For some reason i thought i read this back in high school or college, but then i didnt remember any of it, and i looked at the publication date and realized it wasnt even written when i was that young, so i guess i did not. i doubt i could have forgotten this book. it was great! this book is set in the near future, after some bad wars that killed a great bunch of the population, yet, it's not futuristic at all. life is pretty normal. the main character, rae (nicknamed sunshine) is a baker at her stepdad's coffeeshop/restaurant, where her whole family works, even her boyfriend. but one day something bad happens, and she realizes she has powers, and she gets entanged into a whole vampire feud thing. Despite the name, and sun having lots of power in this book, it's quite dark. but not in an oppressive way. also, the vampires aren't dumb sparkly things. they're vampiric, in a very other type of way. even her associate, Con. i like how he wasn't too human. Yes, there is a lot of description. there always is in mckinley's books, that's one thing i love about them. lots of words, but they don't bore me like some other authors words do. yes, it gets very into baking, the way that her second beauty adaptation book got so into rose gardening. i love tangents like that. the worst thing about this book is that the end sets you up for at the very least a sequel, if not a whole series. but there is no sequel. none. i so need a sequel!! also, some of the descriptions of this book say it's for fans of laurell k hamilton's series, and i can see that. i can see a lot of anita blake in rae/sunshine. don't worry, there are no extensive sex scenes in this book like the ludicrously frequent ones that happen every 2 seconds in hamilton's books. anyway, i loved Sunshine. i loved the writing, the story, the characters, the idea, the texture. great book!