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A Hard Day for a Hangover by Darynda Jones-dual review

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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.

••••

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 3rd 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

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A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones-Dual Review

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A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram 2) by Darynda Jones-Dual Review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 27, 2021

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.

••••••••

SANDY’S REVIEW:

A GOOD DAY FOR CHARDONNAY is the second instalment in Darynda Jones’ contemporary, adult SUNSHINE VICRAM mystery, suspense, and of-times humorous series focusing on thirty-three year old, Sheriff Sunshine Blaze Vicram and her fifteen year old daughter Aurora ‘Auri’. A GOOD DAY FOR CHARDONNAY can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order for backstory and cohesion as there is an ongoing premise throughout.

Told from dual third person perspective (Sunshine and Auri) A GOOD DAY FOR CHARDONNAY follows several paths including Del Sol, New Mexico sheriff Sunshine Vicram in the wake of a vicious stabbing, and hit and run at a local bar that left too many questions for our story line heroine. With the stabbing victim in the hospital, and his injured friend and Sunshine’s love interest Levi Ravinder on the hunt for the people responsible, Sunshine and her team of police investigators begin a search for the truth.

Meanwhile, believing her eighty year old neighbor Mrs. Fairborn is a serial killer, Sunshine’s daughter Auri, along with her friends Cruz and Sybil, begin an investigation of their own, only to place themselves in the direct line of fire. As Sunshine continues to search for Levi Ravinder, and the truth about what happened and why, secrets and lies are revealed pulling Sunshine into the past when her life spiralled out of control. A prisoner serving a life sentence for murder wants to come home but his story begins to contradict everything Sunshine thought to be true.

The world building continues to focus on the abduction, fifteen years earlier, of our story line heroine Sunshine Vicram, and the aftermath that would change her life forever. Without any solid evidence as to the who, how and why, Sunshine’s memories of that fateful time slowly begin to reveal a heart breaking connection, and the possibility that what she believes isn’t even close to the truth.

The colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters include Levi Ravinder, his sister Hailey, and their uncle Wynn; Sunshine’s parents Cyrus and Elaine Freyr: Sunshine’s best friend and fellow law enforcement officer Chief Deputy Quincy Cooper; fellow law enforcement Poetry Rojas, Deputies Zee and Salazar; Auri’s besties Cruz De los Santos, and Sybil St. Aubin; as well as Keith Seabright, a mercenary for hire. The requisite evil has many faces.

A GOOD DAY FOR CHARDONNAY and the SUNSHINE VICRAM series reads similarly to the author’s Charley Davidson series- a best friend, a love interest who remains secretive and aloof, a great team of supporting friends and characters, a couple of teens who begin a series of investigations, and the snark, sarcasm, humor, giggles and laughs that add a little bit of ‘Sunshine’ into your life 😉

A GOOD FOR CHARDONNAY is a detailed and complex story of family, betrayal, secrets, greed, murder and love with spirited characters, a tragic back story, and a heart warming and twisted love affair that has been buried by secrets and lies.

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BARB’S REVIEW:
A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones is the 2nd book in her fun Sunshine Vicram series. I loved the first book in this series, and I loved this one even more. Refresher: Sunshine (Sunny) Vicram, our heroine, returned to her home town of Del Sol, New Mexico, as the newly elected sheriff, which she suspects her parents meddled into getting her elected.  Sunny left town years before, at the age of 17; after she suffered a trauma, having been kidnapped and then pregnant, and now comes home having had a seasoned and successful career as a detective, with her 14-year-old daughter, Auri.

Sunny, who seems to never have a day off, as her police team continually calls her for anything, even trying to catch a racoon, and all she wants is to relax with a glass of chardonnay.  Sunny is a tough, independent, smart, funny heroine, which you couldn’t help but love.  The relationship between Sunshine and Auri was wonderful, and I loved how close they were and their cute bantering back and forth throughout the book with each other.

Her best friend, Quincy (chief deputy), is crazy obsessed with this racoon, and calls her to his place, with the rest of the team.  They are a crazy, close and very good team, which gives us plenty of laughs.  While out, the team is called to a bar, as a fight broke out with people getting hurt.  One being Levi Ravinder (Sunny’s secret obsession), and his friend, who has been seriously injured.   The attackers have escaped, and Levi, despite his injuries is determined to find them.  At this point, the storyline splits between the attack at the bar, and discovering clues to an old case of Sunny’s when she was a detective; as well truths are revealed regarding her kidnapping years before.  This becomes an exciting, suspenseful, action filled, edge of your seat adventure, which kept me glued to my seat throughout. What makes this even better is the craziness and fun banter between Sunny, Quincy, Auri, the grandparents, and even Levi; so much fun, releasing the tension.

Auri, who I loved, decides she wants to be like her mom, and gets her boyfriend, Cruz and friend Sybil to help prove that a local 80-year-old lady is a serial killer.  Of course, they constantly get into trouble, but I loved Cruz, who gave me the feel of a young Levi. 

I absolutely loved Levi (he comes from a dangerous family, with one having been the one who kidnapped Sunny all those years ago); they both had feelings for each other; and as we edged slowly toward the end, both will act on their feelings. Levi was so great with Auri, acting almost like a father.  I liked Hailey, another member of the Ravinders, as she and Sunny became secret friends. 

A Good Day for Chardonnay was not only an intense exciting mystery, with lots of heartwarming humor that was a lot of fun, as Sunny, Levi, Auri, Quincy, Zee, Cruz, and others were so great together, making us laugh quite a bit.    I look forward to the next book in this series, as spending more time with Sheriff Sunshine Vicram is a must for me.  I suggest you jump on the bandwagon now, and start with A Bad Day for Sunshine, then A Good Day for Chardonnay, so very well written by a fantastic author, Darynda Jones.

