I missed the first book in the series and I know I need to go back and read it. Not that it was necessary for following nor enjoying this book. I just want to after reading this one. Almost immediately you get a pretty good idea of who the characters in the book are and how they interact. This is a fun group of people to watch.

Jones's series often deal with heavy issues but with whacky twists and truly unusual situations. This book is no different. The wackiness is maybe starting to veer a little too far for me but I still highly enjoyed the character building in this book as well as the overarching story. Auri could have been a little quieter but we keep being told that Sunshine was a handful as a child and therefore deserves a child who is just as wild. Though maybe not quite so death-defying.
Sunny just needs one day off. But she's not going to get it in this book. She is now counting on both hands the number of people who claim to have killed Brick Ravinder, the man who kidnapped Sunshine when she was a teen. Even his brother, in a prison in Arizona, is getting in on the action. And in the middle of all this, she might be developing some feelings for her best friend. Well, she's at least considering it.
Of course, her daughter Auri isn't sitting quietly by either. She's been cleaning out her granparents' attic and discovered a ream of old newspaper articles referring to mysterious disappearances in town. And Auri thinks she knows who is behind it...

Four stars
This book comes out July 27th, 2021
Follows a Bad Day for Sunshine
ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

This title is the second in a series, following on A Bad Day for Sunshine. I have not read the first book but think I may need to go back to it.

In this entry, Sunny’s hands are really full. While she would like for said hands to be full of cups of coffee or glasses of Chardonnay, Sunny instead has a lot of work to do. There are a serial killer case, issues related to Sunny’s past, a bar fight and more. Surely enough to keep any reader glued to the pages. Plus, there are humor and different voices in the novel as readers spend time with those around Sunny.

Fans of the series will be clamoring for entry three.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. all opinions are my own.

Sunshine and her daughter are just delightful. I love their quirky relationship. This book had a great mystery plot that kept things moving, as well as the underlying romance that started in the first book. I hope this series continues!

Between shaking off annoying suitors set up by her parents, a rascally raccoon named Randy who is terrorizing the police force, and a daughter intent on solving the murders seemingly committed by a local serial killer, Sheriff Sunshine Vicram is a bit busy. Oh, don’t forget the bar fight that nearly kills the love of her life and possibly leads to clues in a years old kidnapping case. Wait, there’s also the prisoner who claims to know what truly happened that day, years ago, when Sunshine herself was kidnapped and the true identity of her daughter’s father.

It’s a lot to take in and in true Sunshine fashion, she stumbles through it all with gallons of coffee, several glasses of chardonnay, and with the help of her loyal friends and family who she would gladly die for. Really, I think she has a t-shirt that says so.

I thoroughly enjoyed this second installment of the Sunshine Vicram mystery series. In classic Darynda Jones fashion, A Good Day for Chardonnay tackles intense crimes such as kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder with the perfect amount of levity to keep the story from going too dark. Her characters are incredibly relatable and human and you can feel the pressures they face as they try to solve crimes, raise children, and just live in the world. Sunshine is still trying to regain her memories of the time she was kidnapped at 17 and the identity of the person who rescued her. The complexity of her feelings over not remembering that experience, wanting to move on with her life and pursue a relationship with Levi, and protect her daughter from the trauma of learning she may be the child of rape really influences so many of her decisions. You can feel her frustration in wanting to move on with her life but not feeling like she can trust her judgement. But because Sunshine is a true badass, she manages to deal with all of that emotional stress while also solving major crimes and I love that Jones creates such powerful and complex female characters. One of my favorite parts of this series, and Jones’ writing, is the friendships found within the books. Sunshine and Quincy are absolute ride-or-die and their interactions made me jealous of not being in their group text.

A Good Day for Chardonnay is hilarious, heartfelt, and a delightfully witty tale of friendship, loyalty, and the lengths people will go to find justice for those they love.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

OMG - how will I be able to wait a year for the next book? Anyone who's read my reviews for Darynda Jones' books, knows I love her writing. I was so sad when the last series ended, but I should have known she would come up with something just as great or maybe a teeny bit better. I adore Sunshine Vicram and Levi Ravinder and the story...it's wonderful. Tough characters with gooey insides. Auri, Sunshine's daughter, definitely keeps everyone on their toes, especially in this book. Wow! I find it amazing how she can write so much murder, thieves, and criminals mixed with family stories, all of which keep the tension spun tight and still has humor and snark threaded throughout, causing laugh out loud moments, giving you a slight break from the tension until you've finished the book and you can breathe again. Please Darynda, write faster! I will fill my time with your other books - thanks for those, to make the wait easier.

