Blog Tour: DIVORCE BY GRAND CANYON by Elizabeth Engstrom

Divorce By Grand Canyon: 8 Riveting True Crime Stories 

by Elizabeth Engstrom 

Genre: Crime Thriller, Suspense

Christian Longo. 

Jeremy Bryan Jones. 

Joel Patrick Courtney. 

Patrick Wayne Kearney. 

Russell Obremski. 

Robert Spangler. 

Gabriel Morris. 

Killers all. 

Veteran author Elizabeth Engstrom dives into the horrific stories of these seven serial killers, along with a glimpse into the maggoty world of forensic entomology. Why do these killers do what they do, how do they get away with it for so long, and what is their final undoing? Riveting true crime stories to make you lock your doors at night. 

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My review: First off, I love the cover illustration! Who hasn’t thought of pushing someone off a cliff? That’s one way to get rid of someone.

In a nutshell, these are crime tales (from the looks of it, they seemed to be based on actual events, but I’m not too sure.) Stories are not really told in a narrative sequence as traditionally seen; they read more like case files, which was less amusing. However, the writing was pretty good and the cases can be entertaining to readers of crime thrillers.

My rating: 3 stars

Elizabeth (Liz) Engstrom grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois (a Chicago suburb where she lived with her father) and Kaysville, Utah (north of Salt Lake City, where she lived with her mother). After graduating from high school in Illinois, she ventured west in a serious search for acceptable weather, eventually settling in Honolulu. She attended college and worked as an advertising copywriter. 

After eight years on Oahu, she moved to Maui, found a business partner and opened an advertising agency. One husband, two children and five years later, she sold the agency to her partner and had enough seed money to try her hand at full time fiction writing, her lifelong dream. With the help of her mentor, science fiction great Theodore Sturgeon, When Darkness Loves Us was published. 

Engstrom moved to Eugene, Oregon in 1986, where she lives with her husband Al Cratty, the legendary muskie fisherman, and their Duck Tolling Retriever, Jook. Liz holds a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing and a Master of Arts in Applied Theology, both from Marylhurst University. A recluse at heart, she still emerges into public occasionally to speak at a writers conference, or to teach a class on various aspects of writing the novel, essay, article or short story. An avid knitter and gardener, she is on faculty at the University of Phoenix and is always working on the next book. 

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Review: SEX AND LOVE by I.J. Miller

While in bed with his knife-wielding ex-girlfriend, a “Lonely Man” ponders his sexual expeditions and his overall d#@ness.

A woman meets a strange lesbian with a fetish for seducing straight girls in “Cell,” thus proving that men and lesbians are one in the same.

“Now let’s see … I have been with a married guy who presented himself as divorced. I briefly lived with a man who stole money from me. There are the standards, the ones who try to come off as film producers, surgeons, investors, when at best they are paper pushers for some low level investment firm. I have met ones who use flowers, jewelry, even one who sent me a new dress for our first date to get what he wanted.” (19)

“Single Woman” is a testament to the clichéd “always a bridesmaid, never a bride.”  Reaching her 30^th birthday, she now knows what it’s like to feel old. “No matter what they say, thirty feels old … to wake up alone, to be without your own family.” (52) It’s when she’s no longer a single woman does she begin to stray.

Stories were refreshingly witty and candid. The well-written structure evokes both enjoyment and rumination.  In this book, sex and love are two opposites of a taboo coin.

My rating: 4 stars

Review: BETTY BITES BACK (Anthology)

A woman wanting to add a ring of teeth to her vagina? What is that!? What does that even mean!?

The next story seemed to be a poem of some sort. Pass.

Okay, these stories were NOT what I thought they’d be. I thought they’d be funny snippets of life. Instead they useless and dumb.

My rating: 1 star

Review: SINGLE WIDE FEMALE Box Set by Lilianna Blake and P. Seymour

A 24-book bundle featuring a single, wide female.

Meet Samantha, a 30-something, single woman with a weight problem. After losing so much weight, she is more determined to complete her bucket list. This box set features 24 novellas, one for each item on her bucket list.

#1 Learn Pole Dancing: This was Sam’s chance to be proud of her own body—and to exercise, too! Kinda hard to feel sexy when you walk into the class and it’s hard to tell the difference between the pole and the pole dancers.

#2 Start a Blog: Sam wants to start a blog about her bucket list journey. Problem? Not very tech-savvy. “I need more life in my life.”

#3 Learn to cook: The only cooking Sam ever does is in a microwave or a toaster. Figures that she’d make smoke at her first cooking class.

#4 Create a masterpiece: Sam wants to create the beauty that she sees everyday. The teacher tells her, “Don’t just look at the bowl—go inside the bowl, walk around the bowl, be the bowl.” WTF? Oh, and she had to draw a nude model. Suddenly, she becomes the nude model?

#5 Run a marathon: Sam wants to run toward life and has never been in a sports store

#6 Go Skinny Dipping: Funny how this turns into a group thing

#7 Start online dating: Sam learns that people are not all what they seem

#8 Learn yoga: A battle with tiny yoga pants and an uncontrollable gas problem

#9 Be a mentor: First day, she gets arrested

#10 Crash a wedding: I agree with Max, her best friend, about marriage being a waste of time

#11 Be a movie extra: Sam ends up in a thriller movie and, of course, botches it.

#12 Join a writing group: Real writers write because they must

#13 Enjoy a spa day: a male masseuse

#14 Donate blood: conquering a fear

#15 Learn poker: Max and Sam enjoy a poker lesson, and she wonders if she can finally tell him how she really feels about him

#16 Get a tattoo: Sam shows her heart

#17 Host a dinner party: Sam meets Blue, her one and only blog follower? Of course, she nearly burns her kitchen down

#18 Publish a book: Accepting criticism as well as praise

#19 Walk across hot coals: Ouch!

#20 Learn to swim: Don’t drown, Sam

#21 Learn to meditate: Shut off your brain and don’t talk

#22 Quit my job: Don’t we all?

#23 Learn to Salsa: Eh

#24 Fall in love: Will she finally tell Max how she feels? Will she finally get to meet Blue? This was kind of a far-fetched item. It’s not like you can just turn the corner and, oh yeah, there’s love.

Readers will admire Sam’s will to find her confidence and enjoy her life. Her journey will inspire anyone to start their own bucket list.  Filled with wild, zany scenarios that could only happen to klutzy Sam.

You’ll love Samantha and her adventurous journey. These shorts stories are easy to read and quick to get through. It’s much better to get the whole bundle.

Fun, flirty, and enjoyable!

My rating: 4 stars