Recently I've had good luck with picking up books with kick ass lead female characters and A Good Day of Chardonnay was another one that struck gold! I really enjoyed the main character and the plot was fast paced and kept my attention. I liked the balance of personal and work life told through the story and the mystery was quite intriguing and the audio was great.

This is the 2nd installment in the Sunshine Vikram series and starts where book 1 left off.

Sunshine is a the sheriff of small town Del Sol, New Mexico and she is supported by an incredible cast of characters.

Fifteen years ago, Sunshine was abducted from this same small town, and her quest for answers continues in book 2. In addition, there were 2 other crimes to be solved.

This is a highly entertaining, funny series, full of witty one liners. Each chapter starts with funny quotes from the police blotter and town signs, which have me giggling every time.

I was lucky to listen to this one right after book 1, and I'm so sad I now have to wait for book 3. The narration is perfect!

These books would make a great TV series. Hopefully someday

Unputdownable. Seriously. Funny and hot. Darynda has done it again. Now for the long wait for the third Sunshine book …

I really enjoyed this one! I definitely recommend reading book one first, otherwise this was a great read. I will be reading more from Darynda Jones for sure.

Ms. Jones writes fun stories. My rating 4.25 of 5.0.
Sunshine is still trying to settle into her new job as sheriff, but events are giving her no time to relax and settle. As usual, she is juggling death, child-rearing, and a lingering childhood crush. And don’t forget the unresolved abduction and resulting murder from her own teenaged experience.

Sunshine’s teen crush, Levi, steps in to help a friend who is attacked at a local bar. Levi may have killed one of the assailants who take off after repeatedly stabbing his friend. Before the bad guys get away, they almost kill Levi. Sun has to arrest Levi to get him to the hospital rather than taking off after the villains, but they may not be enough to stop him.

While scrutinizing the crime scene and taped footage Sun finds a shocking surprise that will add to her list of cases. And in the background is a raucous raccoon terrorizing Sun’s deputy and best friend, Quincy. Add to all of this, Sun is beginning to get more flashbacks from her abduction which has been blocked by amnesia for years.

Meanwhile Sun’s daughter, Auri is convinced that their neighbor, a woman in her 80’s is a serial killer from years past. She recruits her friends, bestie, Sybil, and Auri’s teen crush, Cruz, to help her investigate by breaking into the woman’s house. Step by step this leads Auri to more trouble and danger behind her mother’s back.

This second book in the series has lots of threads, some of which have interesting ties. There is fun banter and interaction among the characters that I have grown to appreciate from the author. I felt frustrated knowing that Auri was heading into trouble, but it is a full thread that adds to the story. I enjoyed the community coming together to pull Sun into their secrets. I also appreciated the clear chemistry and romance between Sun and Levi although the culminating sex scene is a bit more vivid than I need.

I enjoy the full package which includes mystery, danger, humor, and romance. There is some introduction, but I recommend reading the first book to get a better feel for the characters and history, then continue to enjoy the mystery and fun in this book.

Audio Notes: Lorelei King is just a wonderful narrator. As soon as she begins to read I get pulled into the characters. She provides clear voices and fitting emotion that enhances the story for me. If I get a choice, I will listen to this series rather than just read it.

Source: 2021 NetGalley Audio Book.

I love the Sunshine Vicram series. It is reminisce of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. Sunshine is the Sheriff in a small-town police force in the mountains of New Mexico. The town is full of quirky characters that Darynda Jones creates expertly. I would suggest to read these novels in order to get the full vibes of all these characters. Humor runs deep throughout this series. And the action is paced with speed. There are multiple mysteries going on - all with Sunshine (I love her name, Sunshine Vicram) bouncing from one crisis to the next.
A fun, enjoyable read! I will definitely be following this series!
I read the book and then listened to the audio book. I absolutely love the audio - I love this narrator, Lorelei King! She does an fantastic job with the timing, she enhances the humor and dry wit of all the characters. Recommended!

I alternated between audio and print so that I didn't have to stop.

