26 April 2016

Review and Giveaway: Sit Stay Love by Dana Mentink

What do you get when you add one abrasive professional athlete, a quirky out-of-work schoolteacher, and an overweight geriatric dog? A lesson in love—Tippy style—in Dana Mentink's new book, Sit, Stay, Love. As Gina travels through Cal’s world with Tippy in tow, she begins to see Cal in a different light. Gina longs to show Cal the God-given blessings in his life that have nothing to do with baseball or fame. When her longing blooms into attraction, Gina does her best to suppress it. But Cal is falling in love with her too. . . .

Join Dana in celebrating the release of Sit, Stay, Love with a blog tour and a Travels with Tippy prize pack giveaway!

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One grand prize winner will receive:
  • A copy of Sit, Stay, Love
  • A $75 Visa cash card
  • A basket filled with Tippy-themed goodies
    • Travel-themed decorator box
    • Reading dog statue
    • Dog journal
    • Poems for Dog Lovers
    • Snuggle Paws fleece blanket from Animal Rescue Site
    • Pawprint scarf
    • Doxie desk pen
    • Pupmobile auto magnet
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Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry! The giveaway ends on April 25th. The winner will be announced April 26th on Dana's blog.


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My Review
I almost didn’t read Sit Stay Love. I didn’t especially like the title (which was probably a subconscious reaction to it being too close to Eat, Pray, Love, although that was general market memoir and this is Christian fiction). And I didn’t like the cover. It looked boring—I’m a cat person, not a dog person.


But something about those doleful canine eyes must have caught my attention, because I did request a review copy. And I read it.

And it’s excellent.

The writing grabbed me from the very first sentence, then I was engaged with the characters, baseball pitcher Cal Crawford and Tibby, the old mixed-breed dog he inherited when his mother died. As a cat person, I’ve always thought most dogs were a little stupid, and Tibby is no exception (although she’s more eccentric than stupid). But her owner? Definitely had his stupid moments.

Cal has no interest in looking after Tibby, so he hires Gina Palmer to dogsit. Gina is a real people person, but naïve—something she knows and struggles to overcome. But she has a deep Christian faith, and it’s lovely to see the subtle way she influences those around her.

Gina and Cal are a good match—both are able and intelligent in their areas of expertise, but woefully naïve and stupid in other areas, especially when it comes to people. This provided a lot of humour and fun conversation. I especially liked the way Twitter featured as a combination of a plot point and an almost-character—it certainly added a sense of reality to the novel.

Overall, Sit Stay Love is a lovely story, one of the best contemporary romances I’ve read. It’s not a fast-paced thriller by any means, but still managed to grab me and keep me turning pages to find out what happens. Recommended for dog lovers and romance lovers.

Thanks to Litfuse Publicity and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about author Dana Mentink at her website. 

2 comments:

  1. Great review, Iola. I read Sit, Stay, Love too, and loved it! It was such a cute but touching story. I laughed and even cried a couple times. I've always been a cat person, too, but rescued an abused dachshund a few years ago. She won me over!

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  2. Iola, you're a cat person too? Yes!! As I said in my review, I love other people's dogs and, like you, I almost didn't request this book. So glad I did because it was wonderful, totally different from anything I've read.

    I have two solid black kitties, by the way. Adopted from a rescue shelter last fall after my previous kitty was killed by a coyote. Melody and Grace love each other and are inside kitties.

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