New Releases ~ week of 07/11/2016

Among the Wicked by Linda Castillo (#8 Kate Burkholder)

An Author's Odyssey by Chris Colfer (#5 Land of Stories)
Clash of Empires by Brian Falkner (#2 Battlesaurus)
Blow Down by JL Merrow (#4 Plumber's Mate)
Born of Magic  by Missy Jane (#2 Gargoyle Masters)
Buried and Shadowed by Alexandra Ivy, Carrie Ann Ryan (#3 Branded Packs)
Cream by Alice Clayton (#2 Hudson Valley)
Dangerous Protector by Katie Reus (#14 Red Stone Security)
Dark Road Home by Anna Carlisle (#1 Gin Sullivan Mystery)
Daughters of the Bride by Susan Mallery (#1 Los Lobos)
Fatal Headwind by Leena Lehtolainen (#6 Maria Kallio)
Graveyard of the Hesperides by Lindsey Davis (#4 Flavia Albia Mystery)

His to Protect by Stacey Lynn (#2 Fireside)
Hottest Mess by J. Kenner (#2 Dirtiest)
Hound's Bite by E J Stevens (#5 Ivy Granger, Psychic Detective)
Life Debt by Chuck Wendig (#2 Star Wars: Aftermath)
Masks by Robert J. Crane (#9 Out of the Box)
Most Curious Murder by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli (#1 Little Library Mystery)
Murder.com by Haughton Murphy (#8 Reuben Frost)
My Name is Milena Rokva by T.A. Maclagan (#2 Alexandra Gastone)
Necessity by Jo Walton (#3 Thessaly series)
Out of Time by Noelle Stevenson (#4 Lumberjanes)
Outlaw by K. Eason (#2 On the Bones of Gods)
Rampage by John Sandford (#3 Singular Menace)

Rebel Magisters by Shanna Swendson (#2 Rebel Mechanics)
Red Queen by Christina Henry (#2 The Chronicles of Alice)
Rookie of the Year by Phil Bildner (#2 Rip and Red)
Salvation Lake by G M Ford (#9 Leo Waterman)
Savage Seduction by Ellis Leigh (#3 Dire Wolves Series)
Shiny Broken Pieces by Sona Charaipotra, Dhonielle Clayton (#2 Tiny Pretty Things)
Steadfast by Sarina Bowen (#2 True North)
Super Famous by G. Willow Wilson (#5 Ms Marvel)
The Black Widow by Daniel Silva (#16 The Gabriel Allon Series)
The Crimson Skew by S. E. Grove (#3 Mapmakers Trilogy)
The Innocents by Ace Atkins (#6 Quinn Colson)

The Loyal Heart by Shelley Shepard Gray (#1 Lone Star Hero's)
The Scars of Her Dragon by Julia Mills (#14 Dragon Guards)
The Shadow Hour by Melissa Grey (#2 The Girl at Midnight)
The Shortcoming by Shay Savage (#4 Unexpected Circumstances)
The Staff and the Blade by Elizabeth Hunter (#4 Irin Chronicles)
Time Siege by Wesley Chu (#2 Time Salvager)
Vita Brevis by Ruth Downie (#7 Medicus Investigation)
Witchdependence Day by Amanda M. Lee (#8.5 Wicked Witches of the Midwest Mysteries)
Wolf Lake by John Verdon (#5 Dave Gurney)

Product Review ~ #ZZZQuil VoxBox from @Influenster

** Received this #ZzzQuil voxbox (#SleepLovers, #ad) from Influenster (website), In exchange for an honest review of the product.

My Thoughts: I guess it would depend what you need it for to decide whether or not it works. My biggest sleep problem is getting my brain to shut off long enough for me to fall asleep. Even when I'm exhausted I still have trouble getting to sleep.
The ZzzQuil pills did not fully help with this. It did not take me as long to fall asleep but it took longer than 30 minutes. Which for me, while shorter than usual, is still too long.
I will say, once I fell asleep I stayed that way until morning. I also did not feel groggy or have trouble waking up in the morning.
Overall, for me, I wouldn't use this since it did not help with my particular problem but for someone who has trouble staying asleep it may be a better fit.

Rating: 3

This Week's Reads

*I feel like I accomplished a lot, reading wise, last week. I finished two of the books I picked up and started the third.

The Field Guide to Sports Metaphors by Josh Chetwynd
(Goodreads)
**Received this from Blogging for Books (website). We are a big sports family as well as a big trivia family. This book falls into both categories.

Love, Lies and Spies by Cindy Anstey
(Goodreads)
**This was a risky pick for me. I enjoy historical fiction but do not like classics. It's called a homage to Jane Austen that has me worried but the few pages I've read so far I liked.

