Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - A Bad Day for Sunshine

Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones

16 reviews

booklovinmamas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

The second I started listening to A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones, I knew I was going to have a hard time doing anything else. Darynda’s storytelling hooked me right from the start, and Lorelei King’s narration brought the story and characters to life in my ears, making me believe I was there with the characters as everything unfolded.

I’m a romance/fantasy reader most of the time, but there are times I crave a mystery/thriller that has me on the edge of my seat with the characters that are trying to solve cases. It also helps when the story has humor in it that has you laughing out loud and your husband giving you crazy eyes, wondering what can be so funny in a mystery book. A Bad Day for Sunshine was that book. If I had to stop listening to the book because I had to sleep, I was dreaming about it or thinking about it constantly.

I needed to know if Sheriff Sunshine Vicram was going to find the kidnapper who kidnapped Sybil, who happened to be around the same age as her daughter. The girl who was abducted premonitioned her kidnapping for years in her dreams, but no one believed her until it eventually happened, and now that is the first case that Sheriff Sunshine Vicram has to solve on her first day on the job. Sunshine’s daughter, Auri, knows the girl and wants to help her mom find her, but unfortunately is dealing with her own issues at school, with kids bullying her due to her mother being the Sheriff of their small town.

Poor Sunshine Vicram is having a busy few days at her new job as Sheriff, something she never signed up for, but she won during the election. I felt terrible for her, but she did have some fantastic deputies working for her, one of them being her best friend from school, who was assisting her in her new job. Sunshine isn’t only dealing with the kidnapping case but also having to figure out what happened to her when she was seventeen since she has no memory of her abduction. She only knows that it may involve the Ravinder family since they are part of an organized crime family.

I really enjoyed this book and wish I would have read it sooner. The mystery behind the case of the kidnapped girl and the whole dark past of the Ravinder family had me on the edge of my seat. The snarky humor that was in the book definitely kept me entertained, especially with how Sunshine handled things. I loved that her daughter had that same humor.

There is an emotional part in the book that had me in tears, and it involved Sunshine’s daughter and what she found out about what happened to her mother years ago. I won’t go into it because it’s a spoiler. Just be prepared to have tissues on hand, just in case.

There is a romantic subplot developing between Sunshine and her longtime crush, Levi Ravinder, but with his family’s dark past, she isn’t sure she can trust him. It’s obvious something is brewing between the two, and I need more of it. I also need answers to the truth of Sunshine’s abduction. I need more of this small town, Del Sol, New Mexico, and the characters, which means I’ll be borrowing the second book from my library.

If you enjoy a mystery with comedy and a suspenseful storyline with a great cast of characters, then this book needs to be added to your TBR.

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simplyinthemoment's review

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funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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recreated's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I really like Darynda Jones and her style books/writing. This book has multiple mysteries, lovable & diverse characters, and several LOL moments. It is somewhat suspenseful but not especially tense. I don't want the series to end.

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the_courtney_adventures's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Interesting but also weird and confusing. Several times I had to go back and reread things to try and follow everything. There are several plots going on at the same time. Honestly too many plots... But it was an interesting read most of the time.

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vj_thompson's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Love, love, love. This book was funny, filled with witty writing, and lovable characters. Sunshine reminded me of Lorelei Gilmore and that’s all I could picture. I’m glad I accidentally bought the third book in the series because now I can’t wait to continue.

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heyjamielake's review

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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gailo's review

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fast-paced

Diverse cast of characters? No

2.75

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ladydamonayde's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

hazelgirl21's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

_desreads's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Looking for a great summer read? Add this to your list! Sunshine Vicram is the new sherif of a small town in New Mexico. Her first day on the job includes some lighter fare like a town stripper and a runaway prize rooster, but what Sunshine isn’t expecting is to be faced with a missing person’s case. While the town starts a search for the 14 year old missing girl, she is quickly reminded of why she was hesitant to take this job in the first place as a past incident in her own life is strikingly similar to her current case to solve. Not to mention she keeps running into her old love interest and has her own 14 year old daughter to care for.

Jones dishes up a snarky, mysterious full of sass book that will be perfect for your summer TBR. I think the book cover PERFECTLY reflects the books (I love when that happens). There are a couple of spicy scenes with her old fame and a bit of language (so don’t have this on audio in the car with kids ;) ) but I loved this 1st novel in the Sunshine Vicram series. The next one, released last year, has an equally enticing title, A Good Day for Chardonnay.

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