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.

I loved everything about this book - Sunshine, her parents, her daughter, her small-town with all its antics. There was mystery, both old and new, romance for both the mom and the daughter, and lots of fun. Can't wait to read more in this series!!!

Oh Darynda. This book has just made my year. 

I have to start with saying that The Charley Davidson series is my all time favorite series. With that said... I had some trepidation about starting A Bad Day for Sunshine, because of the sky-high expectations I harbored for it. But I am very happy to report that Sheriff Sunshine Blaze Vicram certainly did not disappoint. 

In A Bad Day for Sunshine, we follow our main character Sunshine Vicram. She has just been elected as the new sheriff of her hometown of Del Sol, New Mexico, which was surprising news to her, since she didn't even know she was running for sheriff. Thanks to her oh-so-adorable parents scheming, she is moving back to Del Sol to take on her new position, her 14 year old daughter, Auri, in tow. We get dual perspectives of both Auri and Sunshine in this novel, which I really enjoyed. Sunshine is nervous about coming back to Del Sol and doesn't quite expect to be looking for a missing teenage girl on her first day on the job and it's bringing up all the memories of why Sunshine left Del Sol in her rear view all those years ago. Mix in her bestie, Quincy, a missing deputy, a potential new boyfriend for Auri, and the sexy as hell/expert tracker Levi and coming home is nothing short of a roller coaster for Sunshine. 

 Darynda is the queen of conveying character chemistry and it was no different in the book. I could feel the past these characters had with each other and wanted to know every detail. All of the characters worked so well together and had such rich relationships. 

A Bad Day for Sunshine was exquisite, sassy, and fun. I cannot wait for the next book! Darynda, I know the first book just came out today, but I need book 2 now! :)

A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones

Police Mystery suspense with a female protagonist. First book in the Sunshine Viacram series. A bit of mystery, suspense and snark. 
Alternating view points of Sunshine and daughter Aurora. The two have a close and caring relationship that is wonderful to be a part of.
There are multiple storylines and not all are fully resolved by the end of the book. Certainly not a cliffhanger, but more the beginning of a deep relationship you will want to follow and feel.

An engaging story and mystery that will win your heart.

Sunshine Viacram returns with her daughter to Del Sol, New Mexico as the newly elected sheriff. Her parents have built her a house in their backyard. They made sure Sunshine won the election for sheriff. Best friend and deputy Quincy knows most of Sun’s secrets. He’s glad to have her expertise in the office. It’s a quiet town with some eccentricity and surprises around the neighborhood. 

I’m rounding this up from 4.5 because I enjoyed the relationships but had a bit of confusion in sometimes knowing which perspective I was in at the time.  Minor issue that may have been me not paying enough attention.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley. I also purchased a copy to share and reread.

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. A Bad Day for Sunshine is the first book in Darynda Jones new series Sunshine Vicram.  Fans of her Charley Davidson series will enjoy this one too. Sunshine Vicram is the new Sheriff of Del Sol the small town she grew up in and couldn’t wait to leave, and winning the election was a bit of a shock as she as far as she knew, she had not run for the office. Her first day on the job turns into a crazy mess with a missing teen, an escaped felon, a kidnapped rooster and close encounters with her teen crush Levi Ravinder. All of the things that made the Charley Davidson series so delightful are here… well written supporting characters, super sexy possible love interest, a hint of the paranormal, intriguing mystery and a wicked sense of humour.  I found this book very entertaining to read and look forward to revisiting Del Sol in future books. 
Medium Steam.  Publishing Date April 7, 2020.  #NetGalley #ABadDayForSunshine #DaryndaJones #StMartinsPress #MysteriesAndThrillers #HotRead #bookstagram

Sunshine Vicram has just been elected sheriff of Del Sol, the only problem is she didn't know she was in the running. Sunshine has been in law enforcement for most of her adult life. Some would say it's all because she has been trying to solve the crime that has plagued her since she was seventeen.

Her first day on the job and she has a missing teenage girl, an escaped convict, and a murder. Sunshine always knew she was good at her job, but this might be too much for even someone of her caliber.

The story is told from a dual point of view, Sunshine and her daughter Aurora or Auri as she is affectionately called by family and friends. I enjoyed seeing it from both sides considering how much the mystery of Sunshine's "accident" affected both of them. However, there were times when I wasn't sure whose head I was in, their "voices" were too similar.

There was certainly enough mystery to keep me engrossed. Even when one crime/mystery was solved, there was still something else to ponder. Not everything is explained or figured out in this book. I guess we'll have to wait for the next one to get more answers. Don't worry though, its not a terrible cliffhanger.

You can be sure to expect the humor you've come to love from this author. Even though it was sometimes too much. I wanted the seriousness of the situation to show through instead of the constant witty remarks and comebacks. But it didn't ruin anything for me.

I highly recommend you start this adventure with Sunshine and her sometimes crazy deputies. You won't be disappointed.