The Tears of the Rose by Jeffe Kennedy
The Twelve Kingdoms #2 (Goodreads)
**Ami wasn't my favorite character from the first book, she seemed very frivolous princessy. I'm interested to see how she changes (if she changes) in her own book.

New Releases ~ week of 07/04/2016

A Beauty Refined by Tracie Peterson (#2 Sapphire Brides)

A Dark and Stormy Murder by Julia Buckley (#1 A Writer's Apprentice Mystery)
A Toxic Trousseau by Juliet Blackwell (#9 Witchcraft Mystery)
All Waiting Is Long by Barbara J Taylor (#2 Morgan Sisters)
Alliance of Equals by Sharon Lee (#19 Liaden Universe)
Always My Girl by Samantha Chase (#3 Shaughnessy Brothers)
As Death Draws Near by Anna Lee Huber (#5 Lady Darby)
Autumn's Wish by Bella Thorne (#3 Autumn Falls)
Beyond the Woods: Fairy Tales Retold by various authors (anthology)
Billionaire in Wolf's Clothing by Terry Spear (#20 Heart of the Wolf)
Black River Falls by Jeff Hirsch
Colton Cowboy Hideout by Carla Cassidy (#7 Coltons of Texas)

Danger Woman by Frederick Ramsay (#3 Botswana Mystery)
Defending Taylor by Miranda Kenneally (#7 Hundred Oaks)
Devil and the Deep by Julie Ann Walker (#2 Deep Six)
Dressed to Kilt by Hannah Reed (#3 Scottish Highlands Mystery)
Falling in Deeper by Shayla Black (#11 Wicked Lovers)
Flameout by Keri Arthur (Souls of Fire #3)
Gone With the Wool by Betty Hechtman (#4 Yarn Retreat Mystery)
House Revenge by Mike Lawson (#11 Joe De Marco)
Into the Blue by Chanel Cleeton (#2 Wild Aces)
Learning to Ride by Erin Knightley (#10 BookShots)
Let the Devil Out by Bill Loehfelm (#4 Maureen Coughlin)

Little Girl Gone by Gerry Schmitt (#1 Afton Tangler Thriller)
Lowcountry Book Club by Susan M. Boyer (#5 Liz Talbot Mysteries)
Midnight Crossing by Tricia Fields (#5 Josie Gray Mystery)
No Good to Cry by Andrew Lanh (#3 Rick Van Lam)
Once Upon A Moonlit Night by Elizabeth Hoyt (#1 Maiden Lane Novella)
Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine (#2 Great Library)
Read to Death by Terrie Farley Moran (#3 Read 'Em and Eat Mystery)
Reclaim by Beth Yarnall (#3 Recovered Innocence)
Remembering Everly by J. L. Berg (#2 Lost & Found)
Resist by Ilima Todd (#2 Remake)
Someone Always Knows by Marcia Muller (#34 Sharon McCone)
The Curse of the Were-Hyena by Bruce Hale (#1 Monstertown Mystery)
The Devil's Evidence by Simon Kurt Unsworth (#2 Thomas Fool)

The Dinosaur Knights by Victor Milan (#2 The Dinosaur Lords)
The Harrows of Spring by James Howard Kunstler (#4 World Made by Hand)
The Merciless II: The Exorcism of Sofia Flores by Danielle Vega (#2 The Merciless)
The Seventh Element by Wendy Mass (#6 Voyagers)
The Traveler by David Lynn Golemon (#11 Event Group Adventure)
The Trial by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro (#15.5 in Women's Murder Club)
The Virgin and the Viscount by Charis Michaels (#2 The Bachelor Lords of London)
The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan (#1 The Draconis Memoria)

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab (#1 Monsters of Verity)
Threading the Needle by Joshua Palmatier (#2 Erenthrall)
Toasting Up Trouble by Linda Wiken (#1 A Dinner Club Mystery)
Wrong Place, Right Time by Elle Casey (#2 The Bourbon Street Boys)

Happy 4th of July

SUSAN BRACK ART SHOP
(Esty)

4th of July Fun Facts

• In a bizarre, though perhaps apt, twist of fate, both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4, 1826. 
• "Americans began observing the Fourth of July as early as 1777, when the first-ever major celebration in Philadelphia included a parade, a thirteen-shot cannon salute and fireworks, but Congress didn’t make it official until 1870, when it was part of a bill passed to recognize major state holidays at a federal level -- like Independence Day, Christmas and New Year’s Day," according to TIME magazine.
• July Fourth is the "biggest hot dog holiday of the year," according to TIME magazine, with Americans reportedly consuming about 155 million of them on Independence Day alone. 
• The stars on the original American flag were in a circle so all the Colonies would appear equal.
• The most common patriotic-sounding word used within place names is “union” with 136. Pennsylvania, with 33, has more of these places than any other state. Other words most commonly used in place names are Washington (127), Franklin (118), Jackson (96) and Lincoln (95).