I've never read anything by Darynda Jones before so much of the backstory for this book I didn't know. But the author did a great job explaining everything that was necessary, so kudos for that.
Sunshine Vecram, sheriff, has multiple murders on her hands, a teenage daughter who thinks she's a detective, parents who want her to get married, so set her up with men Sunshine can't see herself with, a best friend who's a hunk, and guy she's been in love with since memory serves whom she calls the dark lord.
Add in a tiny town filled with quirky citizens, a missing boy case, and a local stabbing ant this book is so chock-filled with fun, humor, and emotion I'm glad I asked to review it.

The dialogue is witty and quick, the banter perfectly paced. The storylines ( there are several) converge nicely and most of them tie up well. The only drawback for me was the sudden ending. I needed more of a resolution, but that's on me and not the author.
I'm going to go back and now read the books that preceded this one so I get a better feel for what went on.
thanks, Netgally for a sneak peek.
4 stars.

Ms. Jones is back with our bigger-than-life heroine, Sunshine Vicram. In this second mystery, we see Sunshine is still running a small-town police force in New Mexico.

You would think that would be pretty cush, but for Sunshine, not so much. She hasn’t had a day off in forever and her diet of coffee, donuts, and wine aren’t cutting it. She needs a break.

Alas, that isn’t going to be happening any time soon. Called out for a bar fight that ends badly, Sunshine is face to face with the love of her life. Levi. Levi comes from trouble. But oh is he a looker. The boy your momma told you to stay away from. But when has Sunshine listened to anyone.

With her daughter, Aurora, getting together a teen detective service with her friends, Sunshine is about to have her hands full at home and at work. Also, throw in the mix her memories are beginning to return. Who was the man who rescued her?

This cast of characters is hilarious. Even her smart-mouthed daughter! “Snitches get stitches”. Not to mention all the horrible people in town. And there are some sketchy folks. All suspects.

There are more sub-plots as well, which I like. I laughed so hard with this one. Can’t wait for the next.

NetGalley/St. Martin’s Press July 27, 2021

I need book 3 immediately! This is such a fantastic book filled with all the laughs & heart you could hope for. Sunshine and her daughter are incredible too. My most fervent desire is to convince as many people as possible to read this series.

After reading and loving A Bad Day for Sunshine last year, I was SO excited to get an advance copy for the sequel. I couldn’t wait to find out what was in store for Sunshine, Auri, Levi, and the rest of Del Sol. First things first…. I absolutely LOVED this book! I think I liked it even more than the first book. While I was reading I never wanted to put it down. When I finished the book I could not stop thinking about it. I had such a book hangover! Everyday for a few weeks, all I could think about was this book and everything that happened. I couldn’t read anything else because I just wanted to read this one all over again. It had everything I have come to love and expect from a Darynda Jones novel. I laughed, a lot, I was angry, I even cried a couple of times. The growing tension between Sun and Levi… whoa… You could cut it with a knife. And my heart was completely crushed for Cruz. I couldn’t believe it *insert crying emoji here*. I loved seeing Sun and Auri’s unique mother-daughter relationship continue. If you’re a fan of the relationship between Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, then you will love them as much as I do. Clay, one of Levi’s uncles, made his appearance in this book as a convict in neighboring state Arizona. He summoned Sun to see him and oh man… the things he had to say were shocking.

As the story went on I was hoping like hell that we would get some answers about Sun’s abduction and Auri’s father. I had my own suspicions that I was hoping to confirm. Once the reveals started happening, damn! Without saying too much about it…. it was everything I wanted. I am very much hoping that there will be a 3rd book in the series because I have SO many things I still want to read about these characters and this town.

The second installment of the Sunshine Vicram series is just as enjoyable as the first! Some of the story lines can be a little too zany, but there is so much else going on that I don't mind. Looking forward to the next one in the series!

