Mallory Lass reviews Liquid Courage by Hildred Billings

Liquid Courage by Hildred Billings

Liquid Courage is about two people coming together through a comedic course of events. It has been a long time since these leading ladies have had a steady relationship…but, have they found the one in each other?

Vivian “Vivi” is a legal secretary who is recovering from a serious illness that has left her weak and emaciated. Vivi has been in recovery for six months, having spent the last week texting with Shari, a woman she met on a dating app – she decides she is ready to dip her toe in the dating scene again. But, she still lacks confidence about her appearance and self-worth which even a few racy messages can’t shake.

Kat is the head bartender at a local women’s bar, she also works part time down at the docks sorting fish. She hasn’t been serious about anyone in years, not since Sheri broke up with her for looking “too masculine” and shattered her self esteem.

Shari, local lady killer and serial dater likes to frequent Kat’s bar. Kat’s long ago ex, and Vivian’s first attempt in the dating pool knows how to leave a mark, and not in a good way.

This story takes place primarily in a the bar Kat works at, and unfortunately doesn’t really go anywhere from there.

I enjoyed the characters, and it is nice to get a butch/masculine of center female main character in Kat. The sex between Vivi and Kat is hot, and there was even mention of safe-sex, a plus in my book.

Unfortunately none of the characters really experience much growth. I found the plot a bit boring and it suffers from weak conflict points and an unredeemable antagonist. Overall I found it really hard to get into Billings style, the narrative is filled with too many rhetorical questions, exclamation points, and colloquial language for the characters to believably be in their late twenties/early thirties.

TB reviews Daite by Hildred Billings

daite

Daite by Hildred Billings has the makings for an entertaining romance. There are sexy women, drama, love, broken hearts, and steamy scenes.

Jun is dedicated to her job and she hopes to run her family’s hotel business someday. When she finally thinks her uncle is about to hand over the reins to her, she discovers that he’s sending her to Nagoya to become the new local general manager. This transfer is crushing since she believes her dreams of inheriting the Nippon Royal Hotel empire is dead.

That’s when she meets Saya, a younger woman, who turns Jun’s life upside down and then disappears just as quickly. Jun throws herself into her work again, but she keeps hoping to meet Saya again. When she does can Jun keep the young woman in her life?

While it took me some time to warm up to this story, I admired the main character right from the start. Too often, romance novels have flat characters with sexy scenes to keep the reader interested. This book has sexy scenes and strong characters.

Even the supporting cast is wonderful. Jun’s coworkers really add to the story. And I found it fascinating to read a lesbian romance novel set in Japan. I’m not too familiar with Japanese customs and beliefs and it was interesting to see how the culture affected Jun not only at work but in her personal life. I love to travel, even traveling in books, and I always learn something.

This is my first novel by Hildred Billings and I’m intrigued enough by her writing and character development to pick up another one of her stories.