Release Blitz + Excerpt + Review: "Pity Date" by Whitney Dineen

I'm excited to take part in the release blitz celebrating "Pity Date" by Whitney Dineen, book #1 of the Pity series.

 

On his way to visit his grandfather in the small town of Elk Lake, Wisconsin, up-and-coming actor Teddy Helms decides to stop by the local bakery to pick up a few treats. He arrives to find baker Faith Reynolds in tears after learning that her boyfriend, Astor, has been cheating on her. Faith, embarrassed, winds up hiding in the kitchen; meanwhile, Teddy feels bad because she's obviously having a bad day and jumps in to help when more customers come into the bakery. She's surprised to find him behind the register when she finally emerges from the kitchen, but after commiserating over cheating exes, they strike up a fast friendship. Teddy even offers to attend Faith's best friend Anna's upcoming wedding with her so that she won't have to face her cheating ex, the best man, alone. The only problem? Faith somehow gets the impression that Teddy's gay, and he can't figure out a way to correct her. 

This was such a cute story! Teddy and Faith had great chemistry, and I loved his grandfather Theo's efforts to push them together. Honestly, Theo may have been my favorite part of this story. I totally empathized with his grief over losing his wife, but I loved that spending time with Theo helped him realize that he still had some life to live. 

That said, there were a few aspects of the story that didn't quite resonate with me. First, I wasn't clear on why Faith believed Teddy was gay in the first place (just because he liked rom-coms?), nor did I like that he kept the lie going for so long. However, I'll admit that it worked as a plot device because I think it allowed Faith to open up to Teddy in ways she wouldn't have otherwise. Second, I didn't like the way Faith's best friend Anna talked to her about her weight sometimes, or the way Faith put herself down about it. I was really happy that Faith seemed to reclaim some of her confidence near the end of the story.

Overall, I enjoyed "Pity Date" and would recommend it for all contemporary romance and romantic comedy fans. I look forward to the next book in the series.

*Review copy provided by the author. All opinions expressed are my own.

 

 

About "Pity Date"

A week ago, if you told me my boyfriend was cheating on me, I would have called you a liar.

If you said a movie star would walk into my bakery and offer to help make my ex jealous, I would have thought you’d eaten one too many of my grandmother's special brownies.

And if you had the audacity to suggest my fake date would turn into the love of my life? I would have told you to stop toying with me. I’ve been through enough disappointment lately.

There’s no way a movie star is going to fall in love with a bakery owner from Wisconsin. This isn’t a Hallmark movie.

But I’m starting to wish it was… 

 

Read an Excerpt from "Pity Date"

Faith

I’ve had an invisible target painted on me that only members of the opposite sex can see. And boy are they determined to shoot me through the heart.

It started with Bobby McEntire in the first grade. My best friend, Anna, used to help me chase him around the playground as a way of declaring my undying devotion. He missed the point entirely and tripped me so that I fell face first into a mud puddle. That single act of war ended any love I’d once felt for him.

In the fourth grade, Kenny Franks caught my eye. He wasn’t the typical boy girls pined for, which made me think he could possibly share my feelings. He had moderately bucked teeth, a nose that turned up just enough to appear porcine, and he wore glasses. Surely, I was enough to catch the heart of one such as him.

Alas, when I asked him to be my boyfriend on Sadie Hawkins Day that same year, he laughed in my face. Laughed. At me. The disdain I felt lasted through our senior year in high school. When he approached me at a friend’s graduation party and asked why I hated him so much, I reverted to childish ways and threw my drink on him before walking away. How dare he forget his transgression?

Then there was that tourist I kissed—my first!—at a beach party the summer before my freshman year. I never got his name, nor did I see him any summers after that. I can’t really say what I felt for him was love, but a definite hormonal reaction took place. Also, I may have pretended that he was my long-distance boyfriend at Katie Ramsey’s big back to school sleepover the week before we entered the hallowed halls of Elk Creek High School. Go, Crappies!—as in the fish, not the poop emoji.

In high school, I was all about Adam Sanchez. Adam was so far out of my league, I knew nothing could ever come of us, but that didn’t stop my fantasies. I spent the whole four years imagining scenarios where he would claim me for his own. My favorite was the one where he strode into the lunchroom like a rock star taking center stage. He stopped right in front of me before loudly declaring my perfection to one and all. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to homecoming/prom/the spring formal—basically, whichever dance was on the horizon. None of that ever happened.

Obviously.

Junior year in college, I thought I’d found my life partner in Trevor Blake. Trevor was your typical tall, dark, and handsome specimen. He was sporty and studious. But more important than both of those things, he had a sense of humor that kept me laughing. The only problem was that after a year of dating, Trevor still hadn’t put any serious moves on me. When confronted with why, he claimed it was because he wanted us to save ourselves until we were married.

He saw us getting married, so, yay! But also, we did not live in Victorian times, so it was kind of hard to trust that was the real reason. In retrospect, I’m hugely grateful I didn’t believe him. A happenstance that was firmly cemented when I caught him making out with his roommate at a kegger their fraternity was throwing. As far as gaydar goes, I didn’t have any.

I dated a few different guys in my twenties, but none of them sent my heart into atrial fibrillation. I simply enjoyed going out with them while I was waiting for “the one.”

Enter Astor Hill. I knew he was it for me the night we met. One look at his sandy-haired Leonardo de Caprio (from Titanic) savoir faire, and my heart rate took off like a particularly vigorous Fourth of July fireworks display. Boom, boom, boom! Everything about him shouted he was destined to be Mr. Faith Reynolds. Although, I’m sure I would have taken his last name instead. I mean, Faith Hill worked so well for, you know … Faith Hill, that I was sure to have equal success. Even though I was no singer …

But then Astor showed his true colors and once again I was left behind. That’s when I should have probably converted to Catholicism and committed my life to God, a la the convent life.

I might have actually done that too, had it not been for the pity date …