The humor, the characters, the connections, and the creative storyline sucked me in. I loved the author's Charley Davidson series (start with First Grave on the Right and know that the books are paranormal as well as funny mysteries).

This is the second book in The Sunshine Vikram series and I recommend starting with the first (A Bad Day for Sunshine). Sunshine is the new sheriff in the town she grew up in. She has a personal mystery to solve as well as some local mysteries. The supporting cast is wonderful. Each chapter starts with a funny quote, like

“If you refer to your librarian as your dealer, this is the place for you” ~sign at Del Sol Public Library

The narrator did a great job. I love this series and can't wait for the next one!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have not read any other books by this author but I will now.
I loved the buildup of characters and the storyline even through there was a lot going on.
A great mystery with a little romance mixed in.

That cliff hanger 😭. Now I can’t wait for book number 3 to see what happens. Such a rollercoaster of a story that was weaved with humor, seriousness and sadness.

I love the characters in this series and the relationships they have with each other. The snarkiness and funny parts are always great. There was a lot going on in this one, maybe a little too many storylines, but I still enjoyed it. I also like that we got some answers and am looking forward to the next one.

I love anything that Darynda Jones writes and would easily give them all 5 stars but I'm nit-picky when it comes to sex scenes so on occasion I have to give a book 4 stars. I will never, ever understand why reading an amazing story means you have to waste time with details of a sex scene. It brings me great sadness that we can not be trusted to use our imaginations. I always blame it on the publicist saying it has to be added. Thus said, that is the only reason I gave this book 4 stars. Please, please read it, if only to get to THE POEM. If you don't cry over that then I will eat my shoe. And let us not forget THE ENDING! It is well worth skipping the pages or fast-forwarding the audio past the sex.

Men stabbed at a local bar sends Sheriff Sunshine Vicram off to determine if the love of her life, Levi, has been injured in this second tale of the Sunshine Vicram series in Darynda Jones’ A Good Day for Chardonnay .

Let’s see. In A Good Day for Chardonnay, there’s a crazy raccoon with a penchant for escaping, a stabbing, a visit to Levi’s Uncle in jail, the discovery of who is behind the town’s secret organization, a blind date from hell. Meanwhile Sunshine’s daughter Auri is investigating a cold case and stumbles on something that may just lead to getting her killed. Oh, and then there’s a lead to a case that Sunshine worked on years before that’s tied to Levi. And there’s murder and mayhem. Did I leave anything out? Probably. There was A Lot going on.

The rapport among all of the main characters is good. Jones does an excellent job depicting the mother/daughter and best friend relationships. The dialogue exchanges are amusing and Jones manages to keep a rein on what can be a spewing forth of sometimes juvenile humor.

At just the point when I believed that A Good Day for Chardonnay should be winding down, Jones inserts a sex scene that reads like it’s from a porn site. The coarse language was grating to my delicate ears. And I have to admit to being a bit jarred by it and its placement. This scene certainly fit the bill of not only is less more but sometimes less is best.

For a bit afterward, I wondered why the book was continuing. What was left? Well, quite a bit. The novel regained its forward momentum and I continued along for the ride.

A Good Day for Chardonnay was probably a bit too long with too much going on but in the end it was mostly a satisfying read although I do wonder what’s left for book three and hope that Jones knows when to complete a series when there’s no more left to be said.

Lorelei King who has been the voice for other Darynda Jones series narrates A Good Day for Chardonnay in her usual capable manner with believable voices and appropriate drama. She is an excellent narrator.

I received an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones is the second book in the Sunshine Vicram series. It was so good; I had to go and listen the first one to understand how the characters came to be who they are. I really like where this series is heading. The characters are likeable and even the secondary characters have great plot lines. The books are narrated by Lorelei King, and she is amazing! I cannot wait for the next book.

***** I received an ARC from NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my honest review. *****

This is a good series from what I can tell. I haven’t read the first installment, but I plan to after finishing this one. It’s probably a good idea to read it before reading the second book, but a reader can glean enough information not to be completely lost. First, this is perfect for fans of female police officer series, which there seems to be a lot of these days. Secondly, the setting in New Mexico is just super. The author does a great job of making it easy to visualize the terrain. I loved all the scenes between Sun and Levi and found them to be very genuine. The characters are all likeable and interesting for the most part. The ending has a cliff hanger which makes me impatient for the next book to come out. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was hesitant to start this series, but intimately devoured both of the books published in a day.

