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A review by bickleyhouse
A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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? Yes
5.0
The second installment in the saga of Sunshine Vicram does not disappoint! Darynda Jones's sense of humor runs amok in this book. I swear I giggled at least once on every single page of this book. Okay, maybe not every page. There were a few where there may have been gasps of dismay/horror over something serious that was happening. Because Ms. Jones is excellent at mixing the things.
This tome has several different plots running at the same time, which definitely keeps it interesting. We begin with Sunshine on a blind date, set up by her parents. A guy named Carver. Is this his last name? First name? We don't know, and I'm not sure we ever find out, because he is never referred to as anything but Carver (I could be wrong about that). Then there is the raccoon, that they call Randy. The one they try to keep as a "pet" in the station.
Then we have a stabbing outside of a local bar, which is owned by the Ravinder family. The man who is stabbed and critically injured is a good friend of Levi Ravinder, for whom Sunshine has the serious hots. Levi, in trying to defend Keith (the stabbee), gets himself injured, but also critically/fatally injures one of the attackers. At first, there are no clues as to the motive in this attack, but as the investigation ensues, it turns out to be connected to a cold missing persons case that Sunshine had never been able to solve.
Then there's the case of Auri (Sunshine's daughter, Aurora), who is convinced that Mrs. Fairborn is a serial killer, and sets out to prove this. Mrs. Fairborn is at least eighty years old, I believe. This plot is adorable and hilarious, but gets very serious as it winds to a conclusion.
I can't even really decide which one of the plots is the "main" plot, because they all seem to get an equal amount of attention.
I simply love Darynda Jones's writing! I read all of the Charley Davidson novels (there may be a short story or two that I have not managed to read), loved them all, and am equally enthralled with this series, even though there is nothing whatsoever supernatural about this one. Her characters are easily lovable (except for the bad guys, of course), and I can't overemphasize the humor. It is so much fun to read a Darynda Jones book.
I will say that, toward the end of this one, it gets very "spicy," if you catch my drift. That aspect makes it borderline romance, but not quite. And I don't mind spicy.
Oh. And on page 138, Ruby Moore brings muffins. If you read the first book, you know what that means!
I know that our library already has the next installment, which, I believe, is called A Hard Day for A Hangover. I will be reading that soon.
As soon as I finish the other six library books I have checked out.
This tome has several different plots running at the same time, which definitely keeps it interesting. We begin with Sunshine on a blind date, set up by her parents. A guy named Carver. Is this his last name? First name? We don't know, and I'm not sure we ever find out, because he is never referred to as anything but Carver (I could be wrong about that). Then there is the raccoon, that they call Randy. The one they try to keep as a "pet" in the station.
Then we have a stabbing outside of a local bar, which is owned by the Ravinder family. The man who is stabbed and critically injured is a good friend of Levi Ravinder, for whom Sunshine has the serious hots. Levi, in trying to defend Keith (the stabbee), gets himself injured, but also critically/fatally injures one of the attackers. At first, there are no clues as to the motive in this attack, but as the investigation ensues, it turns out to be connected to a cold missing persons case that Sunshine had never been able to solve.
Then there's the case of Auri (Sunshine's daughter, Aurora), who is convinced that Mrs. Fairborn is a serial killer, and sets out to prove this. Mrs. Fairborn is at least eighty years old, I believe. This plot is adorable and hilarious, but gets very serious as it winds to a conclusion.
I can't even really decide which one of the plots is the "main" plot, because they all seem to get an equal amount of attention.
I simply love Darynda Jones's writing! I read all of the Charley Davidson novels (there may be a short story or two that I have not managed to read), loved them all, and am equally enthralled with this series, even though there is nothing whatsoever supernatural about this one. Her characters are easily lovable (except for the bad guys, of course), and I can't overemphasize the humor. It is so much fun to read a Darynda Jones book.
I will say that, toward the end of this one, it gets very "spicy," if you catch my drift. That aspect makes it borderline romance, but not quite. And I don't mind spicy.
Oh. And on page 138, Ruby Moore brings muffins. If you read the first book, you know what that means!
I know that our library already has the next installment, which, I believe, is called A Hard Day for A Hangover. I will be reading that soon.
As soon as I finish the other six library books I have checked out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content