Holly Bourne

He said he was looking for a 'partner in crime' which everyone knows is shorthand for 'a woman who isn't real'. April is kind, pretty, and relatively normal - yet she can't seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she's found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry. Until she realizes that what men are really looking for is Gretel. Gretel is perfect - beautiful but low maintenance, sweet but never clingy, sexy but not a slut. She's a Regular Everyday Manic Pixie Dream Girl Next Door With No Problems. When April starts pretending to be Gretel, dating becomes much more fun - especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua. Finally, April is the one in control, but can she control her own feelings? And as she and Joshua grow closer, how long will she be able to keep pretending?

"It made me cry and laugh and rage... A really important, timely book. Sheer brilliance." --Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List "Thoughtful, smart and painfully true." --Cosmopolitan UK He said he was looking for a "partner in crime," which everyone knows is shorthand for "a woman who isn't real." April is kind, pretty and relatively normal--yet she can't seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she's found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry. Until she realizes that men aren't looking for real women--they're looking for Gretel. Gretel is perfect--beautiful but low-maintenance, sweet but never clingy, sexy but not too easy. She's your regular, everyday Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl-Next-Door with no problems. When April starts pretending to be Gretel, dating becomes much more fun--especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua. Finally, April is the one in control. It's refreshing. Exhilarating, even. But as she and Joshua grow closer, and the pressure of keeping her painful past a secret begins to build, how long will she be able to keep on pretending? "The most freeing, reassuring book on dating after #MeToo I've read. Perceptive. Hilarious. Brilliant." --Laura Jane Williams, author of Our Stop

WHY BE YOURSELF WHEN YOU CAN BE PERFECT?**As featured on The High Low podcast**'MAGNIFICENT. Brutally honest and righteously angry but still HUGELY enjoyable and engaging. I bow down!' Marian Keyes 'A thoughtful, intelligent, urgent novel women need to read.' Dolly Alderton _____________He said he was looking for a 'partner in crime' which everyone knows is shorthand for 'a woman who isn't real'. April is kind, pretty, and relatively normal - yet she can't seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she's found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry. If only April could be more like Gretel. Gretel is exactly what men want - she's a Regular Everyday Manic Pixie Dream Girl Next Door With No Problems. The problem is, Gretel isn't real. And April is now claiming to be her. As soon as April starts 'being' Gretel, dating becomes much more fun - especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua. Finally, April is the one in control, but can she control her own feelings? And as she and Joshua grow closer, how long will she be able to keep pretending?_____________PRAISE FOR HOLLY BOURNE:'Honest and unflinching' Stylist'Funny, touching and painfully true' Grazia'Relatable for any woman navigating emotional time bombs' Red'Bourne incinerates the lies we're all capable of telling ourselves' Emerald Street'Funny, real and heartbreaking' Lucy Vine'Funny, sad, honest, insightful, up-to-the-minute' Roisin Meaney'Smart, witty and perceptive. Razor-sharp on friendship, self-image and self-deception' Lucy Diamond

Spinster Club girls Evie, Amber and Lottie are having a New Year party to remember! For the first time since leaving college, all three girls are back together. It's time for fun and flirting, snogs and shots. (And not tears and tantrums and horrible secrets.) Because everything's going right for these girls - Spinster Club for ever! Right?

Amelie fell hard for Reese. And she thought he loved her too. But sheâ??s starting to realise that real love isnâ??t supposed to hurt like this. So now sheâ??s retracing their story, revisiting all the places he made her cry. Because if she works out what went wrong, perhaps she can finally learn how to get over him.

The power of female friendship casts its spell in this touching story from one of the hottest properties in UKYA. Sophia, Mia and Alexis are clinging on to a spark of hope that maybe – just maybe – they're special. But could they really be witches with the power to cast life-changing spells? When the three friends gather to cheer up heartbroken Sophia, they're ready to put their theory to the test. But when long-held secrets are revealed and hard truths start to hit home, their night of bewitching quickly takes an unexpected turn … Please note that this book contains mature content with themes of self harm. Particularly suitable for readers aged 13+ with a reading age of 9.

