Review: Fetching Sweetness by Dana Mentink

Not as Good as Sit Stay Love

I really enjoyed Dana Mentink’s first dog-themed book, Sit Stay Love (you can read my review here), and was thrilled to get a copy of Fetching Sweetness to review.

Unfortunately, I didn’t think it measured up to the high standard set by Sit Stay Love.

First, I found the beginning somewhat disjointed and hard to get in to. The heroine came across as scatty, and that’s never a good sign. Well, not for me. I also thought the early scenes felt contrived, as though their sole purpose was to get Stephanie and Rusty together. Yes, I know that’s exactly the purpose of opening scenes in any novel, especially a romance novel, but I should feel as though the events occurred naturally (at least, that’s how I usually feel). With Fetching Sweetness, it felt too much like the author had pulled a bunch of strings to get the characters where she needed them to be.

Once the story got going, it was excellent. It was a road trip with a difference as Stephanie and Rusty join forces to return the enormous and ungainly Sweetness to his owner, and battle some of their own personal issues along the way.

But then the end came, and that didn’t work for me either. I could explain why, but, well, spoilers. Suffice to say the ending was like the beginning, and neither were like the excellent middle. Yes, the end made sense—well, mostly—but it didn’t leave me with that ‘ahhh’ feeling I get from a great romance.

The characters were good, the writing was solid, and it was clearly a Christian novel with the spiritual growth from both main characters. But even the most brilliant writing and strongest Christian message isn’t enough to compensate for a shaky start and a meh end. Here’s hoping Paws for Love, the next in the series, will be back to the standard set by Sit Stay Love.

(As one final aside: the stories are standalones with no characters in common between the first and second book in the series. So you don’t miss anything by not reading one of them. Like this one).

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

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!

 

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

 

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.

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.