A humorous take on some unfunny issues. Sunshine has not had an easy life. But it the first day of her being the new sheriff. A job she did not campaign for. How bad can it be, it's a small county? Well it just goes to pot quickly. In fact, it takes a whole new meaning to a bad first day. We get pulled into all sorts of drama yet Sunshine steps up. So much to like in the book. But Sunshine's compassion and endless love of those close to her really shines as an example to all those around her. I thought the book was a good one. I admit to stopping my day to read the book. I definitely got pulled in from the first page.

I received this book as an ARC from #Netgalley and the author Darynda Jones for an honest review.

This was a funny what I would class as a cozy mystery. Sunshine and Auri Vicram, mother and daughter, move back to Del Sol, NM when Sun wins the election for Sheriff. Auri meets a girl named Sybil, that is abducted, and thus begins the mystery. This follows the unsolved abduction of Sun. Darynda Jones reminds me of Janet Evanovich, good story with hilarious characters and great reading. Can’t wait for the series to continue. #Netgalley. #Abaddayforsunshine.#daryndajones

Let me start by saying I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this book in no way determined my feelings on it.

Wow!!!! I was skeptical to start a new series after the grief of Charley ending, but I love Darynda Jones writing abilities so was forced to read it. I am so glad I did!! I am now hooked, and a bit upset I got to read it early. I now have to wait who knows how long for the next one!! But I will wait, and stalk author until it comes out.

While I don't want to give anything away due to fact I can't offer a review without spoilers. I will say that if you are a lover of Charley, you will 100 percent love this series as well.

I received an ARC from Netgalley - review to come

I just finished this! I want the next book right now.
While many of the elements of this book are commonly used - they are used often because they work.

[ Female sheriff with a past, the first love, murder, mystery (hide spoiler)] This is what I expect from Darynda - A serious topic with a little laughs and always a good love interest.

When Darynda Jones let us know about this newest book/series, I didn’t know what to expect. I was excited for something new but also apprehensive about it. What if it didn’t live up to the greatest of her Charlie Davidson books?? Well I am here to tell you that this book was FANTASTIC! I didn’t want to stop reading it once I started. The characters are great and quirky and I am looking forward to finding out more.
If you like quirky characters that make you feel involved and invested in them, then read this book. The story grabbed and still has a hold on me.

Don’t repeat your mistakes, Jones

I would like to effusively thank Darynda Jones, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for letting Christmas come early by allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When a new Darynda Jones book drops out of the wild blue yonder directly into my lap more than six months before its due to be released, there’s only one thing to do—hunker the fuck down because I’m not functioning like a human until every word has been imprinted on my eyeballs.

I tried to be as vague as I could, to the point of cryptic, but a few minor spoilers might have slipped through. If you’re super sensitive to spoilers and consider the tiniest, most irrelevant details to be heinous—well, first, why are you reading reviews at all? Second, you probably shouldn’t read this, just to be extra safe.

I have two chief complaints. The first is something Jones always tread close to in Charley’s later books, too—there was too much going on. At least in Charley’s books I had the benefit of already knowing the main cast and the overarching plot; I knew the history. It was a matter of keeping track of the new developments and subplots. Here, though, I went in blind, and through the first third I felt bombarded with new people, places, and information.

Aside from the main mystery, there was the rooster thread, the newscaster thread, the Daughter thread, the Bo thread, the mayor thread (though you might count that with the Daughter thread), the mafia thread, the convict thread, and of course the Sunshine thread. Oh, and the itty-bitty eyeliner thread. And perhaps others I’m not recalling. And all the characters… Except for Quincy, I still don’t have Sun’s posse sorted out. Nor the Ravinders apart from Levi, Hailey, and Jimmy. The rooster thread, the Bo thread, and the eyeliner thread and their related characters could have been cut completely. They were superfluous; either Jones indulging herself or filling pages. I would much rather those words been spent on Sunshine uncovering her past—but naturally that’s the cliffhanger (which isn’t a spoiler—this is Jones we’re talking about. Of course she was going to leave us with the juiciest morsel hanging just out of reach. I was preparing myself for it from the start.)

I get if Jones wanted to make sure to show that there was more on Sunshine’s plate as sheriff than just one case, and I respect that, but still, some of it was simply unnecessary.

