The C Words — Mark Mason

Alex is thirty-four, and, after a string of unsuccessful relationships, single and not really sure why. His last ex-girlfriend Amy told him he had 'commitment issues', and in an attempt to establish exactly what these are, Alex is reluctantly persuaded by his friend Rosie to buy a self-help guide to relationships. At the same time, Tony, recently divorced and low on confidence, is struggling to summon up the courage to even talk to a woman, let alone commit to one. Undaunted by their previous failures, Alex and Rosie decide to follow the self-help guide's advice; Rosie ends up on a series of disastrous dates, while Alex refuses to take any of it seriously ...until, on a business trip to New York with Tony, he meets Elisabeth. She's funny, charming, sexy. In fact, she's everything Alex wants in a woman - right up until she too mentions the dreaded C Word ...