Sweet: A Novella (Love Stories on 7th and Main Book 4) by Elizabeth Hunter
Sweet: A Novella
Love Stories on 7th and Main
New Adult, Contemporary Romance
Recurve Press, LLC
December 14, 2021
Kindle, Paperback
180
It’s 2004, and Daisy Rivera knows two things: she’s going to end up disappointing her parents’ fondest hopes and dreams in roughly six months, and somehow she’s going to figure out how to kiss the mysterious tattoo artist two shops down from her grandmother’s cafe that everyone calls Spider. Spider Villalobos knows one thing: if he gives into temptation and makes a move on Daisy, his fresh start is over.
“I, too, find the flower beautiful in its outward appearance. But a deeper beauty lies concealed within.” – Piet Mondrian
Elizabeth Hunter’s novella Sweet is a wonderful addition to her Love Stories on 7th and Main series. Chronologically, the story of Spider and Daisy comes before the other romances that happen in Metlin, CA. It’s a wonderful reminder that the heart, of even two outwardly different people, is where the true connections are made. Daisy is the smart, good girl of her family and community. She has her pick of prestigious schools to choose from yet all she wants is to take over the family cafe. Spider’s gang past has made him into the talented tattoo artist he is but also brought him to Metlin to escape that life. He can only dream of having a normal life like Daisy’s. They both must deal with the expectations placed on them because of their images, even though it doesn’t necessarily line up with what they want out of life. Together they find the strength to withstand the pressure of people who will push to see those expectations met.
Elizabeth Hunter’s Love Stories on 7th and Main is one of my favorite contemporary romance series, and not just because there are baby goats in Grit. Elizabeth’s characters are totally relatable, no matter their background or life circumstances, because we all want to find that person who sees us for who we are on the inside and loves us passionately, flaws and all. Spider and Daisy are probably the two most unlikely couples in this whole series yet are attracted to each other for all things that others don’t see. Their honesty and bluntness from the very beginning starts them out on the right foot and it only gets better from there. Even adversity doesn’t shake the truth that they have found something very special in each other.
Arrieros somos y en el camino andamos. It doesn’t matter where you come from. It matters where you are going and how you treat people along the way.
Sweet is a stand alone, as are the other stories in this series, but interwoven in the Metlin, CA community. Even though it’s a novella, it is still a complete story that helps to flesh out the relationship between two characters that have been intriguing supporting figures in all the other books. Every couple in this series is unique and breaks out of many of the stereotypes seen in contemporary romances, whether its age, race, or body type, and Spider and Daisy only further accentuate this. That being said, if you haven’t read the other books in Love Stories on 7th and Main, you are really missing out! Go for an early Christmas present and buy yourself the whole series! Sweet will then be the icing on the cake!
Tanya’s love for books has been a lifelong passion that she likes sharing with others. Reading is also the thing that relaxes her after a day of juggling the many responsibilities that come with being being wife to an amazing man, mother to four great kids spread around the world, business manager, and farm hand on their place in southwest Missouri; home to Akaushi cattle and a menagerie of pygmy goats, horses, chickens, dogs and cats.
