diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index ebdaab3..7bfd29a 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -5,3 +5,6 @@ addons:
   apt:
     packages:
       - oracle-java8-installer
+cache:
+  directories:
+  - $HOME/.m2
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index c3a47ce..1868ed3 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
     <groupId>black.door</groupId>
     <artifactId>hate</artifactId>
-    <version>v1r1t0</version>
+    <version>v1r2t0</version>
 
     <dependencies>
         <dependency>
@@ -23,7 +23,13 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
             <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
-            <version>2.6.4</version>
+            <version>2.7.0</version>
+        </dependency>
+
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>com.damnhandy</groupId>
+            <artifactId>handy-uri-templates</artifactId>
+            <version>2.1.3</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>junit</groupId>
diff --git a/src/main/java/black/door/hate/HalLink.java b/src/main/java/black/door/hate/HalLink.java
index 8f89c78..80ebf6b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/black/door/hate/HalLink.java
+++ b/src/main/java/black/door/hate/HalLink.java
@@ -1,33 +1,136 @@
 package black.door.hate;
 
+import com.damnhandy.uri.template.UriTemplate;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonIgnore;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonInclude;
-import lombok.Builder;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 import lombok.Getter;
 import lombok.NonNull;
+import lombok.SneakyThrows;
 
 import java.net.URI;
+import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.net.URL;
+import java.util.Objects;
 
 /**
  * Created by nfischer on 12/8/2015.
  */
-@Builder
 @Getter
 @JsonInclude(JsonInclude.Include.NON_NULL)
 public class HalLink implements LinkOrResource{
-	@NonNull
-	private URI href;
 
-	private Boolean templated;
-	private String type;
-	private URL deprecation;
-	private String name;
-	private URI profile;
-	private String title;
-	private String hreflang;
+	private @NonNull final String href;
+	private final Boolean templated;
+	private final String type;
+	private final URL deprecation;
+	private final String name;
+	private final URI profile;
+	private final String title;
+	private final String hreflang;
+
+	@java.beans.ConstructorProperties({"href", "templated", "type", "deprecation", "name", "profile", "title", "hreflang"})
+	HalLink(String href, Boolean templated, String type, URL deprecation, String name, URI profile, String title, String hreflang) {
+		this.href = href;
+		this.templated = templated;
+		this.type = type;
+		this.deprecation = deprecation;
+		this.name = name;
+		this.profile = profile;
+		this.title = title;
+		this.hreflang = hreflang;
+	}
+
+
+	public static HalLinkBuilder builder() {
+		return new HalLinkBuilder();
+	}
+
+	@JsonIgnore
+	@SneakyThrows(URISyntaxException.class)
+	public URI getHrefAsUri(){
+		return new URI(href);
+	}
+
+	@JsonIgnore
+	public UriTemplate getHrefAsTemplate(){
+		return UriTemplate.fromTemplate(href);
+	}
 
 	@Override
 	public HalLink asLink() {
 		return this;
 	}
+
+	@Override
+	@SneakyThrows(JsonProcessingException.class)
+	public String toString(){
+		return new ObjectMapper().writeValueAsString(this);
+	}
+
+	public static class HalLinkBuilder {
+		private String href;
+		private Boolean templated;
+		private String type;
+		private URL deprecation;
+		private String name;
+		private URI profile;
+		private String title;
+		private String hreflang;
+
+		HalLinkBuilder() {
+		}
+
+		public HalLink.HalLinkBuilder href(UriTemplate href) {
+			this.href = href.expandPartial();
+			templated = true;
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public HalLink.HalLinkBuilder href(URI href) {
+			this.href = href.toASCIIString();
+			if(Objects.equals(templated, true))
+				templated = null;
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public HalLink.HalLinkBuilder type(String type) {
+			this.type = type;
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public HalLink.HalLinkBuilder deprecation(URL deprecation) {
+			this.deprecation = deprecation;
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public HalLink.HalLinkBuilder name(String name) {
+			this.name = name;
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public HalLink.HalLinkBuilder profile(URI profile) {
+			this.profile = profile;
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public HalLink.HalLinkBuilder title(String title) {
+			this.title = title;
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public HalLink.HalLinkBuilder hreflang(String hreflang) {
+			this.hreflang = hreflang;
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public HalLink build() {
+			return new HalLink(href, templated, type, deprecation, name, profile, title, hreflang);
+		}
+
+		public String toString() {
+			return "black.door.hate.HalLink.HalLinkBuilder(href=" + this.href + ", templated=" + this.templated + ", type=" + this.type + ", deprecation=" + this.deprecation + ", name=" + this.name + ", profile=" + this.profile + ", title=" + this.title + ", hreflang=" + this.hreflang + ")";
+		}
+	}
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/black/door/hate/HalRepresentation.java b/src/main/java/black/door/hate/HalRepresentation.java
index 81e5da2..55b819f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/black/door/hate/HalRepresentation.java
+++ b/src/main/java/black/door/hate/HalRepresentation.java
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.*;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.annotation.JsonSerialize;
 import lombok.Getter;
+import lombok.SneakyThrows;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.URI;
@@ -58,17 +59,14 @@ public class HalRepresentation implements java.io.Serializable {
 		this.properties = properties;
 	}
 
+
 	public String serialize() throws JsonProcessingException {
 		return WRITER.writeValueAsString(this);
 	}
 
+	@SneakyThrows(JsonProcessingException.class)
 	public String toString(){
-		try {
-			return serialize();
-		} catch (JsonProcessingException e) {
-			e.printStackTrace();
-			return null;
-		}
+		return serialize();
 	}
 
 	public static HalRepresentationBuilder paginated(
diff --git a/src/test/java/black/door/hate/HalRepresentationTest.java b/src/test/java/black/door/hate/HalRepresentationTest.java
index c5915fe..b8916df 100644
--- a/src/test/java/black/door/hate/HalRepresentationTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/black/door/hate/HalRepresentationTest.java
@@ -73,7 +73,17 @@ public void testPagination() throws Exception{
         assertEquals(20, rep.getMultiEmbedded().get("orders").size());
         assertEquals("/orders/20",
                 rep.getMultiEmbedded().get("orders").get(0).asEmbedded().getLinks().get("self").asLink()
-                        .getHref().toASCIIString());
+                        .getHref());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testLinkToString() throws JsonProcessingException {
+        Order o = new Order(1, 1, "USD", "status", new Basket(2), new Customer(3));
+
+        HalLink link = o.asLink();
+        System.out.println(link.toString());
+        assertTrue(link.toString().length() > 0);
+        assertTrue(o.asEmbedded().serialize().contains(link.toString()));
     }
 
     @Test