Sit, Stay, Love (2016)

About the Book

Book: Sit, Stay, Love

Author: Dana Mentink

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: April 1, 2016

Take one abrasive professional athlete, a quirky out-of-work schoolteacher, and an overweight geriatric dog, and you’re ready for a lesson in love…Tippy style.

Pro baseball pitcher Cal Crawford is not a dog guy. When he inherits his deceased mother’s elderly dog, Tippy, he’s quick to call on a pet-sitting service.

Gina isn’t thrilled to be a dog sitter when her aspirations lie in the classroom. Furthermore, she can’t abide the unfriendly Cal, a man with all the charm of a wet towel. But with no other prospects and a deep love for all things canine, she takes the job caring for Tippy.

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…

Discover the charming story of Tippy, the dog who brought a family together.

Click HERE to purchase your copy!

My Thoughts

I have a thing for Sports Romances. I LOVE them. When I hear or read a recommendation for a clean Sports Romance I buy the book almost immediately. I’ve heard of Dana Mentink for years now, and have seen many of her fun videos where she showcases her awesome, quirky personality, but I’ve never read any of her books. Recently, Toni Shiloh wrote a post for INSPY Romance where she showcased several clean Baseball novels and Sit, Stay, Love caught my attention. Yes, the cover with the sweet puppy dog caught my attention and made me want to read the synopsis! You see, as much as I have a thing for Sports Romances, I have a thing for cute puppies. If you have an adorable dog on your cover, chances are I will grab the book and read the synopsis. Well, I read Mentink’s synopsis for this book and knew I had to read this book ASAP, so I bought a copy and devoured it in mere hours. I loved this book SO much!

So, what did I like?

I loved Cal. Cal stole my heart. Yes, he is handsome. Yes, he is super popular and powerful and wealthy. Yes, he is a Romance Hero. But none of that is why he stole my heart. Cal stole my heart because he is a divorced kid. I get divorced kids. I get the pain and fear and anger they hold deep in their hearts. I get their cynicism. I get their inability to trust. I get why they often hold others at arm’s length. I get it! Being a divorced kid stinks. Mentink did a fantastic job portraying the explosive feelings a divorced kid — who is now an adult — contains within. Sit, Stay, Love made me squirm. It made all my angry feelings with my own father come to the surface. It made me really consider what it means to forgive and move on. When Cal is forced to confront his father and his childhood amidst the death of his beloved mom all my protective hackles rose. I wanted to jump into the book and stand between Cal and his father. I wanted to yell, “You will not hurt this kid again!” I know this sounds crazy, but, yes, I had a super visceral experience reading this book. I appreciate that I was able to hear Cal’s feelings. I could understand why he feels and thinks the things he does about his dad. I loved the slow, arduous journey Cal made from the absolute “get dad away from me now” position to the “I-sort-of-understand, I forgive you, let’s try being friends” sentiment. Of all the very many things to love about this book, and there are many, what I loved the most is Cal and how well Mentink captured the hurt of a divorced kid. I felt understood and seen reading Cal’s thoughts and emotions and outbursts, and this really endeared Sit, Stay, Love to me even more.

Sit, Stay, Love is a really sweet Contemporary Romance that I highly recommend. I enjoyed my time with all the characters and had a lot of fun following along as they bumped and plodded throughout their storylines. If you are a fan of super sweet, endearing Contemporary Romance with great themes, then you will definitely want to read Sit, Stay, Love ASAP!

I purchased a copy of this novel in eBook form from Amazon.com on August 6, 2022 in order to review. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.