Not the conclusion I expected—or wanted

Thank you to Darynda Jones and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Also thank you to Kejana Alaya for providing the ARC.

It’s about time. We could have had this book a year ago, but the publisher wanted to let us stew for a while. Marketing, scheduling, I don’t care why. Paired with Moonlight being delayed for over a year now, and toss in no progress updates on anything from Jones, except to further delay Moonlight, I got pretty salty. Graveside Bar and Grill was lackluster and hardly appeased my appetite.

So, was Hangover worth the wait?

Meh.



If you don't want anything spoiled, think twice about reading the rest of this review. Ye be warned.




I mean, it was fun. Jones’s books are always ostensibly fun because of all the humor. Beneath the humor, though, there were problems. Actually within the humor, too—the characters’ pathological need to make a joke out of everything wears thin when the reader is waiting for the plot to advance, for something besides banter to happen. Also a couple of the jokes were overused—"no idea why” (that really got annoying, especially when I started to mentally explain why to the character) as well as hearts bursting out of eyes, usually Auri’s.

Also, it was ironic (or spot-on?) to see this epigraph “If I’m ever murdered, feel comfort in knowing that I ran my mouth until the bitter end. – Journal Entry: Aurora Vicram” not long after she literally, stupidly, clichedly did just that: The perp was about to shoot her and asked if she had any last words. She couldn't resist being a smartass and said, “Duck?” and the perp was supposedly too busy puzzling over that to realize they were about to be bludgeoned and incapacitated. I hated that. Not because Auri survived, that was great, but because she alerted them to the attack. Why in god’s name would you do that? What if the perp actually did duck? If she’d said something random, like, “Did you know fruit are plant ovaries?” just to throw the perp off, I wouldn’t have been so irritated, but she really should have just kept. Her mouth. Shut.

Okay. *relieved sigh* With that off my chest, let’s move on.

Randi – It was nice to see Jones didn’t forget about Randi, but I don’t believe she explained why the department had a live-in raccoon (I don’t remember from previous books), and I don’t believe we were given closure on Randi, either. Did the coon continue to stay at the station? Did they release it into the wild? Take it to a wildlife rehab facility?

Doug – I could have missed something in the end, but I don’t remember closing the book on Doug, either. They figured out what happened—which was ridiculously convoluted—but nothing was done about him.

Wanda – Why did she need to be Cruz’s long-lost grandmother? Why did he need to discover biological ties? What was wrong with him having a family in Auri’s family and the town? It totally undercut what she said to him. I did not like that development. What was the point? What did the story, the characters gain?

DD&SS – We didn’t come full circle on this at all. A conflict was presented and never revisited. Sun and her parents came to an understanding, but that was all.

We only saw Hailey once, never saw Jimmy. And hey, never got closure on Quincy and Hailey. Did they go all the way? Did they get an HEA? Was her shop successful?

There was a sad lack of Levi and Cruz (and sign language, come to think of it). Cruz didn’t really have anything to do this time around other than be Auri’s love interest, so lack of him was understandable, but the lack of Levi was kinda weird. This book was supposed to be the culmination of his and Sun’s intense will-they-won’t-they romance, and it was an afterthought. Oh yeah, that mystery that was super important to the overarching plot and Sun’s character, the one that the first two books revolved around? Apparently it was all solved in book two. Levi pouted off-screen for the first half of this one, then he and Sun finally sat down and talked for five minutes, and voila, happy family. All that was left was to fill in Auri and her parents (Quincy seemed to already know?). Their overall reaction? “Cool, let’s plan the wedding.” Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to see Levi and Sun finally get together and live HEA, but that whole plot thread was incredibly anticlimactic.

As to the main plot—where was it? Clay was supposed to be the big bad, there was supposed to be a mafia, it was supposed to be this big showdown between Levi and his last remaining evil uncle. Never happened. That got shoved completely off stage by a plot featuring someone else. The climax was quite topical, as it was adjacent to a school shooting—trigger warning—and it was also very intense, best part of the damn book, but . . . I wanted a Ravinder showdown.

And the “main” plot, the one that shoved Clay’s aside, was kind of pathetic. Screw Sun, Auri did most of the investigating while Sun ran her ass off dealing with all those superfluous subplots. Tying in the other victims was cool, as was calling in the dogs to find the other body, but aside from that it was mostly Auri digging through socials on her phone. I’m sure social media introduced a whole new and valuable way to investigate crimes, but the process isn’t very exciting to read about. We never even spoke to the victim who kicked it all off, we never saw her regain consciousness. How did things turn out for her?

I could whine about wanting an epilogue, but it seems silly to ask for an epilogue considering all the loose ends.

Overall, I’m disappointed, and I’m so, so sad to give a bad review. For years now I’ve observed that Jones has a serious problem with throwing in too many subplots and not paying due diligence to the story elements that matter most. She makes a mess of a cake, then ices it with humor. It’s so frustrating, because you can tell she’s got major writing talent. She just needs help focusing the story. A developmental editor—or a better one—is badly needed.

I have no idea what’s next for Jones, and right this moment I’m having trouble caring. I’m very, very scared for Beep’s trilogy.

P.S. – I can’t get over that the publisher wants this to be a holiday release. The book has nothing to do with the holidays. At all. It’s set at the end of the school year. It’s very much a spring/summer read.