Darynda Jones has written another winning series. Full of humor, quirky characters, a good mystery, I was hooked from page one. What a ride. The story opens with Sunshine Vicram getting ready for her first day as sheriff of Del Sol, New Mexico. Boy, did that come as a surprise to her. Her daughter, Auri, is getting ready for her first day at a new school. Things are about to get crazy....as they do in any book written by Darynda Jones. I usually don't enjoy books with multiple points of view but, in this book, it works very well and it didn't bother me in the least.
I won't say more because I don't want to drop any spoilers. 
The mystery is solid with some romance, lots of laughter and a few tears. I was so caught up in it that I think I may have missed a meal along the way and definitely stayed up way past my bedtime. All the signs of a good book.
My thanks to the publisher St. Martin's and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

A sassy, smart, and super fun read!

Sunshine Vicram is moving back to Del Sol, NM with her daughter Aurora (Auri). She is reporting for her first day of work as the sheriff. A position that she didn't know her name was on the ballot, but she was elected for. How could that happen, you might ask yourself. In a town as small as Del Sol, money and social influence go a long way and maybe her parents had something to do with it. She has a long day in front of her as the new sheriff in town. An escapee from the prison is on the loose, a young girl is missing, and a conflict over a rooster is taking up more time than necessary. On top of everything else Sunshine is confronted with a bad boy love interest from the past that has reignited flames. 

The narrative goes between Sunshine and her daughter Auri. Auri is dealing with the insecurities of a new school and fitting in. Everyone knows her mom is the new sheriff and Auri is pegged as a narc when a party is busted by the cops. The relationship between Auri and Sunshine is awesome. The communication between the two was sweet and hilarious. Who knew Lisbeth Salander would be referenced as a parenting guide. 

I knew I would be obsessed with this book before I finished the first chapter. This is #1 in a series and I'm looking forward to more Sunshine! 

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc.

A Bad Day for Sunshine is as fantastic as Darynda Jones's Charley Davidson series! The protagonist, Sun or Sunshine has many of Charley's qualities without the supernatural element, as far a we know. Her self-deprecating humor is just as hilarious as is her interaction with her family and her best friend but she takes her new job as sheriff seriously. All of the characters have great depth and dimension and carry a feeling that they have both a past and a future; an element not common for secondary characters. Of course, Ms. Jones brings us a heart-stopping, edge of our seats plot with frequent twists. The story line flips back and forth between Sun and her daughter Aura and readers are sure to fall in love with both, those two and a couple of guys!. 
I requested an ARC from NetGalley and you can imagine how excited I was to be approved. Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Darynda Jones
#NetGalley #ABadDayforSunhine

2.5 stars
This author envisions herself as Janet Evanovich Jr. and she's not. She cracks jokes (many of them not funny) that it makes it almost impossible to follow the story. Sunshine is elected sheriff of her hometown while not actually running. Somehow her parents get her elected without her consent or participation (I think this is one of the jokes). 
  Anyway Sunshine starts her first day as sheriff with 2 separate missing children and an escaped fugitive. Her staff consists of a variety of people including her best friend, a man she has known since elementary school days. In fact, Sunshine knows almost everyone as she grew up in this small town so it's difficult to keep everybody straight. In fact, there's so many back stories it is hard to keep anyone straight. Not that the author cares. She's too busy trying to make jokes to worry about the plot.
  There is one dream sex scene where it passed the line for me. It was too graphic and the choice of words was too much for me to be comfortable with. It crossed the line of good taste. I dropped it 1/2 star for this very reason, This could have been a cute book if the author had an ounce of restraint or an editor that could rein her in. 
  Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Oh this was so good!  Darynda has a wonderful way of telling a story!  The characters are entertaining and vibrant.  It was fun but also full of action and suspense.  I couldn't put it down!

Move over Charley Davidson there’s a new sheriff in town and her name is Sunshine! 

   Wow this was fun! Darynda Jones is the queen when it comes to spinning stories filled with Snark, humor, banter, quirky characters, and hot men. I was a huge fan of the Charley Davidson series and sad to see it end, but I think I found a new favorite. Sunshine Vicram has returned to small town Del Sol, New Mexico. She is the newly elected Sheriff and that is slightly problematic seeing though she didn’t even run for the position? But Sunshine is a big girl now, it is time to face her past and what could possibly go wrong in this sleepy small town? Loved Sunshine! She was smart, strong, savvy, and sassy. She is also a single mother to 14-year-old Aury. Aury was a tremendously likable character as well definitely her mother‘s daughter, but perhaps with a little more common sense and tact. I loved how we got both of these characters perspectives, really giving the story a refreshing feel. And ladies there are some men in this book that will give Reyes a run for his money. Sunshine’s BFF and new coworker Quincy as well as her long lost crush Levi. Aury also gets her very own crush in a young sweet mysterious boy named Cruise. A kidnapping, an escaped prisoner, missing pieces of the past, secrets, attraction, laughs, and heart. And oh  yeah, a cliffhanger that will leave you wanting more. My only complaint... the second book isnt already out.

This book in emojis  ☀️ ☕️ 📓 ✉️ 🐓 🚔 ⛰

*** Big thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.  ***