#GoodDayForChardonnay #DaryndaJones
#StMartinsPress #SMPRomance

Thank you thank you thank you to NetGalley for offering an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

It's been over four months since I received and read A Good Day for Chardonnay. Just thinking about it and reading my notes in preparation to write my review, I'm already jonesing for a re-read. The minute this book landed on my kindle in March, I was ready to flip to page one and dive in immediately. The anticipation had been building for a whole year and my excitement never wavered. After the resounding success of the first installment, I didn't think it was possible for a second book to top it, but somehow Darynda Jones has pulled it off. This series is shaping up to be on my all-time favorites list. I couldn't be happier that my first series introduction to this author has gone above and beyond my expectations. I owe all of that to my book bestie for giving me the push to go outside my comfort zone and give this author a chance. (Thanks Astrid!)

As I returned to Del Sol and all of its quirky, off-the-wall inhabitants, I was reminded how my addiction built to the level it did. There is an instant, effortless, immersion into the story which has been incredibly hard to come by lately for me as a reader. It was such a relief to open a book and immediately become fascinated with what will happen on the next page and where the story will take me next. If there's one thing I can predict about the bitingly funny Sheriff Sunshine, it's that you NEVER know what's in store for her on any single day on the job. Between the town flasher, petty crime, the Dangerous Daughters, kidnappings, her daughter sneaking out, and Levi Ravinder popping up at unexpected times, she never gets a moment's rest.

I really loved getting Sunshine's daughter Auri's POV-possibly even more than Sunshine's this time. She is such a sweet, old soul inside of a teenager's body. Sometimes she seems wise beyond her years, and others her age shows as she makes impulsive decisions. Of course she inherited her mother's wicked sense of humor, which was absolutely hilarious and had me laughing out loud on too many occasions to count. The same goes for Sun and her best friend Quincy's conversations. They never give an inch when it comes to their banter.

There were so many different plot points, it could have felt chaotic and overwhelming, but I never once felt that it was too much of a mess to wade through. We had Auri meeting a new friend, finding a sweet boyfriend named Cruz, her investigations around town as she tried to identify a killer, Sunshine's complex relationship with the brooding Levi, and finally some secrets unearthed that I have been dying to see come to light. There is a little romance and passion in this installment between the two of them, but it's definitely a very slow progression. That is perfectly fine by me, as I know that there will be many books in the series and this is first and foremost a comedic mystery. Not only was I belly laughing at a lot of the dialogue, I even got emotional at some very heart-wrenching events that occurred towards the end. I was not expecting things to veer on that side emotionally at all, but I really got choked up over what Auri and Cruz in particular were going through.

This book reached me in a wide variety of ways, I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish, and I left the book once again desperate for more. I can't say enough about this FANTASTIC series, and I urge everyone out there to give it a chance. Even if you're not a mystery reader like me, I'm pretty confident that this series may be the one to convert you. Now excuse me while I go count the days left until I get my hands on the next piece of Sunshine's exhilarating adventures.

Oh wow! What a wonderful addition to the series!! You should definitely read book 1 (A Bad Day For Sunshine) prior to reading this one so you’ll have the backstories for everyone. The story itself was full of wit, adorableness, some sexiness, heartache, and plot twists!! I loved that it was told in dual POVs of Sun and Auri. I also liked that there were kinda 2 stories unfolding within this story.

All in all, this was a fabulous read and I can’t wait to see what the next story brings us!

A Good Day for Chardonnay: A Novel (Sunshine Vicram Book 2) is a good read. I would read the first book in the series before reading this one.

The characters created by the author are interesting & quirky & their banter is entertaining.

There is some sexy time so be prepared for that if that's not something you like.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

5 Hearts, Recommended Read
SJ, Romance Junkies

New York Times bestselling author Darynda Jones brings her second mystery in the Sunshine Vicram series with laugh-out-loud lines, quirky characters, heartfelt connections, and a rampant mystery—make that mysteries—that will keep readers glued to the pages in A Good Day for Chardonnay.

Though this book does take over where book one ends, it’s enough of a stand-alone to be enjoyed on its own. Yet I’d recommend reading the first book to get to know the town and characters, particularly Sunshine and her family, better.

The gang is back with all its New Mexico quirkiness. The town flasher, the fighting chicken, the old lady who confesses to every crime, and of course, Sheriff Sunshine Vicram and her team. The relationship between Sunshine and her teen daughter and parents is priceless, as is the friendship between her and Quinn, her deputy. These connections make the book a stellar read, in addition to the hilarious dialogue and banter throughout.

There’s a love interest in bad boy Levi, a murder charge still pending, the mystery of Sunshine’s missing days as a teenager, and now an escape artist of a raccoon in addition to a missing boy, presumed dead, who’s maybe not so dead, and a potential serial killer in town that Sunshine’s daughter has set her sights on.

