This is a story of how one dog brought together the lives of two different people, messed them up, and reunited them again with a typical conclusion of a happy ever after.
Dana Mentink’s Sit, Stay, Love is a cute novel. Well… to be honest, how can a novel with a dog named Tippy be not cute or adorable? Throw in a superstar athlete and awkward teacher slash dog sitter in the mix and you have the recipe for an endearing novel that won’t make your brain bleed due to complicated storyline.
Cal Crawford is a baseball superstar who lost his mother to breast cancer. His father left them when he was eight years old. Raised by his mother Megan and Uncle Oscar (who is married to his mom’s sister Sweets), Cal honed his baseball skills until he left Six Peaks Ranch to become professional, big-time athlete, and signed multi-million dollar contracts.
Gina Palmer is an out-of-work schoolteacher who happened to land a gig as Cal’s dog sitter when Tippy, a dog that came from the ranch, was thrust into Cal’s care as it was an “inheritance” from his deceased mother.
Then there’s Tippy, the dog. The funny, wacky, lovable Tippy who doesn’t mind people taking pictures of her. Tippy who brought people together; Tippy who changed Cal and made Gina more capable of loving. Tippy: the gamechanger.
But let me tell you though: Tippy is no Balto or Hachiko. She is just Tippy with all her quirks and cuteness — and these traits land him spaces in the hearts of many.
Mentink’s storytelling is simple, direct, and straight to the point. There are no exciting twists or unexpected turns but the inner battles fought by its main characters are enough to keep you reading this book up to page 217.
You are not reading Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead or Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights so expect a light-hearted novel that will help you tune out the difficult parts of your lives (if there are any) and bask in a story that explores love of family and setting your priorities.
Sub-themes include forgiveness and letting go of the past, which clouded most of Cal’s persona. I’ve been reading too many novels set in ranch with horses and cowboys so I was not particularly thrilled about the part of the story where they left the city and visited the ranch for some good old bonding time.
What I love though are the characters of Uncle Oscar and Sweets. They remind me of that couple from Disney-Pixar’s film Up. It will be really sweet to have someone grow old with you. It’s a long-term constant in a world where there are far too many short-lived relationships.
How the author described the character Cal is so different from how entertainment media report the lives of professional/superstar athletes. We often see them as gamblers, womanizers, hard drinkers but this novel did not make any mention of those vices and presented Cal and his teammates as fun-loving dudes sans drugs and alcohol. It might not be realistic but it sure is refreshing to read about a teammate Ag who loves his wife’s pork adobo. Hey, I’m Filipino so I’m guessing Ag’s wife is Filipino and Dana Mentink had some positive encounter with Filipino cuisine (e.g. adobo) for her to include this most loved Filipino dish in this novel. Or perhaps the Filipinos have invaded California forcing all restaurants to serve adobo on lunch and dinner. Now, that’ll be worthy of frontpage space.
I don’t know with you but I did not know of any athlete playing balìl who was mighty proud about his faith until American quarterback Tim Tebow openly displayed his pride of being a Christian. We definitely neied more like him in the arena, stadium, or in Cal’s preference, the ballpark.
- There is nothing extra special about the plot of Sit, Stay, Love. It’s fiction, it’s romance. But there’s Tippy… her being a representative of the domesticated canine population is reason enough to read this book.
Consider this as your bus book, a light-hearted read that won’t require your 100% attention but engaging enough to keep you reading until the very end.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book from the Litfuse Publicity Group in behalf of the publisher, Harvest House, for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write positive reviews. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”.
