A Good Day for Chardonnay: A Novel

I love absolutely every quirky, fun, and bizarre character in Del Sol. This is the type of place I wish I had grown up in. Seeing as that opportunity is long past, and it being fictional making it an impossibility to begin with, I’m enjoying the heck out of meeting the current residents of the town, namely those that are in Sheriff Vicram’s orbit. Sun continues to win me over in every way. Her wacky sense of humor is a perfect fit for me. It’s fun and light hearted without being stupid or immature and never at the cost of another person’s feelings. She is by far one of the greatest heroines of all time. Wish I had her as a role model for parenting back in the day when I needed someone to lead me. Lol. The romance takes a backseat, but anytime Levi is in the scene, things absolutely sizzle with excitement and expectation. I find myself drooling each time they have any quality time together as it’s pretty obvious they’ve got some serious heat going on between them. Add in the beautiful relationship between Auri and Cruz and the fact that this is relatively light on romance suddenly doesn’t feel like it’s lacking anything. While this has a woozy of a cliffhanger, it actually wraps up a few mysteries. Each one is just as thrilling and satisfying as any of the others. However, we are still left with so many questions regarding details of Sun’s abduction when she was younger. I’m anxious to learn it all even as I’m fascinated by each new thing that’s revealed.

A GOOD DAY FOR CHARDONNAY is the second instalment in Darynda Jones’ contemporary, adult SUNSHINE VICRAM mystery, suspense, and of-times humorous series focusing on thirty-three year old, Sheriff Sunshine Blaze Vicram and her fifteen year old daughter Aurora ‘Auri’. A GOOD DAY FOR CHARDONNAY can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order for backstory and cohesion as there is an ongoing premise throughout. Told from dual third person perspective (Sunshine and Auri) A GOOD DAY FOR CHARDONNAY follows several paths including Del Sol, New Mexico sheriff Sunshine Vicram in the wake of a vicious stabbing, and hit and run at a local bar that left too many questions for our story line heroine. With the stabbing victim in the hospital, and his injured friend and Sunshine’s love interest Levi Ravinder on the hunt for the people responsible, Sunshine and her team of police investigators begin a search for the truth. Meanwhile, believing her eighty year old neighbor Mrs. Fairborn is a serial killer, Sunshine’s daughter Auri, along with her friends Cruz and Sybil, begin an investigation of their own, only to place themselves in the direct line of fire. As Sunshine continues to search for Levi Ravinder, and the truth about what happened and why, secrets and lies are revealed pulling Sunshine into the past when her life spiralled out of control. A prisoner serving a life sentence for murder wants to come home but his story begins to contradict everything Sunshine thought to be true. The world building continues to focus on the abduction, fifteen years earlier, of our story line heroine Sunshine Vicram, and the aftermath that would change her life forever. Without any solid evidence as to the who, how and why, Sunshine’s memories of that fateful time slowly begin to reveal a heart breaking connection, and the possibility that what she believes isn’t even close to the truth. The colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters include Levi Ravinder, his sister Hailey, and their uncle Wynn; Sunshine’s parents Cyrus and Elaine Freyr: Sunshine’s best friend and fellow law enforcement officer Chief Deputy Quincy Cooper; fellow law enforcement Poetry Rojas, Deputies Zee and Salazar; Auri’s besties Cruz De los Santos, and Sybil St. Aubin; as well as Keith Seabright, a mercenary for hire. The requisite evil has many faces. A GOOD DAY FOR CHARDONNAY and the SUNSHINE VICRAM series reads similarly to the author’s Charley Davidson series- a best friend, a love interest who remains secretive and aloof, a great team of supporting friends and characters, a couple of teens who begin a series of investigations, and the snark, sarcasm, humor, giggles and laughs that add a little bit of ‘Sunshine’ into your life ;) A GOOD FOR CHARDONNAY is a detailed and complex story of family, betrayal, secrets, greed, murder and love with spirited characters, a tragic back story, and a heart warming and twisted love affair that has been buried by secrets and lies.

Oh! My! Word! Darynda Jones does it to me every time! A Good Day for Chardonnay is excellent, awesome, and FUN! From hilarious to heart-wrenching, the second novel in the Sunshine Vicram series reaches deep inside me to pull out the laughter that has been in hiding much of the last year and touches my heart with love for these awesome characters. It is not essential to read A Bad Day for Sunshine first, but it does help build a stronger feel for the characters so if it is easy, do it but don't let the need to read the first book keep you from reading A Good Day for Chardonnay soon. You will catch up with not difficulty. Ms. Jones includes arcing storyline but they are not big cliffhangers and the ones from the first book tied up in this one. I was THRILLED to get that magic approval to read the ARC of A Good Day for Chardonnay via NetGalley; it made my week! I started telling my friends about how much I enjoyed the book from the first chapters. Some things are so good they just have to be shared immediately, no spoilers of course! My Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and especially the amazing Darynda Jones for giving me the opportunity to read A Good Day for Chardonnay early! #NetGalley #Darynda Jones #AGoodDayforChardonnay #StMartinsPress