This is another one of those reviews that I have to preface with: this is a fangirl-y, over the top mess of a review. This was actually my first Darynda Jones book! (This has been remedied over the past month) As soon as I read the blurb for A Bad Day for Sunshine though, I knew I had to read it.

Jones’ trademark humor and wit blend beautifully with the mysteries and hijinks around the funny little community of Del Sol. Readers are even treated to a teasing hint of paranormal, this is Darynda after all. As this is the start of a series, there is quite a bit of foundation work that has to be done but I didn’t feel like the pace suffered. Sunshine’s past, the lovable quirky residents of Del Sol, the strange basket of foreboding muffins, and of course the snappy dialogue all kept me seriously engrossed in this story.

Sunshine Vicram and her daughter Auri are everything I could have wanted and more. Much like Lorelai and Rory from The Gilmore Girls, their relationship is warm and loving with the typical stresses that come from parenting a teen. Saddled with this new responsibility as sheriff, Sunshine has to juggle the Puff Daddy feud, find a missing teen, and it is rainin’ hot men. I am all about Levi by the way. Auri, amateur PI extraordinaire, decides she wants to help by investigating at her new high school nevermind that bit of bullying.

The Mayor that kinda seems like a Disney Villain (it works though) and I’m interested to see how that story arc plays out in the future. Jones has truly done a fantastic job crafting vibrant secondary characters that I can’t get enough of.

I don’t think I can overstate how much I loved this book! As soon as I finished the last page I had to fight the urge to start it over again. I’ve put the audiobook on hold through my library and I am going to purchase a hard copy for my library as well. Also, I have successfully badgered Mr. B into reading it in the near future. Beware of muffins of doom but DO go out and read this book and then come back and fangirl with me.

**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
**Retail reviews posted to Amazon, B&N, and Kobo

There's a new Sheriff in Del Sol, New Mexico, and she didn't even run for office. Sunshine ran away from the small town after a life altering incident but she back with her 14-year old daughter, Auri and seems like everything is going wrong on her first day. A girl is missing, she can't find one of her deputies, she ate jinxed muffins, there's an escaped prisoner, and the rooster is causing problems. Can Sunshine put together pieces of the present, the past and maybe get her attraction to Levi Ravinder under control.

This story was a witty, thrilling, mysterious ride that I couldn't put down. I absolutely loved the multiple POV between Auri and Sunshine. Auri is bringing out all the Veroinica Mars feels. I was super interested in not only the present mystery, but as well as what happened 15 years ago. I cannot wait to pry open Levi and all his secrets. The second book cannot come out fast enough! I was already a fan of @daryndajonesofficial Charley Davidson series and I most definitely recommend this one!

I had a hard time getting into this one. I felt like the whole time I was just keeping up with a multitude of characters and their interactions, but I didn't feel immersed in a story. I liked Sun's relationship with her daughter, but I didn't otherwise know where to focus my attention.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this book. It was just a fun, quirky read. It was just what I needed right now. I was drawn to Sunshine and her little town. I can't wait for the next one!

What a great start to the Sunshine Vicram series with a great cast of characters and a story that captivated me immediately, kept me glued to the book and I didn't want it to end - just wasn't ready to say goodbye to Sun and the residents of Del Sol, New Mexico. I felt an instant connection to Sunshine who comes home to serve as sheriff and loved her dynamic with the other characters especially her daughter Auri, her best friend Chief Deputy Quincy Cooper and hottie Levi Ravinder who has been her crush forever. Ms. Jones blew me away with this witty, heartwarming and sometime heart rending novel and I look forward to see what happens next in Del Sol. I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Sunshine Vicram wins an election in her home town to be the new sheriff even though she wasn't in the running. She brings back her daughter and some questions about her pass. I loved the character of Sunshine and the relationship she had with her daughter, Auri, and her parents. The town was a quirky little place and on her first day on the job she is faced with finding a missing girl. Mostly in mysteries I like to see clues to what might be going on but in this story things were dropped which just lead to more questions and I felt distracted from what the real mystery was. This is the first in what I hope will be a series. I liked all the characters and hope to read more about Sunshine, Auri, Levi and Cruz.

HOLY COW!!! Unlike so many of my book friends, this was my first book by the talented Darynda Jones. Let me just say, it will definitely not be my last!!

