This anthology showcases the very best in humorous short story writing, by outstanding contemporary female writers, including Kathy Lette, Sadia Azmat, Lucy Vine, Josie Long, Paula Lennon, and many more. It includes the winning and shortlisted stories from the Comedy Women in Print Short Story Prize. From tales of a narcoleptic biscuit lover, con artists with a twist, and the accidental death of a hamster; to consequences of accidental gluing, the imagined world of extreme shopping, and the delightfully surreal world of canine dating, these 15 boldly imaginative stories range across a multitude of genres and themes. Each proves the power of the short story to disarm, tickle, entertain, or simply reduce you to helpless piles of laughter!

Hot Mess [n.] - someone attractive, who is often in disarray. Have you ever shown up to Sunday brunch still smelling of Saturday night? Chosen bed, Netflix and pizza over human contact? Stayed in your mould-ridden flat because it's cheap? Meet your spirit animal, Ellie Knight. Her life isn't turning out exactly as she planned. She hates her job, her friends are coupling up and settling down, and her flatmates are just plain weird. Some people might say she's a hot mess but who really has their sh*t together anyway? For fans of Fleabag and Girls, this is a fresh and funny coming-of-age story with a single-girl heroine that will speak to millennials everywhere. Everyone is talking about Hot Mess - the hilarious laugh-out-loud Bridget Jones for a new generation: 'More lifestyle-affirming than Bridget Jones' Sarah Knight, author of The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck 'If you love dirty jokes, dating horror stories and hilarious dialogue, this book is for you' Emma Gannon, author and podcast host of Ctrl Alt Delete 'I laughed and sighed with recognition as I turned every page' Daisy Buchanan, author of How To Be a Grown-Up

The new laugh-out-loud, deliciously relatable story of female friendship from the bestselling author of HOT MESS 'So VERY funny' Marian Keyes 'Furiously, fiercely funny, warm and uplifting' Daisy Buchanan 'Warm, nostalgic and laugh-out-loud funny' Beth O'Leary 'Ferociously funny' RED Magazine 'Heartwarming, heart-shattering and hilarious' Isy Suttie *** Two friends. Two decades. One big mistake... Nat and Zoe have always shared everything. Hopeless crushes, emergency tampons, messy sex stories, work triumphs, those days where you can't stop crying in the loos, those days where you can't stop dancing on the bar. They even share the same birthday, FFS. The struggle is real, but they'll always have each other. Except best friends forever is a hard promise to keep... Eye-wateringly hilarious, tender and true, this a story about growing up, falling apart, and the friendships that hold us together. *** Praise for Bad Choices: 'Brutally funny, painfully accurate, unfailingly warm and wise' Lauren Bravo 'Genius...I loved it' Lindsey Kelk 'Funny, sad, moving, joyous... One Day for people who make their friends the priority' Caroline Hulse 'Outrageously good' Helly Acton 'Utterly hilarious, moving, relatable and full of nostalgia and heart. Perfection' Lia Louis 'Full of heart, nostalgia and classic Lucy Vine comedy' Olivia Beirne 'A laugh-out-loud read about growing up, falling apart and the special bond that is female friendship' CLOSER 'Deliciously entertaining' Sara Ella Ozbek 'Lucy at her most divine' Hannah Doyle 'Hilarious and extremely relatable' Anna Bell 'Lucy never fails to make me laugh out loud' Paige Toon

'Made me scream laughing. I enjoyed it SO much' Marian Keyes 'Have you ever messed up so badly you had to leave the country? This feelgood journey contains one of the best vagina jokes ever. We didn't want it to end' Heat Magazine Alice is turning thirty and is stuck in a rut. Her friends are all coupling up and settling down, while she's still working as a temp, trying (and failing) not to shag her terrible ex, getting thrown out of clubs, and accidentally sexting her boss... She decides to throw caution to the wind and jets off on a round-the-world adventure to #FindTheFun and find herself. Of course, she's no more likely to find the answer to true happiness on the beach in Thailand than she is at the electric beach in Tooting, but at least in Thailand there's paddleboard yoga. Can Alice find happiness on her travels? Or is she more likely to lose herself all over again...? 'Really, really funny, but also kind of heart wrenching' Sophie Kinsella 'Hilarious and touching' Louise O'Neill 'Warning: read this book and you will doubtless snort with laughter in inappropriate public places. Quite simply, #brilliant' Ella Dove 'Her best work yet: it's funner, it's more tender . . . You need to have this in your beach bag' Laura Jane Williams 'I tore through this quicker than a duty-free Toblerone . . . Wickedly funny and painfully perceptive' Lauren Bravo 'Utterly addictive and utterly charming...her best yet' Daisy Buchanan 'A bawdy breath of fresh air' Sunday Mirror