P.P.S. – Auri says Grandma has a book series about a female grim reaper who’s in love with the son of [Satan]. Yeah, haha, cute—but wait, in the first book didn’t Sunshine talk to some guy in a bar who implied that Charley was alive in Sunshine’s universe? Now she’s just a book series? I’m confused.

P.P.P.S. – If Auri was alerted to something going on at her house by the fact that the light was on in the kitchen and she recognized Grandpa through the window, how could Grandpa have been “cast in shadows” once Auri arrived? I don’t think it’s necessarily a continuity issue, it just doesn’t make sense as described.

P.P.P.P.S. – I loved the shit out of Grandpa.

OMG this series is amazing! From the names to the characters and the story line… it just sucks you in. I also love the covers on this series and the titles… so much fun!

What did I like? Sunshine is such a great character and pretty much dominated the first two books. I think in this book …Auri steals the show. The book picks up where it left off last time and we are swept away as another mystery unravels. I just love the entire cast of characters and the situations they face. It’s just an all around great time and a happy ending!

Would I recommend or buy? I met this author at Bookbonanza and not only does she write amazing books but she gives some really great swag! If you ever get a chance for a meet and greet, it’s an inspiring thing to meet someone who can write a fantastic story! I have a few books of hers on my shelf and I’m definitely adding this one. If you loved the first two then you will love this next installment of Sunshine’s life. Five huge stars!

I received a complimentary copy from St. Martin’s Press and voluntarily left this opinion! Fantastic book!

Intrigue, romance and humor in a great story line
I waited impatiently for this second in a series.
Ms. Jone’s characters and scenarios are flawless, as is her delivery of the bits of humor interspersed throughout. Sunshine and Levi’s romantic history unfolds further and progresses. There is a sexy scene or two. Her daughter Aurie is more than a typical teenager and the family interaction is well plotted out.
Set in a quirky town, the action scenes are exciting to read and evoke clear pictures in the reader’s eye, with a few twists and turns.
I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys an exciting with bits of mystery..
I was delighted to see the ARC listed on NetGalley and requested immediately. I hope this is a long series. My opinions are my own and offered freely

This has been one of my favourite series over the past couple of years. I'm constantly displaying and recommending the first two books, and I know I'll do the same with this one when it comes out.

I loved this book. The characters are great. It has lots of action, especially the ending. I love that Sunshine and Levi gets together finally. #AHardDayforaHangover #NetGalley

The Sunshine Vicram books are just so readable. I love the characters and the storyline. It's been a little while since I read the second novel but I caught back on pretty quickly (and it helps that this one takes place right after the second novel). I'd love to see more of these characters again - maybe Auri will get a series?

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing group in exchange for an honest review.

Ok. So m, I normally don’t do this but I have to break this into Love, And Not so Much.

Before I do this. I have to say that, I have loved this series so much. Maybe this has biased me and I just want more (truth). So. Here it goes.

What I loved:
Chapter 15. Oh how I loved you chapter 15. You were the Culmination of the first two books and I was so happy to read you.

The standard Gilmore girls style banter with hilarity in droves. (This is just Darynda all the way).

And the caper on Redding. Oh yes. He gets his in the end.

What I was less then happy about.

Clay Ravender gets his come uppance, but it really should have been another book. Again, I might be biased because I love this series and want more, but really this part was rushed.

All in all: I loved it, but I really hope for a Novella, or a 1001 nights for some kind of epilogue.

I am a huge Darynda Jones fan! I first stumbled upon her when I received an ARC of A Bad Day for Sunshine, and I was hooked. I love the her witty, fast talking characters, and all of her books are just so comforting to me. After reading the first two books in the Sunshine Vicram series, I went on to binge read her Charley Davidson series and the Betwixt & Between series last summer and I cannot get enough of her books.

With that said, Sunshine Vicram is back in Jones’ newest upcoming release A Hard Day for a Hangover. This story picks up days after the events of A Good Day for Chardonnay (book #2). When a young woman is found barely alive on a cliff, Sunshine and her team begin investigating not just this girl’s assault but also a few cold cases that have gone under the radar until now. To add on to Suns’ plate is her relationship status with Levi is coming to a head. After dropping some major information on Levi, at the end of the last book, Sun isn’t sure where they stand or even how Levi feels about said information. But that doesn’t stop her from trying to protect him when his life seems to be in danger.

I think this book answers a ton of lingering questions the other two have left unanswered, I actually like this one least. It has a solid plot with just the right amount of tension and humor. And while I still really enjoyed it, I felt that it wasn’t long enough and the ending was a bit rushed. I know these are lighter mysteries but it just wrapped up to perfectly and left little for me to mull over in the coming months.

The characters are all still great, though Auri still is completely unbelievable with the amount of shenanigans she gets into. But at least in this book, unlike book #2, she’s a bit more toned down and has some moments of clarity. I didn’t feel the romantic tension/chemistry between Levi and Sun near as much in this book. I wish there would have been more from them, and also from Quincy’s side as well. Overall I still love the cast of characters and definitely want to visit Del Sol.

I’ll reiterate that this is a great series for Gilmore Girl fans. The relationship between Sun and her daughter Auri mirrors the Rory/Lorelai relationship and wit. If you want a solid detective mystery, that has humor and a little romance, than you’ll love this series. Even though I’m grateful to have received an ARC, I’m now sad that I have to wait another longgg year for the next installment.

TW: assault (both sexual and non-sexual)

A Hard Day for a Hangover comes out December 6, 2022! Huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books.