Darynda Jones
April 7, 2020
St. Martin’s Press
Blurb: Del Sol, New Mexico is known for three things: its fry-an-egg-on-the-cement summers, strong cups of coffee—and, now, a nationwide manhunt? Del Sol native Sunshine Vicram has returned to town as the elected sheriff—thanks to her adorably meddlesome parents who nominated her—and she expects her biggest crime wave to involve an elderly flasher named Doug. But a teenage girl is missing, a kidnapper is on the loose, and all of this is reminding Sunshine why she left Del Sol in the first place. Add to that the trouble at her daughter’s new school, plus and a kidnapped prized rooster named Puff Daddy, and, well, the forecast looks anything but sunny.
But even clouds have their silver linings. This one’s got Levi, Sunshine’s sexy, almost-old-flame, and a fiery-hot US Marshal. With temperatures rising everywhere she turns, Del Sol’s normally cool-minded sheriff is finding herself knee-deep in drama and danger. Can Sunshine face the call of duty—and find the kidnapper who’s terrorizing her beloved hometown—without falling head over high heels in love…or worse?
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I don’t know about you, but I’ve been looking for diversions lately in this time of Coronavirus. Lessening my time on social media, finding other outlets, slowly turning back to books for an escape. Fortunately, Darynda Jones’ A Bad Day for Sunshine fits the bill of a wonderful escape from reality.
While I’ve loved and reviewed several of her Charley Davidson novels, I had to stop after awhile (although I intend to finish the series) for the mere reason that the humor became far too predictable after listening to them one after the other.
A Bad Day for Sunshine comes to me totally fresh, with a wonderful mother/daughter relationship between Sunshine Vicram and daughter Auri.
Sunshine’s first day as Sheriff in Del Sol is off the charts bad, reflecting the title of the book. Likewise, Auri’s first day at her new school is equally bad. We follow both of their stories throughout the novel.
While Darynda Jones is known for her supernatural stories, you’ll find only a hint of it here, mostly in the form of premonitions, which is fine. I am always happy to see writers expand their wings. Her sense of humor and gift for writing steamy scenes is intact. I loved the sensuality between Sunshine and Levi. And, the scenes with Auri and Cruz are swoon-worthy.
The story has lots of twists and turns that will keep the reader guessing. I found the book hard to put down, again, very welcome. I loved the humor, the loyalty of characters, the quirks. The swoon.
I look forward to reading more in this series. If you’re looking for a cozy mystery with lots of humor, swoon, suspense, and good feelings, try A Bad Day for Sunshine.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
rating:
4 butterflies and a ladybug out of 5 butterflies
I stopped her Charley Davidson series too, I got overall tired of the paranormal fantasy, but I agree, it became repetitive and predictable. But when I saw this new series being released I just had to give it a try. Although I struggled with the beginning fo A Bad Day of Sunshine, I ended up really enjoying it, and I can’t wait to read the next one. 😀
I remember the point that I stopped reading. She started naming furniture. At first it was cute and then it drove me insane. I liked the stories well enough but the overly cute, not quite as much. I am looking forward to this new series as well. Thanks! 🙂