A Bad Day for Sunshine was such a fun and unique read for me. I can't really put my finger on exactly what about it made me love it so very much....but I did! I'm a huge fan and cannot wait for the next one in this continuing series. Let me put your mind somewhat at ease....one mystery will be wrapped up at the end but there is a continuing storyline here that will keep drawing you back...trust me, you will want to return to Del Sol, New Mexico catch up with the people there and their ongoing "stories". They are all pretty special! I highly recommend this little gem and am so glad I had the chance to read it!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What a delightful read! I enjoyed the sarcasm, humor, and suspense and can’t wait for the next one in the series.

OMG...WOW...this book is just wow. It's a complex small-town mystery read, there's kidnapping, murder, theft, flasher and all happen in the first day job of our Sheriff Sunshine and she almost got hit by a car and there's mystery in her past that she needs to solve and then there's her daughter's first day at high school that full of drama. This book keeps hitting me with mystery and shocking revelation in every page, a twist and more secret in every chapter, that keeps me turning page after page and then there's mother-daughter banter that just so adorable and the friendship too, oh so many thing that warms my heart in this book.

It brings all the feelings, it has a great story, and I think it has more good things coming. Definitely a MUST-READ for a mystery read lovers.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review*

A Bad Day for Sunshine is a new series by the ever popular Darynda Jones. This is the first book that I have read by her and I have to say that I really enjoyed the book. The main characters are well written and the storyline is a plot line that is filled with a mystery and a realistic plot involving events that are reported in the news everyday. I will be reading the next book in this series as I cannot wait to see what happens.

Sunshine Vicram has come back to Del Sol, New Mexico to take her place as sheriff, a job that her parents made sure she got whether she wanted it or not. She agreed to take the job because the crime rate is low and not to much happens in Del Sol. When a young girl is kidnapped and unwanted attention is brought to the town Sunny begins to wonder if returning was such a great idea. Things aren't going well at her daughter's new school which is making life even harder. She thinks life couldn't get worse until not one but two extremely handsome men enter her life, one is an old flame and the other is a US Marshal, both there it seems to make her life more interesting. How is she suppose to find a kidnapper, deal with a couple of handsome men, and all the other issues that seem to be popping up not only in her job but in her personal life too. Follow along as Sunny weaves her way through her new job, two men, and a crime that was unexpected but one that needs to be solved immediately. Will she be able to work through everything or will the job and the guys be to much for her in the end. A great read, I was excited for something new from this author because I've so enjoyed her previous work.

Sunshine Vicram is back in Del Sol, NM as the new sheriff. She is smart and a dedicated law enforcement officer. She is a single mother and relies on her parents to help with her daughter, Aurora. The very first day on the job and all hell breaks loose. You have a chicken/rooster on the run, a missing girl report, and an escape convict. What else could possibly go wrong. Then you have the Ravinder family. Levi is in charge of selling moonshine legally but his uncles want back in the Dixie Mafia. What could go wrong with that. On top of all that, Pandora's Box is being cracked open a little at a time. What will Sunny find when her memory comes back. A good start to the series!

The truth is, this is not a perfect book. A Bad Day for Sunshine borrowed a lot of ideas from First Grave on the Right. The similarities were there, and they were obvious.

Also, the small subplot in A Bad Day for Sunshine was decent. I wasn’t blown away by the cleverness of it, but I felt interest. The series plot I see coming from a mile away. But, in spite of my little voice telling me reasons why I shouldn’t like this book, in the end it didn’t matter. I was addicted.

I guess there’s just something about Darynda Jones’s writing style, her go to playbook, that seems to really sink its hooks into me. So, clearly I like the Damaged Dark Soul anti-hero hero and the the smart mouthed heroine. Frankly, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them. They’re going to be explosive!

Plus, as much as I liked Sun and Levi, I almost enjoyed reading about Sun’s daughter Auri more.

So yeah, I liked it. I’m a sucker sucker for Darynda Jones.

I loved the Charlie Davidson series by this author, at least the first half of the series. So I was excited to read this one. For me it was only okay. I’m all about suspension of disbelief, but this book took it too far with things like the election and the behavior of law enforcement. And there was a lot (too much) going on. Finally the big reveal at the end was so heavily foreshadowed that you could see it a mile away. Will I read the next book? Probably, but I hope it hooks me a little better than this one did.

I’ve never read this author but I know of her reputation. I received an early copy through Netgalley and I was thrilled to get started. This book had me dying from the sexy sarcasm, quick witted mother/daughter convos and hot LEOs parading through the office. There is a kidnapping, an escaped convict, a fifteen year old mystery and some lackeys raising hell in high school. There is absolutely everything wonderful in this book!