I can’t really talk about my second complaint too much because it could be a huge spoiler—but the thing is, is it really? I thought it was obvious from the start, and I grew more and more frustrated with Sunshine as the evidence piled up—we’re talking skyscraper high, blind-man-could-see obvious—and she refused to see what it was pointing to. Which is ironic, because that’s her thing—she kept repeating how it was her job to find and follow evidence, not to merely indulge her instincts. If they told her two different things, she had a responsibility to go with the evidence. But I think both the abundance of evidence and her instincts were screaming the same thing at her, and she kept ignoring it and ignoring it and ignoring it, even though I believe deep in her subconscious she knew the truth and just didn’t have the balls to confront it yet. (I mean, those dreams. That promise. She totally knows, just doesn’t understand.) I was also surprised it didn’t occur to anyone who knew the situation and also saw some of the evidence. I thought for sure the cliffhanger would be a confrontation, ending on a specific question or statement, but we didn’t even get that far. That really disappointed me. Seriously, the hints were as subtle as an atom bomb. (Yes, Jones, I saw you sneak that thematic full name in there. French and Hindu. I follow. *taps side of nose*)

But other than that, I loved this book and totally look forward to further installments. The mystery was intriguing and I didn’t figure out whodunit until about 80%. (In my defense, I was stumbling over the mountain of story debri she threw in because reasons.) Even when I knew who, I didn’t know why until it was confessed.

The characters were just as wacky and entertaining as Jones’s other characters. Sunshine was a more down-to-earth version of Charley, lacking some of the crazy and most of the ADHD. Which makes her sound boring, but she’s not. She’s just as fun and funny and charming as any Jones protag, even if she isn’t a god of time or a celestial being. That we know of.

Levi will obviously be Sunshine’s love interest. I don’t understand him; all I know is that he has a hero complex and gives out mixed messages like a malfunctioning traffic light. So in short, he’s Reyes. He’s even got the tragic life history and the family from hell. And the explosive temper. I don’t like him much yet. Actually, I dislike him. Acting sullen and moody and enigmatic and violent is not romantic, Jones. I don’t care how secretly heroic he is or how he’s trying to be a legitimate businessman; he behaves like an anus. And please don’t make superficial sex the first priority of his and Sunshine’s relationship, not until things are sorted out and they actually like each other. I don’t want to watch them hate-fuck each other. Don’t let them be as distrustful and emotionally abusive as Charley and Reyes were. I already hate him a little bit for getting mad at Sunshine and acting like the victim; as far as I know at this point, he has no right to feel that way, and he’s blaming her for something that isn’t her fault. And what did he do about it in all that time? Nothing, except perhaps wallow in self-pity and make assumptions. Yes, very attractive.

Anyway. Sunshine’s parents are endearing. And a little terrifying, in the best way. Auri is pretty much Amber but I don’t care because I love them both. Quincy’s awesome; Cookie in role, not necessarily in personality. And I have no idea what was going on with that twin thing between him and…Zee, I think? I don’t know where it came from or what the point of it was. It was an inside joke to even the reader. Cruz is a mix of Quentin and Reyes, which isn’t as odd as you might imagine. Could not get enough of that kid. His dad was cool, too.

The Book Babes were…I’m not sure yet. Good, though. Ricky and Richard—just, why? What was the point? They screamed tokenism. The rooster couple—cute, but again why? The mayor and former sheriff deserve each other. The former former former sheriff was instantly lovable, though his banter with Sunshine was a little…weird. I very much look forward to more Jimmy and his mom. The principal was interesting; the overzealous security guard a fiasco waiting to happen. I’m not sure how I feel about the kids at school. Lynette and Liam went to a lot more work than realistic, I think, and the display at the end was corny as hell. No way would those kids have been that synchronized and demonstrative. It did make me tear up and warm my heart, though, so mission accomplished.

And there were the deputies, and the other Ravinders—*pauses, cocks head* Did we ever get a name for that one cousin?—and the marshalls, and the FBI dude. Not to mention the perp and the victim. And the victim’s parents and cousin. And more. So many people.

Couple last random things:

Were there no consequences to Mrs. Aubin’s…um…accident? Does she at least have to pay for the repairs? It happened, then no more was said about it.