Author Darynda Jones keeps her interweaving plots balanced nicely, and we get hints and depth of character revealed a little at a time. Then a lot at a time, and it’s all so well done you’re rooting for the characters before you know what you’re rooting for them to do!

The mysteries are well done and not obvious at all, the romance there yet not there, a wonderful addition to this story. Though I wouldn’t call this a cozy mystery (there is violence on the page as well as some steamy moments toward the end), I would say this is a funny, small town mystery with one heck of a sleuth—in both the sheriff and her daughter!

If you haven’t picked up a book by Darynda Jones before, I highly recommend this one and its predecessor, A BAD DAY FOR SUNSHINE.

Be prepared to laugh as you go along with Sunshine and solve murders while falling in love with the town.

Recommended Read

The wit!

The humor!

The sarcasm!

The will-they-or-won’t-they tension!

It’s all here plus a whole lot more in A Good Day for Chardonnay. The second book in the Sunshine Vicram series brings everything we loved in A Bad Day for Sunshine (book one of the series) while building on the overarching mysteries of the series and increasing the tension we were already feeling.

So, grab your favorite bottle of vino and warm up your favorite reading chair because this book is a ride and a half, and you will not want to put it down!

If you haven’t read book one, you may not know that Sunshine Vicram is the (somewhat dubiously) elected sheriff of a small town in New Mexico.

In addition to the eclectic residents and her rag-tag but solid police force, she also has her parents, her precocious teenager, and her lingering crush/potential baby-daddy keeping her on her toes day in and day out.

Throw in a few heartbreaking cases, and you have Sunshine’s life in a nutshell. Yet, through it all, she lives up to her name and delivers her lines with a smile—and maybe a glass of wine or two.

A Good Day Chardonnay is simply a joy to read. It has twists and turns, it has heart and humor, it has sarcasm and sass galore, and it is all told in a voice that only Darynda Jones can write. If you have read her Charley Davidson series, then you know what I mean.

I love the world Jones has created in this series, and I can’t wait to return.

Although I’m usually good with cliffhanger endings, I need to know the answers to all of the mysteries, and I need them as soon as possible!

Sunshine and auri are back again. Sunshine is on the hunt for a serial killer and a cold case involving a missing child. There is quite a bit going on in this second installment of the sunshine series. She just wants a free and peaceful day to herself but she is the sheriff so there is no way that is going to happen. I love tagging along with mom and daughter with the craziness and snarky wit. I just love this series. I really recommend this book.

The Sunshine Vicram Series by Darynda Jones follows the newly-elected Sheriff of Del Sol, New Mexico, as she investigates everything from rooster-nappings to murder. For such a small town Del Sol certainly has more than its fair share of oddities, mysteries, and crime. The characters in both books are absolutely delightful and I guarantee you’ll fall in love with them and wish you could visit in real life.

These books don’t fit neatly into any one genre because there is adventure, police procedural, mystery, a little romance, and I’d even say they are part YA because they are split between Sunshine’s perspective and her teenage daughter’s. There is romantic tension all through the books, but in terms of actual action, it is limited to just a scene or two (there is a particularly steamy scene in Book 2 though).

While the books deal with some pretty heavy subject matter (kidnapping, abuse, murder and more) they are also witty, heartwarming, and completely hilarious at times. I am 100% here for some good banter, and these books have that in spades. Plus, there are little vignettes between each chapter, showing some of the signs ‘seen around town’ out front of various businesses. Those had me laughing out loud every, single, time.

In short, I loved them both SO much and if you haven’t read them yet you definitely should, they're absolute gold!

I really enjoyed this story and I was engaged from the very first page as Sheriff Sunshine Vicram comments on her very bad blind date that was set up by her parents! This story has lots of action, drama between friends and teenagers, and lots of speculation about a very old mystery. Sunshine is there for all of it and needs many cups of coffee and a few glasses of wine to get through it. I recommend this as a great summer read.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC; all opinions are my own.

OMG...this book...I loveeee it..love...love...love it.

A mystery book with dual POV. One is from my fav heroine Sheriff Sunshine Vicram and the other from Sunshine's daughter Auri who I adore a lot. In this book we follow their journey to solve a case, find the truth and in daily life where everything is full of secrets and surprises, full of love and heartbreaks, full of laughters and tears.