Esther is out with her two friends, bemoaning her lack of relationship, when she finds a magazine from the noughties. Seeking comfort - and a laugh - she turns to the dating advice only to find an article that feels a little too close to home. According to the journalist, there are seven people a woman will date before finding the one: The First Love, The Work Mistake, The Friend with Benefits, The Overlap, The Missed Chance, The Bastard and The Serious One. Her friends laugh but Esther realises each of her exes fits these roles perfectly. Deciding that she's mistaken her true love in the reject pile she decides to contact each of her exes to find out which is the one that got away... ___________________________________________________________________ 'SEVEN EXES made me laugh out loud. It's fresh, fast-paced and joyous. Lucy Vine's writing is so warm and funny - her books are the literary equivalent of an amazing girls' night out.' Beth O'Leary 'Clever, perceptive and screamingly funny, Seven Exes is a joyous commentary on the mores and mysteries of modern dating and how past loves can shape our future. Throw in some delicious nostalgia, some genuinely sexy love interests and Vine's mastery of female friendships in all their frank and messy glory, and it's a book you'll never, ever want to break up with.' Lauren Bravo 'Funny, hopeful and agonisingly relatable, Esther is all of us. Lucy Vince writes with such compelling honesty, Seven Exes made me laugh, made me cry and made me want to call all my friends to tell them I loved them then call my exes to apologize/punch them in the nuts. Equal parts romcom and life lesson, it's a must-read.' Lindsey Kelk 'One of the freshest, funniest rom-coms I've ever read... with so much heart and depth' Daisy Buchanan 'Seven Exes is a bit of me! A shimmering rom-com with plenty of gorgeous romance and even more achingly funny comedy. I loved the nostalgia, I loved the tenderness and I absolutely adored the friendship between Esther and her best pals. This is a joyous must-read.' Hannah Doyle, author of The A to Z of Us

'Totally relatable and hilarious - one of the best books I've read' - Heat 'Laugh-out-loud funny. Truly, the Bridget Jones for our generation' - Louise O'Neill What do you get if you cross a dozen drunk hens with one shiny Butler in the Buff? Meet Lilah Fox. She's on the hen do from hell. Then she gets a message (44 of them, actually) from her best friend with big news: she's getting married in six months. Oh, and Lilah's her maid of honour. Which means she just got signed up for: - A military schedule of wedding fairs and weekly planning meetings - Excel spreadsheets and endless hen emails - All the enforced, expensive fun you can imagine... What fresh hell is this? ********** Everyone loves Lucy Vine: 'So ridiculously accurate I had to take a lie down from all my genuine laughing-out-loud' Laura Jane Williams 'Relatable to the max...fans of Hot Mess will love it' Grazia 'Feisty, fresh, gag-packed comedy' Daily Mirror 'Brilliantly written' Daily Mail 'Very funny and a joy to read! I adored it!' Joanna Bolouri, bestselling author of The List 'I LOVED this. Caps for emphasis...This is relatable AF and you need it in your life' Hanna Doyle 'One of my very favourite writers... It's wildly funny AND about my very favourite genre of everything - painfully obsessive wedding planning. I inhaled this. If you like laughing a lot, I recommend that you pre order immediately' Daisy Buchanan 'What Fresh Hell is so brilliantly, hilariously, on-point about the nutso psychology of hen dos. For anyone whose ever found themselves thinking, "Oh GBP260 for the weekend. That's not too bad." READ IT' Holly Bourne