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My Review:Title: A Good Day for Chardonnay
Author: Darynda Jones
Series: Sunshine Vicram #2
Published by: Macmillan Audio
Release Date: July 27, 2021
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Lorelei King
Length: 12 hours and 8 minutes
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery, Detective
Source: Libby
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2023 Audiobook Challenge, Lenoreo's 2023 COYER Chapter 1
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My rating:
Blurb: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.
4.5 stars — These books just know how to hook me and keep me both laughing and crying…a surprising amount of crying in this one…at least for me.
Honestly, the only thing keeping me from rounding up is my frustration with Sunshine. As with another series I’ve read by this author, she likes to make stubborn oblivious heroines. Only in certain respects, but I honestly have a hard time understanding why a) Sunshine didn’t make the connection long ago (was her brain protecting her? why?) and b) why she continued to be suspicious of someone that honestly doesn’t make sense to me. Was it her trauma just holding on to things she believed? I wish it was explored more, because otherwise it’s just annoying…especially when I figured a certain aspect out a LONG time ago. Basically, the motives are not always clearly defined.
The characters are still fabulous and wacky and interesting. Sunshine and Auri are definitely both flawed, but have big hearts. They’re unbelievably smart in some respects, and make ridiculously stupid mistakes in others. At least it gives Auri a hint of teenager believability.
I’m loving all the wide and varying mysteries as well. There’s the series mystery (Sunshine’s abduction when she was 17), the episode mystery (the stabbing), and then a bunch of little mysteries thrown in here and there. They’re fun and intriguing and sometimes edge of your seat and sometimes silly. I was so pleased that we got some movement on some of the overarching mysteries, even some I wasn’t expecting.
Obviously I definitely felt a lot for our characters in this one. A lot.
The humour is still just perfect for me, even if it’s a little over the top at times. I love the little family she’s making at her sheriff’s office, that’s a fun addition.
There were definitely elements that I’m not as excited about, but that’s just a personal preference. Strangely enough the romance isn’t completely my bag, but there’s enough else that I’m still in love and chomping at the bit for the next one.
Yep. I need to read this series.