ARC Review: A Hard Day for a Hangover by Darynda Jones

A Hard Day for a Hangover
Author: Darynda Jones
Series: Sunshine Vicram (Book 3)
Publication: St. Martin's Press (December 6, 2022)

Description: A Hard Day for a Hangover is another humorous installment in Darynda Jones's wine mystery series deemed: "Laugh-out-loud funny, intensely suspenseful, page-turning fun." ― New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan

Some people greet the day with open arms. Sheriff Sunshine Vicram would rather give it a hearty shove and get back into bed, because there’s just too much going on right now. There’s a series of women going missing, and Sunny feels powerless to stop it. There’s her persistent and awesomely-rebellious daughter Auri, who’s out to singlehandedly become Del Sol’s youngest and fiercest investigator. And then there’s drama with Levi Ravinder―the guy she’s loved and lusted after for years. The guy who might just be her one and only. The guy who comes from a family of disingenuous vipers looking to oust him―and Sunshine―for good.

Like we said, the new day can take a hike.

The blockbuster conclusion to the bestselling Sunshine Vicram trilogy, A Hard Day for a Hangover will have readers laughing and cheering to the very last page.

My Thoughts: I don't know how Darynda Jones does it. This is a laugh-so-hard-tears-blur-your-vision thriller which combines humor and nail-biting suspense. 

Sunshine Vicram is the sheriff of tiny Del Sol, New Mexico, but tiny certainly doesn't mean crime-free. Between the local flasher and someone "disappearing" young women and a family rivalry that wants Sun's long-time love dead, she has a lot to do. 

I love the relationship between Sun and her fifteen-year-old precocious daughter Auri who really wants to be as great an investigator as her mother and often finds herself in deadly danger. I liked the romances too between Auri and Cruz and between Sun and Levi Ravinder - the man she's loved since pre-school.

The dialog is wonderfully done. It's packed with humor and always entertaining. The quotes at the start of each chapter almost always made me chuckle even though the chapter contents might have not been at all humorous as the danger grew.

Fans of humor and thrillers will really enjoy this series. This is the third book, but the first two are equally engaging. 

Favorite Quote:

"I still think it should be about a group of older women who go around killing murderers and rapists and people who talk in theaters, and the hot FBI agent who hunts them down. One-by-one. And arrests them. With handcuffs." Her expression turned dreamy, and Sun rubbed her forehead again to hide her grin.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.