I have to preface this review by saying that this book was amazing! I initially received it as an advanced read offering from the publisher and downloaded it without a second thought and promptly forgot about it– hence my super late review. As I cruised through the pages today, completely unable to put it down, I could only shake my head in disbelief that it had gotten by me for so long…I laughed, I cried, turned pages as fast as I could, and when finished, I immediately hit up Amazon, hoping desperately that the second book had already been released – but alas, I have a few more months to wait! Darn it!!
Sunshine Vicram has returned to her hometown to begin her new job as elected Sheriff of Del Sol, New Mexico. Interestingly enough, she never applied for such a job, and has no idea how her parents not only engineered her application for the position and ran her campaign, let alone ensuring her victory. But none-the-less, she has returned to her roots, with her 14-year-old daughter Aurora, in tow and is preparing for her first day on the job.
Del Sol is a quirky little town, with an elderly flasher named Doug, an ongoing feud over a rooster named Puff Daddy and a woman who bakes muffins that foretell calamity and inspire dread whenever a fresh batch appears at the station. But Del Sol hasn’t always been this calm… Years ago, as a teenager, Sunshine was the victim of a kidnapping for ransom, and was inexplicably dropped off injured (and unbeknownst at the time pregnant), with no recollection of her ordeal, or the weeks preceding it and no clues as to her abductor.
Del Sol is also home to the Ravinders’, a bootlegging, moonshine making family that have been the bane of Sunshine’s existence since Hailey Ravinder tried to stab her with a pencil when she was three and stole her bicycle years later. Levi, Hailey’s brother, has always been a source of trepidation for Sunshine as well, even as she still can’t quite shake her teenaged crush on him.
Summer’s first day at the office starts off with a big batch of muffins, an accident, and the reports of a missing teen, which immediately brings Sunshine back into the cloudy memories of her abduction. Shortly thereafter, she receives a letter from the missing teen herself, thanking Sunshine for her daughters’ friendship if she’s killed –which details a premonition that she’s had as a child of her abduction. Determined to find her alive, and to learn the circumstances of her own fate all those years ago, Sunshine and her deputies begin to investigate.
Meanwhile Auri’s first day of school has been anything but mundane. Her new friend Sybil seems to have blown her off after promising to show her the ropes, and a recent party with a confiscated keg, has earned Auri the nickname ‘narc’, even though she didn’t say a word. Added to that, she’s earned the ire of a classmate, who seems out to get her. To make things worse, she’s assigned a project with the quietest kid in class, Cruz, whom she can’t quite figure out.
And so begins the adventures of Sunshine and Aurora and as they settle into their lives in Del Sol, New Mexico, where nothing is quite as it seems and yet the danger is quite real – and closer to them than they could possibly realize..
I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!
Tropical Delusions...... 