After the initial pages, I found myself not connecting with the story or characters, so I decided to pass on this book. Did not finish

Love the story.
Really like Sunshine and her daughter and the situations they get into.
Drama,mystery,suspense romance.
Like the characters that help make the story .Voluntarily reviewed.

Jones jumps us right into the story from page one. I couldn't put this book down until I finished it. Sunshine, the sheriff of a small town in New Mexico was hoping for an easy day. Before she could even start the day, she had to intervene at a bar fight, finds out her daughter is looking for evidence that the neighbor is a serial killer, plus trying to solve her own abduction when she was a teenager. Nothing like kickstarting a book and putting you through your paces as you read it. I can't wait for more in this series. .

great book, very well paced. in series like this I worry that the author will choose to drag out the overarching mysteries for books on end. i'm glad jones decided to conclude the mystery surrounding what happened fifteen years ago.

I loved this book and laughed all the way through it. A Good Day for Chardonnay is the second book in the Sunshine Vicram mystery series and I couldn't put it down once I started reading it. Sheriff Vicram has more than enough crime to deal with in her small town of Del Sol, New Mexico. Between trying to solve a murder, keeping her deputy out of trouble, raising her teenage daughter who is sometimes too smart for her own good, and trying to figure out the mystery in her past, Sunshine is overworked and probably underpaid. There's also Levi, her former love interest who is still on her radar despite his shady family. A must read treat.

I loved this book!! I have no idea how I am going to wait patiently for the next book in the series!
Why do I love this series so much? The characters, the setting, the humor, and the steamy romance.

The setting is a small town in Northern New Mexico with a ton of personality. The town of Del Sol gives me Milagro Beanfield War vibes and that is one of my favorite books! Del Sol is full of quirky characters that give this town a soul.

The main character is Sunshine Vicram, the funny and smart Sheriff of Del Sol, New Mexico. Although Sunshine is the main character, she is joined by a lot of quirky, lovable characters. Not the least of which is Quincy, her friend since childhood and undersheriff of Del Sol. Quincy is a big strong Captain America-type with real emotions and a healthy fear of racoons. (I wouldn’t mind Quincy getting his own book in this series.)

The angsty romance/mystery between Sunshine and her sexy almost-old-flame Levi Ravinder features prominently in this book. Levi isn’t the only guy in the picture, her parents are on a mission to set her up with as many men in town as possible. Speaking of romance, there is one open door romance scene that is nice and steamy!

Lastly, there are several interesting storylines that are begging to be told in future books in the series, and I cannot wait for it! I give this funny, steamy, mystery book 5 bright, shiny stars! This will be a top read of 2021 for me!

Loved this book. Great mystery and characterization. Excellent pacing, mystery elements, romance and humor to balance the edgy stories.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a good follow up to the first in the series!!! I knew there was going to be a larger tie to the community now that Sunshine is truly home and becoming part of the town again, but I didn’t expect so many different threads of investigation or that they would tie together so well. The Dangerous Daughters, the ages old serial killer, the assault at Levi’s bar, and Sun’s old kidnapping case from before she came home. That’s a lot to keep track of, but things dovetailed so sneakily and beautifully that even if you feel like you’re one of those people who can spot the plot and murderer by page 3, this still sneaks up on you in ways you weren’t expecting. If you were thinking of reading this and haven’t yet read the first, hurry up! But seriously, I really enjoyed the heck out of this, and now I’m only mad I have to wait longer for book 3.

Darynda Jones is crushing it!
While the characters are as funny as the ones in Charley Davidson, do not expect the steamy bits we got from that series.
It's entertaining and I'm totally on board with more Sunshine Vicram!
Much love to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for my DRC.

I enjoyed A Good Day for Chardonnay. It was funny, but...sometimes the funny became tiresome. I know,I am the one that did not give it the 5 stars. I just thought not everything had to be a joke. Took me away from the real story.

