciting, filled with non-stop action, danger, murder and violence.  The suspense was so great, I could not put the book down, and the wild frantic ending had me on the edge of my seat throughout. 

A Hard Day for a Hangover was not only an intense, exciting, but with lots of heartwarming humor that was a lot of fun. Darynda Jones does an excellent job of giving us light-hearted humor, as well as an intense suspenseful page turner. Jones also gives us great characters, such as Sunny, Levi, Auri, Quincy, Cruz, just to name a few. If you have not read the first two books, I suggest you start with A Bad Day for Sunshine, then A Good Day for Chardonnay, and now A Hard Day for a Hangover.  I had heard this could be the finale of this series, but I would love to read more stories with Sheriff Sunshine Vicram.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
A Bad Day for Sunshine
A Good Day for Chardonnay

Copies supplied for review