Ink (Love Stories on 7th and Main, #1)

by Elizabeth Hunter

[Eve1972]

 
 
~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
While I enjoyed this one a lot, and it was a sweet romantic read, It didn't blow me away. The writing was very good. The pace, unfortunately, was a bit too slow for me. I am just not a fan of slow burn romances and the romance in this one was super S-L-O-W and although Ox and Emmie were cute together I just never felt a burning passion between them. So, unfortunately, my mind did start to wander halfway through and I found myself a tiny bit bored and impatient for things to get moving. That said, the plot was engaging enough that I stuck with it and never thought about tossing in the towel. I will say that I loved the small town feel of Metlin, and I loved the side characters. That is what kept me reading. Last, it was all wrapped up in a sweet HFN ending. 


~HERO~
OX...He was OK. There wasn't really anything about him that I didn't like. He was sweet. He was smart. Well read. Not a manwhore. Loved his family. Seemed like a decent guy. He was just maybe a tad on the boring side. I expected more "umph" from a sexy built like an ox tattoo artist. 


~HEROINE~
Emmie...I really liked her. She was sweet. She was smart. She seemed like a genuine person. Had a good head on her shoulders. Didn't seem to have too many hangups. Again, like OX, I don't really have anything negative to say about her. She was a good heroine.


 

~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
Honestly, the best part of this book was the secondary characters. I loved all them (some more than others). Even Ginger the nasty ex seemed decent by the end of the book (lol). I can't wait to see who will be up next to get their HEA. And I would LOVE to see a book about Daisy and Spider.


~HEAT LEVEL~
Low. Like I mentioned this was a super slow burn romance. The first kiss doesn't even happen until 63% into the book. Sex not until 80% and then the scenes are just mildly spicey. I think because of how slow moving the romance was I just never felt a strong passionate connection between Ox and Emmie. Oh, they were sweet together and seemed like great friends, but "hot out of control I want to climb you like a tree" passion, unfortunately...not so much.


~ANGST LEVEL~
Low. This was a pretty low angst read. There were a couple of bumps in the road but they were cleared up quickly and without a lot of fanfare. There was a tiny bit of OW drama in the form of Ox's ex Ginger. But it didn't really bother me. And we have a tiny bit of OM drama in the form of a high school friend interested in Emmie. Again, it wasn't over the top and didn't bother me.


~IN THE END~
I liked it. It was a solidly written book with a charming small town feel to it. The secondary characters were interesting and intriguing enough that I will definitely be reading the next book in the series. Unfortunately, the romance aspect was way too slow for me and the main couple lacked spark. So a bit of a mixed bag with this one. That said, yours truly is still giving this one a solid thumbs up.