A Bad Day for Sunshine is a fabulous read. It hooked me from the get-go (which I expected after reading the Charlie Davidson books). Basically, this book is an all around great escape from reality, as reality is getting pretty old right now.

Sunshine is a funny and engaging character and I immediately identified her as a fellow smartass and lover of Lizbeth Salander (I swear, I've used WWLSD in conversation before myself).

Levi (who I'm assuming is her soulmate) is also an interesting and we ll written character. I think he will be a character who develops layer by layer in the upcoming books, which there better be more of soon.

I also really liked all of the secondary characters and think they will add a lot to the upcoming books. Even the town itself felt like it had many secrets and mysteries to solve that were touched on in this book, but not fully investigated or explained. I think this will be a very solid "universe" for the books to take place in.

The mystery itself was ok, and there was suspense in the book, but not the kind that exhausts me - thank goodness.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to forget about the craziness going on in the world and just enjoy a good book.

I received an ARC in exchange of my honest review.

Sunshine Dawn Vicram is conflicted. She has returned to Del Sol, New Mexico. The town she grew up in - the place where her daughter, Aurora, spends summer vacations with gramma and grampa. The weird, touristy little village Sun had left, almost fifteen years before, to shake the memories of her abduction, rape, and imprisonment. She had made a life for herself and Auri in Santa Fe, first as an SFPD patrol officer, and later as a detective. However, the fact that she was only thirty minutes away did not sit well with mom and dad, who had never left Del Sol. They wanted Sun and Auri back home. So they did a little politicking and entered her name in the election for Sheriff. To virtually no one's surprise, since the holder of that office, Baldwin Redding was a complete jerk, she won. Sunshine doesn't really want the job, but she does want to find her abductor and send him to prison. It will be a challenge, but Sun will stick around for a while.

"A Bad Day for Sunshine" is a story with many working parts. One theme is the weirdness, humor, and oddities that bring Janet Evanovich to mind. Then there is the tale of teenage angst and sweet young adult romance that Aurora provides. Certainly, Sunshine's very adult dreams and ongoing man distractions add spice. But, it is the disappearance of Sybil, a friend of Aurora's, that is the main event. Her premonitions of abduction and murder on her fifteenth birthday have haunted her and her family for years. With that day just around the corner can Sunshine wade through all the false leads in time to save Sybil’s life?

I recommend "A Bad Day for Sunshine" to all adults who crave something new and distracting.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to review an advance copy of "A Bad Day for Sunshine."

Another amazing book from Darynda Jones! I love the mother/daughter relationship of Sunshine and Aurora. It's Gilmore Girls meets Charley Davidson. She pulls you in from the start of the book. I like that the book isn't a cliffhanger. I can't wait for the next book!

★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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We meet Sunshine Vicram on the first day of her new job, Sheriff of Del Sol, New Mexico. It's truly remarkable that one of the state's most successful law enforcement officers won the office in the small town she grew up in, if for no other reason than she didn't run for office. Somehow, she handily defeated the incumbent and now finds herself living in a small apartment in her parent's backyard with her daughter, leading a small force with her childhood best friend as her Chief Deputy.

Her first day on the job is marred by an ominous basket of muffins (literally), a car crashing through the front of her headquarters, a threat from the mayor, a stolen (maybe?) chicken, escaped prisoners, and a runaway/kidnapped fourteen-year-old-girl. Not the most auspicious start, really.

The missing teenager is the Sun's biggest focus—Sybil's a quiet, socially awkward girl with no real friends. Sun's daughter, Auri, had spent some time getting to know her, and she's the closest thing she seemed to have had to a friend. It appears that she has been kidnapped (but Sun has to look into the alternative) and that the clock is ticking to find and rescue her.

Auri's first day at the public high school is possibly rougher than her mom's. Her mom has to deal with hardened criminals, but Auri has to deal with Mean Girls™ who seem to have taken a dislike to her before she even started school. Also, her one prospective friend seems to have gone missing. On the other hand, it's not all bad—there's a hot guy who might as well be named Byronic—brooding, poetic, soulful, with a penchant for physical violence. There's also the bubbliest, cheeriest character this side of Sumi (from McGuire's Wayward Children )—we didn't get nearly enough time for her, and I hope that book 2 uses her for more.

