Jemima watched Simi and Meagan stare at their dedication. She had named them and as heartfelt as it was, this yanked them out of anonymity.

‘Is this okay?’ Jemima said flushed with doubt. ‘I can get your names removed. It’s not too late.’

‘I can’t believe it,’ murmured Meagan looking at Simi.

‘Me neither,’ Simi replied unable to peel her eyes from the page.

They both turned to Jemima and screamed, ‘We love it!’

‘We’re in a published book! We’re in a published book!’ Simi sang as she danced around their table, clinging to Meagan.

‘Come through, Jem-J!’ cackled Meagan, yanking Jemima out of her seat to dance alongside them.

Jemima exhaled, the release immense. It was okay. It was all okay.

‘Honestly, that was not necessary but thank you,’ said Meagan as she smothered Jemima with kisses. ‘You really are a gem – Ha! Look at me, making one of your puns!’

‘I’m so flipping happy!’ Simi said as she jiggled and gyrated around.

It didn’t matter that people were staring. It didn’t matter that they were the noisiest group. All that mattered was they were together and would be for a long, long, long time to come.

The Dating Game – The Rules

1. You never ask someone out for yourself.
2. No fibbing or exaggerating about the person you’re finding a date for.
3. No falling in love (good luck with that).
4. No vetoing a date someone has got for you.
5. No one gets left behind – so no dates on the night of The Game.
6. No breaking the law!
7. No side pieces.

If you and your fellow wingwomen go out and play The Dating Game, be bold, be careful, be lucky – hit me up on Instagram (@theandioshow) and let me know how it goes!

Acknowledgements

Firstly thank you, my glorious readers for taking time out of lifing to read my debut novel. It means the world to me. I never got to do a stand-up DVD (ha, DVDs, remember them?!) so I’m thrilled to have created this little piece of me for you.

And trust me, this book has a ton of me in it. I won’t spoil your fun guessing which bits but there are a lot. However, even though there’s a lot of me in this book, it wouldn’t have been possible without my incredible team so let me take a moment to thank each and every one of them.

Thank you, Charlotte, my amazing editor who encouraged, advised and supported this newbie through the twists and turns of creating my debut novel. To Lisa, Katie and the HQ and Harper Collins team, thanks for everything including taking a punt on me. You changed my life. I’m a bloody author now. I mean, what?!

Anja, thank you for helping me make sense of this jumble of words and for your patient encouragement. You made a seemingly impossible task, possible. And, thanks for being a gorgeous mate too!

A huge thank-you to Richard Scrivener, my literary agent who put this whole thing in motion. Richard, you’re more than an agent, you’ve been a friend and ally through this whole thing. Thank you too to my glorious talent manager, Victoria. Guuuuurl, you rock. What a journey we’ve had. Here’s to ten more years! And Robbie and Tim at Beaumont PR, thanks for helping the world hear about my three favourite girls, Jemima, Simi and Meagan.