A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones

Available Now!

CW: sexual assault, murder, child abduction, and death of a parent.

Reader Friends, I cannot express to you how much I love this author. I fell in love with the snark, sarcasm, and witty banter during the Charley Davidson series and stayed for the steaming hot spiciness that is the Charley and Reyes Farrow relationship. All of that deliciousness was brought back for her latest mystery series centered around Sheriff Sunshine Vicram. A Good Day For Chardonnay is book two in the series and you really should read the series in order to fully appreciate it. That said, if you haven’t read book one, start with A Bad Day for Sunshine and then meet me back here.

Between shaking off annoying suitors set up by her parents, a rascally raccoon named Randy who is terrorizing the police force, and a daughter intent on solving the murders seemingly committed by a local serial killer, Sheriff Sunshine Vicram is a bit busy. Oh, don’t forget the bar fight that nearly kills the love of her life and possibly leads to clues in a years old kidnapping case. Wait, there’s also the prisoner who claims to know what truly happened that day, years ago, when Sunshine herself was kidnapped and the true identity of her daughter’s father.

It’s a lot to take in and in true Sunshine fashion, she stumbles through it all with gallons of coffee, several glasses of chardonnay, and with the help of her loyal friends and family who she would gladly die for. Really, I think she has a t-shirt that says so.

I thoroughly enjoyed this second installment of the Sunshine Vicram mystery series. In classic Darynda Jones fashion, A Good Day for Chardonnay tackles intense crimes such as kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder with the perfect amount of levity to keep the story from going too dark. Her characters are incredibly relatable and human and you can feel the pressures they face as they try to solve crimes, raise children, and just live in the world. Sunshine is still trying to regain her memories of the time she was kidnapped at 17 and the identity of the person who rescued her. The complexity of her feelings over not remembering that experience, wanting to move on with her life and pursue a relationship with Levi, and protect her daughter from the trauma of learning she may be the child of rape really influences so many of her decisions. You can feel her frustration in wanting to move on with her life but not feeling like she can trust her judgement. But because Sunshine is a true badass, she manages to deal with all of that emotional stress while also solving major crimes and I love that Jones creates such powerful and complex female characters. One of my favorite parts of this series, and Jones’ writing, is the friendships found within the books. Sunshine and Quincy are absolute ride-or-die and their interactions made me jealous of not being in their group text.

A Good Day for Chardonnay is hilarious, heartfelt, and a delightfully witty tale of friendship, loyalty, and the lengths people will go to find justice for those they love. I cannot recommend this series enough and if you would like to dive into this amazing series, you can find ordering information here:

This post contains affiliate links and I may earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.