It turns out that at Auri's previous school, she basically was Veronica Mars—doing small investigations (which may or may not have used her mother's police resources without Sun's knowledge) for her classmates. She unleashes these tools in the hunt for Sybil and essentially has to fess up to her mother about what she's done before.

Speaking of Veronica Mars, from the get-go (I was at 4% when I made my first note along these lines), I was comparing the relationship between Sun and Auri as a mix of Lorelai-and-Rory and Keith-and-Veronica (and that was before we learn about Auri's extra-curricular activities). There's a fantastic banter, the two clearly love each other with the kind of love that's the dream of every parent, they both have intelligent and wicked senses of humor, and reading their interactions is probably the best thing in this really entertaining novel.* One of the first things that Sun tells Auri is a twisted first-day-of-school pep talk/warning about teen boys, that ends with a repeated call to ask herself WWLSD? What Would Lisbeth Salander Do? My daughter leaves for college in a few months, I plan on adapting this speech. That's probably also the moment I decided I read the sequel to this book.

* As a sentence, that's a mess, but I like it.

I wish I knew how to work in a mention of Sun and Quincy talking about why they couldn't be K-9 officers, but I can't blend it into one of these paragraphs. So I'll just leave it hanging here awkardly. But man, I loved that part.

There's actually a lot more going on in these pages—but I think there's enough to whet your appetite. There is a lot of serious, dark, material here—child abduction, murder. Something happened to Sun, too, while she was in high school and the hunt for Sybil digs up some traumatic memories (and evidence). Yet, without once minimizing any of the dangerous, solemn qualities of what Sun, Sybil, Sybil's parents, and others are going through—Jones makes this a delightful read.

Could I have lived without the three impossibly attractive men who are all into Sun (and vice versa, to varying degrees)? Yeah, it's a bit much (but Jones made it endearing, actually). I hope future installments dial back a bit on that kind of thing. I'm giving one of those men short shrift, mostly because of time, but I know that in the next book (or the rest of the series), I'll get plenty of opportunities to talk about him.

Similarly, Sun's Chief Deputy, Quincy, and some of the other deputies should probably get a paragraph or three, but you'll have to read for yourself. They're plenty of fun, and really help to round out the cast (along with the rest of Del Sol's residents). Jones' Del Sol, NM is closer to Stars Hollow, CT than Neptune, CA (but you can find traces of the latter in there)—full of larger-than-life characters that you just want to hang out with. Or sit and watch from across the room (or street).

This is as much fun as you can pack into a police procedural without making it a comedy, but still full of grim, grisly, depravity and darkness. It's a nice serving of literary comfort food. There's a freshness to this voice that made me a fan, but my appreciation for this book (and the series it launches) goes deeper. I want to find out more about what happened to the teen-aged Sun (although I have pretty strong theories), but more than that, I want to find out what happens to Sun and Auri—particularly Auri—after this.

I strongly recommend this, you'll have a blast.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley—thanks to both for this.

I like snark and sarcasm, I really do - or I thought I did until I had so much of it thrown at me that it started to get on my nerves. So, I suppose I should say that I appreciate some well-timed snark and sarcasm. What I found here is not that.
When I first started reading, I was struck by the similarities between Sun and Auri and another mother-daughter duo from a beloved early 2000s television series. The difference is Lorelai and Rory were actually witty. The outcome here is that all that snark just translated into a wordy story of about 400 pages where very little happens. People walk around and talk a lot, but if there was much in the way of actual investigation, I missed it. Of course, I'll admit that I started skimming around the halfway mark due to the lack of anything to keep me engaged, so I could've missed it. The biggest issue with so much sarcastic dialogue that's meant to be funny is that it makes it really hard to take anything seriously - like the fact that Sun is supposed to be working on a missing person case - a missing teenage girl no less, and there is certainly nothing funny about that.
A missing person, secrets in Sun's past, and even a kidnapped rooster should be plenty to propel a good story forward, but then we have the whole mess surrounding Sun's election to sheriff. I'm not sure why all that was necessary, but it's completely over the top and unnecessary. But then, that was just one more thing in a sea of things that rubbed me the wrong way.
From what I've been hearing about this book, I'm pretty sure that I'm in the minority here, but it is what it is. For me, the book was scattered, and the most interesting thing about it was the rooster. There are unanswered questions that I'm assuming will be built upon in future books since this is the start of a series, but I didn't find anything in this one to convince me to read further books in this series.