'The most perceptive book I have ever read about the female interior' DOLLY ALDERTON'Identifiable, heart-breaking and wickedly funny. I'd say this is one of my favourite books of the year' GIOVANNA FLETCHER'Bourne holds a mirror up to contemporary aspiration' SUNDAY TIMES*****Everyone wants to be Tori Bailey. A straight-talking, bestselling author, she's inspired millions of women around the world with her self-help memoir and uplifting posts online. What's more, her perfect relationship with her long-term boyfriend is the envy of all their friends. But Tori isn't being honest. While everyone around her is getting engaged and having babies, Tori's boyfriend will barely look at her, let alone talk about marriage. And when her best friend Dee unexpectedly falls in love, suddenly Tori's in danger of being left behind. Tori's built a career out of telling women how to live their best life, but is she brave enough to admit it's not what she wants?*****The debut adult novel by bestselling author Holly Bourne is a blisteringly funny, honest and moving exploration of love, friendship and navigating the emotional rollercoaster of your thirties. Everyone is raving about this book! Brutally honest, appallingly funny and very moving - so accurate on the female interior, and the loneliness life in the public gaze. I want to read everything Holly Bourne has written now' ROSIE WALSH'It'll resonate with anyone trying to convince themselves that sticking it out is better than being alone.' EMERALD STREET'Relatable for any woman navigating emotional time bombs' RED'It speaks so many truths about being a woman in your thirties; friendships, love and what a fickle beast social media can be. ' CLEMMIE HOOPER'Hilarious and painfully true' GRAZIA'Sure to resonate with anyone navigating the emotional minefield of their thirties' RED ONLINE'Funny, real and heartbreaking. I haven't been this obsessed with a book in years.' LUCY VINE'Injected with such reality it can't help but be hilarious' TIMES'A very funny novel that lives up to its hype' THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Welcome to Camp Reset, a summer camp with a difference. A place offering a shot at "normality" for Olive, a girl on the edge, and her new friends. But as Olive settles in, she starts to wonder - maybe it's this messed up world that needs fixing, and not them. And so she comes up with a plan. Because together, snowflakes can form avalanches...

The Breakfast Club meets One Day in Floored, a unique collaborative novel by seven bestselling and award-winning YA authors: Sara Barnard, Holly Bourne, Tanya Byrne, Non Pratt, Melinda Salisbury, Lisa Williamson and Eleanor Wood. When they got in the lift that morning, they were strangers. Sasha, who is at the UK's biggest TV centre desperately trying to deliver a parcel; Hugo, who knows he's by far the richest – and best-looking – guy in the lift; Velvet, who regrets wearing the world's least comfortable shoes to work experience; Dawson, who isn't the good-looking teen star he was and desperate not to be recognized; Kaitlyn, who's slowly losing her sight but won't admit it, and Joe, who shouldn't be there at all, but who wants to be there the most. And one more person, who will bring them together again on the same day every year . . .

Bad boys turned good, kisses in the rain, climbing through bedroom windows... It only happens in the movies. When Audrey meets Harry, it's the start of a truly cinematic romance - or is it? Audrey knows that Harry is every movie cliche rolled into one. But she still chooses to let him into her heart...

HOW TO START A FEMINIST REVOLUTION: 1. Call out anything that is unfair on one gender, 2. Don't call out the same thing twice (so you can sleep and breathe), 3. Always try to keep it funny, 4. Don't let anything slide. Even when you start to break...

Evie wants to be normal. Now she's almost off her meds and at a college where no one knows her as the-girl-who-went-nuts, there's only one thing left on her list... But relationships can mess with anyone's head - something Evie's new friends know only too well. But if Evie won't tell them her secrets, how can they stop her making a huge mistake?

Bree is a loser, a wannabe author who hides behind words. But when she's told she needs to start living a life worth writing about, The Manifesto on How to Be Interesting is born. Six steps on how to be interesting. Six steps that will see her infiltrate the popular set, fall in love with someone forbidden and make the biggest mistake of her life.

Every so often, two people are born who are a perfect match for each other. Soulmates. After meeting at a local band night, Poppy and Noah find themselves swept up in a whirlwind romance unlike anything they've ever experienced before...