In the Second Volume of the ongoing Sunshine Vikram series, Sunshine works to solve a case that has long haunted her, in addition to her own, but it just seems to be getting more and more complicated. Oh, yeah, and she also has a not-so-little bit of help from Levi Ravinder—her long time crush and love. Meanwhile, her fiery daughter Auri is working with her “potential boyfriend”, Cruz (her words) to unravel a cold case of her own—but she might just hit a few bumps in the road.
Pros:
- well written
- I really enjoyed Auri’s point of view, which was youthful and added a bit more spice
- The plot was well developed, and had some unexpected twists and turns that kept you in your toes
- There was some major character development for Auri and Cruz, which was much needed
- FUNNY—it is a comedy after all :)
Cons:
- The book is labeled as paranormal, but there’s really not much of that (aka I couldn’t detect any,but don’t want to sound rude), so while it was entertaining, the label was miss leading
- The ENDINGGG!!! I mean, what sort of horrible, terrible, cruel person (yet also a master wordsmith) would do this to the people who are emotionally invested in the lives of her fictional characters?! I mean, now we have to wait for the next one all over again…

Honesty, I don’t have much bad to say about this book, and I really enjoyed it.
Aka, it’s definitely a new favorite.

I liked this one a lot more than the first in this series. I did like the first, it was just a bit slow and didn't pack the same punch I'd gotten used to in the charley series. Anywho, this one felt like it was paced better, flowed a lot better. I feel like I know and love these characters now, and I KNEW I WAS RIGHT but I'm sure I'm not the only person who guessed that, lol.. the narration was fantastic, love this narrator, though i admit sometimes i get a little deja vu/confused because i think it's charley lol. but that's me, not her.

What a fantastic mystery, thrilling novel with a perfect narrator. I have to admit I have not read the previous book to this in the series, but I had no trouble reading this one as a stand alone. I really liked the strong female lead as well as a rural town setting. Two things I never think there are enough of in literature. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Oh this was a fun book! I didn't know that it was the second Sunshine book, but I was able to figure out this story anyway, it's pretty much a stand-alone in that respect. And having Lorelei King as the narrator -- there were times I'm sure heard some of the Stephanie Plum characters, but that was just fine. She's perfect for this type of story.

Sheriff Sunshine Vicram deals with all sorts of incidents, ranging from lost children, kidnappings, feisty raccoons, and even some vigilantism. Then there's her teenaged daughter who decides to investigate a local elderly lady, who she thinks is a serial killer, and who constantly escapes from her grandparent's house when she's supposed to be asleep. Then there is the Ravender family, the bad boys of the small New Mexico town. And gorgeous Levi Ravender is the main bad boy for Sun -- and lots of others in the area!

There is (are?) romance, mob ties, characters dealing with disturbing pasts, witty banter, secret alliances, friendships and more.. The narration really added to the tone and vibe of the story and definitely enhanced it. The voices were well-done and suited the characters quite nicely..

I gather that this story answers some of the questions that were left hanging at the end of A Bad Day For Sunshine, but it also leaves us with a few new ones that will hopefully be more resolved in the third book. Thank you NetGalley for an advance on this audiobook.

I made a bit of a reader faux pas and read this book before reading the first in the series OOPS but I still found myself able to follow along no problem. This was an entertaining, captivating story a la Stephanie Plum or Finlay Donovan and I enjoyed it immensely. All of the characters were great and I can't WAIT for the next in the series. The background story of Sunshine's past is all too intriguing and her role in her community will continue to entertain for years to come, I'm sure. Highly recommend for fans of light mystery with a past mystery to solve as well.

Very much enjoyed the audio narration!!

I reviewed the print copy of this book for Mystery Scene Magazine so please buy the August 15th issue to see the full review.
The audio version is a fantastic way to enjoy this super read and the narration is perfect