Also, there’s no way that kid got treated at the ER in 2003/4 without hospital staff and the police investigating him. No way a kid with stab wounds—to all appearances a minor who’d been attacked—just walked in, gave a false name, went into surgery, woke up, and walked out. How insulting to nurses and hospital admin.

Overall, I’m so game for this series. The only true downside to reading a new Darynda Jones book…is starting the wait for the next one once again.

*squints* I’m still holding you to Beep’s spin-off, Jones. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.

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OMG - So Good! I was a little nervous to dive into this post-Charley Davidson which is one of my all-time favorite series. It was going to be a really hard act to follow, but DAYUM!!! Jones followed it up spectacularly!! Love the large cast of characters, most especially Sun, Auri, Levi and Quincy!! Loved the bits from the police blotter, I actually shot coffee out my nose at one of them! Loved that I am not quite sure if this is taking place within the World of Charley...not that it matters! This was just such a fun, fun, UN-PUT-DOWN-ABLE read. So much so I may have shirked work to read it! Jones has another winner on her hands!!

Oh wow, wow, wow. If you like her Charley Davidson series you’re going to eat this one up! It took me less than 24 hours to read, who needs sleep. I simply could not put it down. It has the perfect balance, between mystery, a touch of potential romance, and a whole lot of sass. Oh the banter. It had me in stitches. I have my suspicions on who the AB blood type person she’s looking for is. It seems so obvious but this is Darynda Jones we are talking about, it could be a red herring. I need more! I crave more. This series is going on my auto buy, must stalk author for clues and the next book list. I can’t recommend this one enough! You will love it.

A Bad Day for Sunshine is the start of a brand-new series by Darynda Jones. A mystery with a little romance and a little "witchiness'. I usually do my own little summary of the book but in this case I don't know where to begin and the books' synopsis does a great job, so I would refer to that.

Darynda creates great sarcastic characters. The two main point of views, Sheriff Sunshine and her daughter Auri, and they have a never ending stream of sarcasm both for each other and other people. There are also some memorable secondary characters. Sunshine has a lovable best friend name Quincy and her life long crush Levi, along with his firecracker sister and her sweetheart of a son Jimmy. However, there were a lot of other characters, a lot of different names, and between the grandmother's friends and different member of the town I had trouble keeping track of them all. Also, there was absolutely no need for every male to hardcore flirt with Sunshine like it was singles night at a bar. It was unnecessary and redundant. On top of that the town itself is just odd, from people having premonitions to the fact the students at the school had a hive mind like personalty.

Story wise, there is so much going on from the start of the book. There are so many things that are kept a mystery from readers and slowly revealed to us, yet we are still left to with more than a few unanswered questions by the end. Some secrets, I guessed and other took me by surprise, by it honestly felt like everyone was keeping secrets upon secrets. There's a backstory mystery that isn't solved by the end but the main one the two leading ladies are trying to solve has a great timeline to it with twists I didn't see coming.

As of right now I'm not in love with the Sunshine Vicram series, but I wasn't in love with the Charley Davidson series either when I began it. Like the CD series I see this being one I continue to read and with each book I will fall more in love with the characters and by the end call it one of my all time favorites. At least that's what I'm hoping will happen but who knows for sure.

3.5/5⭐

Received and ARC from netgalley

A great start to a new series. I should have known going in that the ending would leave me wanting to pull my hair out. Overall the book was good. The characters were intriguing and can’t wait to see how everything plays out. I do have my guesses but we shall see.

The chapter quotes had me laughing and I was glad to see Darynda added those in.

The book was fast paced and sunshine seems to have more bad days ahead of her.

I’ll be honest, I was never a big fan of Jones’s Charley Davidson series, but I wanted to give this new series a try and I’m glad I did. In this series, the bad (and the good guys) are very much alive. The delightfully named Sunshine Vicram is the sheriff in Del Sol, New Mexico, a small town where nothing much happens, until now. The disappearance of a local teenage girl has made national news, her own daughter’s school troubles and a kidnapped rooster are all reminding Sunshine why she left Del Sol years before. Enter a US Marshall and an old flame and Sunshine has her hands (?) full. Reminiscent of early Janet Evanovich, fans will find much to enjoy here