It's definitely a book that packed with a lot of emotions. I cried, I laughed a lot, I was mad, I was angry and confused and I love every second of it. Yup you read that right, it's a mystery book but I cried, it's just there's a part that really got me bawling, because it's just so sad what had happened to one of my fav characters that just breaking my heart, I can feel all the sadness and the loss, just thinking about it got me teary all over again.
The story is so complex. So many mysteries, secrets, surprises and twists. So many things happening here, it usually overwhelming but here it doesn't bother me at all, everything so seamless, all just makes me turning page after page after page and I enjoyed everything from the beginning until the end.

Definitely absolutely totally highly recommended this book, this series to everyone who love cozymystery read.

Was I hooked by that book? Oh, yes. I love the interesting characters and the funny, sarcastic writing style.

In book two of the Sunshine Vicram series, we see Sheriff Sunshine getting embroiled in an old unsolved kidnapping case from her previous job. Her love (and lust) for Levi Ravinder burns as bright and secretive as before. And her daughter, Auri, is still a sweet, but lippy teenager.

There is a lot happening in this book. Sunny is trying to solve her latest case, while Levi is off on his own side investigation into the incident. Meanwhile, Auri keeps escaping the not-so-watchful eyes of her grandparents to investigate her own little case. Then Sunny receives new, unexpected information about her kidnapping. I liked that the author used a humorous and often sarcastic tone to address serious issues, without making light of it or diminishing the seriousness of it.

As usual, I love Sun's random, unconnected thoughts. And Auri is definitely a chip off the old block there. We don't see much from Levi's point of view, which makes it difficult to know what he really thinks and feels. In the beginning, he seemed very elusive and brusque, almost. And there sure are a lot of people who love him very much. Later on, his actions show clearly that he cares greatly about Sun and Auri. He is still a bit of a mystery to me.

There is a bit of a cliff-hanger at the end and I can't wait to read the next book. It is definitely better to read them in order.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I cannot get enough of Darynda Jones and this book did not disappoint. I was up all night because I could not put it down until I finished. I love the energy between Sunshine and Levi and Auri and Cruz. There are so many great characters that it's hard to leave the book once it's over because you've fallen in love with everyone all over again.

A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones delivered mystery, romance, suspense and small-town antics with plenty of humor and answers to questions. This is the second novel in the Sunshine Vicram series and it has all the elements I’ve come to love from Jones. Grab an iced coffee and find out why Darynda Jones is an autobuy.

We are back in Del Sol, New Mexico with local sheriff and single Mom, Sunshine Vicram. Life is never dull for this sassy sheriff and her mini-me. Told from the perspectives of Sunshine and Auri, her precocious teenage daughter. While Sunshine is trying to solve a murder, Auri is on the hunt to catch a serial killer.

Sunshine’s parents have been setting her up with blind dates. Her latest with pest control technician Carver is cut short when her deputy has a crisis. She is having dreams about Levi Ravinder, but he is a suspect in a murder investigation that half the town has confessed to. Yep, life is never dull in Del Sol. Meanwhile, she needs to determine who the Dangerous Daughters are at the Mayor’s insistence.

I love slipping into one of Jone’s stories. A Good Day for Chardonnay was a treat from mysteries to romance. We’ve got several cases, some old and some new, including Sunshine’s abduction case. Sunshine’s parents can’t seem to monitor Auri whose boyfriend is keeping a painful secret. Sunshine still loves her childhood crush, and the man is sexy, infuriating, and mysterious.

The banter and relationship between Sunshine and Auri is priceless. I loved the humor and love they share. Secondary characters are developed and add to the small-town feel and camaraderie as Sunshine develops relationships with them and strengthens past friendships.

The romance takes a heated turn causing the heat level, but it was one scene and deliciously hot. The mysteries were well interesting, and each case pulled me in from the confessing old woman to the attack at the bar.

I laughed, shed a tear or two, cheered and shouted I knew it before closing the book with a smile. I am loving these characters and cannot wait for the next book. With its humor and romance, this small-town mystery is the perfect book to take to the beach.

Such a fun read! I loved the witty banter that occurs and the relationship between Sunshine, who is a Sherriff and her daughter Auri, who is also very interested in solving crimes. This book is very reminiscent of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, with all of the supporting characters and the hilarious antics that ensue. I had not read the first book in this series, and I'm guessing had I done so, I would have enjoyed it even more, but despite not having read it, I was still able to pick it up and follow along. A lot happens in this story and based on the cliffhanger thrown in at the very end, I'm wishing I knew when the next release might happen. Despite that, I highly recommend this entertaining and fun book!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the Advanced Reader Copy. I have voluntarily left an honest review.

This is the second book in the series and I am really loving how it's going. Sunny is a great heroine. Spunky, funny and definitely knows what she's about. I had such a blast reading this. The mystery is phenomenal too. Definitely keeps you on your toes. I can't wait for more from this series.