 

Click HERE for review of book one A BAD DAY FOR SUNSHINE

Copy supplied by Netgalley

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A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones-dual review

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A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) by Darynda Jones-dual review

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ABOUT THE BOOK:Release Date April 7, 2020

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.

•••••••

Sandy’s Review

A BAD DAY FOR SUNSHINE is the first instalment in Darynda Jones contemporary, adult SUNSHINE VICRAM mystery, suspense, somewhat humorous series focusing on Sheriff Sunshine Blaze Vicram and her daughter Aurora ‘Auri’.

Told from dual third person perspectives ( Sunshine and Auri) A BAD DAY FOR SUNSHINE follows Sunshine Blaze Vicram Freyr on her return to her home town of Del Sol, New Mexico following her questionable election win as the new sheriff. With her fourteen year old daughter Auri in tow, Sunshine’s return to Del Sol is met with derision, especially for Auri as she enters high school for the first time. A kidnapped teenager, a missing lieutenant, a decomposed body, an escaped fugitive, a flasher, a rooster named Puff Daddy, and demons from the past find Sunshine struggling within hours on her first day of the job, a job that will bring her up close and personal with Del Sol’s meanest, strangest and bad.

Sunshine Vicram has suffered like no one else, and with her return come the memories that are slowly revealing a forgotten connection to the town that almost destroyed her life. Our heroine, a passionate mother and daughter, finds herself facing down her demons when her daughter reveals a secret Sunshine had long thought buried.

A BAD DAY FOR SUNSHINE is reminiscent of Darynda Jones’ CHARLEY DAVIDSON series including an Easter egg or two referencing the aforementioned series. The premise is complex, detailed, gritty and real; the numerous characters are colorful, nosy, quirky and bad- the mean girls and bullies at the local high school are heart breaking and sad. We are introduced to Sunshine’s parents Cyrus and Elaine Freyr, her best friend and fellow law enforcement officer Chief Deputy Quincy Cooper; students Cruz De los Santos and his father Chris, Sybil St. Aubin and her parents Mari and Forest; the local ‘book babes’ who get together for drinking and gossip but every once in awhile, a basket of muffins foretells of darker things to come. The in-depth world building is full of possibilities. There is the hint of a romance for our leading heroine but life and past history may get in the way.

As per Darynda Jones’ style of writing, the humor is spot on. The back and forth between Sunshine and Auri is priceless, sassy and fun. Each chapter begins with a humorous window sign found at the local restaurants and shops. A BAD DAY FOR SUNSHINE is the perfect vehicle to add a little ‘sunshine’ and humor into your life.

 

Barb’s Review:
A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones is the 1st book in her new Sunshine Vicram series.  I was excited to see what Darynda had in store for us in this new series, and I am happy to say I loved A Bad Day for Sunshine.

Sunshine (Sunny) Vicram, our heroine, returns to her home town of Del Sol, New Mexico, as the newly elected sheriff, which she suspects her parents meddled into getting her elected.  Sunny left town years before, at the age of 17; after she suffered a trauma, having been kidnapped and then pregnant, and now comes home as a seasoned successful career as a detective, with her 14 year old daughter, Auri.  Sunny is a tough, independent, smart, funny heroine, which you couldn’t help but love.  The relationship between Sunshine and Auri was wonderful, and I loved how close they were and their cute bantering back and forth throughout the book with each other, as we got to see the POV’s between them both.  

The story begins with Sunshine’s first day on the job as Sheriff, with her expecting the basic misdemeanors of a small town; but immediately there is a kidnapping case of a 14 year old schoolgirl, who had also befriended her daughter.  Sunny’s best friend, Deputy Quincy Cooper, is thrilled to have his friend back, and together they work with Zee, another new member (sniper) of the police team to find the missing girl.  They made a great team, and I enjoyed their camaraderie.  I must say, I absolutely loved Levi, whom Sunny always had a crush on, but he comes from a violent dangerous family, that does include Hailey (who have become secret friends, but must keep their friendship private). Levi was not only a hunk, but he was also a great tracker, and ends up helping Sunny and her team.  You can tell he cares about her, as well as Auri, but tries to be distant, in order for them to be safe. 

Auri also wants to help her mom find Sybil (the missing girl) and uses the internet, as well as school papers to find information; she shows her smarts, as she is her mother’s daughter as a budding detective.  School at first is difficult, with some mean girls at school treating her badly, especially since her mom is the sheriff.   Auri finds help and friendship from a boy, Cruz, who is considered the most popular boy in school, and their friendship helps her handle the brutal treatment from the girls.   

What follows is an exciting adventure to find the missing girl, which will bring in some surprises along the way.  There is also a mystery about Sunny’s kidnapping, as she remembers very little of what happened, and is still determined to find out who the culprit was. I also loved how Levi was like a father figure Auri, having helped her when she was a child. 

A Bad Day for Sunshine was not only an intense mystery, but was a lot of fun, as Sunny, Auri, Quincy, Zee, Cruz, and others were so great together, making us laugh quite a bit.   Darynda Jones once again gives us another fantastic heroine, with a wonderful daughter and great secondary characters.  I expect in future books we will see more romance, hopefully between Sunny and Levi.  I look forward to the next book in this series, as spending more time with Sheriff Sunshine Vicram is a must for me.  I suggest you jump on the bandwagon now, and start with A Bad Day for Sunshine by a fantastic author, Darynda Jones.

 Copies supplied by Netgalley

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