I very much enjoyed the first book and have been waiting for this one to get some answers and see more of Sunshine & Auri. I knew going in based on Darynda's other series, that this would probably be a longer running series and that I wouldn't get all my answers in the second book. I was definitely more satisfied with the second book's ending, but it still leaves me anxious to read book 3!

This book has a little bit of everything: romance, humor, detective work, suspense. Sunshine and Auri definitely don't have the typical mother/daughter relationship, but it makes the story all that more interesting. Between her daughter trying to solve local mysteries, Levi being so secretive and her team, Sunshine has a lot on her plate.

*I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Having devoured A Bad Day for Sunshine in 24 hours, I optimistically put in a request for A Bad Day for Chardonnay not knowing if I could make it to the release day of July 27, 2021.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for giving me the chance to read and review Darynda Jones’s latest work.

A Good Day for Chardonnay is the second book in the Sunshine Vicram series and was every bit as witty, romantic, jaw-dropping and suspenseful as the first. Sunshine and her spitfire daughter, Auri, both find themselves ensnared in two separate crimes with two loveable bad boys. Auri’s quest to be more like her mom has her hunting down a decades-old crime with evidence pieced together from her grandparent’s attic. Sunshine is working through her own cold case kidnapping while trying to keep the town of Del Sol, and her good name, safe.

What lengths will the Vicram girls go to to find out the truth? And will they be ready when they get there?

Find out in A Good Day for Chardonnay - out July 27, 2021.

I really liked this next installment to the Sunshine Vicram series! I also love how Sun's daughter is also getting involved. The last 25% kept me on the edge of my seat! With the cliffhanger like THAT, I will for sure be back for the next one!

I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I truly have mixed emotions about Darynda Jones’ second Sunshine Vicram offering A GOOD DAY
FOR CHARDONNAY. The plot was passable if not plausible, the humor more than amusing (I loved the “sign” quotes that kick off the beginning of each chapter) BUT seriously the men must all be gym rats- - - from Sunshine’s big and brawny co-worker to her strong, silent love Levi – a cut and chiseled hunk of burning flesh, to her 15 year old daughter’s boyfriend Cruz - - yet another hunk with “incredible pecs and a smile like a nuclear bomb”. As for Sheriff Sunshine’s sexual encounters- - - all I can say is I must be getting old since I find I can do without the graphic sex described in not only this narrative but in most current books. For this reader, it does nothing to advance the storyline. (Can you tell that 50 Shades of Gray was not among my favorites? Read like a high school girl’s fantasy diary!)

While I did not read the first book in this series, I was able to piece together “what came before” in Sunshine’s life and her relationship to the other characters in this tale, all of whom seem to have secrets.

It appears that if one were planning a trip to the fictional Del Sol, New Mexico it would be a good idea to bring along a knife – which appears to be the weapon of choice in this town. How many stabbing victims can you count?

Overall, not a bad read . Somewhat entertaining, but not in my top ten for 2021. 3 1/2 stars
.

In this second installment of the Sunshine Vicram series, Sheriff Sun and the gang are back and ready for whatever the town of Del Sol, New Mexico, is going to throw at them. This time, it's a wild raccoon, a stabbing, a potential serial killer, Sun's own still-unsolved kidnapping as a teenager. Of course, the sultry Levi Ravinder and Sun's daughter Auri both find themselves tangled in the middle of Sun and Quincy's cases. Put this crazy bunch together, and chaos and hilarity ensues.

I came across this book on NetGalley and instantly knew the series was going to be for me. I picked up the first book in the series, A Bad Day for Sunshine, and read them back to back. My only complaint is that now I have to wait FOREVER for the rest of the series to come out! These books are light and fun even when dealing with murders and kidnappings. While at times it feels like it's trying a teeny bit too hard, and some of the "mysteries" are so blindingly obvious I want to give Sun a good shake, I still love this series. They remind me a little bit of The Frost Files, another zany series I adore. If you are looking for some fun, fluffy mysteries with big heart, The Sunshine Vicram series is for you :)