Desperate Times by Hildred Billings

What’s this book about?

Desperate Times is a lesbian romance novel featuring two butches: Tess and Sidney. River Rock is a small town and Tess and Sidney find it hard being the only lesbians in the area. They meet on a dating app, but it does not go well as they look nothing like they do on their profile pictures. It’s almost like a catfish episode without Dev and his team. Despite the bad first date they try to be friends with benefits and like many stories before, it blossoms into romance.

Where I Got It?

I picked up an ACX code for this book over on a free audiobook website where indie authors and publishers share their ACX codes for users to redeem on Audible. Sadly this feature is only available for people with US and UK Audible accounts. It’s also worth noting that US codes won’t work with a UK account and vice versa. This feature has been an incentive for me to listen to more audiobooks. This was one of the many books I picked up from redeemed ACX codes. I liked the cover and found the plot to be intersting. As it was free, I thought I had nothing to lose.

What I liked about it?

I liked how Tess and Sidney developed over the course of the books. They are scared to become fully out as Lesbian in a modern-day America, but their fears are backed up by them being the only known lesbians in the town. When the townsfolk ask when they are going to settle down with a husband it brings genuine tension. Because of the shake up in politics and religion in the USA, it makes a lot of sense. The book really does have an American feel, but still has a unique atmosphere to it. I thought the second half was great and really made me like the characters more.

I think the setting of the book is also really nice. You can tell it’s contemporary and pre-covid. I like how we got to see River Rock and the community though the character’s eyes, although some of the people didn’t sound pleasant at first, River Rock sounds like a peaceful place to live.

If you’re wondering if there are any sex scenes in this book, there is. There are quite a few, but there’s also a lot of plot-driven and character-driven content in it as well.

What I didn’t like about it?

I didn’t like the first half. I thought it was weak and I didn’t like Tess and Sidney that much. They came across as whiny teenagers instead of adult women. When the first date didn’t work out in the way the girls had hoped, I didn’t feel sorry for them. I thought they deserved it for trying to catfish each other. I almost didn’t finish the book because I thought they were annoying and unlikable, but overtime I learned to support them as a couple because I found their banter heartwarming.

I also found it hard to believe that Tess and Sidney were actually the only lesbians in town. I hoped there there would be a few more people that would come out as LGBTQ, as I think that would have made a nice twist. At times I found it hard to take them seriously.

How the book made me feel?

When Tess and Sidney said they were the only lesbians in town, all I could think off is Daffyd Thomas from Little Britain when he said he’s the only gay in the village. I don’t know if my readers outside of the UK will get it, but here’s a video below to show you.

Would I recommend the book to anyone?

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy sapphic romances. It’s made me interested in the author’s other books because I saw in her bio that she is a Japanese and religious studies graduat, so it would be interesting to see how she uses that knowledge in her other books. Some of the book series look a lot heavier and more interesting than this book.